Literature of Vanuatu

Theliterature 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,in the form offolk tales,myths,legends, sungpoetry... transmitted byword of mouthacross generations.Writing and literacy were introduced bymissionariesand 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 ofni-Vanuatuwritten literaturetook place in the context of the development of indigenousPacific Islanderliterature in the Pacific region as a whole, beginning in the late 1960s. In 1968, the founding of theUniversity of the South PacificinSuvaprovided a stimulus for Pacific Islander literary aspirations.

Creative writingcourses 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 magazinePacific Islands Monthly.In 1974, the Society founded the publishing house Mana Publications, followed in 1976 by the art and literature journalMana.The journal published the first anthologies of ni-Vanuatu poetry.

Arguably Vanuatu's foremost literary figure wasfeminist poetGrace Molisa(1946-2002).The Australianhas described her poems as "a biting social commentary on life in patriarchal, post-colonial Vanuatu."She wrote both inEnglishand inBislama.

In 2007,francophonesinger-songwriter, musician and author Marcel Melthérorong(fr)published the first ever novel written by a Vanuatuan, through theAlliance 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 winnerJean-Marie Le Cléziowrote the preface, celebrating "a new and original voice" in francophone literature.

Vanuatu's literary scene is also notable for theWan Smolbagcommunity 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".