SPIRIT GIRLS AND MARINES - POSSESSION AND ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AS HISTORICAL DISCOURSE IN SAMOA

Through an analysis of a case of possession I argue that possession ca n be read as historical discourse. The possessed person and the ethnoa nalyst often do cultural-historical work useful to the larger society. The case examined casts light on Samoan moral history from missioniza tion to the present and on how Samoans have reinvented traditions-not naively as the literature on cultural reinvention suggests, but as at least a partially self-conscious process.