Precarity and Resistance in Oceanic Literature. Issue 3 (2nd October 2018) - Trivedi, Tana
Abstract: This essay examines the writings of Sudesh Mishra and Epeli Hau'ofa to establish how precarity is embedded in Fiji's colonial past and the contemporary internal and well as global geopolitics. Beginning by recounting Fiji's colonial capitalist and territorial history and the segregationist policies of the imperial powers, this essay discusses the impact of nuclear testing on the post-colonial ecology of the Pacific Islands. Cultural and ecological precarity in the island state of Fiji includes colonial capitalism, militarization, and unstable political arrangements of the last two hundred years. An alternative framework that reimagines the oceanic identity, providing sustainable, inclusive solutions for the future, is required urgently. The writings of Mishra and Hau'ofa offer the possibilities of engaging with the history, geography and culture of the islands to create sustainable care communities engaged in preserving the already delicate ecology of the islands.