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Varua Tupu: New Writing from French Polynesia (Manoa)

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`Polynesians must write...they must write and express themselves. It doesn't matter what language they use...' These were the words of Henry Hiro, one of the inspirational figures behind the early resurgence of Ma'ohi culture in French Polynesia during the 1960s and 1970s. Sadly, he was to die in his forties, as was Bobby Holcomb, the Hawaiian artist-singer, many of whose wonderfully spontaneous tableaux depicting the people and the islands that he adopted and loved are reproduced in this anthology of new writing from French Polynesia. The objective of this book is to give air to the literature and art of the territory isolated linguistically (literally rather than orally) from all other major Polynesian island groups by virtue of its French colonial heritage.
Discouragement of Tahitian (the Polynesian lingua franca of French Polynesian) by the authorities was intense up until the 1970s, often resulting in punishment for its use by children in schools. This meant that a large part of the population became economically, politically and culturally disenfranchised. It was a long period of silence. That was why Henry Hiro stressed the need to write. However, there was a body of unfavourable criticism of indigenous writing. This was largely because indigenous writers had the temerity to cast doubt on the myth that everything European was progressive and everything Polynesian was backward. And needless to say they were especially critical of the bloody-minded continuation of nuclear testing on two atolls up until 1996. Even during the making of this compilation the University of French Polynesia effectively denied the existence of an indigenous literature as late as 2002.
This volume is an attempt to correct that misconception. It includes contrasting excerpts from Celestine Hitiura Vaite's rather feel-good Matarena Mahi trilogy (written in English), and Titaua Peu's `Mutismes', a more disturbing take on Tahitian life, with its unflinching portrayal of domestic violence. Other highlights include an interview with Henry Hiro followed by three of his poems, an excerpt from Taaria Walker's autobiography in which she relates her experience of coming from the outer island of Rurutu to Papeete as a schoolgirl in the 1930s, Louise Peltzer's fictionalised version of the arrival of the London Missionary Society on Tahiti, and Michel Chansin's evocative collection of black and white photos from the troubled district of Fa'a'a, centre of immigration from the outer islands and of the movement for independence. However, the point of entry for anyone genuinely interested in literature from a Ma'ohi point of view (in French Polynesia) should be Chantal Spitz's angry but heartfelt `Îles des rêves écrasés', now available in English as `Island of Shattered Dreams', a work not included in this anthology and which I consider a serious omission.
This is a beautifully presented and illustrated book and, though rather brief in actual text, should achieve its aim of introducing English speakers to the new literature and art of French Polynesia, emerging after decades of cultural suppression.