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jamiezaccaria's review against another edition
4.5
A fascinating mix of essays, fiction, and poetry from one of the leading cultural voices of Oceania. I learned more about the region from this book than all 12 years of grade school in the US.
jayisreading's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
As someone who has little familiarity with Oceania (and I don’t say this with particular pride either), I found this varied collection of works by Hau’ofa to be an eye-opening one. A lot of the essays featured in this collection were originally given as talks, so there definitely was a more conversational tone to them. It was clear from Hau’ofa’s prose that he was an academic (more specifically, an anthropologist) in the way he approached the histories and cultures of his community, but the writing was quite accessible, all things considered. Regarding history and culture, I really appreciated the way Hau’ofa reflected on the impact of colonization on this region, considering how few people discuss it. I was especially taken to the way he navigated his identity and positionality in his community and in academia, the unique situations that come up as one of the only anthropologists from the Pacific Islands.
I have to admit that I felt the first half of this book was significantly stronger than the second half, though this might be because I didn’t particularly enjoy his creative writing. More specifically, in the third section, there were two excerpts featured from his novel, Kisses in the Nederends, that some may find really grotesque, since the novel placed significant focus on all things anal. I think I understand the reason for featuring these excerpts, especially in relation to the other featured works, but I still felt that I lacked context to fully appreciate their inclusion.
I think this book is worth picking up to better understand Oceania, especially for the first two sections. And, if you’re at all interested in anthropology, Hau’ofa’s writing is one that’s well worth looking into, especially for his critiques of the discipline.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation and Classism
proseamongstthorns's review against another edition
3.0
This book gave me a fascinating insight into Pacific Islanders life, society and culture. It was a brilliant read and I'm curious to read more of Hau'ofa's work. This has really helped shaped my Master's dissertation.
mscalls's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation
lauren_endnotes's review against another edition
5.0
WE ARE THE OCEAN: Selected Works by Epeli Hau'ofa, 2008.
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#ReadtheWorld21
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#ReadtheWorld21
mveldeivendran's review against another edition
5.0
"To remove a people from their ancestral, natural surroundings or to destroy their lands with mining, deforestation, bombing, large-scale industrial and urban developments, and the like - is to sever them not only from their traditional sources of livelihood but also, and much more importantly, from their ancestry, their history, their identity, and their ultimate claim for the legitimacy of their existence.
..
Such acts are therefore sacrilegious and of the same order of enormity as the complete destruction of all of a nation’s libraries, archives, museums, monuments, historic buildings, and all its books and other such documents."
The work comprises of the writer's essays, fiction and personal accounts. It has so much to offer insightful and enduring perspectives on the cultures, historical understanding and distortions, political atmosphere, and more importantly the contemporary survival livelihoods amidst establishments and reconciling the challenges of indigenous lives in the Pacific region with the role of art.
With a PhD in Anthropology, he worked at the University of South Pacific balancing the academic times with his artistic activities with regional artists to find their inspiration in their own cultures, histories and contemporary experiences.
With multitude of cultures within the sea of islands, he brings ocean as the common thing to mend a regional identity that unites them literally and metaphorically. The essays featured raises very important questions regarding the notion of what it means to live in a multicultural society. With so many of us (un)consciously assimilating towards a singular clichéd digital/ popular/ mainstream ways of living, I think, the writer's effort to reconcile these cultural conundrums in the region is a powerful tool as in itself and insights could be developed for the sake of decency and persistence of dignity of humans from all walks of culture.
I'm adding some of the quotes from the work for those got interested enough to reach this point.
Pg: 46-47
"In the earliest stage of our interactions with the outside world, we were the South Sea paradise of noble savages living in harmony with a bountiful nature; we were simultaneously lost and degraded souls to be pacified, Christianised, colonised, and civilised."
Pg: 70-71
"With little or no memory, we stand alone as individuals with no points of reference except to our dismally portrayed present, to our increasingly marketised national institutions, to international development agencies, international lending organisations, transnational corporations, fit only to be globalised and whateverised, and slotted in our proper places on the Human Development Index."
Pg: 88
"Globalisation, on the other hand, is such a serious, mechanical, joyless, and soulless enterprise that the flames in people’s spirit are often extinguished at the outset, making it very difficult to rekindle them. Much time and effort are thereby consumed wastefully."
Pg: 147
"If you survive the pain in the arse you can live with just about anything."
Pg: 131
"We must greet, love, and dance with each other in the middle of our zones of taboo, for we have not created any real taboos, only the fears and phobias that we, in our limitless capacity for self-delusion, have swept to the boundaries of our cherished conventions, where they remain to haunt us into insanity and violence."
Pg: 141
"I almost lost my sense of humour trying to be civilized; but fortunately I never got quite civilized."
..
Such acts are therefore sacrilegious and of the same order of enormity as the complete destruction of all of a nation’s libraries, archives, museums, monuments, historic buildings, and all its books and other such documents."
The work comprises of the writer's essays, fiction and personal accounts. It has so much to offer insightful and enduring perspectives on the cultures, historical understanding and distortions, political atmosphere, and more importantly the contemporary survival livelihoods amidst establishments and reconciling the challenges of indigenous lives in the Pacific region with the role of art.
With a PhD in Anthropology, he worked at the University of South Pacific balancing the academic times with his artistic activities with regional artists to find their inspiration in their own cultures, histories and contemporary experiences.
With multitude of cultures within the sea of islands, he brings ocean as the common thing to mend a regional identity that unites them literally and metaphorically. The essays featured raises very important questions regarding the notion of what it means to live in a multicultural society. With so many of us (un)consciously assimilating towards a singular clichéd digital/ popular/ mainstream ways of living, I think, the writer's effort to reconcile these cultural conundrums in the region is a powerful tool as in itself and insights could be developed for the sake of decency and persistence of dignity of humans from all walks of culture.
I'm adding some of the quotes from the work for those got interested enough to reach this point.
Pg: 46-47
"In the earliest stage of our interactions with the outside world, we were the South Sea paradise of noble savages living in harmony with a bountiful nature; we were simultaneously lost and degraded souls to be pacified, Christianised, colonised, and civilised."
Pg: 70-71
"With little or no memory, we stand alone as individuals with no points of reference except to our dismally portrayed present, to our increasingly marketised national institutions, to international development agencies, international lending organisations, transnational corporations, fit only to be globalised and whateverised, and slotted in our proper places on the Human Development Index."
Pg: 88
"Globalisation, on the other hand, is such a serious, mechanical, joyless, and soulless enterprise that the flames in people’s spirit are often extinguished at the outset, making it very difficult to rekindle them. Much time and effort are thereby consumed wastefully."
Pg: 147
"If you survive the pain in the arse you can live with just about anything."
Pg: 131
"We must greet, love, and dance with each other in the middle of our zones of taboo, for we have not created any real taboos, only the fears and phobias that we, in our limitless capacity for self-delusion, have swept to the boundaries of our cherished conventions, where they remain to haunt us into insanity and violence."
Pg: 141
"I almost lost my sense of humour trying to be civilized; but fortunately I never got quite civilized."
elenasquareeyes's review against another edition
5.0
I found We Are the Ocean fascinating. It’s been a long time (since my uni days) since I’ve read academic essays, so I was a little apprehensive how I’d find these but quickly I realised my fears were unfounded. These essays were very readable and Hau’ofa’s voice came through clearly. As a lot of the essays were originally speeches at conferences, or adapted from a speech, that easy, conversational voice came through a lot.
I found these essays really interesting. I’ll readily admit I know little to nothing about the Oceanic region and the various island nations in that part of the world, so I learnt a lot from these essays. A lot of them were about the anthropology, history and financial structure of the countries in the Oceania/Pacific region. The relationship between the smaller island nations and Australia and New Zealand were a big part of it. How the trade worked, and how culture had been shared between the various countries and how people’s identities in some of the island countries were shaped by the influence of Australia and New Zealand rather than major western countries like America.
It was all super interesting and understandable because there was also talk of self-fulfilling prophesies as young people are told things like you’ll never amount to much in your home country unless you get an education abroad – so then is it of little surprise why the people in charge of banks, government etc aren’t fully educated in their home country. In fact, there’s often people of European, Australian, and New Zealander decent in positions of power due to colonial history.
The talk of anthropological studies and how historically anthropologists have been white and European and when they came to these countries, they made their own observations and didn’t think to make the effort to consult the native people who were experts in their own traditions. Hau’ofa being one of the only anthropologists from that region means he feels a great weight of responsibility of expanding the textbooks and the whole area of study.
The couple of short stories in this collection are kind of satirical and because they come after the majority of the essays it means you can pick up more of the references to the things and attitudes Hau’ofa is highlighting.
We Are the Ocean was incredibly interesting and easy to read. If you’re interested in history, social and cultural studies and how that all can interact to a person’s or country’s identity then this collection of work is for you. I learnt a lot from it and I’m please I read it.
I found these essays really interesting. I’ll readily admit I know little to nothing about the Oceanic region and the various island nations in that part of the world, so I learnt a lot from these essays. A lot of them were about the anthropology, history and financial structure of the countries in the Oceania/Pacific region. The relationship between the smaller island nations and Australia and New Zealand were a big part of it. How the trade worked, and how culture had been shared between the various countries and how people’s identities in some of the island countries were shaped by the influence of Australia and New Zealand rather than major western countries like America.
It was all super interesting and understandable because there was also talk of self-fulfilling prophesies as young people are told things like you’ll never amount to much in your home country unless you get an education abroad – so then is it of little surprise why the people in charge of banks, government etc aren’t fully educated in their home country. In fact, there’s often people of European, Australian, and New Zealander decent in positions of power due to colonial history.
The talk of anthropological studies and how historically anthropologists have been white and European and when they came to these countries, they made their own observations and didn’t think to make the effort to consult the native people who were experts in their own traditions. Hau’ofa being one of the only anthropologists from that region means he feels a great weight of responsibility of expanding the textbooks and the whole area of study.
The couple of short stories in this collection are kind of satirical and because they come after the majority of the essays it means you can pick up more of the references to the things and attitudes Hau’ofa is highlighting.
We Are the Ocean was incredibly interesting and easy to read. If you’re interested in history, social and cultural studies and how that all can interact to a person’s or country’s identity then this collection of work is for you. I learnt a lot from it and I’m please I read it.
ash3's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting anthology about life and culture in Tonga I'm interested in reading more of his work.
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