Introduction

Abstract

In the mad rush toward extinction of life that characterizes the past seventy-five years, Oceania has always been on the front lines. After having been used as laboratories on which to experiment with radioactive weapons of mass destruction, these islands are now being used by overindustrialized countries as carbon dumping-sites. Yet despite the repeated assaults of nuclear colonialism and carbon imperialism, Pacific peoples continue to asserting the vitality of Pacific cultures and languages in the ever-regenerating Pacific seascape. This introduction explores Pacific (post)apocalyptic stories of multigenerational resistance to imperial biopolitical assaults, from 1945 antinuclear songs in 'Uvea (Wallis) to contemporary sci-fi about artificial islands in Ma'ohi Nui (French Polynesia). By retracing how customary Indigenous orature and visual technologies persist and flourish in post-1945 creative discourse, the introduction reaffirms the strength of Pacific cultures in the face of past, future, and ongoing apocalypses.