what is Tahitian literature?

Tahiti occupies a prominent place in the European imagination of islands of happiness since the voyage of Bougainville. The endemic tiare flower, with its strong, jasmine-like smell, epitomizes this vision of southern earthly paradise that attracted Paul Gauguin, and many other French, who often crossed the oceans only to discover the mediocrity and boredom of colonial life. Since Bougainville, there has been relatively abundant literature on Tahiti written by the French; on the other hand, the 21st century brings about the paradise that writes back to its metropolis, in search of a more authentic ma'ohi identity. Such novels as Titaua Peu’s Mutismes (2003) and Pina (2017) are among the most famous examples of this new Francophone writing. Pina is a deeply felt novel depicting the colonial trauma inherited by a nine-year-old girl. The child is the keeper of the secrets of her family, too hard to bear even for the adults. Although the family descends from Mā’ohi warriors, the legacy the little girl recieves is but a crushing burden.

I have read

Titaua Peu, Pina (2017)
Paul Gauguin, Noa Noa (1901)

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I have written

... nothing ...

Gauguin's Tahitian journal

Noa Noa is a manuscript consisting in 38 large pages written by Paul Gauguin in 1891, as he arrived at Pape'ete, Tahiti. He arrives at the moment the old king is dead. Il y avait un roi de moins et avec lui disparaissaient les derniers vestiges d'habitudes maories. C'était bien fini: rien que des Civilisés. J'étais triste; venir de si loin pour... (p. 37)


Paul Gauguin, Noa Noa, texte établi et annoté par Pierre Petit, Jean-Jacques Pauvert, 1988.