The production of Paradise
French Polynesia’s crafted identity
Conceptions of ‘Paradise’ have followed humans around for almost as long as we have been on the planet. It is an obsession – a fetish – a belief that somewhere out there, the perfect place exists, just waiting for us.
In recent years, the islands of French Polynesia have positioned themselves as clear front-runners in the production of Paradise. But how did this happen?
Where does the idea of Paradise come from?
The world’s first constructions of ‘Paradise’ – or the perfect place – can be traced back many thousands of years in mythology and religion. In Ancient Greece, beliefs in ‘Elysium’ framed this place as:
“blessed along the shore of deep-swirling Ocean, [where] grain-giving earth bears honey-sweet fruit.” (Hesiod, Works and Days.)
In Islam, the Paradise of the afterlife is depicted as a climate-controlled garden, filled with “bashful, dark-eyed virgins”, and where residents drink a “pure draught” from crystal goblets.
And in Christianity, the Bible offers many references to the pursuit of the perfect place. Adam and Eve’s arrival in Eden sets the precedent from the beginning – a place defined by the Trees of Life and Knowledge, the springing of rivers, and the temptation of forbidden fruit. Indeed, much of the Old Testament is devoted to the Israelites’ pursuit of the Promised Land of ‘milk and honey’.
Despite their disparate origins, there is a curious symmetry in these constructions of Paradise. All reference an abundance of nurturing food, all describe places of extreme natural beauty (with many references to springs and oceans), and in a few, there is a certain preoccupation with promiscuous sensuality – the bare skin of Adam and Eve, the bashful virgins of Islam, the forbidden fruit.
While these facets of ‘Paradise’ likely tell us much about what was longed for in the cultures that constructed them, the curious thing is that this broad, relatively unsophisticated conception of Paradise still persists today.
Indeed, these conceptions allow French Polynesia to fit the bill perfectly.
Discovering Paradise in French Polynesia
The islands of Polynesia were first settled around 6000 years ago, during a great migration from Southeast Asia. Miraculously, a large population of migrants from the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, found their way by canoe – using nothing but the stars and winds for navigation – first arriving in Tonga and Samoa.
By 500 BC, further populations had travelled again, in order to settle in the Marquesas (now French Polynesia), and a few centuries later, a new population reached out to settle in the islands of Hawaii.
However, the islands of French Polynesia weren’t ‘discovered’ (i.e., by western explorers) until the sixteenth century, when Ferdinand Magellan noticed the islands on an expedition to the Philippines. Several centuries of European visits followed, in which British and French interests vied for influence over the islands.
It was during these disputes that French Polynesia became known as a Paradise on earth.
When Captain James Cook visited the islands in 1769, his diary made it clear that he was quite taken with the place:
“The Soil is rich and fertile… [the people are] open, affable, Courteous… The Houses of dwellings of these People are admirably calculated for the continual warmth of the Climate... it says much for the discipline of the Endeavour that only two of her crew attempted to remain in what seemed a Paradise.” (Captain Cook’s Journal During his First Voyage Round the World, 1768-71)
When, in 1789, news spread of the infamous mutiny on HMS Bounty – staged in part because the crew did not wish to leave Tahiti – perceptions of French Polynesia as a true Paradise really took hold back in Europe. In fact, ever since the mutiny, the word ‘bounty’ has been associated with frivolous enjoyment and pleasure (consider the chocolate bar: ‘Bounty, the taste of Paradise’). Meanwhile, throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, ‘Tahitian verandas’, Polynesian wallpaper and ‘South Seas lakes’ became all the rage in British country homes. And the shores of Bora Bora, Tahiti and Mo’orea even now ensnare the imaginations of tourists all around the world.
There is something about French Polynesia that has kept this perception of Paradise alive, even through several centuries of tourism, colonial rule and nuclear testing. In part, it is because of the islands’ natural paradisiacal assets.
What are the attributes of Paradise in French Polynesia?
When we refer back to the consistencies in conceptions of Paradise from religion and mythology, it is easy to see how French Polynesia has earned its reputation:
Extreme natural beauty – like the Garden of Eden or the Greeks’ Elysium, French Polynesia is blessed with abundant beauty. White sand, turquoise water, luscious green plants, vibrantly colourful flowers, and the dramatic volcanic backdrop.
Fertile land and sea – an important part of French Polynesian culture involves the celebration of all that the land and sea yields. From the tuna in the sea to the coconuts in the trees, the Polynesian appreciation of these ingredients gives a sense of abundance – much like the Israelites’ land of milk and honey.
Bare skin and celebration of the body – in part because of the climate, and in part because of ancient cultural rituals, it is not uncommon to see a lot of bare skin on show in French Polynesia. In traditional dress, men wear loincloths and women wear kapa garments, and from this tradition has grown a culture that celebrates the body. For visitors in search of Paradise, this aesthetic may be reminiscent of Adam and Eve’s nakedness; suggesting a people who live closely with the earth and the land.
Of course, this picture does not tell the full story of Tahiti and French Polynesia, and it is one that has been exaggerated by several centuries of European dreaming. However, it is an image that French Polynesians have been perpetuating to their advantage. Indeed, ‘Paradise’ has become their leading export.
The production of Paradise
If there was ever evidence to prove that Tahiti is ‘producing’ its image as Paradise, one can find it by comparing tourist and residential areas.
The tourist trade is king in Tahiti, and it is defined by a series of waterside resorts with infinity swimming pools, cabins set on stilts over the ocean, cocktails served in coconut shells, tribal dances performed with dinner, and guided island excursions and ocean daytrips. The experience of tourists is carefully managed on the islands, and tourists are encouraged to stay on the beaten path of tropical bliss. By happy coincidence, this is where most tourists are keen to remain.
However, a tour through Papeete or its surrounding towns tells a slightly different story. The incredible natural beauty of the island is of course still present, but it is checked by the fact that islanders wear ‘normal’ clothes, live in ‘normal’ houses, and live ‘normal’ lives. Not every street is Instagram-beautiful; not every building has open sides and a V-shaped roof.
While the images of Tahiti and Polynesian culture that tourists see are grounded in truth, the version of it that they see is performed. Dance is still central to cultural rituals and celebrations in French Polynesia, but not usually when it is performed in hotel lobbies. Tapa cloth and pareu are still worn during special ceremonies in French Polynesia, but not usually while carrying suitcases between hotel rooms. Appreciation of the land and sea is still a cornerstone in French Polynesian cultural values, but locals do not usually need beautiful resorts and suspended beach cabins to appreciate it.
All of this is an open secret, and nobody seems to mind; tourists are here to buy ‘Paradise’, and the 18% of French Polynesians who work in tourism on the islands, are here to sell it.
Through natural assets, culture and design, French Polynesia has perhaps come closest than anywhere else in the world, in manufacturing the perfect place; in producing Paradise.
