From the outside looking in : identity in selected Fijian short stories written in English : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of a Master of Arts at Massey University

Abstract

Construction of colonial identities in Fiji were built upon the premise of British superiority and difference from others, as they were in other parts of the colonised world. Colonial discourse regularly employed stereotypes to reduce other communities into simple and therefore controllable concepts. Fiji's post-colonial voices have had to write their ways out of these reduced roles and clear a space for representations of life in Fiji that differ from earlier elucidations. The body of writing which began to emerge in the 1960s is represented here by a selection of short stories by a number of authors writing from and about Fiji. The main focus here is on the ways identities which emerge from these stories pull the texts together into a definable body of writing, despite the diversity of writing positions, and despite some gender-based distinctions highlighted by Arlene Griffen and Shiasta Shameem. It is concluded that identities are more difficult to negotiate when outside opinions or forces are powerful. This observation is discussed in relation to the movement of characters from innocence to experience, the affect of progress on communities and individuals, the representation of women in the texts, and the position of individuals who travel to or from Fiji or who are descendants of migrants.