Anthropos 85.1990: 415-430
Aspects of Samoan Literature I
The Structure of the Samoan Single Story Form and Its Uses
John Chariot
Abstract. - Polynesian literatures are important in themselves
and as a means of understanding Polynesian cultures. As a first
step in the study of aspects of Samoan literature, the author
analyzes the structure of the single story form on the basis
of a wide reading in the published Samoan-language texts.
That structure is found to consist of a title or titular sentence,
an introduction, an optional time reference connection to the
narrative, a narrative, an optional conclusion, and an optional
terminal phrase or sentence. This form, found also in Hawaiian
literature, can be used in a wide range of genres and can be
identified within larger complexes, making possible a closer
analysis of their construction. [Polynesia, Samoan literature
and language]
John Chariot, Dr. Theol. (in Religious Studies, University
of Munich, 1968). He worked as Scholar-in-Residence for the
government of American Samoa in 1972-1973 and created a
sequence of courses in Polynesian Religions at the University
of Hawai’i. He has worked in culture and the arts at the East-
West Center, Honolulu, Hawai’i. - Publications: see References
Cited.
Literature is one of the most important elements
of Polynesian culture. It is used in a wide range
of activities, employs a large number of literary
forms, and is considered a prestigious social ac
complishment.
Polynesian literature is of very high quality,
employing many literary devices and requiring a
good deal of education, training, and expertise.
The finest achievements of Polynesian literature
are comparable to the classics of other literatures
and are therefore worthy of worldwide recognition.
Moreover, Polynesian literature was the fa
vored medium for the expression of personal emo
tions, social relations, political and religious senti
ments, and views of the world. Literary works are
primary sources for understanding and perpetuat
ing Polynesian culture.
Literature is also the means of transmitting
historical traditions, which are primary sources
of both precontact and postcontact history. Also,
postcontact changes in literature - both modifica
tion of precontact elements and the assimilation of
foreign ones - are valuable for the study of culture
contact and change.
Polynesian literatures are therefore important
subjects of study because of their intrinsic quality,
their importance as sources for understanding the
cultures in which they are created, and as means
of perpetuating those cultures. 1
Traditional Samoan literature is available in
a wide range of publications extending well over
a hundred years. Moreover, it is still being prac
ticed: chants and songs are composed and per
formed, tales are told, proverbial expressions used,
speeches given, and genealogies recited. Among
old and new works are many that command respect
for their artistic quality and expression of human
thinking and emotions.
Literature is of exceptional importance in Sa
moan culture, and a more adequate understanding
of it is valuable for a wide range of fields, such
as anthropology, history, religious studies, and
comparative literature. For instance, the similarity
between Samoan and Hawaiian story structures
adds a further argument for the close connection
between Polynesian literatures and cultures. The
contents of Samoan prose and poetry provide nu
merous points of interest, many of which may not
be available elsewhere, such as differing concep
tions of the land of the dead.
Even more important, literature is crucial, I
would argue, for a better understanding of Samoan
thinking. A consciously literary people, Samoans
understand themselves, each other, and even for
eigners through literary forms. When I told a chief
that an anthropologist had told me he did not need
to study the Samoan language because he was
doing his research on agriculture, the chief replied,
“They do not know their own literature, and they
want to understand us.”
In a review of “Transformations of Polynesian
Culture” (Hooper and Huntsman 1985), George E.
1 The above paragraphs were written with the aid of Futa
Helu, ’Atenisi Institute, Tonga, for a proposal on Polynesian
literature.