Vanuatuan literature
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The literature of Vanuatu, understood in the strict sense of written literature, began in the 1960s.


History

What existed in precolonial Vanuatu was – and still is –
oral literature Oral literature, orature or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung as opposed to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used vary ...
, in the form of folk tales,
myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
s, legends, sung
poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
... transmitted by
word of mouth Word of mouth, or ''viva voce'', is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one pe ...
across generations. Writing and literacy were introduced by
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
and formal schools from the colonial period; the idea of using this technology for artistic purposes emerged late, and has been mostly restricted to urban social circles influenced by Western practices. The emergence of
ni-Vanuatu Ni-Vanuatu (informally abbreviated Ni-Van) is a large group of closely related Melanesians, Melanesian ethnic groups native to the island country of Vanuatu. As such, ''Ni-Vanuatu'' are a mixed ethnolinguistic group with a shared ethnogenesis tha ...
written literature Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...
took place in the context of the development of indigenous
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
literature in the Pacific region as a whole, beginning in the late 1960s. In 1968, the founding of the
University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public university, public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and ...
in
Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...
provided a stimulus for Pacific Islander literary aspirations."English in the South Pacific"
, John Lynch and France Mugler, University of the South Pacific
Creative writing courses and workshops were set up. The South Pacific Arts Society was founded at the university in 1973, and published Pacific Islander literature (poetry and short stories) in the magazine ''Pacific Islands Monthly''. In 1974, the Society founded the publishing house Mana Publications, followed in 1976 by the art and literature journal '' Mana''. The journal published the first anthologies of ni-Vanuatu poetry. Arguably Vanuatu's foremost literary figure was feminist poet Grace Molisa (1946-2002). ''
The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...
'' has described her poems as "a biting social commentary on life in patriarchal, post-colonial Vanuatu." She wrote both in
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
and in
Bislama Bislama (; ; also known by its earlier French name, ) is an English-based creole language and one of the official languages of Vanuatu. It is the first language of many of the "Urban ni-Vanuatu" (citizens who live in Port Vila and Luganville) ...
. In 2007,
francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...
singer-songwriter, musician and author Marcel Melthérorong (fr) published the first ever novel written by a Vanuatuan, through the Alliance Française: ''Tôghàn''. His novel touched upon the sense of rootlessness of Pacific Islander youth, trying to find their bearings between Melanesian and Western values. When it was re-edited in 2009, Nobel Prize in Literature winner
Jean-Marie Le Clézio Jean-Marie is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Jean-Marie Abgrall (born 1950), a French psychiatrist, criminologist, specialist in forensic medicine, cult expert, and graduate in criminal law * Jean-Marie Ch ...
wrote the preface, celebrating "a new and original voice" in francophone literature. Vanuatu's literary scene is also notable for the Wan Smolbag community theatre group, established in 1989. The group writes and performs plays, in English and in Bislama, addressing educational topics such as "malaria and AIDS prevention, hurricane preparedness and domestic violence". Wan Smolbag performs regional tours in the South Pacific, and its plays are available on video throughout the region, where they are used for educational purposes. The theatre describes itself as using "drama to inform, raise awareness and encourage public discussion on a range of contemporary health, lifestyle, environment and governance issues".Wan Smolbag Theatre website


References

{{Oceanian topic, , literature
Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...