Heterotopic postmemories of an actual homeland : recollections and reclamations of Hawai'i

Abstract

In this study, I propose the concept of heterotopic postmemory as a theoretical reworking of Michel Foucault’s method of heterotopology and Tonya K. Davidson’s elaboration of postmemories of lost or virtual spaces. Although postmemory is often used in conjunction with lost or virtual spaces of diasporic populations, Hawaiians encounter postmemories of an actual space while residing within it. My thesis formulates the theoretical-methodological device of heterotopic postmemory by considering the program of Kamehameha Schools as well as their Annual Song Contest, the Royal Hawaiian Center, hula, place names, and photographic renderings of Hawai’i as motivated by heterotopic postmemory; such postmemory attempts to contest and reverse colonial understandings of Hawai’i as an American, Anglophone, and tourist site. The concept of heterotopic postmemory contributes to memory studies by spatializing postmemory and it enables the study of colonial and post-colonial spaces where memory is a crucial site of social struggle.