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Section One: Selina Tusitala Marsh whakapapa
Section One: Selina Tusitala Marsh whakapapa
Selina Tusitala Marsh is a poet of international significance.
She is the first person of Pasifika descent to earn a doctorate in English from Auckland University. She has won numerous awards and written many anthologies (collections) of poetry.
Pick at LEAST THREE of these sources and be able to write about what motivates Selina Tusitala Marsh to write her poems.
Section Two: Background knowledge to help you understand the poems
Section Two: Background knowledge to help you understand the poems
Tusitala Marsh explores the themes of postcolonialism and feminism. The two are often intertwined. So first off it's important to understand what colonialism is so that you can understand what post colonialism is.
Colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is a period of time from the 1600s to, well it's still happening now. It's a time when big European powers - Britain, France, Germany, Spain - were in a race to claim as much land as possible around the world. Have a look at the political cartoon below where the main colonial powers are carving up a globe. This visual metaphor symbolises how the colonial powers saw the world: something to be consumed, to be shared, to be taken
New Zealand's own history is integral to the colonialist past. Britain raced to claim New Zealand as it's own and part of the rush of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 was to beat the French to New Zealand.
The biggest player in the colonial race was Britain. They added so many countries to their portfolio that the saying "the sun never sets on the British Empire" became quite prevalent. Britain, as the cartoon above suggests, spread its tentacles of power across the globe. And, as the tone of the cartoon suggests, there were sinister undertones to the colonialist expansion.
One of the main consequences of colonialism was/is the trampling of indigenous cultures. For example, in New Zealand, in the rush to make everything like England, children were hit if they spoke Te Reo Maori at school. Indigenous people became this resource for colonialists to use and abuse.
Have a read of this Guardian news report on the effect of Gauguin's work. (see link to the left). Selina Tusitala Marsh's poetry is about how people are portrayed through the media. Consider this mea culpa from Stuff which talks about how Maori have been treated but starts to give you an idea of how single stories of whole groups of people are built up.
Feminisim
Feminisim
For Pasifika people, one of the main consequences of colonialism was the sexualisation of Pacific Island women. They were famously painted by artists such as Paul Gauguin (see pictures to the right) and became sex icons that were lusted after by European explorers and artists such as:
This reduced women to objects. Sexual conquests to be plucked from the rainforests of the Pacific. This is a theme that continues today where women's sexuality is not considered as something they are in control of....consider this article from March 2020 about a 'sex scandal' in the NRL.
Post Colonialism
Post Colonialism
Since the mid 20th century, European powers have been dismantling their empires. This has led to independence for some countries and changes in power structures.
One of the most interesting aspects has been the rise of Post Colonial thinking. Post is a word that means 'after' and Post Colonial writing recognises and explores the experiences of indigenous people.
You can think of Colonial writing as the story of white men and how good they are. Post colonial writing explores the multiverse of many stories, from many perspectives and gives voice to the recovery from the impact of colonialism. It is about giving space to the stories of indigenous people.
This is the perspective from which Tusitala Marsh writes.
Section Three: Focus Texts & Close reading Tusitala Marsh
Section Three: Focus Texts & Close reading Tusitala Marsh
The two poems of Tusitala Marsh's that we are going to focus on are called:
The Trouble with Gauguin
Two Nudes on a Tahitian Beach
You can read them here and listen to The Trouble with Gauguin here
Then complete these close reading tasks.
Read the poems for the first time. As you do, complete this task:
Audience positioning. Write down five words that describe how you feel after reading these poems. For example, sad, happy. These adjectives will become your tools for discussing the impact on the audience. So always keep them in front of you.
Character map - on a piece A3, write down each of the characters as you come across them. Draw arrows between the characters to denote their relationships and add in adjectives that describe each character and at least one quote for each characters.
After completing your first reading of the poems , complete these tasks to set you up for a close analysis of them
Figure out of the theme. What's this story about? To do this, work through these questions:
Who's the main protagonist?
What challenges do they face?
How do they face these challenges?
How do they change over the course of the narrative?
What main ideas are thrown up by the adventures of the protagonist and what do you learn about these ideas?
3. Some big questions to consider about Tusitala's poetry.
What is she saying about the explorers in her poetry?
How would you describe the tone of the poems and why has Tusitala Marsh chosen this particular tone?
3. Think about which chapter you remember best. It is now time to reread this chapter, thinking about these things as you go:
What is the tone and mood of each poem?
Who are the main antagonists and how are they positioned? How is the audience positioned to think about them.
Identify TEN main quotes these poems- note these and justify why you have chosen each one.
Identify language features that Tusitala Marsh employs in this chapter and explain why you think she used it.
Section Four: Stretching your thinking
Section Four: Stretching your thinking
Read these to get a start of stretching your understanding of the poems; write down how your understandings and interpretations of the poems change as a result of reading these. Then complete these questions:
What do your reviews say about your text?
What do the reviews say about the theme and characters?
What do the reviews say about why the book was written?
What questions do you start to think about as you read these reviews?
Stuff article on Selina Tusitala Marsh
This Blogspot on Fast Talking PI - the book of poetry that Marsh published these two poems in
WomanKind: New Zealand Women Making a Difference.
"Never piss off a poet - Guardian Article
A review of Tightrope - a compilation of some of Marsh's other poems
STOP!
Write a short essay that helps you to clarify what you're thinking about this text and send it through to your teacher.
This essay is not for credits and you don't need to worry (too much!) about your spelling, punctuation etc. It's about helping you sort out your thinking and understanding.
Use these questions to help guide you:
Who are the main characters, what challenges do they face and how do they change in the face of those challenges?
What is the setting of the story and how does that help shape the story?
What is the author trying to do, trying to say by writing this story?
Aim for about 350 words
Section Five: Research
Section Five: Research
Below are the Level Two and Three research options. Work with your teacher to ensure that you are on the right pathway.
Level Two Research
Level Two Research
Level Two research asks you to pull an issue out of your text and learn more about it so that it increases your understanding of your text. Click this link to find out what you need to do.
Level Three Unit Standard Written Texts Research
Level Three Unit Standard Written Texts Research
Level Three Unit Standard research asks you to use articles and book reviews to learn more about the author and what they are writing about so that it increases your understanding of your text. Click this link to find out what you need to do.
Level Three Achievement Standard Critical Texts Research
Level Three Achievement Standard Critical Texts Research
We are now going to stretch our thinking of the text by engaging in critical text research. What this means is that we read how experts have interpreted, understood and thought about the text so that we can understand better ourselves. Below are some critical texts that relate to this text and to understand what the research project is asking you to do (as well as how to do it), click here.
The following are critical texts that relate to Selina Tusitala Marsh. Some will have a direct link, naming the poet directly, and others will be linked by the insight they provide about the background or motivation of the author to write her story.
In no way should you read all of these, cover to cover. You need to be more strategic; look at the titles, read the contents page to pick which sections of the book are best to read, skim and scan to identify sections of chapters that you need to read closely and take notes from - look for keywords from your questions, use subheadings to identify relevant sections.
Not all of these critical texts will answer your questions; so look for the ones that do. Pick three to four to read and take notes from.
Also, if you find that you aren't answering one of your questions, and/or your reading is taking you in a new and unexpected direction, simply change your questions and hypothesis in line with what you are reading - this is what research is; learning and changing what you think as you learn more.
Naepi, Serana. (2019). Beyond the Dusky Maiden.
Baisnee, Valerie. (2018). “I’m Niu Voices”: Selina Tusitala Marsh’s Poetic ReImagining of Pacific Literature. Commonwealth Essays and Studies [Online], 41.1 | 2018, Online since 05 November 2019, connection on 22 January 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/ces/398 ; DOI : 10.4000/ces.398
Prentice, C. (2019). 'Who Speaks for Culture?' Challenging Gender and Sexual Violence in Maori and Pacific Island Literature in English. Australian Humanities Review, 64
Tusitala Marsh, Selina. (2010). The Body of Pacific Literature. Mai Review, 2010, 1,
Wisker, Gina. (2014). Paradise Revisited: Women's Writing from Fiji . URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265104162
Hermes, Karin Louise. (2018) The female voice in Pasifika poetry: An exploration of “hybrid” identities in the Pacific diaspora, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 54:5, 655-669, DOI: 10.1080/17449855.2018.1527746
Wilson, Courtney. (2013). ‘That’s My Stuff’: Pasifika Literature and Pasifika Identity. Master's Thesis
Keown, Michelle. (2005). Postcolonial Pacific Writing: Representations of the Body. Routledge: New York
Hermes, Karin Louise. (2018). The female voice in Pasifika poetry: An exploration of "hybrid" identities in the Pacific diaspora. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 54:5, 655-669.
Diangelo, Robin. (2016). Deconstructing White Privilege. URL: https://vimeo.com/147760743
McClintock, Anne. (1995) Imperial Leather: Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest. Routledge: New York
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