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Towards a Generative Politics of Expression: Re-Negotiating Identity in the “Traditional” Dances of Fiji and Fiji’S Canadian Diaspora

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Towards a Generative Politics of Expression: Re-Negotiating Identity in the “Traditional” Dances of Fiji and Fiji’S Canadian Diaspora TOWARDS A GENERATIVE POLITICS OF EXPRESSION: RE-NEGOTIATING IDENTITY IN THE “TRADITIONAL” DANCES OF FIJI AND FIJI’S CANADIAN DIASPORA EVADNE KELLY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REGUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN DANCE YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO AUGUST 2014 © EVADNE KELLY, 2014 Abstract Recent performances of the “traditional” Fijian song-dance practice called meke indicate a re-negotiation of identity amongst Fijians living in Fiji and Canada. Post- independence Fiji has had a tumultuous history with four coups d’etat since 1987. Governance in that time, impacted by close to a century of British colonial rule, has been centred on a biopolitical terrain occupied by firm categories of race, ethnicity and culture. The politics of negotiating identity in post-independence Fiji have created ethnic tensions that have divided dance forms (Hereniko 2006). However, in light of Fiji’s most recent 2006 military coup in the name of multiracial harmony and anti-racism, there has been a re-negotiation of “Fijianness” in performances of meke that sometimes blurs boundaries formed by categories of race, and other times sustains race-based boundaries. These political and historical contexts are elements of what is being re-negotiated for members of Fiji’s disparate Diaspora in Canada that has grown significantly due to the coups (Lal 2003). In the context of shifting biopolitical terrains of power, my research asks: how does expressing movement-based affects (as relational feelings/sensations of intensity) activate and transform political tensions and identifications with nation, ethnicity, and culture for practitioners of meke in Canada and Fiji? The findings of this research are based on original dance-based participant observation fieldwork and archival research conducted in Western Canada and Viti Levu, Fiji between 2011 and 2013. I argue that meke in Canada and Fiji enables a re- negotiation of identity through experiences and expressions of powerful feeling states ii that generate and are simultaneously generated by movement. These affects enable Fijians to de-centre and strategically deploy discourses of multiculturalism in Canada and multiracialism in Fiji that divide Fijians by treating them as “ethnically” homogenous yet distinct groups. In addition, while haunted by felt intensities that migrate from Fiji, Fijian migrants in Vancouver generate new articulations of identity expressed through meke that emerge from new connections to place. I examine examples of Fijian dance that show how movement-based affects go beyond merely reflecting or representing culture and ethnicity, and instead expose how dance actively generates culture and identity. iii Dedication During the course of my doctoral studies, I lost two important people and gained two important people. This dissertation is dedicated to two women no longer with us who taught me not only was it possible to get a PhD, but that it was possible with children. Hilary White-Nunn, my mother who passed away at the beginning of my doctoral studies, has been a driving source of inspiration and guidance throughout my research and writing. Margaret Fulton, my great Aunt Peggy who passed away as I was completing the final chapter of my dissertation, started the first women’s studies program in Canada. Both women created important pathways for me: they taught me that I was capable of tackling difficult tasks by imagining myself moving past barriers and working hard to achieve my goals. This dissertation is also dedicated to my children. Eagon Kelly and Imogen Kelly have been open, bright, generous, and supportive. Together they have given me the love and the critical distance I needed throughout my writing. I write this in part for them to create more pathways of possibility for their futures yet to be carved. iv Acknowledgements First, and foremost, I thank my dissertation committee members: Danielle Robinson, Patrick Alcedo, and Ken Little for their patience, thoughtful feedback and insightful questions. They each brought crucial support and guidance that helped me work through a politically complex and nuanced topic to produce this document. They have inspired me as mentors and shown me how to balance the heavy demands of academia. I also thank the scholars Sally Ness and David Murray, who took time to support the development of my early writing and thinking through their feedback and questions. David Murray made important recommendations for future contacts Vilsoni Hereniko, Katerina Teaiwa, and Kalissa Alexyeff whose work focuses on dance and theatre in the South Pacific. I am indebted to Vilsoni Hereniko who was at the University of the South Pacific (USP) during my time in Fiji. He generously welcomed me and my family and made us feel a part of the action at the University’s Oceania Centre for Art, Culture, and Pacific Studies. He also introduced me to Master Damiano Logaivau, one of my key consultants on meke. I thank all of the funding bodies that generously supplied me with the means of carrying out this research. The Dancers Transition Resource Centre was a key source of funding through subsistence and retraining grants. In addition, I thank York University’s Faculty of Graduate Studies from whom I received generous funds for research v development, fieldwork costs and the Susan Mann dissertation scholarship that funded the final year of intensive writing. The Ontario Graduate Scholarship and Social Sciences Humanities Research Council provided crucial financial supports during each phase of my doctoral studies. I am filled with deep gratitude and respect for the South Pacific Islanders on Vancouver Island and in Vancouver who contributed their knowledge to this study (Sefo, Peni, Noa, Janet, Sipili, Emori, Joe, Jack, Sala, Isaac, and Mua). Most importantly, I thank Sefo Avaiki, and Sala (Adi Salaseini Seruvatu Veikoso) for being an important part of my life-long development as a person and for sharing their knowledge of Rotuma and Fiji, and their love of the Pacific with me. I extend a deep thanks to Lavonne Gucake, her husband Matai, and Bavai in Vancouver for connecting me with friends, family, and key meke organizations in Fiji. My project was deeply enriched by their knowledge, and the connections they enabled. I also thank the Fiji Canada Association who was quick to help me connect with Fijians in Vancouver knowledgeable about meke and the Fijian Diaspora there. On Vancouver Island I also thank the Pacific Peoples Partnership, and in particular April Ingham for her assistance in connecting me with a broader base of Fiji scholars working around the globe. Her efforts enabled important connections to Katerina Igglesden whose work on masi is part of the Sainsbury Research Unit at the University of East Anglia focusing on Fijian Material Art collections. In addition, April’s efforts enabled a connection to S. Aporosa who connected me with the past vi director of the iTaukei Institute of Language and Culture, Sekove Degei, in Fiji. Aporosa’s own work on yaqona (a ceremonial and social drink) practices in Fiji has also been instructive. I appreciate the time that many of these individuals took to explain the ethics of doing research amongst iTaukei (indigenous Fijians). In Fiji, I thank the library staff at USP’s Pacific collection that went out of their way to help me locate images and titles on meke as well as connect me with the archivists at the National Archives of Fiji (NAF). I am grateful to the archivists at the NAF who assisted me with my research and work within the short time frames I had available between nursing my daughter. I extend deep gratitude and respect to Simione Dredre at the iTaukei Institute for Language and Culture for believing in the potential of my research and taking time to discuss his knowledge of meke with me. As well, I thank Sachiko Miller (artistic director and founder of VOU Fiji dance company) for taking time to speak with me and share her work with me. I thank Judith and Saimon for welcoming me into their home while in Fiji and for affording me the opportunity to become part of their daily lives. Staying with Judith and Saimon enabled me to connect with key meke practitioners, Bale and Jiuta, whom I thank for their invaluable insights. I thank Iosefo at the Cultural Centre for taking time to share his vast knowledge of meke. Thank you to Master Lei and the dancers at the Conservatorium Of Music for sharing their knowledge, insights, and passion for meke. I will be forever impacted by the group’s incredible performance energy. vii I am most grateful to Damiano Logaivau, Dave Lavaki, Peter Espiritu, and the artists and performers at the Oceania Centre of Art, Culture, and Pacific Studies (Sau, Sadi, Etueni, Epeli, Fumaru, Ledua, and Tulevu). Each of these individuals welcomed us and made us feel at home at OCACPS. I thank Damiano most of all for his tireless efforts to share his extensive knowledge of meke. Due to our many interviews and rehearsals, I owe much of my understanding of meke to Damiano. Thank you to Damiano for not only teaching me about meke, but also generously creating a meke for me to bring back to Canada. Finally, I thank Damiano for taking time to read through my research summaries to ensure my understanding and analysis of what he shared was appropriate and accurate. This entire project has been motivated by the desire to say thank you to Anna Qumia from Namosi Province for sharing her love with my mother, and by extension, my family. I thank all of those who attempted to help me spread my thanks to her surviving family members. In particular I thank the Sisters at the Home of Compassion in Tamavua, and Tarisi Vunidilo and her husband for helping me to share my gratitude with Anna’s family in Fiji.
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