The Word Pen, and the Pistol: Literature and Power in Tahiti

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Examining the interplay of history, power, and knowledge, this book delves into the cultural productions in colonial and postcolonial contexts, particularly in French Polynesia. It highlights the complicity between imperialism and colonial literature, revealing how figures like Buffon and Rousseau shaped perceptions of Tahiti as a "paradise." The narrative also explores the responses of the Maohi people to Western romanticization, showcasing their resistance and the spaces they created to assert their identity against dominant discourses.