1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910456593703321

Autore

Trnka Susanna

Titolo

State of suffering [[electronic resource] ] : political violence and community survival in Fiji / / Susanna Trnka

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ithaca, : Cornell University Press, 2008

ISBN

0-8014-6188-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (224 p.)

Collana

Cornell paperbacks

Disciplina

996.11

Soggetti

Political violence - Fiji

Ethnic conflict - Fiji

East Indians - Fiji

Electronic books.

Fiji Politics and government

Fiji Ethnic relations

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Violence, pain, and the collapse of everyday life -- The coup of May 2000 : an invitation to anti-Indian violence -- Living in fantastic times -- Looting, labor, and the politics of pain -- Fear of a nation returning to jungli -- Victims and assailants, victims and friends -- Restoring "normalcy" in postcoup Fiji.

Sommario/riassunto

How do ordinary people respond when their lives are irrevocably altered by terror and violence? Susanna Trnka was residing in an Indo-Fijian village in the year 2000 during the Fijian nationalist coup. The overthrow of the elected multiethnic party led to six months of nationalist aggression, much of which was directed toward Indo-Fijians. In State of Suffering, Trnka shows how Indo-Fijians' lives were overturned as waves of turmoil and destruction swept across Fiji.Describing the myriad social processes through which violence is articulated and ascribed meaning-including expressions of incredulity, circulation of rumors, narratives, and exchanges of laughter and jokes-Trnka reveals the ways in which the community engages in these practices as individuals experience, and try to understand, the consequences of the coup. She then considers different kinds of pain



caused by political chaos and social turbulence, including pain resulting from bodily harm, shared terror, and the distress precipitated by economic crisis and social dislocation.Throughout this book, Trnka focuses on the collective social process through which violence is embodied, articulated, and silenced by those it targets. Her sensitive ethnography is a valuable addition to the global conversation about the impact of political violence on community life.