Pacific Islander Identity in Literature
Pacific Islander identity in literature encompasses a rich tapestry of themes reflecting the unique experiences and struggles of Pacific Islanders. Key elements include the effects of colonialism, intergenerational conflict, and the tension between assimilation and cultural preservation. The literary tradition began to flourish in English during the mid-20th century, influenced by global movements such as decolonization and civil rights. Early works often chronicled the experiences of various immigrant communities, such as Chinese settlers in Hawaii, while more recent literature features distinct voices from indigenous authors. Significant milestones in this literary evolution include notable anthologies and award-winning novels that have highlighted the diverse perspectives within the Pacific Islands. Contemporary writers, such as Lani Wendt Young and Kristiana Kahakauwila, continue to explore themes of identity, belonging, and cultural resilience, contributing to a vibrant literary landscape. The ongoing development of Pacific Island literature reflects a conscious effort to articulate and celebrate the multifaceted identities of these communities in a global context.
Pacific Islander Identity in Literature
Background
A web of themes, shaped by the angst of acculturation or assimilation, or by intergenerational conflict, or by a legacy of colonialism, or by continuing resistance to economic and cultural oppression, threads its way through the tapestry of much English-language literature written by Pacific Islanders.
Creative writing in English by Pacific Island writers, immigrants, and children of immigrants has been around since the islands had substantial contact with English-speaking peoples of the West. Evolution of themes over time in English-language Pacific Island writing points to significant development of attitudes and perspectives; fundamental themes, however, are remarkably similar.
Assimilation into Western ways and intergenerational conflict, for example, are old themes in literature of the Pacific Islands. James Chun’s short story “In the Camp” (1920) is one of the few accounts available concerning plantation life in Hawaii for early Chinese immigrants. Bessie Lai’s Ah Ya, I Still Remember (1976), recounts the experiences of Chinese immigrants after their arrival in Hawaii in 1859.
Much literature about Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia was written by outsiders. Among the seminal literary works published by Pacific Islanders, however, is Florence Frisbie’s Miss Ulysses of Puka (1948), an autobiographical story of her life with her grandfather on the island of Pukapuka, one of the Cook Islands. The first novel may be Makutu (1960), by Tom Davis and Lydia Davis. For the most part, however, poetry, fiction, and drama written in English by indigenous writers did not start to emerge until the 1960s and 1970s. This literature is part of the process of decolonization and the cultural revival taking place in the region. It was inspired by anticolonial struggles in Ireland, Africa, the Caribbean, and India, the civil rights movement in the United States, the international student protest movement, and the opposition to the Vietnam War.
In Hawaii, there is a literary history in English. Hawaiian literature is lively and vibrant and concerns itself with making a contemporary Asian American life in Hawaii. There are tales of settlers, generations, and languages. Western and Eastern traditions have blended in Hawaii, as have peoples of different ethnic provenance. A significant number of works, written since the 1920s, is readily accessible in various literary journals and collections.
Pacific writing’s coming into its own was signaled by three events: the appearance of Samoan writer Albert Wendt’s anthology Lali: A Pacific Anthology (1980), a representative selection of prose and poetry in English from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Samoa; the critical study South Pacific Literature: From Myth to Fabulation (1985); and the award-winning novel The Bone People (1985), by New Zealand writer Keri Hulme. Works usually identified as marking the beginnings of an authentic Pacific literature also include Papua New Guinean politician Albert Maori Kiki’s autobiography, Kiki: Ten Thousand Years in a Lifetime (1968); Papua New Guinean Vincent Eri’s novel The Crocodile (1970); short story collections by a pair of Maori writers, Witi Ihimaera (Pounamu, Pounamu, 1972) and Patricia Grace (Waiariki, 1975); and Wendt’s novels Sons for the Return Home (1973) and Leaves of the Banyan Tree (1979), among others.
Themes of assimilation may be found in Fijian Jo Nicola’s collection of plays, I Native No More (1976); Papua New Guinean Nora Vagi Brash’s radio dramas The High Cost of Living Differently (1976) and Which Way, Big Man? (1977); Solomon Islander Jully Sipolo’s poetry book Civilized Call Girl (1981); Aboriginal Australian Monica Clare’s Karobran: The Story of an Aboriginal Girl (1978); Aboriginal Australian Sally Morgan’s autobiography, My Place (1987); and Australian Faith Bandler’s historical study, Turning the Tide (1989). Writers of these and other works are participants in a conscious drive by Pacific Islanders to develop written literatures.
In the twenty-first century, a new generation of Pacific Island writers came to the fore, many publishing poetry and short story collections. Notable short story collections include Afakasi Woman (2012) by Samoan writer Lani Wendt Young, This Is Paradise (2013) by Hawaiian writer Kristiana Kahakauwila, and Black Ice Matter (2016) by Fijian writer Gina Cole. New Zealand writer Tina Makereti published the standout intergenerational novel Where the Rēkohu Bone Sings in 2014, while notable poetry collections include My Urohs (2008) by Micronesian writer Emelihter Kihleng and Iep Jaltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter (2017) by Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner of the Marshall Islands.
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