Dissertation
Troubling the Tourist Gaze: Re/Viewing Racialized Peformance in Hollywood's Hawai'i
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2013
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/4817
Abstract
This dissertation unpacks the representations of racial harmony depicted in Hollywood movies set in Hawai`i. The choice of Hawai`i is important given its framing as edenic in a range of texts, both static (e.g. postcards) and moving (e.g. Hollywood movies). Moreover, there exists a relationship between Hollywood movies and US cinematic society that abides by the conventional scripts of race, gender, and (hetero)sexuality. Hollywood's hegemonic discursive practices, moreover, have had the effect of dispossessing Native Hawaiians from the land. From the perspective of Native Hawaiians the land to which they refer is called `âina. Throughout, the author uses her examination of movies--and specifically those that feature surfing--to interrogate multicultural ideology as well as the tourist gaze. To this end, the author considers how Native Hawaiians have been depicted in relation to other racialized groups in Hollywood cinema from the 1960s to the present. To some extent, the racialized performances of Native Hawaiians in Hollywood cinema overlap with those of Native Americans. With this comparative framework, the author approaches Hollywood cinema in order to highlight the history of postcolonial Hawai`i as well as understand the present social condition.
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Details
- Title
- Troubling the Tourist Gaze
- Creators
- Joy Taylor
- Contributors
- Charles R. King (Advisor)Vernadette V. Gonzalez (Committee Member)David J. Leonard (Committee Member)Rory J. Ong (Committee Member)John Streamas (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Languages, Cultures, and Race, School of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 310
- Identifiers
- 99900581449101842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation