Noa Noa was Paul Gauguin’s intimate journal during his first trip to Tahiti. He started to work on its first draft in 1892 (Goldwater 47), one year after his arrival in the islands, and he intended it to be an expression of his emotions and experiences that he encountered in the new world. The way in which Gauguin presented his life on the isles is idyllic, as he envisioned Tahiti as a lost and unspoiled paradise. He seemed to have no worries about his everyday life, and he felt that he could totally immerse in his love for the virgin nature and could pursue undisrupted his artistic endeavors.
“And whatever may happen the sun will rise tomorrow as it rose to-day, beneficent and serene.” (Noa Noa 36)
This could very well be the summary of the artist’s feelings during his stay on Polynesian land. As he escaped civilization, he held a very positive mindset, thinking that by having a strong relationship with the primitive origins of the world nothing could go wrong, nothing bad could threaten his new self.
The book provides a wealth of information about Tahiti, mostly of which could not be found out in ordinary travel guides or in official data about the islands. Gauguin gives an extensive description of the Polynesian mythology, which has played an important part in his artistic works and finally shaped him up as a new person. Moreover, the book includes details about the every day life in the islands, as the Frenchman had to get used to the original and archaic aspects of the Tahitian culture. One such example could be the wedding ritual of the savages, in which Gauguin took part and finally married to his vahine, Tehura. His conversation with her mother, whom he randomly met during a trip to Itia, supports the primitive way in which Tahitians viewed the wedding between a man and a woman: “‘There are many pretty women at Faone. Do you want one?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Very well! If she pleases you, I will give her to you. She is my daughter.’ ‘Is she young?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Is she pretty?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Is she in good health?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘It is well. Go and bring her to me.’” (qtd. Noa Noa 60)
This definitely puts into doubt the value of Gauguin’s opinion of the Tahitian culture, and going further, it puts into question how far from truth is the positive light in which these barbarians are seen in Noa Noa. As Gauguin writes about himself, the man of an old civilization was taught much by “these ignorant men” in the art of living and happiness (Noa Noa 143). The question to be answered is how his art and finally his spirituality reflected this change, as he would irremediably become a different person after the Tahitian experience.
Image:
Photograph of Noa Noa. Source: Hermetica