Nunn, Patrick D. (2003) Fished-up or thrown-down: the geography of Pacific Island origin myths. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 93 (2). pp. 350-364. ISSN 0004-5608
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Myths recalling how islands were “fished up” or “thrown down” by (demi)gods are widespread in the Pacific Islands. Fishing-up myths are more numerous and are concentrated in a heartland comprising parts of Samoa, Tonga, the southern Cook Islands, and the Society Islands of French Polynesia. Geological details in many fishing-up myths suggest these recall the activities of shallow submarine (jack-in-the-box) volcanoes, notably in Tonga, and that these myths diffused to places where such volcanoes do not exist. Other fishing-up myths—particularly those recalling rapid emergence and/or successive uplift events and tectonic instability during the process of fishing-up—are suggested as recalling coseismic-uplift events (uplift coincident with large earthquakes), which are comparatively common in islands along the convergent plate boundaries of the southwest Pacific (including parts of Tonga and New Zealand). Throwing-down myths are less common in the Pacific, being effectively confined to places (near) where volcanoes erupted within the period of human occupation. Throwing-down myths are interpreted as recalling volcanic eruptions.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GR Folklore |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment (FSTE) > School of Geography, Earth Science and Environment |
| Depositing User: | Ms Mereoni Camailakeba |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Apr 2003 09:05 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Jul 2012 05:38 |
| URI: | https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/2796 |
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