With Emphasis on Papua New Guinea Shayne Kearney University of Wollongong, [email protected]

University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2011 Missions, education and literature in Oceania: with emphasis on Papua New Guinea Shayne Kearney University of Wollongong, [email protected] Recommended Citation Kearney, Shayne, Missions, education and literature in Oceania: with emphasis on Papua New Guinea, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, School of English Literatures, Philosophy and Language, University of Wollongong, 2011. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/3572 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Missions, Education and Literature in Oceania With emphasis on Papua New Guinea A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG By Shayne Kearney. B.A. Hons. Faculty of Arts School of English Literatures, Philosophy and Language 2011 1 Thesis Certification I, Shayne Kearney, declare that this thesis, submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the Department of English Literatures, University of Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. Shayne Kearney 2 Table of Contents Title Page …………………………………………………………………..1 Certification ………………………………………………………………..2 Table of Contents ………………………………………………………… 3 Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………....4 Abstract …………………………………………………………………….5 Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………...7 Foreword …………………………………………………………………...8 Introduction ………………………………………………………………..9 Chapter 1: A Mission History……………………………………………35 Chapter 2: Mission Education …………………………………….……..74 Chapter 3: Teachers and Sovereigns: The Early Converts ……………..120 Chapter 4: The Emerging Élite ………………………………………….173 Chapter 5: Moving Forward: Syncretism and the Pacific Writer ………238 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………..322 Notes……………………………………………………………………….331 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………....354 3 Abbreviations ABCFM American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions ANGUA Australia New Guinea Administration Unit ANU Australian National University CM Catholic Missions B. S. I. P. British Solomon Islands Protectorate LMS London Missionary Society MS Manuscript NLA National Library of Australia SSL South Sea Letters SL State Library of New South Wales (Mitchell Library) T.P.N.G. Territory of Papua and New Guinea UPNG University of Papua New Guinea UPS University of the South Pacific 4 Abstract The London Missionary Society’s [LMS] first mission endeavour was in the South Seas at Tahiti in 1797. The mostly Calvinist missionaries unquestionably transformed the lives of the Pacific Islanders forever. Although the missionaries primary goal was Christian conversion, their influence far exceeded the religious realm. They became, perhaps unwittingly, agents of colonialism by introducing their own social mores and morality; enforced Western codes of law, banned traditional practices and captivated the Islanders with Western technologies. Their success was not instant; it took years of dedication and sheer doggedness to achieve their goal, but success when it came, was staggering. Teaching the indigene to read and write was a vital adjunct to Christian conversion and the LMS was the first facilitator of Western (English) education. It was through formal schooling that their influence was nurtured as they introduced four culturally transformative concepts to the indigene student: literacy, Christianity, Western education and eventually the English language. Stemming from this education is the production of Pacific writing in English by indigenous writers: a legacy as enduring as that of Christian conversion in the region. Through schooling, often in remote locations, the missions had a destabilising influence on whole generations as they severed the indigene child from his or her traditional culture. This thesis examines the production of indigenous literature written by students taught or influenced by missions by analysing it through two postcolonial models. The indigenous élite offer a significant contribution to Oceanic history as they ‘write back’ to the dominant white history of the region (Ashcroft et al 2001). Many of these writers were of the “first mission contact” generation of their respective societies. Through their letters, journals, diaries, autobiographies, novels and poetry, a fascinating insight into their thoughts (feelings, frustrations and attitudes) on the numerous and enduring transformations they were undergoing unfolds. Post-colonial Pacific writing exhibits many of the attributes of other former colonised regions and has ‘followed the trends, (in the most part), of other colonised territories worldwide such as India, Africa, the Caribbean, Canada and Australia’ (Ashcroft et al 2001 7). Firstly, this thesis examines the style of writing as it exhibits the shifts and progresses of Western (mission) colonisation; which Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin define within three categories as imitation, abrogation and appropriation (2001 5-6). It then, compares and contrasts the phenomenological state or the conscious awareness of the 5 ‘native intellectuals’ defined by Frantz Fanon within three distinct stages: unqualified assimilation, restlessness and resistance. Fanon’s theory is central to my thesis. The manifestation of the confusions of cultural disconnection and identity continues to be a topical theme within Oceanic literature. Post- colonial theory also insists on attending to the local specificities of history and power and accordingly this thesis shows that Pacific literature suggests the need for an additional two stages to Fanon’s model. In the Pacific context, it is apparent that a stage precedes Fanon’s first stage of unqualified assimilation. There is a resistance by the indigene to whole-heartedly accept Westernisation. In this proposed stage, the indigenous writer shows signs of accepting colonial inculcation as normal, however, the indigenous writer continues to assert their own traditional culture so, the assimilation is incomplete. The Tahitian kings Pomaré I and II exemplify this phase as they retain their traditions while adopting some Western practices. Furthermore, Martinique-born Fanon died in 1961 as his adopted country, Algeria, was gaining its independence, so I humbly suggest that his model is incomplete. The final stage that I propose is one of acceptance – a stage of renewed vigour, a syncretic stage. Two groups of writers may be categorised within the stage. Firstly, many of the writers of this stage are at least two generations removed from the cultural transformation period and the impact on them was never, therefore, as great as the early writers. Secondly, for the writers who began their careers within the emergent generation, the evolution in their works could be deemed to be an example of dynamic syncretism, whereby aspects of colonial inheritance, both welcome and unwelcome, are tenuously reconciled into a form of hybridity. A further reason to modify Fanon’s three-stage model is that postcolonial theory also insists on attending to the local specificities of history and power and accordingly this thesis shows that Pacific literature suggests the need for an additional two stages to be added to Fanon’s model. 6 Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to many people for helping to get this thesis to completion. First and foremost, I wish to offer my sincerest gratitude to Associate Professor Paul Sharrad for his academic generosity and patience in supervising this project; for his encouragement and support which were always willingly offered and always gratefully received. I also extend my gratitude to my co-supervisor, Associate Professor Anne Collett, for her generous support and contributions. I also extend my gratitude to the Arts Faculty at the University of Wollongong for their financial support to attend the International Conference on Arts and Humanities in Honolulu, Hawai‘i in January 2005 and for their ongoing support during my candidature. I would also like to thank the Research School of Asia & the Pacific at the Australian National University College of Asia & the Pacific for its scholarship to attend the Asia-Pacific Week Conference in January-February 2004. This thesis could not have been completed without the invaluable assistance of several libraries and their librarians. To Susan Jones, the archivist at the University of Wollongong Library, I extend my deepest gratitude for her generosity of knowledge and assistance in gathering materials from the Cochrane files. I also wish to thank her assistant, Laura Richardson, for her welcomed assistance over many visits. I also want to acknowledge and thank Susan Cochrane for her generosity in allowing access to her parents’ files, The Cochrane files, and for her permission to use some of her father’s photos in this thesis. I would like to thank the librarians at the State Library of New South Wales and the National Library, especially those employed in the manuscript sections. I would like to thank Stuart Dawrs and the late Karen Peacock of the University of Hawai‘i library in Mānoa for their generous support and guidance in locating materials relating to Pomarés I and II and Queen Lili’uokalani. Also in Hawai‘i, I wish to extend my gratitude to the librarians

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