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Alice Dunbar-Nelson's \An Hawaiian Idyll\ as Hawaiian Imaginary
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Journal Article
Alice Dunbar-Nelson's \An Hawaiian Idyll\ as Hawaiian Imaginary
2013
Overview
In 1916, African American writer Alice Dunbar-Nelson wrote and produced a play, \"An Hawaiian Idyll,\" to be performed by and for black children at Howard High School in Wilmington, Delaware. Although nothing in the play directly addresses an African American context, Dunbar-Nelson implicitly asked her youth audience to connect the oppression of Hawaiians by paternalistic missionaries to the history of enslaved Africans in America. O'Malley first examines Dunbar-Nelson's critique of Christianity and her portrayal of whites' negative influence on Hawaiian culture. She presents the varied sources of inspiration, such as contemporaneous popular musical and theatrical renderings of Hawaiian culture, which give the play its hybrid style. She analyzes the historical accuracy of the piece, arguing that the play is more fable than history play. Although the play does not accurately represent the story of Hawai i's overthrow, by allowing the audience to draw parallels to African-American experience, the play's fictive conclusion suits Dunbar-Nelson's educational purpose.
