Conversations in Creative cultures: Weekly Blog post 7

Outline some of the considerations regarding Pacific identities using Hau'ofa's "The ocean in us" and Wendt's "Towards a new Oceania" to support your discussion: (227 words)

In reading Wendt's “Towards a new Oceania” I became aware of a few things we must consider when discussing Pacific identities. Wendt discusses that the pre-papalagi culture wasn’t perfect and needed to be developed to move forward in society. Part 2: Some questions and possible answers (cited source 1, page 11.) really resonated with me on this topic and the idea that who is to say what is ‘traditional culture’ in its purest. I also believe that when considering pacific identities it is important to consider the large impact the colonizers and other cultures had in creating a diverse Oceania as there are no societies that have never come into contact with another culture by this point in modern society. Combining these pre-papalagi cultures and ‘foreign’ cultures is the best way to move forward and create a new Oceania that understands the good and bad from these previous cultures and moves forward to combine all the best aspects making a modern and ever-changing, diverse culture. Personally I do not wish to refer to Hau’ofa's “The ocean in us” as I believe it was too idealistic and due to it being written so close to the turn of the century it relies on the idea that in the next century someone else will come and create this new culture as opposed to discussing how this new culture could be crafted.

Select one term or phrase from either reading that is new to you and provide a critical definition: (21 words)

Aitu: Samoan or Polynesian word for malicious spirits or ghosts. Can also refer to demons, calamity, or general bad and evil. (found in cited source 1, page 10).

Cited Sources:

Wendt, Albert. "Towards a new Oceania". Readings in Pacific literature, Ed. Paul Sharrad, New Literatures Research Centre University of Wollongong, 1976, pp. 9-19.
Hau’ofa, Epeli. "The ocean in us". The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 10, no. 2, 1998, pp. 392-410.