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Visions of Eden: Labor and Fantasy in Constructions of Hawai‘I As a Paradise

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Visions of Eden: Labor and Fantasy in Constructions of Hawai‘I As a Paradise Visions of Eden: Labor and Fantasy in Constructions of Hawai‘i as a Paradise A SENIOR ESSAY Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History The Colorado College In Partial Fulfillment for the DeGree of Bachelor of Arts By Alison Bemis May 2017 Advisor: Amy Kohout 1 Since its 2007 redesign, the United States passport has featured a slew of iconic imaGery and quotes. PaGe after paGe features eaGles soarinG over snow capped mountains, GrazinG bison, stony faces of Mount Rushmore, and more. The back cover shows outer space, with a quote by astronaut and Challenger disaster victim Ellison S. Onizuka on the opposinG paGe. “Every Generation has the obliGation to free men’s minds for a look at new worlds,” the paGe reads, “to look out from a hiGher plateau than the last Generation.” Behind this quote and other informational text about aGriculture, taxes, and more, a palm tree stretches up throuGh the left side of the paGe, its fronds occupyinG much of the paGe’s top half. Below the foliaGe, the jaGGed curves of Diamond Head’s silhouette rise above blue waters.1 Many of the spreads in this passport seem to serve as inspirational, a collaGe showcasinG the best and most recoGnizable imaGes of America. These back paGes, on the other hand, seems more aspirational than anythinG. The imaGe of Diamond Head places the viewer into the scene itself, as if the individual holding the passport was looking out over the water towards the landmark volcanic crater. However, reGardless of whether or not the viewer knows what he or she is specifically looking at, the ideas of paradise contained within this imaGe are familiar. This type of peaceful scene is commonly reflected in portrayals of Hawai‘i, casting the islands as a tropical wonderland of smilinG natives and sparklinG, sandy beaches. Portrayals of Hawai‘i as a geographic and racial paradise have not only laid an effective foundation for advertisers hoping to draw in visitors and new residents, but also acted as vehicles to propel powerful ideas about the islands to outsiders—ideas which have built 1 United States Passport in my possession 2 upon pre-existinG archetypes of a tropical paradise, reflectinG the anxieties and ambitions of early 20th century Americans. One of the primary imaGes of Hawai‘i that permeated the American consciousness was that of a racial paradise. Evelyn Nakano Glenn provides a brief definition of this idea in Unequal Freedom, explaininG that this particular paradise took the form of “a tolerant multicultural society in which natives and immiGrants have freely interminGled.” Fascination with “the diversity of the population and the exotic beauty of the many people of mixed descent,” writers from all fields “have all contributed to the idealization of Hawai‘i's race relations, broadcasting glowing descriptions of Hawai‘i as a racial meltinG pot and trumpetinG the absence of racial hostility and overt discrimination.” Despite this, these same writers have also “been struck by the deGree to which race has served as an orGanizinG factor in the social, political, and economic institutions of the islands.” Racial paradise does not equal racial equality in Hawai‘i, where a hierarchical labor system orGanized a small white elite above the native Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Islander workforce.2 However, much of the material that the averaGe American consumer would have been exposed to throughout the early 20th century glossed over the racial hierarchy aspect. Instead, popular media and writinGs all focused on the perceived racial paradise itself, iGnorinG both how the diverse set of peoples who composed Hawai‘i’s population came to the islands and the voices of the native and nonwhite immiGrant Groups who were vulnerable to exploitation by powerful commercial interests. In this essay, I will use National Geographic articles as a lens through which to explore the origins and constraints 2 Glenn, Evelyn Nakano. Unequal Freedom: How Race and Gender Shaped American Citizenship and Labor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004. 191. 3 of the racial paradise presented alonGside imaGes of a tropical paradise in Hawai‘i. Additionally, I will analyze the histories behind the people who made up this so-called paradise and how this diverse set of people came to the islands in the first place. By explorinG the ideas, imaGes, and rhetoric of Hawai‘i as created and consumed by outsiders, I hope to better understand how the idea of a paradise, particularly a racial one, has functioned as part of the broader consciousness surrounding Hawai‘i. In particular, I will focus on how a small Group of economic elites’ need for cheap, vulnerable labor laid the foundations for this idyllic portrait of island life. By usinG vaGue descriptions and imaGes of natural beauty, these white elites promoted a pleasant fantasy that worked in their favor, while simultaneously attemptinG to quell labor unrest and ensurinG profit which often resulted in restrictinG the opportunities for nonwhite residents and workers. This essay looks roughly at the period beginning shortly before the overthrow of the KinGdom of Hawai‘i in 1893 and annexation in 1898 through the period shortly after statehood in 1959. Throughout these decades Hawai‘i experienced rapid and dramatic chanGe, yet the imaGe communicated to outsiders remained relatively static. Outsiders have engaged with a constructed face of Hawai‘i through a variety of mediums: on the fronts of postcards, in the chords of ukuleles and steel Guitars, and throuGh movie and television screens. Advertisements in maGazines and newspapers encourage viewers to book a spot on one of the luxury Matson liners bound for Honolulu using photos of lush landscapes, native women, typical island leisure activities such as surfing, and hula girls playing ukuleles on the beach (see fig. 1), while films and television such as Blue Hawai‘i and Hawai‘i Five-0 populate these now-familiar settinGs with visions of who, in the eyes of the producers, exists in Hawai‘i (see fig. 2). Whether direct or 4 indirect, advertisinG “has always sold fantasy, creatinG moods and seekinG to touch emotions rather than simply repeatinG facts.”3 By playing off of idealistic conceptions of the tropics, any individual hopinG to utilize the imaGe of Hawai‘i can exploit developed and familiar fantasies in the viewers’ minds to create a powerful emotional response with minimal creative effort. Figure 1. Advertisement by the Figure 2. Poster for Blue Hawaii Hawaii Visitors Bureau (1961) Source: Hawaii Visitors Bureau. Source: "Blue Hawaii (1961)." "Hawaii." IMDb. Accessed April 22, 2017. Advertisement. National http://www.imdb.com/title/tt00 Geographic, May 1983. 54692/. In the first half of the 20th century, National Geographic maGazine served as one particularly influential source of imaGes and cultural descriptions. The thick, Glossy pages 3 Brown, DeSoto. "Beautiful, Romantic Hawai‘i: How the Fantasy ImaGe Came to Be." The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts 20 (1994): 253-71. doi:10.2307/1504126. 253 5 of the maGazine are familiar to many Americans, due to the maGazine’s presence in waitinG areas, at home, and in the classroom. Full of colorful and strikinG photos with accompanyinG articles, National Geographic partakes in “a long tradition of travelogue.” To understand aspects of this tradition of traveloGue, I turn to Catherine A. Lutz and jane L. Collins’ Reading National Geographic. This book provides a robust framework for and analysis of the processes behind producing an issue of National Geographic, as well as the maGazine itself. I will specifically focus on information Lutz and Collins provide about the maGazine’s readership, as well as their analysis of the article production process, before investiGatinG a series of articles from 1908 to 1968 focusing on Hawai‘i.4 Market figures for 1989 reveal that 55 percent of National Geographic’s in-home readership was male, while 96 percent of the readership was white, with a median aGe of 42. UnsurprisinGly, this demoGraphic also tended to have more money and formal education than the averaGe American. Interviews conducted by Lutz and Collins revealed that readers of National Geographic tended to “[express] little skepticism about the photos as objective documents.” Instead of considerinG the what failed to make it into the photoGrapher’s frame, the reasons why the photoGrapher chose to point his camera at the subject, and the specific photos which the photo editor chose, readers expressed confidence in the maGazine’s portrayals. National Geographic has, as Lutz and Collins put it, “cultural authority, and the averaGe white middle-class reader may find little in his or her everyday social experience to contradict it.” The ease with which these readers could engage in and accept this fantasy spoke was likely hiGh, as much of these audiences had little personal evidence to challenGe the carefully manicured imaGes presented in National 4 Lutz, Catherine A., and jane L. Collins. Reading National Geographic. ChicaGo: U of ChicaGo, 1998. Print. 1 6 Geographic. For any wishinG to use the imaGe of Hawai‘i, this lack of contrary evidence created a convenient, self-perpetuatinG feedback loop. The imaGes found in National Geographic, Matson advertisements, and more were what the public desired and expected, allowing content creators to successfully recycle a core vision of paradise with little variation.5 This dynamic enters into portrayals of Hawai‘i beyond National Geographic’s pages. Surely the average reader would find little value in questioning the cultural authority of Hawai‘i’s portrayal as a racially harmonious paradise, as explained by Glenn. Thus, the tradition of traveloGue which Lutz and Collins write about is one which simultaneously acts as maGnifyinG Glass and mirror. On one hand, the maGazine zooms in on locales deemed exotic, allowinG its readership to Gaze upon supposedly primitive peoples and lifestyles from the comfort and safety of their own home.
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