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UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Wayreading Chamorro Literature from Guam Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7k35v16n Author Perez, Craig Santos Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Wayreading Chamorro Literature from Guam By Craig Santos Perez A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnic Studies In the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Beth Piatote, Chair Professor Elizabeth DeLoughrey Professor Thomas J. Biolsi Professor Hertha D. Wong Summer 2015 © Copyright Craig Santos Perez 2015 Abstract Wayreading Chamorro Literature from Guam by Craig Santos Perez Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnic Studies University of California, Berkeley Professor Beth Piatote, Chair This dissertation maps and navigates contemporary literature by indigenous Chamorro authors from the Pacific island of Guam. Because Guam has experienced more than three centuries of colonization by three different imperial nations, Chamorro language, beliefs, customs, practices, identities, and aesthetics have been suppressed, changed, and sometimes completely replaced. As a result of these colonial changes, many anthropologists and historians have claimed that authentically indigenous Chamorro culture no longer exists. Similarly, literary scholars have argued that contemporary Chamorro literature is degraded and inauthentic because it is often composed in a written form as opposed to an oral form, in English as opposed to Chamorro, and in a foreign genre (such as a novel) as opposed to an indigenous genre (such as a chant). This discourse of inauthenticity, I suggest, is based on an understanding of Chamorro culture and literature as static essences that once existed in a "pure" and "authentic" state before colonialism, modernity, and globalization. Countering these arguments, I view Chamorro culture as a dynamic entity composed of core, enduring values, customs, and practices that are continually transformed and re-articulated within various historical contexts and political pressures. Relatedly, I contend that Chamorro literature is a dynamic phenomenon comprised of an aesthetic genealogy that has also been transformed by colonialism and re-articulated by every successive generation of Chamorro authors. To understand these complexities, I enact a literary methodology that I term "wayreading," which involves tracking how the primary themes (the content) of Chamorro literature express the survival and vitality of Chamorro language, customs, values, and practices, as well as how the primary narrative structures (the forms) of Chamorro literature embody Chamorro aesthetics, technologies, and ecologies. While the first chapter of this project launches into a discussion of Chamorro cultural identity and literary authenticity, the subsequent chapters focus on representations of important Chamorro cultural symbols— including land, housing, navigation, and storytelling—in a wide range of contemporary Chamorro literary expressions. In the Conclusion, I assert that Chamorro literature is a symbolic decolonial act and a pragmatic decolonial tool in ongoing decolonization, !1 demilitarization, and sovereignty movements in Guam. This dissertation is significant because it highlights a relatively unknown indigenous literature, thus contributing to the intellectual traditions of Pacific Islander, Native American, and Global Indigenous Cultural and Literary Studies. Beyond the realm of the indigenous, this study also contributes to the fields of Hispanic, American, Post-colonial, and Comparative Ethnic Cultural and Literary Studies. !2 Dedications I am grateful to my dissertation Chair, Professor Beth Piatote, for all her support, mentorship, guidance, and feedback during my time as a graduate student and throughout the research, writing, and editing of this dissertation. I would not be here without your efforts. I am grateful to my wonderful committee members, Professors Elizabeth DeLoughrey, Hertha D. Sweet Wong, and Tom Biolsi for their support, guidance, and feedback during my oral exams and throughout the dissertation process. I have learned so much from each of you and from your feedback. I am grateful to the faculty and graduate students I have had the pleasure of studying with and learning from. I am grateful to the Ford Foundation for supporting me with a pre-doctoral diversity fellowship, as well as to the Ethnic Studies Department of the University of California, Berkeley, for the financial and institutional support. Special thanks to Francisca Cazares for helping me with administrative issues. I am grateful to my family for teaching me the importance of education and for supporting my intellectual pursuits. This dissertation is dedicated to my parents: thank you for all the sacrifices you have made to enable me to further my education. This dissertation is also dedicated to my wife, Brandy N"lani McDougall. Without you, I would not have had the strength or passion to complete this project. Thanks for all your aloha. Lastly, this dissertation is dedicated to my daughter, Kaikainali#i Håle'ta McDougall Perez. Your cuteness helped me through the tough writing and research days. !i Table of Contents Preface On Being from Unincorporated Territory: A Poetic Journey iii Introduction Wayreading Chamorro Literature from Guam viii Chapter 1 The Etak and Pookof of Chamorro Identity: Cultural Colonialism, Decolonial Indigeneity, and Literary Authenticity 1 Chapter 2 Weaving Aerial Roots: Eco-theology, Environmental Imperialism, and Earth Aesthetics in Chamorro Women’s Writing 20 Chapter 3 The Chamorro House of Story: I Guma' Latte, Architectural Colonialism, and Na(rra)tive Housing in Chris Perez Howard's Mariquita: a Tragedy of Guam 49 Chapter 4 The Flying Proa: Outrigger Aesthetics, Canoe Colonialism, and Diasporic Indigeneity in Lehua Taitano's A Bell Made of Stones 75 Chapter 5 Singing forwards and backwards: Kåntan Chamorrita, Intertextual Orality, and Spoken Word Poetry 103 Conclusion "Prutehi yan Difendi": Chamorro Literature as Decolonial Activism 133 Bibliography 147 !ii Preface On Being from Unincorporated Territory: A Poetic Journey "Where are you from?” I am a native Chamorro from the Pacific Island of Guam.1 My family predominantly identifies with our Chamorro heritage, but both my parents have multiple and complex lineages. My childhood was a mix of Chamorro customs, Catholic activities, and American cultural experiences. I attended public and Catholic schools, where I learned to read and write in the English language, and where I studied the history, politics, culture, and geography of the United States. Growing up, I played the American sports of baseball, football, and basketball, and I cheered for professional American sports teams. I watched American television shows and Hollywood movies. I read books by American authors. I ate imported American food, such as Spam and McDonald's. Even though Guam lies thousands of nautical miles from the continental United States, American colonialism was an intimately entangled part of the everyday lives of Chamorros. When I was fifteen years old, my parents decided that our family would migrate across the ocean to the bay area of northern California, in search of economic and educational opportunities. Both my parents have a history of migration. My father was born on Guam, but he moved to southern California after he graduated high school in the 1960s. From there, he was drafted into the U.S. military and stationed at several foreign and domestic bases for his training prior to being sent to Vietnam. My mother was not born on Guam. Her mother, who is a Chamorro woman from Guam, married an American serviceman, and they were stationed at many bases throughout the states, until finally settling in California. My parents first met in California, and they lived there for many years before moving to Guam in the late 1970s. I was born on Guam in 1980, and grew up in the central village of Mongmong. In 1995, when I was 15 years old, my parents decided to move back to California. For them, it was a return; for me, it was a complete departure. For many years I felt unmoored, drifting, and lost while trying to navigate a new city, school, and continent (perhaps the most shocking aspect of this new life was learning to drive on the high speed freeways of California). The most common question that people asked me was "Where are you from?” I realized that in order to answer this question, I needed to wayfind the complex coordinates and difficult currents of 1 Historically, the indigenous “Chamorro” people and the island known as "Guam" has been given many names with different spellings and political and cultural connotations, which I discuss in chapter one. For this dissertation, I employ “Chamorro” and "Guam" because it is the most commonly known and widely used. However, when quoting sources that utilize other names, I remain faithful to the sources. !iii indigenous identity, cultural ideologies, diasporic migrations, and colonial histories. Poetry, History, and Activism I began writing poetry about my childhood on Guam when I started classes at my new high school in California. Poetry helped me remember and maintain connections to home; poetry also helped me navigate my new surroundings. These early poems felt cathartic because they created a space to emotionally cope