Inside Out: Literature, Cultural Politics, and Identity in the New Pacific(Pacific Formations: Global Relations in Asian and Pacific Perspectives)

In a time of dynamism and contradiction in Pacific cultural production, a time of 'turning things over' and 'writing from the inside out,' this far-reaching volume provides a comprehensive set of essays and interviews on the emergent literatures of the New Pacific. With its dynamic combination of important position papers, polemics, and decolonizing critiques by noted authors and of analysis by new and established post-colonial scholars, this volume exposes 'the maze and mix of literatures and cultural identities breaking down and building up across the Pacific Ocean.' This pioneering work will be the definitive resource for anyone researching or teaching Pacific literature and will be invaluable for bringing Pacific culture to readers outside the region.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Toward Imagining a New Pacific Part 3 Writers Speak About Their Work Chapter 4 Writing in Captivity: Poetry in a Time of De-Colonization Chapter 5 Influences on Writing Chapter 6 An Interview with Patricia Grace Chapter 7 An Interview with Albert Wendt Chapter 8 An Interview with Alan Duff Chapter 9 A Promise of Renewal: An Interview with Epeli Hau'ofa Part 10 Historical Perspective on the Pacific: Some Overviews Chapter 11 Our Sea of Islands Chapter 12 Representations of Cultural Identities Chapter 13 Developments on Creative Writing in West Polynesia: Fitting the Self into the Mosaic of the Contemporary Pacific Chapter 14 Reluctant Voices into Otherness: Practice and Appraisal in Papua New Guinea Literature Chapter 15 In Search of a Written Fagogo: Contemporary Pacific Literature for Children Chapter 16 Reading Gauguin's Noa Noa with Hau'ofa's Nederends: Militourism, Feminism, and the Polynesian Body Part 17 Creation and Criticism: Resisting Orientalism, Situating Literature Chapter 18 Resisting Orientalism: Pacific Literature in French Chapter 19 Fearful apprehensions that consumed me: The Seen of Cannibalism in Charles Wilkes's Narritive and Herman Melville's Typee Chapter 20 Theory Verses Pacific Islands Writing: Toward a Tama'ita'i Criticism of the Works of Three Pacific Women Poets Chapter 21 Where the Spirits Laugh Last: Comic Theater in Samoa Chapter 22 Wrestling with the Angel: Pacific Criticism and Harry Dansey's Te Raukura Chapter 23 In Whose Face?: An Essay on the Work of Alan Duff Chapter 24 Talking Chief: The Role of the Critic in the Colonized Pacific Chapter 25 Preparing to Retheorize the Texts of Oceania Chapter 26 Bloody Mary Meets Lois-Ann Yamanaka: Imagining Hawai'ian Locality: From South Pacific to Bamboo Ridge and Beyond Chapter 27 De-Colonizing Hawaiian Literature Chapter 28 Tatauing the Postcolonial Body Part 29 Afterword Chapter 30 Pacific Literature at the End of the Twentieth Century

About the Author :
A playwright and scholar, Vilsoni Hereniko is associate professor of Pacific Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and editor of the Talanoa series of Pacific literature. His recent plays include Last Virgin in Paradise and Fine Dancing. A poet and scholar, Rob Wilson is professor of English at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. His publications include American Sublime and Asia/Pacific as Space of Cultural Production.

Review :
Weighty and comprehensive collection of twenty four new articles about literature, cultural politics, and identity in the 'New Pacific.' Each contributor writes with a unique voice. One of the book's greatest strengths is its presentation of new perspective, analysis, and historical and cultural information. An important book which will be of great value to teachers, researchers, and others interested in Pacific literature and cultures. The volume provides multiple views on many compelling issues in literature from Pacific.