Sā Nafanuā: Reconstituting Nafanua as Female Empowerment in Samoan Diasporic Literature

Works by Samoan poets mobilize stories about the war-goddess Nafanua as a symbol for Samoan empowerment through cultural revitalization. I analyze these poems using an Oceanic framework based on Selina Marsh's concept of mana tama'ita'i, which outlines an Indigenous approach to reading poetry by Pacific Islands women, and ku'ualoha ho'omanawanui's reworking of Indigenous literary nationalism, which reveals these texts as representative of a Samoan literary identity that is inclusive of the complexities of diaspora and postmodernity. Nafanua's central role in shaping cultural identity underscores the power of narrative to imagine and actualize decolonial futures for Samoans.