Cette thèse propose une exploration qualitative et quantitative des conditions dans lesquelles l’ethnie des Makina du Gabon se transforme au contact d’autres ethnies et au contact du monde urbain qui se construit à différentes échelles à travers le pays. La conclusion est que l’ethnie doit être déconstruite en diverses composantes qui connaissent des rythmes d’évolution qui sont objectivables dans leurs formes historiques et géographiques. Ce résultat est atteint par l’analyse contextualisée de 747 données individuelles qui – sur une durée globale d’un siècle – sont tour à tour référées au changement d’ethnonyme, au déplacement des villages, au changement de la langue pratiquée, à la modification des règles de mariage, à la transformation lente des noms de lignages et celle plus rapide des noms de personnes. La différence de vitesse de transformation de chacune des composantes structurantes de l’ethnie donne ainsi une configuration polyrythmique qui remet en cause les conceptions holistes de l’ethnie en leur préférant une dynamique de l’hétérogénéité. / The main proposal of this doctoral dissertation is an insightful study of the historical, linguistic and anthropological transformations of the Makina, an ethnic group of Northern and Eastern Gabon. These transformations are referred to the change, during the last century, of the original ethnonym as well as that of the language, of matrimonial rules, and finally of clan and person naming. On the whole, the author’s demonstration leads to the evidence of a rhythmical pattern in change, even a polyrhythmical one, as the differences in speed between different components of an ethnic group may be interpreted as a multi rhythmical transformation system. 81 genealogical diagrams and over 747 individual data collected on fieldwork give strong support to the different aspects of the author’s thesis.

This is a study of coming to know what it is to be Paamese. The work seeks to present an anthropological understanding of ontological concerns that constitute a Paamese perception of subjectivities. I take my lead from Paamese perceptions that the internal capacities of subjects or “things” (e.g. persons, villages, islands, and movement itself) are revealed through relations with others. This correlates with anthropology’s methodology of testing its analytical strategies through the ethnographic practices of others in order to reach more accurate representations. Paamese, as is common elsewhere in Vanuatu and Melanesia, have an extremely fluid attitude towards sociality and easily accommodate urban dwelling without leaving Paama behind. I suggest that a nuanced multi-positioned approach in which several aspects of Paamese sociality are considered from a point of limitation employed by Paamese to focus an event, such as a marriage exchange, will present a better understanding of how these subjectivities, that is Paamese people and Paama Island, adhere such that they do not part company wherever they go. Paamese suggest that each event should be considered as if following a single branch in the canopy of a tree – a scalable perception that offers the promise that a multi-faceted approach will reveal a replicable form. I take this approach to specificity seriously and employ a looping aesthetic, measi, adapted from Paamese sand-drawing in order to consider the shifting concerns expressed by Paamese perceptions of out (place), āmal (agnatic clans), sise (road), vatte (origin), ara (blood) and asi (bone). I suggest that these, parts, can be considered together as a holography for how to come to know what it is to be Paamese.