Alice Dunbar-Nelson's "An Hawaiian Idyll" as Hawaiian Imaginary

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 implicitl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inComparative drama Vol. 47; no. 1; pp. 1 - 30
Main Author O'Malley, Lurana Donnels
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Kalamazoo, Mich Comparative Drama, Department of English, Western Michigan University 01.04.2013
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University, Department of English
Subjects
African American culture
African American drama
African American studies
African Americans
Authenticity
Children & youth
Christian missionaries
Christianity
Discrimination
Drama
Dramatists
Dunbar-Nelson, Alice
Dunbar-Nelson, Alice Moore (1875-1935)
Hawaiian language
Historical text analysis
Missionaries
Murders & murder attempts
Pastoral poetry
Prejudice
Princesses
Racism
Theater
Theater history
Themes
United States history
White people
Women
Wilmington, Delaware
Hawaii
United States
Delaware
United States > US
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0010-4078
1936-1637
1936-1637
DOI:10.1353/cdr.2013.0001