In
his piece entitled, Our Sea of Islands, Epeli
Hau’ofa draws a distinction between the Western definition of Oceania and the
native one. He proclaims, “The is a world of difference between viewing the
Pacific as ‘islands in a far sea’ and as ‘a sea of islands.’” (Hau’ofa 31). The
European definition connotes a feeling of alienation in the sense that it
creates a distance between the Pacific islands and the rest of the world. As
Hau’ofa points out, it implies that the communities in the Pacific are far and
few in between. On the contrary, the native definition of ‘a sea of islands’
forms an image of the Pacific as an extremely large and vibrant community. It
makes them feel more connected and less isolated. He discusses the tendency of
the West to feel the need to prescribe macro level improvements to the
economies of the Islands. However, Hau’ofa explains that these people fail to
take “account of the social centrality of the ancient practice of reciprocity”
(35). He goes on to say, “This is not dependency but interdependency” (35). Hau’ofa’s
argument is that the people of Oceania are drawn together through familial and
cultural bonds despite the vast seas between the islands. Thus affirms his use
of the phrase, “Our sea of islands.”
Wendt similarly discusses the role
of native community in his two works. He touches upon the significance of the
tattoo for the communities in the Pacific. He tries to cut out the role of the
Pacific Islands in the post-colonial world, calling it the ‘post-colonial
body.’ Of this body he writes, “It is a body ‘becoming’ defining itself,
clearing space for itself among and alongside other bodies, in this case
alongside other literatures. By giving it a Samoan tatau, what am I doing”
(Wendt 410). Wendt believes the tattoo and literature have the same function in
helping cultures shape their identities. In the beginning of the piece he
writes how tattoos are considering a form of clothing in Samoan culture so in a
sense, literature also acts as clothing to cultures. He also discusses how the
pain of receiving the tattoo plays a significant role in the value of the mark
and writing cultural literature similarly brings about pain because it forces
both writer and reader to confront all aspects of any given culture. In his
short story, “The Cross of Soot,” Wendt recounts a story from his youth in
which a prisoner gives him an unfinished tattoo and then is taken away,
presumably to put to death. The boy originally asked for a star tattoo on his
hand but is left with a cross. When his mother questions him about who gave him
the tattoo the boy replies, “’Jesus, and he’s never coming back. Never. He left
me only this.’ He held up his hand, proudly.” (Wendt, 20). The story ends with
boy proclaiming that Jesus is the man who tattooed him. This identifies the
bond formed between Tagi and the boy and is akin to the cultural community that
Hau’ofa discusses. The boy comes away from the experience marked by his
relationship with the prisoner, by his religion, and by his culture.
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