…the defining collection on contemporary verbal arts in Oceania…of real value to scholars concerned with the relationships between verbal art, social change, gender, power, and social organization. - Don Brenneis. This volume demonstrates that oral media and native cultural forms are still vital throughout the South Pacific. Contributors from anthropology, ethnomusicology, folklore, literature, and history raise issues in comparative scholarship on oral tradition: what tradition means, extra-textual elements, and the relation between composition and performance. The contributors are Achsah Carrier, James Carrier, Christian Clerk, Stephen Feld, Ruth Finnegan, Raymond Firth, Judith Huntsman, Marivee McMath, Margaret Orbell, Teaea Parima, Wendy Pond, Allan Thomas, Ineleo Tuia, and John D. Waiko.