Paper short abstract:

Using a phenomenological approach to the language of the Vula'a I suggest that while attention to poetics is useful for understanding the creativity of language, more importantly it is crucial for the accurate preservation of the cultural knowledge and historicity embedded in Austronesian languages.

Paper long abstract:

Poetic language as it is understood by Heidegger, Ricoeur and Derrida is opposed to both the 'conceptual, univocal language of philosophy and the everyday language of normal conversation' (van der Heiden 2008:10). Moreover, it is this aspect of language that opens up new possibilities for expression and thus brings the world to appearance (ibid). For the Vula'a people of south-eastern Papua New Guinea (PNG) the preservation of their language (known as Hula) equates to the preservation of their unique identity and lifeworld. Lillian Short, who was a linguist and wife of the Reverend H.J.E. Short of the London Missionary Society, documented the Hula language and grammar during their post at Hula village in the 1930s. Her work has been valuable to linguists and anthropologists alike and is also highly regarded by the Vula'a. Yet it bears the failings Malinowski (1948) described for the Trobriand grammars compiled by missionaries; notably, their inability to capture the expressiveness of native languages so different from 'our own'. It is evident from my research that poetic language is prevalent not only in immediately recognisable forms such as song and magic, but also in the realm of everyday experience. Using examples from my fieldwork, I argue for a phenomenological approach to language; that the mere documentation of indigenous languages does not go far enough. Further, while attention to poetics is useful for our understanding of the creativity of language, it is crucial for the accurate preservation of the cultural knowledge and historicity embedded in Austronesian languages.