12-Anderson-Abiding Salience

CAROLYN ANDERSON The Abiding Salience of the Local in a Global Age The Case of Hawaiian History On January 27, 1997, in his introduction of Hawaii’s Last Queen to a national PBS audience, historian David McCullough, host of The American Experience, labeled the 1893 overthrow of the hereditary monarchy of Hawaiì as “an unfamiliar story to most Americans today.”1 Then McCullough acknowledged another audience not only familiar with, but invested in, this story: “In Hawaiì, however, the subject is anything but old hat and interpretations of what ac- tually happened differ sharply, depending on who’s telling the story.” McCullough recognized—but located elsewhere— the pro- Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation, 1993 duction of history as an essentially political Hawaiì all of which share a focus on 1890s project; he linked an environment of contesta- Hawaiì. I follow public historians who tion to local politics and familiarity with “the recognize the signifi cance of the local in the story.” His allusion to Hawaiì recognizes the creation of public memory and of Cultural situated nature of public memory, of the im- Studies scholars who emphasize the impor- portance of not only who’s telling the story, tance of the formation, the dissemination, and but who’s hearing it, and where. the use of cultural products.3 I begin with an Inspired by Benedict Anderson’s seminal assumption that contexts, particulars of pro- work on imagined communities, scholars duction, and specifi c uses combine to shape across disciplines have rediscovered the understandings of media texts. I also begin centrality of place as site of memory and with Michael Roth’s penetrating questions: desire and locus of identity formation in a “What is the point of having a past, and why postmodern world characterized by intense try to recollect it? What desires are satisfi ed 2 and often disorienting fl ux. Although the na- by this recollection?”4 Two crucial fl ashpoints tion-state, or nation-ness to follow Anderson, in Hawaiian history—the overthrow of Queen remains the central ideational construct, the Liliùokalani and the Hawaiian nation in 1893 local and the global have become increasingly and the U.S. annexation of Hawaiì in 1898— salient in the imagining and materialization function as symbols of, and necessity for, a of communities. This essay considers how growing movement for native sovereignty in historical stories appeal to “imagined com- Hawaiì, a movement that deeply complicates munities” within local, national, and global the concept of nationhood. Where stories of formations through an examination of Ha- the overthrow and annexation fit in a Ha- waii’s Last Queen and fi ve productions from waiian centennial account, in a discourse of Oceania in the Age of Global Media 83 Peter Britos, editor, Special Issue of Spectator 23:1 (Spring 2003) 83-98. Hawaiian sovereignty, in an American narrative of expansionism and treatment of native peoples, in geopolitical struggles for inde- pendence or in global corporate marketing schemes are among the questions this essay addresses. The National Community: Hawaii’s Last Queen for The American Experience (1997) In the 1980s and 1990s, The American Expe- rience, produced at WGBH in Boston, was the only regularly scheduled prime-time television historical documentary series in Queen Liliùokalani, circa 1893 the United States. It is arguably the most backs up. I was an outsider getting national influential series and certainly the most funds to make a film about their story…I acclaimed. Created in 1987 by the late Peter had to gain their trust and I did that by do- McGee, the series takes an aggressive stance ing my homework.”7 That homework was in (re-)organizing the discourse of national partially assigned by the academic advisors memory, and in presenting itself as sensitive Ducat chose: Davianna Pomaikaì McGregor to the multicultural diversity contained with- (University of Hawaiì, Manoa) and Ten- in what is nonetheless a metanarrative labeled nant McWilliams (University of Alabama, “the American experience.” Birmingham). The American Experience urges In 1991, with an eye on the 1993 centennial producers to employ both a specialist and of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, generalist, and to consult them at all stages of independent producer Vivian Ducat submit- the process. McGregor became an important ted a proposal to The American Experience for local link. Ducat struggled with the expecta- a project that would consider the overthrow tions and suspicions of a community which as a factor in the debates in America around has often been misrepresented and whose “what it meant to be imperial.”5 Ducat met “judgment [she] felt on [her] shoulders the with (then) executive producer Judy Crichton entire time” and, simultaneously, her contrac- and senior producer Margaret Drain, who tual obligations to produce a fi lm that would expressed financial concerns and encour- be understandable and interesting to “people aged Ducat to seek additional funding, which in Nebraska, and the people in Miami and the she did, unsuccessfully. Several years later people in Seattle and the people on farms and Crichton indicated renewed interest in “the people who live in big cities.” 8 Hawaiian idea.” She cautioned that The Ameri- Ducat’s solution to this dilemma is a bio- can Experience thinks in terms of characters an graphical piece deeply admiring of the last audience could relate to, and suggested that Hawaiian queen. McCullough introduces the story be told through the life of the queen. Liliùokalani’s story as part of the drama of A start-up time of May 1995 was set. turn-of-the-century American expansionism. The American Experience front office Nevertheless, Ducat’s emphasis is on Hawai- encouraged Ducat to select a native Hawai- ian loss, rather than American conquest, on ian associate producer (Nicole Ebeo). On her Hawaiian isolation, rather than American fi rst scouting trip to Hawaiì and later when intervention. Hawaii’s Last Queen begins she returned to fi lm, Ducat’s association with with a prologue that swiftly accomplishes a well-known, well-funded national series several narrative and conceptual moves. The operated as both access and obstacle. 6 Ducat narrator opens with, “Just a century ago, described the situation: “People had their there was an isolated kingdom…a beloved ANDERSON The narrator provides a telling context: “Lead- ing the opposition was a young, hot-headed lawyer and journalist named Lorrin Thurston. He formed a secret society of white business- men.” Twigg-Smith describes Kalakaua [who preceded Liliùokalani on the throne] as a man aching for absolute power. He then of- fers these motives: “He [Thurston] wanted, as did the other members of that group, to do what the colonists had done in 1776, which was to throw off the yoke of monarchy and take on the civil rights and other things of a democracy. And they believed that was in the best interests of the Hawaiians and I believe Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation, 1993 so, too.” Twigg-Smith invocation of American democracy is clearly an attempt to seize the queen…removed from her throne... It was a moral high ground as heir to and apologist for great loss to her people.” An elderly Hawai- his grandfather’s actions. Twigg-Smith’s po- ian woman, Thelma Bugbee, says, “If you can sition—one that dominated written history for imagine something within your own culture most of the twentieth century—seems includ- that is tremendously important to you . to- ed as a gesture toward “objectivity,” which is tally ripped out and gone. If you can imagine a goal of The American Experience, according to yourself relating to something like that, that’s Executive Producer Margaret Drain. what we went through.” The narrator men- By personal preference and following se- tions Liliùokalani’s background and training. ries guidelines, Ducat eschewed historical Aaron Mahi, Conductor, Royal Hawaiian re-enactments, but she employed a moving Band, comments, “Liliù…knew the values of camera perspective through various histori- both sides. Knew the inevitable of what was cal locations (which The American Experience going to happen to Hawaii.” encourages). In arranging a location shoot, This prologue promises a story of a Ducat encountered a diffi culty that illustrates great woman, whose life was filled with the resonance of history in contemporary accomplishment, drama, and intrigue. A Hawaiì: owners of Victorian homes were sympathetic local elder invites an audience of unwilling to have their residences photo- presumed outsiders to “relate to” a wrench- graphed as the meeting place where the ing loss. A respected member of the Hawaiian overthrow was planned. They presumed their community refers to the last queen familiarly homes would be recognizable and mark them while describing “what happened to Hawaiì” as sympathetic to the overthrow. Ducat did as “inevitable.” The rest of the documentary not need to fi nd local actors willing to express elaborates on a theme of tragic inevitability. unpopular opinions, for she shunned the now The off-screen narrator (Anna Deavere Smith) common style of voicing historical sources. and nine on-screen storytellers collaborate, Liliùokalani is quoted on eleven occasions, with one notable exception, to present the but the quotations are presented as quotations. biography of an honorable and wise leader, This strategy simultaneously draws listeners whose commitment to peace was used against into Liliùokalani`s thoughts, yet maintains a her and her people in an immoral and illegal sense of historical distance. overthrow, orchestrated by greedy business- The biography builds to the climax of men. Strongly opposing this interpretation the Queen’s abdication, then moves swiftly is Honolulu newspaper publisher Thurston to annexation.

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