Litterature Pacifique Anglophone

• Different writing systems emerged in ancient civilizations:

  • Mesopotamia (3500-3200 BC): Sumerian civilization with the first writing system in Meso around 3500 BC, evidenced by the Kish tablet
  • Egypt (3150 BC): Hieroglyphs on an ivory plaque of Menes
  • China (3150 BC): Glyphs
  • Writing systems emerged around 3500 BC, before which humans used speech
  • Speech emerged 250000 BC, followed quickly by writing systems
• In Europe, literacy and reading were limited to the elite and privileged classes until the end of the 19th century

  • Majority of the population relied on oral tradition
  • Near-universal literacy by the end of the 19th century led to the decline of oral literature
• In the Pacific, writing was introduced by European missionaries and colonists in the early 19th century

  • Indigenous languages were transcribed into the Latin alphabet
  • Protestant missionaries translated the Bible into indigenous languages for Christianization
  • Before European colonization, Pacific peoples had an oral culture
• On Easter Island, the Rongorongo system of glyphs was discovered in the 19th century

  • Undated and undeciphered writing system
  • Possible evidence of a pre-European writing system among some Pacific peoples
• European perspective on writing and literacy in the 19th century:

  • Writing and literacy symbolized civilization
  • Europeans considered themselves civilized and literate, while native peoples were seen as uncivilized and unlettered
  • Orality was considered backwardness by Europeans but sacred and absolute by native peoples
• Genres of oral literature:

  • Myth: Specific accounts of gods or superhuman beings in extraordinary events, imbued with religious belief and located in the Otherworld , timelessness .
  • Folktale: Fictional stories with supernatural characters and universal themes , can be located anywhere at anytime . Belong to people ( popular beliefs // sacred )
  • Legend: Similar to folktales but with real locations, real people, and historical aspects
• Classification of folktale types and motifs:

  • Folktale types: Organized into types with recurrent motifs, such as "The woman brought back from the underworld" .
  • Folktale type = a specifc structure and plot and refers to an entire story
  • Motifs/themes: Include mythological, animal, and taboo motifs
• Historical Facts :

  • • Blackbirding : practice of enslaving => people kidnapped in Vanuatu , Solomon Islands , Gilbert Island , New Caledonia etc , to work as slaves in Australia and South America
  • • sugar and cotton plantations in Queensland ( Australia) from mid 19th century=> need for cheap labour ( slaves )
• Myth features

  - accounts of gods