Oceanian literature

{{Short description|Overview of Oceanian literature}}

{{History of literature by region or country}}

{{Culture of Oceania sidebar}}

Oceanian (Australasian, Melanesian, Micronesian, and Polynesian) literature developed in a unique geographical environment that allowed the development of a unique literature to thrive. Oceanian literature was heavily influenced by religion, ritual and colonization. This can be seen by the large amount of religious symbolism and political activism featured in it.

Another major influence in Oceanian society was its intricate oral tradition. For a long time, most Oceanian literature was not written down. As a result, stock formulas and rhyming were used in many works (these traits made it easier to memorize). Gods, creation myths, and spirits are also prominent in Oceanian literature, showcasing again the influence oral tradition had on the literature of Oceania.

Modern Oceanian literature is mainly written in the English language but also feature different languages and speech. The literatures of Oceania, particularly during the return to many island nations’ independence in the 1960s and 1970s, were often strongly political and invested in finding literary expression for new independent, interconnected Pacific lives.{{Cite book |last=Tusitala Marsh |first=Selina |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wqh08 |title=The Pacific Islands: Environment and Society, Revised Edition |date=2013 |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |isbn=978-0-8248-3586-6 |editor-last=Rapaport |editor-first=Moshe |chapter=Literature}} Oceanian writers drew on a wide, translational pool of references, with African, American, European and Indian literatures often productively woven into their texts.{{Cite book |last=Long |first=Maebh |url=https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-rise-of-pacific-literature/9780231217453 |title=The Rise of Pacific Literature: Decolonization, Radical Campuses, and Modernism |last2=Hayward |first2=Matthew |date= |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2024 |isbn=978-0-231-56173-0 |location=New York}} The ocean carries a lot of symbolism and meaning to the cultures and people that have travelled through, in which largely has impacted the literary cultures and historical narratives in Oceania.{{cite book |last1=Finnegan, Orbell |title=South Pacific Oral Traditions |publisher=Indiana University Press |page=15}}