East Asian & Pacific Ocean Literatures & Cultures
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Retrospective Bibliographies
Z 450l.072 (Illinois State University) O'Reilly, Patrick, and Édouard Reitman. Bibliographie de Tahiti et de la Polynésie française. Publications de la Société des Océanistes, no. 14. Paris: Musée de l'Homme, 1967. 1046 pp.
An extensive French-language bibliography that, according to the authors' claim, treats all of the writings published in French Polynesia (including Tahiti, the Iles Sous-le-Vent, the Archipel des Marquises, the Archipel des Tuamotu, the Iles du Vent, and the Austral Islands, as well as a few isolated islets, such as Rapa) up to 1965, regardless of genre, language, or publication date. The 10,501 entries are classified into several major categories (Bibliographies and Reference Works, Travel, Geology, Botany, Zoology, Geography, Ethnology, History, Economics, Medicine, Literature, Fine Arts, Periodicals), which are further divided into subcategories. All entries are annotated. An alphabetized index of the names of people, topics, islands, and even of the boats used to explore the area, along with a system of cross-references, helps readers navigate the bibliography.
Z 4805.O7 (Southern Illinois University) O'Reilly, Patrick. Bibliographie methodique, analytique, et critique de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Publications de la Société des Océanistes, no. 4. Paris: Musée de l'Homme, 1955. 361 pp.
This general, annotated bibliography was commissioned by the Parisian Committee on the Centennial of the French Presence in New Caledonia because no extensive bibliography of the region had previously been published. Includes over 4,000 entries on French- and English-language works in 13 main categories (Bibliographies and Reference Works, Travel, Geology, Botany, Zoology, Geography, Ethnology, History, Economics, Medical Science, Literature, Local Periodicals, and Cartography). Most of these general categories are further divided into subcategories, and a detailed table of contents makes it easy for users to find specific subjects of interest. The volume also includes an introduction by the author explaining his aims and criteria for selection; an index of authors, other figures, periodicals, topics, and ships; and an alphabetized list of New-Caledonian periodicals.
DU 760.O75 1958 (Southern Illinois University) O'Reilly, Patrick. Bibliographie methodique, analytique, et critique des Nouvelles-Hébrides. Publications de la Société des Océanistes, no. 8. Paris: Musée de l'Homme, 1958. 304 pp.
This is the first extensive bibliography of the New Hebrides (now called Vanuatu) ever published. The classification system and presentation are similar to those of the above work (Bibliographie... de la Nouvelle-Calédonie). The index and table of contents are quite detailed, making this volume another very user-friendly retrospective bibliography.
919.08 S678p no. 32 (Southern Illinois University) Hanson, F. Allan and Patrick O'Reilly. Bibliographie de Rapa, Polynésie Française. Publications de la Société des Océanistes, no. 32. Paris: Musée de l'Homme, 1973. 53 pp.
Entries are grouped into seven main categories of printed works (Notices, Travel, Natural Sciences, Ethnology, History, Economics and Transportation, and Demographics) and a section on the documents in three different archives in London and France. In the Notices (works written by authors who never visited Rapa) and Travel sections, entries are listed chronologically; in the remaining sections, entries are alphabetized by the last names of the authors. Includes an index of authors, other individuals mentioned in titles or notes, titles, topics, and boats mentioned in the entries.
Literary Histories & Criticism
840.9 M725 (Mod. Lang. & Ling.) Kato, Haruhisa, dir. La modernité française dans l'Asie littéraire: Chine, Corée, Japon. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2004. 403 pp.
A collection of recent papers that discuss the relationship between France and East Asia (specifically, China, Korea, and Japan) in terms of culture, literature, and language. The section on literature discusses the reception of certain 19th- and 20th-century French literary works and movements in Asia as well as contemporary Chinese literature in France.
Mateata-Allain, Kareva. "Ma'ohi Women Writers of Colonial French Polynesia: Passive Resistance toward a Post(-) colonial Literature." University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Copyright 2003 by Kareva Mateata-Allain. Last accessed 12 November 2007. http://social.chass.ncsu.edu/jouvert/v7i2/mateat.htm
This paper examines the lack of scholarship on Ma'ohi writers, despite their active literary production since the 1980s. Mateata-Allain notes that one reason for this gap in Francophone studies is that it is hard to access Ma'ohi works outside of Tahiti, where they are published locally. She also asserts that France has appeared reluctant to publish or study Ma'ohi literature, perhaps due to a Western desire to perpetuate the myth of Tahiti as a simple paradise and to disregard intellectual works that may contradict this myth. The author examines the importance of Ma'ohi literature as a means of liberating the Ma'ohi people from their long-standing French colonial identity. She discusses the work of several Ma'ohi authors, particularly women, whose writing is largely unknown outside of Polynesia and is indeed difficult to access in the United States. Her essay is followed by a list of works cited that includes primary and secondary sources.
996.211 N544w (Main Stacks) & DU 870.N53 2001 (Northern Illinois University) Nicole, Robert. The Word, the Pen, and the Pistol: Literature and Power in Tahiti. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001. 230 pp.
Nicole discusses how certain images of Polynesia and its people were created and perpetuated by influential Frenchmen such as Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, Pierre Loti, Paul Gauguin, and Joseph Arthur de Gobineau, and how these simplified images of Tahiti as "paradise on earth" and of the "Noble Savage" have distorted the much more complex reality of life in the South Pacific. Nicole borrows from writings by Michel Foucault and Edward Said as he examines the effects of colonization in Tahiti and the reactions of the Maohi people to Western representations of their culture. The final chapter explores more recent trends in Maohi writing in French as a promising move "toward a literature of liberation." Includes a 15-page bibliography and an index of people places, and topics.
840.9 M3372t (Main Stacks) Margueron, Daniel. Tahiti dans toute sa littérature. Paris: L'Harmattan, 1989. 469 pp.
An extensive study of Oceanic literature, from French authors' writings about the area since its colonization in the late 18th century to the emerging Francophone literature by native Polynesians in the 1980s. Margueron discusses travel literature, novels, essays, short stories, poetry, and theater, pointing out the contradictions, paradoxes, and prejudices upon which much French Oceanic literature has traditionally been based. He examines the "Oceanic myth" of the noble savage and of a return to a certain Golden Age of innocence, as represented by painters such as Gauguin and Matisse, writers including Loti and Simenon, filmmakers such as Méliès, and travelers who published accounts of their time visiting the region. This work stands in contrast to traditional Western assumptions about the cultures of the South Pacific and points the way to a postmodern, postcolonial reconsideration of these cultures. Includes general and critical bibliographies; an index of authors, critics, and works; and an index of proper names.
840.93 N4996v (Mod. Lang. & Ling.) Nguyen, Nathalie Huynh Chau. Vietnamese Voices: Gender and Cultural Identity in the Vietnamese Francophone Novel. DeKalb, Illinois: Southeast Asia Publications, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University, 2003. 239 pp.
A study of the impact of French colonialism and, later, decolonization on Francophone Vietnamese writers. Special focus on the differences between how male and female authors construct gender and cultural identities in their novels. Includes bibliographical references and an index of authors, titles, and topics.
Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
299.92 C844d (Education Library) Craig, Robert D., ed. Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1989. 409 pp.
Several hundred entries on the gods, goddesses, and the most important mortals that figure in Polynesian myths; the information in these entries was gleaned from nearly 300 sources in English, German, French, and the Polynesian languages of Tahitian, Hawaiian, Maori, etc. The majority of these sources are concerned mainly with Hawaii, New Zealand, Samoa, and Tahiti, since these areas were the focal points of most 19th-century ethnographers in the Pacific. The entries are arranged alphabetically by the major figure within each story in question; characters who are mentioned but who do not have citations of their own can be found in the index. Cross-references are indicated by asterisks, and sources for the synopses are briefly cited at the end of each entry. The introduction to the work briefly discusses the origin of the Polynesian people and their discoveries of the Pacific Islands. The 30-plus Polynesian languages spoken by the seafarers who settled the region are discussed at somewhat greater length, as are the general characteristics of the myths themselves. An appendix lists the various gods and goddesses by categories (e.g. "Cannibal Deities," "Creation Deities," "Eel Deities," etc.) An entertaining and useful source for those interested in learning about the gods and goddesses that figure in Polynesian literatures.
Q.990.0321 H629 (Main Stacks) Craig, Robert D. and Frank P. King, eds. Historical Dictionary of Oceania. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1981. 392 pp.
Black-and-white maps.The entries in this work, which are arranged alphabetically, include names of places, people, organizations, and topics related to the Pacific (for example, "alcohol in the Pacific" and "Anglican missions"). Entries on places provide brief histories of these areas as well as descriptions of their geography and populations. Entries on people give brief biographical information and explain their importance to the region. At the end of each entry are lists of related entries and of sources and recommended readings. Includes 19 maps of the island groups of the Pacific, several appendices (a historical chronology, a chronology of European explorers of the Pacific Islands, individuals by occupation, and more), a select bibliography, name and subject indexes, and a descriptive listing of contributors to the volume.
Anthology
840.8 L71854 (Mod. Lang. & Ling.) Joubert, Jean-Louis, Bouchand Siphanthong, et al. Littératures francophones d'Asie et du Pacifique: Anthologie. Paris: Nathan, 1997.
Part of a multi-volume series of anthologies of Francophone literatures, this volume provides a general introduction to French-language literature in Asia and the Pacific, as well as short essays on the Francophone literatures of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, India, China, Japan, New Caledonia, Polynesia, Vanuatu, and on several French writers' works about southeast Asian and Oceanic cultures. The anthology includes a chronology of historical events and literary developments and excerpts from poems, poetry in prose, travel journals, autobiography, short stories, myths, novels, and theater, from the 18th and 19th centuries up to the late 20th century. Includes indexes of authors cited and of genres and literary forms, plus a short glossary. Intended for use by secondary and college students, the work also offers pedagogical materials such as discussion questions alongside the literary excerpts.
840.9 M725 (Mod. Lang. & Ling.) Kato, Haruhisa, dir. La modernité française dans l'Asie littéraire: Chine, Corée, Japon. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2004. 403 pp.
A collection of recent papers that discuss the relationship between France and East Asia(specifically, China, Korea, and Japan) in terms of culture, literature, and language. The section on language discusses the teaching of French in China, Korea, and Japan, as well as issues related to translation between French and Asian languages.
Interdisciplinary Works
840.9 M725 (Mod. Lang. & Ling.) Kato, Haruhisa, dir. La modernité française dans l'Asie littéraire: Chine, Corée, Japon. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2004. 403 pp.
A collection of recent papers that discuss the relationship between France and East Asia (specifically, China, Korea, and Japan) in terms of culture, literature, and language. The section on general culture discusses cultural diversity, intellectualism, and modernization in East Asia.
996 Ou89 (Main Stacks) Dekker, Paul de [... et al], eds. L'Outre-mer français dans le Pacifique: Nouvelle-Calédonie, Polynésie française, Wallis-et-Futuna. Nouméa : Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, 2003. 282 pp.
with some color photographs and illustrations.A multidisciplinary collection of works intended to present a well-rounded perspective of the French Pacific at the beginning of the 21st century. The essays in the volume were written by a group of jurists, historians, anthropologists, linguists, geographers, and economists. The volume is organized in three main parts. The first part provides introductions to Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia, and Tahiti and discusses some of their commonalities and differences; the second part treats the cultures and institutions of the territories; and the third part explores the current status of the area in terms of its geopolitical relationships with France and the rest of Europe, local politics, education, languages, law, economy and finance, demographics, literature, and its role in seafaring. This work has the advantages of currency and of a multiplicity of viewpoints on the contemporary French Pacific.
996 P769 (Main Stacks) Fève, Guy, ed. Polynésie, Polynésiens, hier et aujourd'hui. Paris: L'Harmattan, 1997. 214 pp.
Nine studies of Polynesian culture and its representations in various disciplines, including sociolinguistics, sociology, history, education, literature, and psychology. The essays discuss, for example, French as it is spoken in Tahiti, the writing of Réo Maòhi in the Society Islands, relationships between children and young Tahitian mothers, how Polynesian high school students look at literature, and the motivations of students at the Ecole Normale Supérieure. Each essay is followed by a short bibliography.
996.211 Or3t (Main Stacks) O'Reilly, Patrick. Tahiti: La vie de chaque jour. Paris: Nouvelles Editions Latines, 1982. 325 pp.
In a general introduction, the author discusses Tahiti's geography and geological history in some detail, as well as its climate and landscape. A brief section by Bernard Merceron explains the different segments of the Tahitian population. The body of the text is divided into ten sections, treating the following aspects of Tahitian life: "mysterious" Tahitian cultural traditions, including tikis (statues believed to hold supernatural powers), native medicines, and walking on fire; domestic life; the presence of the Catholic, Evangelical, Mormon, and Adventist churches; political life; economics; social life; the mass media; tourism and nature; social gatherings; and scientific organizations. Includes a fairly detailed map of Tahiti(pp. 48-9). Throughout the work, relevant Maori expressions are introduced in italics. The detailed table of contents makes it easy to find specific topics of interest. This volume gives readers some basic knowledge of modern Tahiti.
306 Sa19c (History, Philosophy & Newspaper Library) Sahlins, Marshall. Culture in Practice: Selected Essays. New York: Zone Books, 2000. 646 pp.
A collection of academic and political writings by Marshall Sahlins, a renowned anthropologist, from the 1960s through the 1990s. Sahlins was concerned with the cultural interactions between European colonizers and indigenous peoples, in particular Pacific Islanders. Following a general introduction, the text is organized in three parts. Part One, "Culture," consists of "conceptual exercises" from the 1960s and 1970s about the nature of culture and differences between cultures. The essays in Part Two, "Practice," were written during the 1960s and were reflections on the American antiwar movement of the time. The author explains that these political essays "not only mediate the movement toward cultural specificity" from the more theoretical works in Part One to the more historically- and ethnographically-grounded texts in Part Three, "but also help to account for it." The pieces in Part Three, "Culture in Practice," were written in the 1980s and 1990s and discuss concrete historical facts, including the colonization of the South Pacific and its aftereffects. Includes an extensive bibliography and an index of people, places, and topics.
History
996.2 AL24F (History, Philosophy & Newspaper Library) Aldrich, Robert. France and the South Pacific Since 1940. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993. 413 pp.
A companion volume to Aldrich's The French Presence in the South Pacific, 1842-1940, this work treats the history of New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, and the New Hebrides (also known as Vanuatu) from World War II up to the early 1990s. A preface describing the scope of the work is followed by a black-and-white map of the contemporary South Pacific, along with more detailed maps of the areas that are the focus of the book. The introduction offers some basic background information on France's presence in the South Pacific prior to World War II; the main body of the text discusses the effects of the war on the area, the "[r]ecasting [of] the [c]olonial [o]rder," the economic history, populations and societies, and politics of these French Territories up to 1980, the conditions in the territories during the 1980s, and the nuclear testing conducted by the French government in this area beginning in the 1960s. A conclusion reflects upon the "[c]olonial [h]eritage" of the region. It is followed by extensive endnotes and references, a 14-page bibliography, and an index.
996.211Or3v (Main Stacks) O'Reilly, Patrick. La vie à Tahiti au temps de la reine Pomaré. Paris: Musée de l'Homme, 1975. 239 pp.
This work discusses Tahiti and the Society Islands during the reign of Queen Pomaré from 1827 until her death in 1877, treating topics including the life of the queen herself, the lives of the kanaks (native Polynesians) at the time, the legislature, commerce and merchants, religion, teaching, medicine, intellectual life, and entertainment. Bibliographical references are included in the endnotes.
Photographs & Illustrations
919.32 Or3n (Main Stacks) O'Reilly, Patrick, ed. Photographies de Nouvelle Calédonie. Paris: Nouvelles Editions Latines, 1978. 139 pp.
A collection of dozens of photographs taken in Nouméa, at l'Ile des pins (the Isle of Pines) , and in the countryside of New Caledonia by Englishman Allan Hughan in the late 19th century. Each photograph is accompanied by a caption explaining what or whom it depicts; landscapes, buildings, and people are represented. An introduction by O'Reilly provides fairly detailed information about the photographer, his clients, his work, and his equipment. The book also includes a bibliography of the albums from which this collection was compiled.
993.2 Or3n (Main Stacks) O'Reilly, Patrick, and Jean Poirier. Nouvelle-Calédonie: Documents iconographiques anciens. Paris: Nouvelles Editions Latines, 1959. 126 pp.
Following a 22-page general introduction on aspects of traditional life in New Caledonia and some bibliographical notes, this book presents numerous illustrations (and a few photographs) of the territory in the 18th and 19th centuries. These illustrations are organized into the following categories: Europeans' arrival in the area and its early colonization, traditional housing, natives and their typical dress, industrial arts (including weaponry, coins, tools, etc.) , fishing and sailing, rituals, leaders and important figures, the history and state of missionary work, and the historical evolution of the city of Nouméa. This retrospective look at New Caledonia should prove useful to those interested in the history of the area.
Websites
"Pacifique sud." "Ile en île." Linked from French @ Lehman, CUNY. Site maintained by Thomas C. Spear. Copyright 1998-2005. Lehman College, CUNY. Last accessed 12 November 2007.
This website contains a wealth of information on the literatures and cultures of Francophone islands of the South Pacific (New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna), including the culinary, plastic, and traditional arts; dance; language; music; travel; history; schools; government; the media; publishing houses and bookstores; and museums and cultural centers. The links about literature offer biographical information on authors, bibliographies, and an essay on the history and current status of French Polynesian literature.
"La brousse en folie." Site maintained by Editions la Brousse en Folie. Last accessed 12 November 2007.
The official site of this series of comic books by Bernard Berger includes information on the history of "La brousse en folie" (a series which both exploits and sarcastically pokes fun at stereotypes of New Caledonians), the comic strip of the week, information on how to order the comic books, screensavers to download, stories from the new Caledonian countryside, and links to other websites on the region and to a dictionary of regional expressions. Also includes dozens of New Caledonian recipes to try.
