ABSTRACT
Within a few days of arriving in Tahiti in 1902, Victor Segalen received the first inspiration for his novel Les Immemoriaux The actual book, however, was written mainly after his return to France. Going beyond the directly ethnographic, it seems appropriate to enquire what part other inspiration and experiences in Segalen's own life, may have played in the shaping of this work. The passages in his two-volume work that most closely resemble parts of Les Immemoriaux cover mainly aspects of the old religion or post-contact changes in the society. However, the overwhelming darkness and heaviness that oppress Terii as he enters the cave and walks into the water are symbolic of the new culture and religion that are on the point of invading the island. Ethnographic detail and artistic form work together in novel to create a text which cannot claim to be 'scientific' ethnography, nor was it intended as such.
