CONFLICTED FLOWS: 21ST CENTURY PACIFIC NARRATIVES ACROSS MEDIA A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH MAY 2018 By Steven Gin Dissertation Committee: John Zuern, Chairperson Cristina Bacchilega Vilsoni Hereniko Glenn Man Alexander Mawyer Table of Contents Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 4 Introduction 8 Chapter 1 Speak-Writing Beyond the Words: Mediation in Brotherson's The Missing King 26 Narrating Silence: Brotherson's Mute Narrator 30 Vaki's Language Games 55 Magical Signs and Altered States 62 Chapter 2 Narrating Pacific Oratory in Fiction and Film 76 Oratory in Patricia Grace’s Dogside Story 86 Cinematic Narration of Oratory in Tusi Tamasese’s The Orator 104 Chapter 3 The Sounds of Pacific Streets: Medial Conflicts in Pacific Audio Poetry 125 Down on the Sidewalk in Waikiki 132 I Can See Fiji 144 Chapter 4 Networking Stories: Electronic Narratives in the Pacific 157 Lani Wendt Young and the Electronic Paratext 159 Self-Publishing 162 Participatory Culture and Electronic Paratexts 169 Cyberspace and Pacific Diasporic Identity 180 Social Media Activism and Poetic Narrative in Contemporary Micronesian Poetry 190 Works Cited 214 2 Abstract Conflicted Flows looks at what I call “medial conflicts”—where stories come up against limit points in terms of medium—and their resolutions in indigenous Pacific Island literature since the turn of the 21st Century. In the Pacific Island texts, films, recordings, and electronic media that I examine, medial conflicts often present obstacles to expression, but I argue ultimately open a productive dialogic space in which media refer to and imitate one another, while bringing attention to and resisting power structures that undergird the region’s expressive culture. Because of the historical proliferation of both traditional and introduced modes of expression, I claim that medial conflicts are characteristic of Pacific expression, and they provide an analytic category for understanding how media develop as a complex chain of responses to cultural and political demands, in addition to technological advances. To tease out some of the ways that Pacific Islanders wrestle with modes of expression, each of my four chapters treats a different medial conflict: a novel centered around a frustrated mute narrator who suffers imprisonment within the representational limits of writing while gesturing toward transcendence; writers and filmmakers using their craft to support the practice of formal oratory in the contemporary global mediascape; a network of poets and musicians that record their poetry on CD, amplifying, remixing, and perpetuating the traditional roots of its stories in a contemporary aural space; and the repurposing of contemporary electronic forms to reinvigorate ancient traditions. My project counters the colonial myth of Pacific Islanders “living in the past,” and, in fact, argues that their contemporary expressions offer ethical ways of approaching new media that are rooted in a robust tradition of inventing, adapting, and contending with modes of expression. 3 Acknowledgements This dissertation is the product of many years of work as well as personal development, as I have gradually grown into the person who could and would write this. Both the work and the growth has benefitted from the generous support of many others. I received partial funding for my research from the Amos P. and Edna Lee Leib Fellowship for Graduate Study of Literatures of the Pacific. I have also received travel funding from the Yun T. and Chen Chuan Tu Student Travel Endowment in English, the English Department Graduate Student Travel Fund, and the Alan MacGregor Travel Scholarship, which has helped me develop and share my work. As a young undergraduate at Simon Fraser University, I was introduced to narrative theory and Pacific literature (among many other things) by Paul Matthew St. Pierre, who likely had little idea what a long road he had started his student upon. My family has supported me through all my unusual decisions, and I could not imagine stumbling my way to the end of this dissertation without the love and enthusiasm of my parents Linda and Charlie, my sisters Sandra and Stacie, and the extended family. They have selflessly made several trips to Honolulu to visit me. I have also drawn support from my parents-in-law Judy and Paul, and the rest of Lim and Naruse clans. Throughout the years writing this dissertation, I have been blessed with a lot of great friends that have in one way or another made the process easier, more meaningful, and more fun. I have learned much about friendship and Hawai‘i from Aiko Yamashiro and Bryan Kuwada (and their dear departed Tula), former housemates and forever spiritual partners in food, TV, composting, Canadiana, and whiteboard antics. Ari Friedlander has been a great friend and supporter since my time in Dayton, helping me understand the intricacies of academia, while allowing me to forget about them as he mixed delicious cocktails. Adrian Tse, a long proponent 4 of my work who sat in on my first ever tutorial session as a TA, helped me power through writing chapter four with some long-distance writing sessions over Skype. I have an invaluable crew of friends from high school, on whom I can always rely for advice or a round of merry reminiscences about our bygone youth: Janis Tong, Victor Wong, Alex Wong, Ryan Con, and Dan Goldberg. I have benefitted from the conversations and friendships of many others, including Dhiffaf Al-Shwillay, Kim Compoc, Phil Drake, Joy Enomoto, Sahoa Fukushima, Monica Ghosh, Kristine Kotecki, Madoka Nagado, Garrett Peck, Nikki Rosenblatt, Anjoli Roy, and Lyz Soto. The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa English Department has been a profoundly nurturing community for me, both academically and personally. I am grateful to all of the faculty and staff members, many of whom I have come to know well and have learned much from, including Steve Canham, Jeff Carroll, Cindy Franklin, Craig Howes, Laura Lyons, Kristin McAndrews, Brandy Nālani McDougall, Georganne Nordstrom, Darin Payne, Joan Peters, Craig Santos Perez, John Rieder, and S. Shankar. I would also like to acknowledge Gayle Nagasako, Joan Kaalekahi, Valerie Jun, and the late Ethel Watanabe for all their crucial administrative work. Upon my arrival in Honolulu, Bob McHenry was a faculty member who always made me feel very welcome, inviting me and Cheryl to his spectacular Thanksgiving dinner each year. It was with great sorrow that I learned of his passing about a year after I had left Hawai‘i. I miss our many too-long conversations in his office, our post-hoserball lunches at Big City Diner, and his singular ability to enjoy life, which cheers me still. I first met Alice Te Punga Somerville at an amazing conference that she organized in Wellington, Aotearoa, and she was initially on my committee when she joined the faculty at UH, 5 but later moved on. Alice has been inspirational for me as a teacher and a scholar, and she really helped me shape my project in its early stages. I am fortunate to have had the attention of a committee of magnificent scholars (and very nice people), who played a major role in every part of this work. Glenn Man joined the committee very late in the process, but has influenced my work through his teaching and advice. I have worked with Alex Mawyer through his editing roles at The Contemporary Pacific and have had helpful conversations with him about the project. Vili Hereniko has helped guide me through the field of Pacific Island Studies since my early days in Honolulu and has provided support and helpful feedback on my work. Cristina Bacchilega, whom I admire for her work, her sincerity and her joyful approach to life, has been an incredibly supportive mentor for me throughout my doctoral studies and particularly during my dissertation writing. John Zuern took over supervision on very short notice and helped me immensely in the final stretch of the project. He is someone who has patiently coached me through several things and I have always valued his advice and respected his own work. Just a few months before I was set to defend, I received word from my initial supervisor, Paul Lyons, that he needed to receive treatment for a cancer recurrence and had to step off my committee. The day after the defense, as I was flying home, I learned that Paul had passed away. Paul was a humble brilliant person who wrote and spoke with an eloquence that always seemed unbelievable to me. He quoted Blake, Melville, Ellison, Morrison, Figiel, and others off the top of his head. He was generous with his time and always seemed to get drafts back to me sooner than I could get to them. It is humbling for me that Paul put so much effort into my work in what turned out to be the final years of his life. I shall always treasure Paul’s mentorship and attempt to carry forward some of his values. 6 Though my cup (and this acknowledgement section) seems to have runneth over, my deepest gratitude, love, and appreciation is reserved for my wife Cheryl Naruse, our daughter Naomi, and our dog Ushi. Our little family has emerged and developed alongside this dissertation, likewise seeing some surprising turns. Cheryl is at once my staunchest believer and my toughest critic; I am truly lucky to have her share in almost everything I do. Naomi was born less than a year before this project reached completion and so the final touches were blessed by her presence. Ushi has been a loving companion who has slept under my desk for much of my writing and research.