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Pacific Islands Monograph Series
Sweat and Salt Water
On 21 March 2017, Associate Professor Teresia Kieuea Teaiwa passed away at the age of forty-eight. News of Teaiwa’s death precipitated an extraordinary outpouring of grief unmatched in the Pacific studies community since Epeli Hau‘ofa’s passing in 2009. Mourners referenced Teaiwa’s nurturing interactions with numerous students and colleagues, her innovative program-building at Victoria University of Wellington, her inspiring presence at numerous conferences around the globe, her feminist and political activism, her poetry, her Banaban/I-Kiribati/Fiji Islander and African American heritage, and her extraordinary ability to connect and communicate with people of all backgrounds.
This volume features a selection of Teaiwa’s scholarly and creative contributions captured in print over a professional career cut short at the height of her productivity. The collection honors her legacy in various scholarly fields, including Pacific studies, Indigenous studies, literary studies, security studies, and gender studies, and on topics ranging from militarism and tourism to politics and pedagogy. It also includes examples of Teaiwa’s poems. Many of these contributions have had significant and lasting impacts. Teaiwa’s “bikinis and other s/pacific notions,” published in The Contemporary Pacific in 1995, could be regarded as her breakthrough piece, attracting considerable attention at the time and still cited regularly today. With its innovative two-column format and reflective commentary, “Lo(o)sing the Edge,” part of a special issue of The Contemporary Pacific in 2001, had similar impact. Teaiwa’s writings about what she dubbed “militourism,” and more recent work on militarization and gender, continue to be very influential. Perhaps her most significant contribution was to Pacific studies itself, an emerging interdisciplinary field of study with distinctive goals and characteristics. In several important journal articles and book chapters reproduced here, Teaiwa helped define the essential elements of Pacific studies and proposed teaching and learning strategies appropriate for the field.
Sweat and Salt Water includes fifteen of Teaiwa’s most influential pieces and four poems organized into three Pacific Studies, Militarism and Gender, and Native Reflections. A foreword by Sean Mallon, Teaiwa’s spouse, is followed by a short introduction by the volume’s editors. A comprehensive bibliography of Teaiwa’s published work is also included.
This volume features a selection of Teaiwa’s scholarly and creative contributions captured in print over a professional career cut short at the height of her productivity. The collection honors her legacy in various scholarly fields, including Pacific studies, Indigenous studies, literary studies, security studies, and gender studies, and on topics ranging from militarism and tourism to politics and pedagogy. It also includes examples of Teaiwa’s poems. Many of these contributions have had significant and lasting impacts. Teaiwa’s “bikinis and other s/pacific notions,” published in The Contemporary Pacific in 1995, could be regarded as her breakthrough piece, attracting considerable attention at the time and still cited regularly today. With its innovative two-column format and reflective commentary, “Lo(o)sing the Edge,” part of a special issue of The Contemporary Pacific in 2001, had similar impact. Teaiwa’s writings about what she dubbed “militourism,” and more recent work on militarization and gender, continue to be very influential. Perhaps her most significant contribution was to Pacific studies itself, an emerging interdisciplinary field of study with distinctive goals and characteristics. In several important journal articles and book chapters reproduced here, Teaiwa helped define the essential elements of Pacific studies and proposed teaching and learning strategies appropriate for the field.
Sweat and Salt Water includes fifteen of Teaiwa’s most influential pieces and four poems organized into three Pacific Studies, Militarism and Gender, and Native Reflections. A foreword by Sean Mallon, Teaiwa’s spouse, is followed by a short introduction by the volume’s editors. A comprehensive bibliography of Teaiwa’s published work is also included.
288 pages, Paperback
Published August 31, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 8, 2024
Absolute must read if you love Pacific history! Teresia is a genius and living in multiple spaces has given her collection a very encompassing perspective. She speaks power to truth and is also unafraid to be vulnerable and share about her own journey in such a way that can only be Teresia. Vinaka vakalevu, sota tale x
April 17, 2023
Selection of academic works by Teresia Teaiwa. She is I-Kiribati, Banaban, and African American, so this book was my selection for Kiribati (Read the World). She passed away from cancer in her 40s after an impressive academic career. Her impact on Pacific Studies will live on for generations to come.
A portion of the book was specifically directed at academics in Pacific Studies, so I skipped about 30% of it. It felt like reading a textbook, hence why it took a month to get through. There are poems throughout that are beautiful. If you are at all inclined to learn more about the Pacific Islands and are up for the challenge, this is a great one for you.
Teaiwa covers topics of colonization, gender roles, harmful attempts of Westernization, radiation on Bikini Atoll due to the US testing nuclear weapons, and other hard-hitting stories of the Pacific Islands.
A portion of the book was specifically directed at academics in Pacific Studies, so I skipped about 30% of it. It felt like reading a textbook, hence why it took a month to get through. There are poems throughout that are beautiful. If you are at all inclined to learn more about the Pacific Islands and are up for the challenge, this is a great one for you.
Teaiwa covers topics of colonization, gender roles, harmful attempts of Westernization, radiation on Bikini Atoll due to the US testing nuclear weapons, and other hard-hitting stories of the Pacific Islands.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews