a)Perception
I always mistook Fiji for Mount Fuji before finding out a little more about the country during my previous research for a class work. Judging from the pictures of Fiji, the country seems like a splendid place for a getaway with its abundance of nature, serenity and calm waters. There is also rich culture in this tropical country with many islands all over. If I had the chance to visit this country, I would definitely make full use of my time to head over to learn about the culture and relax at the same time.
b) Culture of Fiji
Culture is a multidimensional term that encompasses both the tangible (buildings and artifacts) and intangible (values and attitudes).
The Fiji culture is a colourful nation filled with a mix of music, dance, family values, traditions and beliefs, cuisine, arts and craft and their love for sport, especially rugby. This is evident to the sound of their harmonious song echoing around the villages as the nation is being brought together by this singing. The locals also have strong religious beliefs and hold ceremonies that involve music, singing and dancing such as the Fijian Meke where men, women and children participate to dance and chant stories of their everyday life or of ancient gods and battles won. These ceremonies also include having the locals dressed in their appropriate culture clothing where men wear loin clothes and women put on grass skirts.
Since the majority of the population is Christian, Church is an important weekly event where you can see many families walking miles to attend, dressed in their best Sunday attire. The Fijian food is a fusion of Fijian and Indian cultures – Coconut and root vegetables (Fijian) and spices and curries (Indian). Arts and craft are a large part of their villages and heritage for the women.
Family is one of the most important values in Fiji. The entire family, including cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents all live close to each other. They have a habit of knowing their neighbors in the village as well. We should inculcate such value in our lives because kinship is important.
c) Culture and Traditions of Fijian people
Indigenous Fijians are a mixture of Polynesian and Melanesian, resulting from the original migrations to the South Pacific around 500B.C. They are descended from the Lapita peoples, a seafaring group from eastern Indonesia or the Philippines who probably arrived in the Fiji Islands during the second millennium B.C.E. and later interbred first with Melanesians from the west and subsequently with Polynesians (also Lapita descendants) from the east to settle in Tonga and Samoa.
Loss of Culture
Globalization has brought in tourism for Fiji. When tourism comes into the picture, the media will naturally be involved as well. However, there has been a debate that media is in fact bringing in more negative than positive impacts. It has led to loss of culture, tradition, values, respect and language from a society. It is linked to tourism because the younger generations want to be more like tourists, to be more American, and will tend to neglect their own culture.
Commodification
‘The commodification of indigenous culture is a byproduct of tourism.’ – Native Youth Media. Fiji is selling their traditions and culture to the tourists. The tourists want to buy what they like and will not care about the impact on the preservation and importance of the tradition. For instance, Tappa cloths are sold as souvenirs but in tradition, it is used in a variety of ceremonies and as symbolic gifts. The indigenous Fijians are greatly affected as they are seen as a source of income for the government.
f) Focus of calendar of events
There is a list of festivals held annually in Fiji – Bula Festival, Hibiscus Carnival/Festival and Sugar Festival. All these festivals involve the melodious singing of locals and rhythmic movements of their dances. Fiji encompasses diversity full of culture and much emphasis can be seen by the festivals held. The country focuses mainly on their singing and dancing in their culture and has been showcasing them for years. Fiji focuses on their traditional events and wants to keep its traditions and values.
Bula Festival was established in 1960 and was known as Commerce Week but was changed to Nadi Bula Festival in 1962 with a ‘Miss Bula’ contest. The festival aims to raise funds for charity and to provide entertainment for the people. Traditional dances and singing are performed during this festival with carnival rides in place as well.
Hibiscus Carnival/Festival started in 1956 in the City of Suva. ‘Miss Hibiscus’ contest will be held during this event. The festival has the same aims as the Bula Festival, to raise funds and entertain, with music and dance emphasized too.
Sugar Festival is held annually in Lautoka, Fiji’s sugar-rich hub. Similarly, ‘Miss Sugar’ contest will be held with fun fair rides and dances as well.
As can be seen, all major festivals held in Fiji emphasizes on their traditions and values and has kept it that way for over six decades. This shows how much culture and tradition the country wants to keep.
g) Disneyization in Fiji
Disneyization is the spread of the principles that Disney theme parks exemplify. The theory will be further explained in details under Fiji’s context. Disneyization is often confused with the term Disneyfication. However, they have different definitions whereby Disneyfication is about the influence of Disney, such that more countries are building Disney theme parks for instance.
Disneyization has four factors that encompass each other – Themeing, hybrid consumption, merchandising and performative labour. I will be focusing on the modernized side of Fiji, choosing the city of Suva for my analogy.
Themeing
Suva is themed by religion, politics and history whereby local vegetables such as dalo, cassava and vudi are sold by Fijian ladies and kava from the traditional kava-drinking ceremony can be purchased. Architectural themeing can also be witnessed in Suva. Architectural buildings include hotels, resorts, shopping, restaurants as well as the library. The library, for instance, is themed by time, bringing people back to the past with the historical significance of the library.
Hybrid consumption
Suva has hybrid consumption over the entire city. Hybrid consumption is allowing the ‘project’ to become a destination by going through multiple activities at the same place. Its purpose is to get people to stay longer and Suva has managed to achieve this. For instance, the Suva Resort have resort type facilities, a pool, activity desk, restaurants and bars. The resort offers more than just a place for guests to live in but also meet their other needs by having different facilities to keep them entertained as well as their necessities such as restaurants for food and beverages. This slowly generates a sense of place for guests as they begin to enjoy themselves in this hybrid consumption destination.
Merchandising
Merchandising is a generation of commodified images to aid in branding. Advertisements are held around shopping malls, pharmacies, supermarkets, handicrafts stores and drapery shops, in view of large populations. The products being branded attracts potential customers and boosts the country’s economy as a result.
After my research, I realize that tourism, culture and society are interlinked as tourism impacts culture and vice versa which affects the society of the country. Without tourism, culture may not be able to sustain itself while on the other hand, without culture, tourism might not even exist in the first place. As these two terminologies are affected, the society changes as well since tourism brings the people in the community together and also increases the cost of living.
The culture of the Fijians is rich and is a selling point of the country. Tourists want to visit the country upon learning about them. Moreover, people are trending towards cultural tourism which gives Fiji a greater opportunity to boost their economy through tourism. This further exemplifies the impact of tourism on culture. However, tourism may have brought in negative impacts to Fiji as well. As mentioned in my study, loss of culture and commodification can be witnessed in Fiji over the years. Therefore, the country may want to look into the issue and not let it further deteriorate the lovely culture.
My perception of Fiji did change a little after my findings. I thought of the place as a cultural destination on an island with huts and cults all over with friendly indigenous people. However, the country has been disneyizied due to globalization and is not as rich in culture as I would expect, especially from a second world country like Fiji. I strongly feel that the government could and should do something about reliving their culture and not make it a performance.
I always mistook Fiji for Mount Fuji before finding out a little more about the country during my previous research for a class work. Judging from the pictures of Fiji, the country seems like a splendid place for a getaway with its abundance of nature, serenity and calm waters. There is also rich culture in this tropical country with many islands all over. If I had the chance to visit this country, I would definitely make full use of my time to head over to learn about the culture and relax at the same time.
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| (Source: http://www.duatravel.com/about/destination/fiji) |
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| (Source: http://castaways-resort.net/fiji/) |
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| (Source: http://www.metrolic.com/travel-guides-fiji-156946/) |
b) Culture of Fiji
Culture is a multidimensional term that encompasses both the tangible (buildings and artifacts) and intangible (values and attitudes).
The Fiji culture is a colourful nation filled with a mix of music, dance, family values, traditions and beliefs, cuisine, arts and craft and their love for sport, especially rugby. This is evident to the sound of their harmonious song echoing around the villages as the nation is being brought together by this singing. The locals also have strong religious beliefs and hold ceremonies that involve music, singing and dancing such as the Fijian Meke where men, women and children participate to dance and chant stories of their everyday life or of ancient gods and battles won. These ceremonies also include having the locals dressed in their appropriate culture clothing where men wear loin clothes and women put on grass skirts.
 |
| (Source:http://manu9ca.edublogs.org/fijian-culture-in-new-zealand/) |
 |
| (Source:http://joetourist.ca/fiji/FijianFamily.htm) |
Indigenous Fijians are a mixture of Polynesian and Melanesian, resulting from the original migrations to the South Pacific around 500B.C. They are descended from the Lapita peoples, a seafaring group from eastern Indonesia or the Philippines who probably arrived in the Fiji Islands during the second millennium B.C.E. and later interbred first with Melanesians from the west and subsequently with Polynesians (also Lapita descendants) from the east to settle in Tonga and Samoa.
The native Fijians worship nature spirits of the sea and sky and in gods of hunting, fishing and war. Most Fijians were natural fishermen and speared fishes for their families or village. For a massive catch of fishes, they would cast their handmade long coconut fibre nets from canoes. Some would catch turtles while others get vegetables. Large water vessels made of coconuts will then be formed to cook their findings with food bowls carved in the shape of the food; Bird, fish or turtle as a formal offering of the totem animal as ceremonial food.
They were strong warriors during their battle in the early days with handmade weapons such as bow and arrows, round-headed throwing clubs (ula) and long wooden spears. The tooth of a sperm whale (tambua) was worn as a pendant by the chief. Presentation of tambua was a necessary preliminary to the submission of a request for assistance or favour.
The drinking of kava or yaqona was invested in solemn formality where it is an essential part of the ceremony of installation of a chief. A kava drinking circle was the invariable form of deliberation in council or transaction of public business. It is being presented in a large wooden yaqona bowl in front of the chief and accompanied by a ceremonial chant. The first bowl will be given to the chief followed by the rest.
Other enclosed ceremonies include fire-walking and Nubuki. Fire-walking is seen as passing through an earth oven and have legend which records a remote ancestor’s descent into the depths and rising up from an oven. It is a kind of proprietary sacrifice and resurrection. Nubuki is a secret initiation for youths, performed on a rock-walked platform area with a stone pyramid in the manner of a Polynesian marae. It is a kind of ancestral worship for the simulation of death and revival.
d) Authenticity of Culture
Most tourists view Fiji culture to be authentic as it is a unique experience for them when they attend the ceremonies such as the drinking of kava and also learning of the cultural dances there. Many label the kava ceremony as a ‘must have’ before leaving Fiji. Some also managed to talk to the locals and learn a few things about their culture which they view to be authentic. The culture of Fiji can be seen and felt the moment one steps into the tropical islands.
However, in my own opinion, I do worry that there might be an indifference of authenticity of the culture in Fiji. There are so many tourists entering the country in different batches every day, which may affect the traditions of Fiji as they will be performing their ceremonies, take the kava ceremony for instance, more often than what the ceremony was meant for. The kava ceremony was meant for deliberations of council or businesses and mainly for appointment of a chief but has become so consistent in entertaining of foreign guests that the culture seems more of a performance that I want to be a part of rather than an authentic culture. In a way, the culture has been diluted to suit the preferences of tourists and allowed this culture to become less authentic.
e) Tourism impacts
Positive
 |
| (Source: http://www.janeresture.com/oceania_postcards11/index.htm) |
They were strong warriors during their battle in the early days with handmade weapons such as bow and arrows, round-headed throwing clubs (ula) and long wooden spears. The tooth of a sperm whale (tambua) was worn as a pendant by the chief. Presentation of tambua was a necessary preliminary to the submission of a request for assistance or favour.
 |
| (Source: http://www.justpacific.com/fiji/fijiphotos/ethno/index.html) |
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| (Source: http://www.janesoceania.com/fiji_visit/index.htm) |
 |
| (Source:http://beersandbeans.com/2011/06/16/surreal-experiences-in-fiji/) |
d) Authenticity of Culture
Most tourists view Fiji culture to be authentic as it is a unique experience for them when they attend the ceremonies such as the drinking of kava and also learning of the cultural dances there. Many label the kava ceremony as a ‘must have’ before leaving Fiji. Some also managed to talk to the locals and learn a few things about their culture which they view to be authentic. The culture of Fiji can be seen and felt the moment one steps into the tropical islands.
However, in my own opinion, I do worry that there might be an indifference of authenticity of the culture in Fiji. There are so many tourists entering the country in different batches every day, which may affect the traditions of Fiji as they will be performing their ceremonies, take the kava ceremony for instance, more often than what the ceremony was meant for. The kava ceremony was meant for deliberations of council or businesses and mainly for appointment of a chief but has become so consistent in entertaining of foreign guests that the culture seems more of a performance that I want to be a part of rather than an authentic culture. In a way, the culture has been diluted to suit the preferences of tourists and allowed this culture to become less authentic.
 |
| (Source: http://myfijiguide.com/about-fiji/the-people.aspx?altTemplate=comments) |
e) Tourism impacts
Positive
Preservation of Culture and traditions
Due to tourism, people have come to realize the need to preserve the culture and tradition of Fiji. The villagers have been relying on its own natural resources as livelihood. Natural resources include fishes, salt and coconuts. Fijian villagers have a tradition to hunt their own fishes for their families or to sell as stock. They also have their own ways of getting salt by evaporating water from ponds with mangroves. However, due to illegal fishing practices and tourism that is over commercialized, coral reefs have been damaged and lesser fishes are found near the village. Therefore, measures have been taken by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to create protected fishing grounds called the tambu areas.
Creation of Heritage sites
Tourism has also led to creation of heritage sites to conserve the cultures and values of Fiji from the past. There are about 14 protected heritage sites around the islands. One example is the Levuka World Heritage Site. Levuka is Fiji’s old Capital and has been declared to be a world heritage. Other heritage sites aims to capture the Fijian culture be it the indigenous people or just the Fijian food among the streets.
Cultural Awareness
Many tourists are aware of the indigenous culture of Fiji which is a sort of branding. There have been seminars conducted to share the Fijian culture and teach others about the culture and what not to do when patronizing the country. Cultural awareness is achieved for the richness of culture in Fiji and the need to conserve this beauty.
Negative
Due to tourism, people have come to realize the need to preserve the culture and tradition of Fiji. The villagers have been relying on its own natural resources as livelihood. Natural resources include fishes, salt and coconuts. Fijian villagers have a tradition to hunt their own fishes for their families or to sell as stock. They also have their own ways of getting salt by evaporating water from ponds with mangroves. However, due to illegal fishing practices and tourism that is over commercialized, coral reefs have been damaged and lesser fishes are found near the village. Therefore, measures have been taken by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to create protected fishing grounds called the tambu areas.
Creation of Heritage sites
Tourism has also led to creation of heritage sites to conserve the cultures and values of Fiji from the past. There are about 14 protected heritage sites around the islands. One example is the Levuka World Heritage Site. Levuka is Fiji’s old Capital and has been declared to be a world heritage. Other heritage sites aims to capture the Fijian culture be it the indigenous people or just the Fijian food among the streets.
 |
| (Source:http://davidlansing.com/satanic-rituals-at-the-masonic-lodge/) |
Many tourists are aware of the indigenous culture of Fiji which is a sort of branding. There have been seminars conducted to share the Fijian culture and teach others about the culture and what not to do when patronizing the country. Cultural awareness is achieved for the richness of culture in Fiji and the need to conserve this beauty.
Negative
Loss of Culture
Globalization has brought in tourism for Fiji. When tourism comes into the picture, the media will naturally be involved as well. However, there has been a debate that media is in fact bringing in more negative than positive impacts. It has led to loss of culture, tradition, values, respect and language from a society. It is linked to tourism because the younger generations want to be more like tourists, to be more American, and will tend to neglect their own culture.
Commodification
‘The commodification of indigenous culture is a byproduct of tourism.’ – Native Youth Media. Fiji is selling their traditions and culture to the tourists. The tourists want to buy what they like and will not care about the impact on the preservation and importance of the tradition. For instance, Tappa cloths are sold as souvenirs but in tradition, it is used in a variety of ceremonies and as symbolic gifts. The indigenous Fijians are greatly affected as they are seen as a source of income for the government.
 |
| (Source:http://www.janesoceania.com/samoa_historical1/index.htm) |
There is a list of festivals held annually in Fiji – Bula Festival, Hibiscus Carnival/Festival and Sugar Festival. All these festivals involve the melodious singing of locals and rhythmic movements of their dances. Fiji encompasses diversity full of culture and much emphasis can be seen by the festivals held. The country focuses mainly on their singing and dancing in their culture and has been showcasing them for years. Fiji focuses on their traditional events and wants to keep its traditions and values.
Bula Festival was established in 1960 and was known as Commerce Week but was changed to Nadi Bula Festival in 1962 with a ‘Miss Bula’ contest. The festival aims to raise funds for charity and to provide entertainment for the people. Traditional dances and singing are performed during this festival with carnival rides in place as well.
 |
| (Source:http://www.gowealthy.com/gowealthy/wcms/en/home/articles/entertainment/events-and-festivals/Traditional-Meke-dance-of-Fiji-otUHFndXaM.html) |
 |
| (Source: http://www.matavuvale.com/forum/topics/back-to-democracy-for-fiji?commentId=2150904%3AComment%3A1356016) |
As can be seen, all major festivals held in Fiji emphasizes on their traditions and values and has kept it that way for over six decades. This shows how much culture and tradition the country wants to keep.
g) Disneyization in Fiji
 |
| (Source: http://phoenixcollegeaz.blogspot.com/2011/09/apply-now-with-disney.html) |
Disneyization is the spread of the principles that Disney theme parks exemplify. The theory will be further explained in details under Fiji’s context. Disneyization is often confused with the term Disneyfication. However, they have different definitions whereby Disneyfication is about the influence of Disney, such that more countries are building Disney theme parks for instance.
Disneyization has four factors that encompass each other – Themeing, hybrid consumption, merchandising and performative labour. I will be focusing on the modernized side of Fiji, choosing the city of Suva for my analogy.
Themeing
Suva is themed by religion, politics and history whereby local vegetables such as dalo, cassava and vudi are sold by Fijian ladies and kava from the traditional kava-drinking ceremony can be purchased. Architectural themeing can also be witnessed in Suva. Architectural buildings include hotels, resorts, shopping, restaurants as well as the library. The library, for instance, is themed by time, bringing people back to the past with the historical significance of the library.
Hybrid consumption
Suva has hybrid consumption over the entire city. Hybrid consumption is allowing the ‘project’ to become a destination by going through multiple activities at the same place. Its purpose is to get people to stay longer and Suva has managed to achieve this. For instance, the Suva Resort have resort type facilities, a pool, activity desk, restaurants and bars. The resort offers more than just a place for guests to live in but also meet their other needs by having different facilities to keep them entertained as well as their necessities such as restaurants for food and beverages. This slowly generates a sense of place for guests as they begin to enjoy themselves in this hybrid consumption destination.
Merchandising
Merchandising is a generation of commodified images to aid in branding. Advertisements are held around shopping malls, pharmacies, supermarkets, handicrafts stores and drapery shops, in view of large populations. The products being branded attracts potential customers and boosts the country’s economy as a result.
Performative labour
Performative labour refers to having employees trained to have certain traits adapted from Disney and later on ‘performing’ it to customers or guests. These ‘casts’ perform according to the theme. They are the ones creating an experiential time for customers or guests. In Suva, performative labour can be seen largely in accommodations such as hotels and resorts whereby employees ‘perform’ according to the preset themes and allow guests to leave with satisfaction of an experiential and memorable time, which brings back repeat customers and strengthened bonds in the future.
Performative labour refers to having employees trained to have certain traits adapted from Disney and later on ‘performing’ it to customers or guests. These ‘casts’ perform according to the theme. They are the ones creating an experiential time for customers or guests. In Suva, performative labour can be seen largely in accommodations such as hotels and resorts whereby employees ‘perform’ according to the preset themes and allow guests to leave with satisfaction of an experiential and memorable time, which brings back repeat customers and strengthened bonds in the future.
h) Reflection
After my research, I realize that tourism, culture and society are interlinked as tourism impacts culture and vice versa which affects the society of the country. Without tourism, culture may not be able to sustain itself while on the other hand, without culture, tourism might not even exist in the first place. As these two terminologies are affected, the society changes as well since tourism brings the people in the community together and also increases the cost of living.
The culture of the Fijians is rich and is a selling point of the country. Tourists want to visit the country upon learning about them. Moreover, people are trending towards cultural tourism which gives Fiji a greater opportunity to boost their economy through tourism. This further exemplifies the impact of tourism on culture. However, tourism may have brought in negative impacts to Fiji as well. As mentioned in my study, loss of culture and commodification can be witnessed in Fiji over the years. Therefore, the country may want to look into the issue and not let it further deteriorate the lovely culture.
My perception of Fiji did change a little after my findings. I thought of the place as a cultural destination on an island with huts and cults all over with friendly indigenous people. However, the country has been disneyizied due to globalization and is not as rich in culture as I would expect, especially from a second world country like Fiji. I strongly feel that the government could and should do something about reliving their culture and not make it a performance.
References
Fiji-Island-Holidays.com
(2008). Want to know more about the Fiji culture? Retrieved from http://www.fiji-island-holidays.com/fiji-culture.html
U.S. Department of State (8
July 2011). Background Note: Fiji. Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1834.htm
J. Resture (9 October 2009).
Fiji Ethnology. Retrieved from http://www.janeresture.com/oceania_ethnology/fiji.htm
United Nations Development Programme
(27 April 2010). Preserving Culture, protecting villagers in Fiji. Retrieved
from http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/2010/april/preserving-culture-protecting-villagers-in-fiji-.en;jsessionid=axbWzt...?categoryID=349429&lang=en
Wellington Fiji Community
Blog (n.d.). Pacific Cultural Awareness Seminar. Retrieved from http://wellingtonfijicommunity.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/pacific-cultural-awareness-seminar/
Native Youth Media (n.d.).
Tourism or Terrism. Retrieved from http://users.resist.ca/www.redwiremag.com/tourismorterrism.htm
Pacific Media Watch (24
November 2008). FIT journalism head blames media for loss of culture,
tradition. Retrieved from http://mailman.aut.ac.nz/pipermail/pacific_media_watch_list/2008/000572.html
Bula Festival (2010). Bula
Festival History. Retrieved from http://www.bulafestival.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26
Vodafone Hibiscus (2011).
Our Children Our Future “Love and Protect them”. Retrieved from http://www.hibiscusfiji.com/
Thanks..lovely article to read
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