Memories of Faraway Visitors to Southeast Asia: the ‘Portuguese fort’ in Amurang

ABSTRACT: This article examines today’s perception among Indonesians of the Portuguese presence in Eastern Indonesia during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Despite evidence of the often violent pursuit of supremacy and material benefit by European navigators, the local population has different understandings of the past. An assessment of these from an anthropological perspective is guided by twin concepts such as emics and etics, and memory and history. Our case study combines documentary research and fieldwork, focusing on a colonial fort in the town of Amurang, on the island of Sulawesi. The present-day accounts of the local population and of some official organizations attribute a Portuguese origin to this fort, and narratives about the Portuguese abound in folk memory, often contradicting the findings of scientific research. Most significant is the positive image of the Portuguese prevalent among the population. The article includes historical data on the Portuguese and Spanish presence in Indonesia and ethnographic data of Amurang, as well as architectural and archaeological details of the fort.Keywords: Forts Folk memories Postcolonialism Portuguese Indonesia Memórias de visitantes longínquos ao Sudeste Asiático: a ‘fortaleza portuguesa’ em AmurangRESUMO: Este artigo examina a perceção existente na atualidade entre os indonésios relativamente à presença portuguesa no arquipélago entre os séculos XVI e XVII. Apesar de as evidências demonstrarem que a busca por supremacia e benefícios materiais por parte de navegadores europeus foi realizada com recurso à violência, a população local apresenta versões diferentes deste passado. Numa análise destas versões, seguindo uma abordagem antropológica, é útil a aplicação de binómios como emics e etics, e memória e história. Para o presente estudo foi efetuada investigação de terreno e documental sobre um forte colonial da cidade de Amurang, na ilha de Sulawesi. Nas numerosas narrativas populares e no discurso oficial sobre os portugueses, estes foram os construtores deste forte, contradizendo conclusões de investigação científica. Sobressai a prevalência junto da população de uma imagem positiva dos portugueses. O artigo inclui informação histórica relativa à presença portuguesa e espanhola na Indonésia, dados etnográficos de Amurang, assim como detalhes arquitetónicos e arqueológicos do forte.Palavras-chave: Fortalezas; Memórias populares; Pós-colonialismo; Portugueses; Indonési

From «Pretty Woman» to «Pretty Women»

Preface to the book Pretty women by Dewi Nusantari, referring the cultural variety of the ideal of female beauty, and indicating how patriarchy is a major factor in inciting women to make sacrifices to correspond to the beauty norms of their culture.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Technology, time allocation and gender in Portugal

Several studies have suggested that the development of technologies such as household appliances, ICT and means of transport have not necessarily reduced the time spent on household and caring work and that the role of these technologies as facilitators of a balance between work, family and private life is modest. In the study presented, the possible relationships were examined between technology use and time allocation in households, focusing the gender factor. The research was carried out in two different regions in Portugal and involved a questionnaire survey among 430 couples, various focus group sessions and in-depth interviews. Three of the main results will be discussed. The first addresses the diffuse character of the effects of home-centered technologies on the execution and duration of domestic chores and caring tasks. The second is the technology-induced higher permeability between the domestic, personal and professional domains, which may be salutary but also stress-provoking. The third point to be made is the limited change technologies brought about in the gendered allocation of domestic work. These results confirm the assumption that it is not technology which brings about social change but rather the mutual interaction between technology and social context. It may be concluded that gender roles and gender identity are major factors affecting the perception and use of time and technology. The artefact does not define the use, but the use defines the meaning of the artefact, and the gender of the user is here of great importance.info:eu-repo/semantics/draf

PREFACE - To the book by Nono Sumampouw, Menjadi Manado: Torang Samua Basudara, Sabla Aer, dan Pembentukan Identitas Sosial

Preface to an anthropological study about the city of Manado (Indonesia). Attention is paid to its geostrategic location and the diversity of its population, in a historical perspective. Includes reflections on anthropological practices and analysis.info:eu-repo/semantics/draf

The colonial anthropology of Timor revisited

Draft paper prepared on the eve of independence of Timor-Leste (1999) looking back at the anthropological studies made in the island, in particular by Portuguese anthropologists authorized by the Estado Novo regime (1926-1974).info:eu-repo/semantics/draf

Politics in 19th-century Minahasa and the role of Eduard Douwes Dekker

Powerpoint presentation displaying images to illustrate a talk on culture and colonial politics in 19th-century Minahasa (northern Sulawesi) at the Studium Generale, Universitas Sam Ratulangi, Manado. Special attention is given to the words and works of Eduard Douwes Dekker, secretary of the Residency Manado and later the author of the iconic piece of Dutch literature, Max Havelaar.info:eu-repo/semantics/draf

Myth and reality in Minahasan history: The Waworuntu-Gallois confrontation

Discussion of Dutch colonial policy in Minahasa (northern Sulawesi) in the 19th century. The focus is on a troubled episode around 1890 which not only revealed the harsh conditions of the indigenous population but also the Dutch attitude of superiority towards the regional elite

Distance and proximity: social sciences and their approach to ‘other cultures’

In this farewell lecture, some topics related to the question of culture contact are addressed. These include the various ways in which other cultures are observed and judged, with special attention paid to the approach taken by the social sciences; practices of anthropological fieldwork; and the various, historically changing attitudes and practices adopted by the so-called Western world towards other cultures, in particular those in Asia. The text is an English version of the Portuguese original.N/

Undoing gender inequalities in Portugal: a long and winding road

Over the past one hundred years, the movement towards gender equality has known advances and setbacks, in Portugal and all over the world. While acknowledging and outlining the major favourable developments, this paper discusses mainly some tendencies in the opposite direction, in particular those that increasingly emphasize and encourage, from an early age, differences between men and women, usually to the detriment of the latter. Examples in Portugal include the growing genderization of children’s toys and books (which in one case has triggered a widely-mediatized polemic in September 2017) and the importance of the colours pink and blue. After childhood, differences persist regarding choice of study, professional activities, salary and domestic responsibilities. In this respect, sociological research in Portugal has observed a backlash in the position of women, in particular as an effect of the 2010-2014 financial and economic crisis.info:eu-repo/semantics/draf

The gendered techniques of household work

Despite its low status, domestic work requires the learning and use of various difficult skills, it requires time and physical and mental energy and involves the employment of utensils specific to a particular cultural environment. The variations in the types, methods and norms of household work are the topic of this paper, which examines the use of modern technologies in the domestic context. Preliminary results of a research project about time, technology and gender in Portugal have shown that recently introduced technological modifications have not led to a great shift in the division of labour in the domestic context, and that women continue to bear the brunt of the vast majority of domestic responsibilities and tasks.info:eu-repo/semantics/draf