Why did Albert Wendt and Epeli Hau’ofa argue that Pacific Islanders should write about their own cultures?

In the 1970s, writers such as Albert Wendt and Epeli Hau’ofa advocated for Pacific Islanders to write their own literature as a direct reaction against the distortions and romanticized, often racist depictions of the Pacific found in works by European outsiders.12

They argued that a culture must be written about from the inside, as only an insider possesses true access to a culture’s deeper consciousness. By reclaiming their own narratives, these authors sought to ensure that literature served the benefit of local people rather than perpetuating colonial perspectives. This movement emphasized that Pacific Islanders should define their own individual and ethnic identities, moving away from external views that falsely portrayed life in Oceania as culturally cohesive or static.1