what is Samoan literature?
Arguably, the first Lapita settlers came to Samoa between 2500 and 15oo BC. It was the last stage of a great migration from Southeast Asia and Melanesia. There is thus a close cultural and genetic link between Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga. Oral literature transmits genealogies speaking of interisland travels and intermarriage inside the microcosm of these archipelagos. One of the most remarkable figures is a woman warrior Nafanua, deified in the ancient Samoan religion. Another powerful woman was queen Salamasina.
The oral texts also speak of Malietoa, the lineage of the contemporary ruling family Sā Malietoa, who defeated the Tongans in the 13th century. Another ruling family is the Sā Tupua, the descendants of Salamasina. Overall, the whole matai social system (based on ancient, precolonial lineages) has survived relatively unscathed the colonial period.
The contacts with Europeans began in 1722, when the Dutch sailor, Jacob Roggeveen, visited the islands. The next visit was that of Bougainville in 1768. Next one was the arrival of the American whalers from Nantucket in 1824. More stable and accentuated colonial presence started in 1830s with the arrival of English missionaries.
The entrance of Samoa into written world literature may be associated with Robert Louis Stevenson and his 1892 book, A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa, where he described both the indigenous intrigues and the rivalry of the global powers: United States, Germany, and Britain. This interest in Samoa was justified by the perspectives of copra (dried coconut kernels) and cocoa production, the economic basis of the German Samoa (1900-1914) in the western part of the archipelago, followed by New Zealand rule in 1914-1961; in 1962, the independent state of Western Samoa appeared. The eastern part, mostly for strategic reasons, was occupied by the United States. Both parts were unified only in 1997.
In the contemporary culture, the concept of fa'a Samoa (the traditional Samoan way of life) remains productive. The most visible writer is Albert Wendt, living in New Zealand, where his novels Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree and Sons for the Return Home were made into movies. Another touching Samoan movie is a concise, black and white image O Tamaiti (The Children), by the female director equally active in New Zealand, Sima Urale. It narrates the story of five children (the sixth is just a new-born baby) who fend for themselves among the temptations of the modern consumerist culture (cans of Coke, video games, etc.) and domestic violence. They assume the responsibilities well beyond their age, those responsibilities that the adults are unable or not quite willing to assume; no wonder that the baby dies. During the burial, they look with apprehension at their mother's belly, for yet another charge upon their shoulders could make them collapse.
The oral texts also speak of Malietoa, the lineage of the contemporary ruling family Sā Malietoa, who defeated the Tongans in the 13th century. Another ruling family is the Sā Tupua, the descendants of Salamasina. Overall, the whole matai social system (based on ancient, precolonial lineages) has survived relatively unscathed the colonial period.
The contacts with Europeans began in 1722, when the Dutch sailor, Jacob Roggeveen, visited the islands. The next visit was that of Bougainville in 1768. Next one was the arrival of the American whalers from Nantucket in 1824. More stable and accentuated colonial presence started in 1830s with the arrival of English missionaries.
The entrance of Samoa into written world literature may be associated with Robert Louis Stevenson and his 1892 book, A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa, where he described both the indigenous intrigues and the rivalry of the global powers: United States, Germany, and Britain. This interest in Samoa was justified by the perspectives of copra (dried coconut kernels) and cocoa production, the economic basis of the German Samoa (1900-1914) in the western part of the archipelago, followed by New Zealand rule in 1914-1961; in 1962, the independent state of Western Samoa appeared. The eastern part, mostly for strategic reasons, was occupied by the United States. Both parts were unified only in 1997.
In the contemporary culture, the concept of fa'a Samoa (the traditional Samoan way of life) remains productive. The most visible writer is Albert Wendt, living in New Zealand, where his novels Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree and Sons for the Return Home were made into movies. Another touching Samoan movie is a concise, black and white image O Tamaiti (The Children), by the female director equally active in New Zealand, Sima Urale. It narrates the story of five children (the sixth is just a new-born baby) who fend for themselves among the temptations of the modern consumerist culture (cans of Coke, video games, etc.) and domestic violence. They assume the responsibilities well beyond their age, those responsibilities that the adults are unable or not quite willing to assume; no wonder that the baby dies. During the burial, they look with apprehension at their mother's belly, for yet another charge upon their shoulders could make them collapse.
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