Literary institution in Papua New Guinea

This is a study of how western-style literary systems were transferred to Papua New Guinea (PNG) from 1967 to 1986, the time of decolonization in PNG. To a large extent, literary production in PNG remains tied to the institutional structures built during this period. These structures were modeled largely on literary institutions in Africa. In PNG, literature was deliberately fostered as a tool of nation-building; as a result, it faltered considerably once political independence seemed assured. These first two decades of literary life in PNC therefore offer an ideal opportunity for the study of literary genesis and change.;Two separate literary systems were created in PNG during those years. These "shadow" systems gave the appearance of being indigenous. However, they were both begun and shaped at every level by foreign change agents, who occasionally took on an indigenous voice to create the appearance of an indigenous input. Each of the systems operated in an almost mutually exclusive and highly parallel manner, creating similar institutions functioning in a similar manner. Between the two of them were several mediating agencies attached to the government, These agencies provided sites of contact and avenues for crossover.;The missions, which had always controlled education, created a populist system designed to support their vernacular literacy efforts. Most of the writers who participated in the mission-based system became journalists or wrote for the school system. The university created an elitist literary system using the colonial language. Many of its first writers became dramatists; they were extremely successful because drama could be understood in relation to a pre-existing indigenous performance tradition. Their work was also supported by a strong network of radio stations. However the literary production of "high" art which relied on print media has had a chequered career at best.;There is no existing literary theory which can account for the transfer of literary institutions during decolonization. At present, however, there are several theoretical formulations that might inform the future construction of such theory. Siegfried J. Schmidt's framing of the literary system as the interplay of four actant roles is particularly suggestive for such a period of great change. Itamar Even-Zohar's notions of the roles of interference and transfer may be adapted to explain the literary traffic that occurs during this period in literary history. Milton Esman's detailed work on institution building during decolonization might provide the means for examining planned change where literature is concerned.;This study attempts to pull these loosely related notions together in order to describe and explain events in one part of the decolonizing world. As such it is less concerned with theory formation than it is with presenting the actual details of a particular literary system. One of the central premises of this dissertation is that theory construction for the so-called post-colonial literatures must be based on many such detailed studies. Only after understanding the specificity of new literatures first can we honestly attempt theory.