The South Pacific in Recent Times

HIST 251/351, 10 credit points
SUBJECT GUIDE, SEMESTER II, 1997

Subject convenor: Associate Professor Peter Hempenstall
Head of Department
Department of History
The University of Newcastle
New South Wales 2308
Australia
Phone: 049-215216
Fax: 049-216940
e-mail: hipjh@cc.newcastle.edu.au

MAIN THEMES OF SUBJECT

This unit will begin with a short introduction to Pacific Island cultural forms and a summary of the colonial period of rule before world war II in both Melanesia and Polynesia. After examining the impact of the war on Melanesia, especially Australia's own colony and nearest neighbour, Papua New Guinea, we will deal week by week with the most important post war themes in the development of the Pacific Islands. First will be the process known as 'decolonization' whereby Islands were handed independence under varying circumstances of friendship and/or hostility; the independence movements in Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and secessionist tensions in Bougainville will follow. Then we will explore current issues of aid, foreign relations, cultural identity and changes in gender roles, before finishing with considered reflections on the growth of ethnic nationalisms in the Pacific and their embodiment in the Fiji coups of 1987.

Guiding our mutual explorations will be the question: what are the distinguishing characteristics of Pacific societies today that we, as Australian citizens no less than as human beings, should be sensitive to in our relations to the Pacific world.

II. OBJECTIVES

To explore the historical experiences of Pacific Island communities in contact with an array of western influences during the age of territorial colonialism and the post-colonial age of the twentieth century.

To demonstrate that the common rhetoric of liberal white Australians is often not adequate to meet the realities of the present-day South Pacific, that our definitions of nationalism, democracy, equity, freedom and self-determination can be unhelpful and unsympathetic in this region of the world.

To develop students' familiarization with various modes of historical representation in documents, interpretative written texts and films.

To encourage more reflective depth in upper level students' approaches to History as a mode of knowledge. Students will be expected to demonstrate evidence of the following abilities (with suitable adjustment of expectations between 200 level and 300 level students):

1. Critically read secondary literature, especially historiographical debates
2. Show increased awareness of the theoretical issues behind History as a discourse.
3. Show increased awareness of the contexts in which historical problems must be analysed.
4. Improve writing skills
6. Develop oral skills in discussion and argument.
7. Develop their use of the historical imagination.

III. TEACHING METHOD

There will be one one-hour lecture per week and one seminar of 1 hour. Lectures will be held on Thursday mornings at 10 a.m. in lecture theatre V01 (Mathematics Building, ground floor). Seminars will be on Thursdays also, in the History Department, seminar room 17. Sessions have been arranged for 12 noon, 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.. Book your slot with the departmental secretary or Prof Hempenstall.

The lectures will provide a timeline and a sense of context for more detailed study. They give the background which is necessary for a complete understanding of complex themes and explore historiographical issues.

The seminars will provide opportunity for students to take up in more detail topics raised in the previous week, and will be regarded as the most important focus for our studies throughout the year. Students will be expected to discuss specific 'case studies' and debates.

Films will be used where appropriate for both historical information and imagery and as a form of historical representation which requires discussion.

IV. ASSESSMENT

(a) Attendance
Regular attendance at lectures is expected. Satisfactory attendance at seminars is a requirement of the subject; students who fail to attend regularly will be liable to be excluded.

(b) Seminar papers
Seminar topics will be divided up among the class by the subject convenor at the beginning of the semester.

Each student will be expected to choose a topic from weeks four to thirteen of the list of seminars. A presentation will be expected on the day, preferably accompanied by a one-page handout of the propositions to be discussed. There will be multiple paper givers for each topic and students are expected to meet beforehand to arrange a complementary coverage of the themes in their presentations. The properly referenced seminar paper will not be due until a week later, allowing the presenters the opportunity to adjust their papers in light of the discussion.

For 200 level students the paper should comprise roughly 2000 words.

For 300 level students the paper should comprise roughly 2500 words.

Format for all papers
Seminar papers should be word-processed where possible. If written they must be neat and legible and follow the recommended department conventions as to footnotes and bibliography. The argument should be expressed in clear, error-free English and may be handed back for re-writing if it is not.

Each assignment is to be placed in the Pacific History essay box at the head of the department or handed to the subject convenor; papers must not be left under the lecturer's door. All possible care will be taken by staff to safeguard properly submitted papers but if essays go missing the student will be expected to provide a clean copy.

(c) Penalty policy
Extensions will only be granted in special circumstances, properly documented, and must be obtained before the due date. Assignments submitted late without an approved extension will be penalized by three marks for each week or part of a week late.

(d) Test
There will be a test in week 14, covering the themes of the subject. It will take the form of a series of essay questions to be written on over a two-hour period.

(d) Assessment marks
For HST251 the marks will be allocated thus:

For HST351 the marks will be allocated thus:

To pass the subject a student needs to achieve 50% of the total marks anywhere in the course.

(f) The Department's general rules on extensions, plagiarism etc will apply. Please read carefully. Plagiarism may be a case for action by the University's disciplinary committee.

III. READING

The amount of reading you have to do is roughly consistent week by week. It is not excessive and the lecturer will identify key readings each week for seminar discussion. But advanced level History students are expected to improve their research skills by finding materials and reading as much as possible. If you do not want to read widely and deeply DO NOT DO THIS SUBJECT. From previous experience you will know that you will have more time in the first half of the semester than in the second half; you should plan accordingly. Wherever possible obtain readings well ahead of the week in which we are discussing them. Texts are always in heavy demand during the last days before discussion. Being unable to obtain readings is not an acceptable excuse for being unprepared for seminars, as there is a range to choose from and a library with many shelves of books and articles which reward browsing, even though they may not be on the subject guide reading list. The 15% assessment for seminar participation is designed to recognize the work that goes into preparation and contribution to discussion and it will be monitored throughout the semester.

The general books by Deryck Scarr, The History of the Pacific Islands. Kingdoms of the reefs and Ian Campbell, A History of the Pacific are excellent. A new book called Tides of History: the Pacific Islands in the Twentieth Century, ed K Howe, R Kiste and B Lal, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, is worth buying for its essays deal with most of the twentieth century themes we will be touching on during the semester. The region has been much written about during the ferment of decolonisation and post-colonial adjustment. A readable general introduction to various crises would be David Robie, Tu Galala. For an intelligent, committed viewpoint on New Caledonia read Helen Fraser, Your flag is blocking my sun. The best general coverage of the history of France in the Pacific is Stephen Henningham's France and the South Pacific: a contemporary history. He has also produced an excellent reflective book on the Pacific today: The Pacific Island states. Security and sovereignty in the post-cold war world.

The journal literature on the Pacific is also excellent. In particular The Journal of Pacific History (from ANU, Canberra) includes a regular section on 'Current developments in the Pacific', a series of brief but profound insights into each main island group or state in turn. The Contemporary Pacific (from Honolulu) is devoted to an understanding of recent developments in the light of history, and also includes a regular section of political reviews of the region. Keep your eyes on these especially for the latter parts of the semester.

You should also see as many films about the Pacific as you can. The film of Alan Duff's Once were warriors is certainly worth seeing, for it deals with the current cultural and social tensions in the contact between modern western (New Zealand) society and Pacific Islanders. Other films will be shown during the semester and the A/V section of the library has more still which are relevant.

Students should also experiment with Pacific literature. Start with Vincent Eri's The Crocodile, the first novel written by a Papua New Guinean, and work your way forward to the works of Albert Wendt, a Samoan, and Epeli Hau'ofa, a Tongan, for the varied flavour of Pacific Island imaginative experience, which can often be more useful than History books in conveying the quality of Pacific history.

Readings for specific themes are listed under each seminar topic.

Other works which will be useful across a number of themes include:

Ian Campbell, Island kingdom. Tonga. ancient and modern
Clive Moore, J Leckie & D Munro (eds) Labour in the South Pacific
M C Howard, The political economy of the South Pacific to 1945 Stephen Henningham, France and the South Pacific. A contemporary history
Margaret Jolly & M Macintyre, Family and Gender in the Pacific
Ron Crocombe, The South Pacific. An introduction
J W Davidson & D Scarr (eds) Pacific Island Portraits
Ron Crocombe et al (editors), Culture and democracy in the South Pacific
Stephanie Lawson, Tradition versus democracy in the South Pacific: Fiji, Tonga, Western Samoa.

The main journal references are

The Journal of Pacific History (JPH)
The Journal of the Polynesian Society (JPS)
Pacific Studies
New Zealand Journal of History (NZJH)
Journal de la Societe des Oceanistes (JSO)
The Contemporary Pacific

Bibliographies are always important information finding aids. In print are two good bibliographies:

Pacific History bibliography and Comment. From 1988 on this was renamed The Journal of Pacific History Bibliography. Produced by JPH, it contains lists of just-out theses, books and articles, as well as political chronicles of various islands and book reviews. It is catalogued separately from JPH.

Clive Moore (compiler), Pacific History Journal Bibliography. Produced in 1992 this lists 4,435 articles from 16 journals, covering the Pacific.

Do not be afraid to ask Library staff for help in using the Internet and CD-Rom system for finding references for essay work.

WEEKLY PROGRAMME

(All references listed are on short loan unless otherwise stipulated. Sometimes only an article from a book or journal is in SL, sometimes the entire book. A small number of books is on 3-Day loan. Check the annotations in the reading guide)

WEEK 1: (beginning 21 July 1997)

WEEK 2: (28 July on)

WEEK 3: (4 August on)

WEEK 4: (12 August on)

WEEK 5: (18 August on)

WEEK 6: (25 August on)

WEEK 7: ( 1 September on)

Is this all that the Mead-Freeman controversy was about in the mid 1980s? Critically evaluate the range of opinions, identifying what exactly Mead and Freeman were saying about the Samoans.

WEEK 8: (8 September on)

WEEK 9: ( 15 September on)

WEEK 10: (22 September on)

MID SEMESTER BREAK [2 WEEKS]:

(29 September - 12 October)

WEEK 11: (13 October on)

WEEK 12: (20 October on)

WEEK 13: (27 October on)

WEEK 14: (3 November on)

Thursday 6 November: TEST

[Subject: History; Pacific/Comparative]

oceania | academic programs | people | outreach | resources | publications
news & events | about the center | contact | home | text only site

© 2005, UHM, Center for Pacific Island Studies. | Site Credits