Title
— University of Western Sydney, Australia
Abstract
This paper outlines a personal project that aims to capture the essence of Tongan myths and legends through the graphic novel form. The stories have been linguistically translated (from Tongan to English) and adapted from ‘Efinanga (1994), a text compiled by my late grandfather, Masiu Moala. ‘Efinanga (1994) contains over 80 myths and legends and expresses my grandfather’s passion for upholding Tongan culture and the need to pass these tales on to Tongan youth. The challenge for the creative work has not only been to remain true to these ideals, but also to communicate the story in a way that speaks to the youth of the Tongan diaspora and to visually literate, multicultural youth more broadly. The uniqueness of the graphic novel form lies in the juxtaposition of images to communicate a story, which not only responds to the target audience's preference for visual media, but can also help reclaim the rhythm and dynamism of oral traditions of storytelling. This essay tells the story of the evolution of my creative work through an engagement with literature and graphic precedents and Tongan cultural history as well as primary research conducted in Tonga. Through this project, I have discovered the richness of Tongan cultural history and found a way to contribute to it in a contemporary context.
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