Award Date
1-1-2005
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
First Committee Member
J. Michael Stitt
Number of Pages
103
Abstract
Embedded deep within humanity's blood and bones lies the need to explain how: how we came to exist, how the world originated and functions as it does. While some basic rhythms express themselves time and again, they may not necessarily do so in the same fashion. While one culture values the power of an almighty male creator god, another may place just as much, or greater, emphasis on a female creatrix, or yet again, focus on creation evolving in an ordered manner, with little if any interference from a deity at all. Creation accounts may contain elements of humor, such as the appearance of a trickster making a grand mess of the forming of the first human beings, while others are somber accounts taking on the tone of material found in history books. Within the corpus of Austronesian creation mythology, all of these variations, and many more besides, make an appearance.
Keywords
All; Ascendant; Austronesian; Creation; Myths; Papa; Rangi; Tangaroa; Water
Controlled Subject
Comparative literature; Ethnology
File Format
File Size
2232.32 KB
Degree Grantor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Language
English
Permissions
If you are the rightful copyright holder of this dissertation or thesis and wish to have the full text removed from Digital Scholarship@UNLV, please submit a request to digitalscholarship@unlv.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.
Repository Citation
Green, Amy M, "Rangi above/Papa below, Tangaroa ascendant, water all around us: Austronesian creation myths" (2005). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 1938.
http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/b2px-g53a
Rights
IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
