Oceanian (Australasian, Melanesian, Micronesian, and Polynesian) literature developed in isolation from the rest of the world and in a unique geographical environment. This allowed the development of a unique literature to thrive. Oceanian literature was heavily influenced by
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
and
ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...
. This can be seen by the large amount of
religious symbol
A religious symbol is an iconic representation intended to represent a specific religion, or a specific concept within a given religion.
Religious symbols have been used in the military in many countries, such as the United States military chapl ...
ism featured in it.
Another major influence in Oceanian society was its intricate
oral tradition
Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985) ...
. For a long time, most Oceanian literature was not written down. As a result, stock formulas and
rhyming
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...
were used in many works (these traits made it easier to memorize). Gods, creation myths, and spirits are also prominent in Oceanian literature, showcasing again the influence oral tradition had on the literature of Oceania.
Modern Oceanian literature is mainly written in the
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
but also feature different languages and
speech. Literatures of Oceania particularly that of the Pacific have long been isolated from mainstream and traditional movements of literature in the West. The ocean carries a lot of symbolism and meaning to the cultures and people that have travelled through, in which largely has impacted the literary cultures and historical narratives in Oceania.
List of countries and territories
Prominent writers by country
Australia
Fiji
French Polynesia
Kiribati
Marshall Islands
Micronesia, Federated States of
Nauru
New Zealand
Palau
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
See also
*
African literature
*
Asian literature Asian literature is the literature produced in Asia.
Examples
*East Asian literature
** Chinese literature
**Japanese literature
**Korean literature
** Mongolian literature
** Taiwanese literature
*South Asian literature
**Indian literature
**Pakis ...
*
Latin American literature
Latin American literature consists of the oral and written literature of Latin America in several languages, particularly in Spanish, Portuguese, and the indigenous languages of the Americas. It rose to particular prominence globally during the ...
*
Oceanian culture
Oceanian culture encompasses the collective and diverse customs and traditions of art, architecture, music, literature, lifestyle, philosophy, politics and religion that have been practiced and maintained by the many ethnic groups of the geograph ...
*
Western literature
Western literature, also known as European literature, is the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, as well as several geographically or historically related languages such as Basque and Hungarian, an ...
References
Citations
'Oceanic literature' Guiart, Jean in ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved on December 14, 2007.
*Goetzfridt, Nicholas J. (1995). ''Indigenous Literature of Oceania: A Survey of Criticism and Interpretation,'' Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
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