Sniffing Oceania's behind

VM Diaz - The Contemporary Pacific, 2012 - muse.jhu.edu
VM Diaz
The Contemporary Pacific, 2012muse.jhu.edu
Part tribute to the late Epeli Hau'ofa and part reflective historiography, this essay examines
the figure of the anus in Hau'ofa's short story Kisses in the Nederends in order to open up an
inquiry into an olfactory history of Oceania. My broader goal is to augment if not challenge
canonical methods still heavily reliant on literacy and visuality, and realist modalities that I
believe are inadequate to the task of apprehending subaltern aspects of Oceania's ongoing
past.
Abstract
Part tribute to the late Epeli Hau'ofa and part reflective historiography, this essay examines the figure of the anus in Hau'ofa's short story Kisses in the Nederends in order to open up an inquiry into an olfactory history of Oceania. My broader goal is to augment if not challenge canonical methods still heavily reliant on literacy and visuality, and realist modalities that I believe are inadequate to the task of apprehending subaltern aspects of Oceania's ongoing past.
Project MUSE