Polynesian Performances in France: Spaces of Ethnic Reassertion and Racial Reconfiguration

This article examines the mechanisms by which ethnic and racial identities are produced and claimed by people from French Polynesia involved in Polynesian performances in mainland France. Based on field interviews and observations conducted mainly in the Var and Finistère French departments, the study reveals how participants in Tahitian dance or rugby spaces redefine, reassert, and sometimes biologize their Polynesian identity and skills. In these contexts, Polynesian performances have been shown to act as ethnic resources with a symbolic and material value, that contribute to self-racialization. While racialization, in mainland France, is mostly imposed on Polynesians, it has also been found to be a strategy of resistance used to regain agency, reclaim “positive” stereotypes, valorize their cultural heritage, and thereby wage a subtle fight against their minoritization.