Congratulations Sudi!

Name: Sudi Kumar

Degree: MA Lit

Graduating Year: 2025

Thesis Title: Fallout: The Literary Legacy of Nuclear Testing in the Pacific, and the Reclamation of Voices from Oceania

Thesis Supervisors: Dr. Matthew Hayward and Dr. Thomas Vranken

Hello, my name is sudi. I’m from Tavarau, which is between Ba and Lautoka, in the western part of Viti Levu, Fiji Islands.

My thesis focused on how Pacific nuclear testing has been depicted in literature, on whether this has changed over time, and on who is doing the depicting (whether it’s westerners, outsiders, or Oceanians, the people from here)… So, by comparing and contrasting over time, the idea was to see, from the perspective of postcolonial and ecocritical approaches: what are the major differences, and is there even a reason for a credible Oceanic take on this issue? And, yes, there is… because, if there’s only the western narrative, it will be biased; so it’s important to also hear another take on this issue. And that’s what my thesis was exploring — how Oceanians have essentially reclaimed this for themselves.

Thank you!