Dumont d'Urvilles Oceania

Abstract

Dumont d'Urville's 1832 popular division of Oceania into the enduring 'provinces' of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia created a geographic and intellectual framework for much recent and previous research in the social sciences. Despite criticism and alternative renderings, there is no evidence that Dumont d'Urville's tripartite division of the Pacific, now more than 170 years old, is in any danger of being replaced. It is necessary, therefore, to periodically re-examine the historical development of his three geo-culture areas and the conceptual issues that arise from their deployment in modern contexts. Show more