The third meeting of the 2018 American Area Seminar will take place on Friday, February 23, from noon to 1:00 pm in 210 DeBartolo Hall.
Margaret McMillan will present her work in progress, "Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen: Lili’uokalani’s Lament and Incorporating Hawaiian Voices in the Classroom." Margaret's presentation will be somewhat shorter than most, followed by what we hope will be a robust discussion with the audience concerning methodological approaches to writing and speaking about Hawaiian authors.
Margaret provides this abstract of her talk:
As rulers of a sovereign state throughout the 19th-century, the Hawaiian monarchy used a variety of so-called 'western' tools to protect their independent status on a global stage. These creative acts of adaptation included engaging in a trans-Pacific dialogue by publishing texts in the American print market. Perhaps the most notable of these diplomatic letters to the U.S. public was Queen Lili'uokalani's "Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen" which appeared in Boston after she was hostilely deposed by a group of American businessmen in 1893. Written in English, Queen Lili'uoakalani's text remains an important testament to native resistance. As American scholars, how do we incorporate texts such as these in a larger discussion about American national identity? What are best practice methods for teaching and writing about Hawaiian voices?
The Notre Dame American Area Seminar is a collective of faculty and graduate students from English and affiliated departments meeting monthly to discuss the most exciting new work in the field. For more information, contact Matt Wilkens (mwilkens@nd.edu).