fiji - My Great Love

The book is a love letter to Fiji and its unique people. It presents the ancient culture and history of the indigenous Itaukei from a different perspective than that found in the usual travel guides or even in the official history books of Fiji. It is a very personal "Talanoa" (story) of Fiji, told from the admittedly limited perspective of a "pale-face" in love. It is full of descriptions of historical events and brings to light unexpected life lines of historical figures that have been forgotten or deliberately disappeared from public discourse. The word Talanoa has a prominent meaning in the Itaukei culture. The Fijian culture had no writing or standardized records until the arrival of the first missionaries in 1835. Everything was passed down orally or presented in the form of a narrative dance (Meke) . The oceanic beauty of the Pacific has carried and accompanied all these fascinating and harrowing stories of its inhabitants on its waves. It has given people direction, protected their lives or driven them into exile or to their deaths. The individual chapters describe in detail the ancient spirituality of the Itaukei, the arrival of missionaries and Europeans in the mid-19th century, the effects of 100 years of colonization, and the consequences of shipping tens of thousands of cheap Indian contract labourers (girmits) to Fiji. The book looks back into the past and at the same time remains in the modern present, following developments in Fiji from independence to the present day. It is by no means a travel guide. But every white person visiting the South Sea islands should read it in preparation. Because Fiji should be experienced with heart and sensuality by its guests.