Waves of destruction: Nuclear imperialism and anti-nuclear protest in the indigenous literatures of the Pacific

Michelle Keown

doi:10.1080/17449855.2018.1538660

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article explores the ways in which precolonial understandings of the Pacific as a cross-cultural space involving extensive interpelagic networks of trade and cultural exchange, notably elaborated in Tongan scholar Epeli Hauʻofa’s 1990s series of essays celebrating Oceania as a “sea of islands”, are evident in pan-Pacific indigenous protests against nuclear testing in the region. It explores indigenous literary and artistic condemnations of both French and US nuclear testing (which collectively spanned a 50-year period, 1946–96), touching on the work of a range of authors from Aotearoa New Zealand, Kanaky/New Caledonia and Tahiti/French Polynesia, before discussing a recent UK government-funded research project focused on the legacy of nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands. The project involved Marshallese poet and environmental activist Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner, and a range of her anti-nuclear poetry commissioned for the project (including “History Project”, “Monster” and “Anointed”) is analysed in the closing sections of this article.

Highlights

In her poem “Two Degrees”, Marshallese performance poet and ecoactivist Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner reflects upon the successive waves of environmental and corporeal damage visited upon the people of Bikini Atoll, where the US undertook 23 nuclear bomb tests between 1946 and 1958
French Polynesia, before discussing a recent UK governmentfunded research project focused on the legacy of nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands
Through her eco-political activism, as well as performance poems such as “Two Degrees”, Kathy JetñilKijiner has sought to “turn the tides” against climate change, and to advocate for nuclear justice for the Marshall Islands, which is still waiting for the US to atone for the environmental and socio-economic damage resulting from its military exploitation of the islands across generations

Summary

Introduction

In her poem “Two Degrees” (quoted above), Marshallese performance poet and ecoactivist Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner reflects upon the successive waves of environmental and corporeal damage visited upon the people of Bikini Atoll, where the US undertook 23 nuclear bomb tests between 1946 and 1958.

Results

Conclusion