This course offers an introduction to the concepts of literacy and literature as they apply to various cultures in the Austronesian-speaking world. The Austronesian language family consists of more than 1200 languages which are spoken in Taiwan, islands throughout the Pacific Ocean, Island and Mainland Southeast Asia, and Madagascar. We will look at how a number of Austronesian language communities throughout the Pacific develop traditional and modern literary traditions; what kind of literary and other written genres they develop; how these texts are related to their cultures, moral and religious frameworks, political systems, and social organization; and what their influence is on literacy, language standardization and language politics.

This is an intensive course that starts begin November and ends in December. It does not require any existing knowledge of Austronesian languages or cultures. During the semester, students will participate in a weekend-long fieldwork trip to Tainan. This course is taught in English, in collaboration with Prof. Alexander Adelaar of the University of Melbourne.