The Evolution of Orality in Samoa
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2007
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Swarthmore College. Dept. of Linguistics
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Thesis (B.A.)
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en_US
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Abstract
Orality and literacy are two very different yet permanently related aspects of
human language. All languages have their origins in primary orality, and only a fraction
of all existing languages have actually ever been written down. This research focuses on
the adoption of literacy by the Pacific island nation of Samoa1 and the active response
taken by Samoan citizens in the face of this tremendous cultural shift. Samoa was
colonized by British missionaries in the 1830s, and within decades they had established
literacy in the local language. It was not until after the turn of the twentieth century that
the English language gained priority in Samoa, and this fact has allowed for a strong
sense of ‘Samoan-ness’ to persist beneath an evolving Samoan society. Though many
Samoan oral traditions have undergone transformations at the hands of literacy and
westernization, these changes have not necessarily entailed a loss of the Samoan culture.
On the contrary, Samoans have used the tools of the colonizers to ensure a proliferation
of Samoan identity and a redistribution of orality, finely exemplified through the literary
works of Albert Wendt and Sia Figiel. These Samoan writers have indigenized the arena
of creative literature, through an innovative use of the English language and unique styles
of writing that serve to emphasize native orality and secure an enduring sense of Samoan
self. Through resilience and creativity, Samoans have refused to simply let literacy
transform their traditions, but rather they have actively perpetuated Samoan culture
through adapted outlets of expression, and an adopted world language.