The Army Learns to Luau: Imperial Hospitality and Military Photography in Hawai‘i

Date
2008
Authors
Imada, Adria L.
Contributor
Advisor
Department
Instructor
Depositor
Speaker
Researcher
Consultant
Interviewer
Annotator
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Hawai'i Press
Center for Pacific Island Studies
Volume
Number/Issue
Starting Page
Ending Page
Alternative Title
Abstract
Circulating in the contemporary global cultural marketplace, the tourist luau is an iconic form of commodified hospitality and leisure, readily available in embodied and mediated forms. This article traces the emergence of the luau as a material practice and discursive formation during the “mili-touristic” economy of World War II Hawai‘i in films shot by US military units. US combat photography units staged ethnographic performances of hula and luaus, transforming the luau from a privileged experience for a select few to a mass mediated event. These filmic performances produced scripts of imperial hospitality: imagined and enacted scripts in which Islanders and soldiers play roles as host and guest, respectively. Military luaus rendered uneven colonial relationships as mutual and consensual encounters between white soldiers and Native women. Through the exercise of biopower, military cameras did not merely discipline Hawaiian populations, but also integrated colonial subjects and regulated Hawaiian sexuality. These gendered scripts continue to secure Hawai‘i as a rest and relaxation capital for US military personnel.
Description
Keywords
militarization, photography, biopower, sexuality, hula, luau, Oceania -- Periodicals.
Citation
Imada, A. L. 2008. The Army Learns to Luau: Imperial Hospitality and Military Photography in Hawai‘i. The Contemporary Pacific 20 (2): 329-61.
Extent
Format
Geographic Location
Time Period
Related To
Table of Contents
Rights
Rights Holder
Local Contexts
Email libraryada-l@lists.hawaii.edu if you need this content in ADA-compliant format.