Pathways of Téâ Kanaké: translation and identity construction in Kanaky/New Caledonia

How do translations contribute to the construction of social identity? In what ways can translation play a role in the process of nation-building? Tracing the various pathways taken by a Kanak origin story, Téâ Kanaké, from its source in the oral tradition of the Paicî language, to written French, this paper situates translations of elements of Kanak oral tradition in the context of the nation-building project currently underway in Kanaky/New Caledonia, a French territory on the path to decolonisation.