The Introduction of Literacy and the Subsequent Stagnation of Oral Narratives in the Production of Contemporary Theatre in Rapa Nui

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The introduction of literacy in Rapa Nui (Easter Island) has had a significant influence on how oral narratives are recorded, remembered and delivered. After arriving in Rapa Nui in 1937, Father Sebastian Englert dedicated his time to conducting a variety of activities as a Capuchin missionary and to the study, transcription and protection of the island’s intangible heritage: oral narratives. This article will argue that although Englert’s perspective of transcribing Rapa Nui oral narratives to preserve them and prevent them from being lost is valuable, these written stories have also bound these narratives, meaning that the variety and richness of the different versions inherent within oral traditions in the Rapa Nui community has been transformed over time. I will explore literature that articulates how the imposition of the written word helped colonial powers to assert authority whilst rendering orality and Indigenous ways of collectively transmitting knowledge obsolete. The transcription of oral narratives into a written form has contributed to the stagnation of knowledge that the Indigenous Rapa Nui population has about their own culture and stories. I will argue that the production of theatre in contemporary Rapa Nui has been an outstanding way of empowering orality. The theatre has been used as a tool for educational purposes and for Indigenous artists to express their own version of colonial historical events orally.