cultural inheritances in Polynesian poetry

Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, Hone Tuwhare, Keri Hulme,

Gloria Rawlinson, J. C. Sturm, and Roma Potiki all have

voices that are informed by and reflect their Polynesian

cultural inheritances in various ways. The main ways in

which these inheritances can be seen to be reflected, is by

showing the poets’ inclusion of their culture’s mythology,

customs, and civilisation. The way in which these poets’

voices have been informed by their cultures, can be seen

with describing the way these poets address their culture’s

Albert Wendt was born in Western Samoa. The reflections

of his Polynesian cultural inheritances is evident in the way

he uses their mythologies in his poetry. In his poem ‘No

Return’ there is an obvious use of culture’s mythology:

“her journey to Pulotu has no dawn.” (p109) Pulotu is the

spirit world in Polynesian mythology. In ‘The Mountains of

Ta’u’ he draws on the famous legend of Maui: “like

spinning tops or Maui’s endlessly / inventing mind.” (p110)

Maui is an important part of Polynesian mythology; Maui is

a demigod who is used to tell of many stories.

There are also reflections of Polynesian cultural

. . .
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Approximate Word count = 1976
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)