Becoming Tongan – An Ethnography of Childhood

In this first detailed account of growing up in Tonga, Helen Morton focuses on the influence of anga fakatonga (“the Tongan way”) in all facets of Tongan childhood from the antenatal period to late adolescence. Childhood is a crucial period when cultural identity and notions of tradition are constructed, as well as beliefs about self, personhood, and emotion. Although strongly influenced by recent ethnopsychological research, Morton carefully critiques this approach and offers a revitalized ethnopsychology that takes account of gender, power relations, and historical processes. Drawing on recent work in sociology, linguis-tics, and developmental psychology, Morton uses an interactive model of socialization, which, rather than portraying children as passive, malleable receptors of cultural knowledge, emphasizes their agency and the significance of their interactions with caregivers and others. Based on anthropological fieldwork and her experiences in Tonga over several years, Morton traces the Tongan socialization process-from being vale (ignorant, socially incompetent) to becoming poto (clever, socially competent) —in fascinating detail. Becoming poto is primarily a matter of understanding hierarchical relations: how they operate in practice, the cultural values associated with them, their impact on the expression of emotion, and the complex intersections of hierarchy and gender. Becoming Tongan fully investigates these forms of knowledge and the primary contexts in which they are acquired and practiced, such as within the family, at school, and at play. The socialization of emotion is also given detailed attention, especially the management of anger and the emphasis on emotional restraint.