Category: Pacific

The Politics of War, Memory, and History in the Mariana Islands

Posted on by stephchun

Cultures of CommemorationIn 1941 the Japanese military attacked the US naval base Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian island of O‘ahu. Although much has been debated about this event and the wider American and Japanese involvement in the war, few scholars have explored the Pacific War’s impact on Pacific Islanders.Cultures of Commemoration: The Politics of War, Memory, and History in the Mariana Islands, by Keith L. Camacho, fills this crucial gap in the historiography by advancing scholarly understanding of Pacific Islander relations with and knowledge of American and Japanese colonialisms in the twentieth century.

“Cultures of Commemoration performs a unique intervention into existing studies of the memory of the Pacific War in its astute analysis of the complex intersections of commemoration, colonialism, tourism, and indigenous memory at work in the Marianas Islands. In Guam, commemoration that is shaped by narratives of loyalty and liberation are shown by Keith Camacho to be layered with postcolonial ambivalence and contestation. Camacho’s study shows us that the study of indigenous memory is not only crucial to the field of memory studies but a key framework through which the politics of memory will be rethought.” —Marita Sturken, New York University, author of Tourists of History: Memory, Kitsch, and Consumerism from Oklahoma City to Ground Zero

Pacific Islands Monograph Series, No. 25
May 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3546-0 / $52.00 (CLOTH)
Published in association with the Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai‘i

A Bibliographic History of Guam

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GuahanBlending bibliographic integrity with absorbing essays on a wide range of historical interpretations, Guahan: A Bilbiographic History, by Nicholas Goetzfridt, offers a new approach to the history of Guam. Here is a treasure trove of ideas, historiographies, and opportunities that allows readers to reassess previously held notions and conclusions about Guam’s past and the heritage of the indigenous Chamorro people. Particular attention is given to Chamorro perspectives and the impact of more than four hundred years of colonial presences on Micronesia’s largest island.

Extensive cross-references and generous but targeted samples of historical narratives compliment the bibliographic essays. Detailed Name and Subject Indexes to the book’s 326 entries cover accounts and interpretations of the island from Ferdinand Magellan’s “discovery” of Guahan (“Guam” in the Chamorro language) in 1521 to recent events, including the Japanese occupation and the American liberation of Guam in 1944. The indexes enable easy and extensive access to a bounty of information. The Place Index contains both large and localized geographic realms that are placed vividly in the context of these histories. An insightful Foreword by Chamorro scholar Anne Perez is included.

“Goetzfridt’s work demonstrates the dynamics of history, each generation considering past events in light of current realities and contemporary understandings of the world. This volume, therefore, is important not simply because it provides us with an invaluable and substantial fount of references that will be supremely useful to teachers, scholars, and all enthusiasts of Mariana Islands history. Its importance lies also in its packaging as a resource for current and future generations to understand the changing face and contested space of Guam history.” —from the Foreword by Anne Perez Hattori

May 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3481-4 / $55.00 (CLOTH)

Surfing and History in Twentieth-Century Hawaii

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Waves of ResistanceSurfing has been a significant sport and cultural practice in Hawai‘i for more than 1,500 years. In the last century, facing increased marginalization on land, many Native Hawaiians have found refuge, autonomy, and identity in the waves. In Waves of Resistance: Surfing and History in Twentieth-Century Hawaii, Isaiah Walker argues that throughout the twentieth century Hawaiian surfers have successfully resisted colonial encroachment in the po‘ina nalu (surf zone).

“The po‘ina nalu is a significant space where Hawaiian men exercised their cultural, territorial, social, and political prerogatives. The story of their resistance to the inundation of Hawai‘i by European, American, and other invasions is one that has long awaited a good telling. This work provides context and details underlying a theater of contestation not previously addressed by scholars, giving voice to an aspect of Hawaiian resistance deserving attention.” —Carlos Andrade, associate professor and director, Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, Hawai‘inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, University of Hawai‘i

February 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3547-7 / $24.99 (PAPER),

John Layard, Fieldwork, and Photography on Malakula

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Moving ImagesIn 1914–1915, Cambridge anthropologist John Layard worked in Malakula, New Hebrides (Vanuatu). This was one of the earliest periods of solitary, intensive fieldwork within the developing discipline of British social anthropology. Layard worked enthusiastically with his local assistants to document and understand the customary lives of the people, taking copious notes and over 450 photographs. His collection of objects and glass plate negatives are housed in the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Moving Images: John Layard, Fieldwork, and Photography on Malakula since 1914, by Haidy Geismar and Anita Herle, contains over 300 of these evocative images, most previously unpublished, united for the first time with Layard’s field notes and captions. They provide an extraordinary record of the elaborate ritual and culture of Small Islanders and reveal photography’s role as an evidential and subjective medium vital to the practice of social anthropology.

February 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3503-3 / $90.00 (CLOTH)
254 duotones

New in Writing Past Colonialism

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Mediating Across Difference Mediating Across Difference: Oceanic and Asian Approaches to Conflict Resolution, edited by Morgan Brigg and Roland Bleiker, is based on a fundamental premise: to deal adequately with conflict—and particularly with conflict stemming from cultural and other differences—requires genuine openness to different cultural practices and dialogue between different ways of knowing and being. Equally essential is a shift away from understanding cultural difference as an inevitable source of conflict, and the development of a more critical attitude toward previously under-examined Western assumptions about conflict and its resolution.

To address the ensuing challenges, this book introduces and explores some of the rich insights into conflict resolution emanating from Asia and Oceania.

Writing Past Colonialism
January 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3519-4 / $28.00 (PAPER)

Book Signings Scheduled for Author of Regulating Paradise

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David CalliesUniversity of Hawai‘i law professor David L. Callies will sign copies of his recent book, Regulating Paradise: Land Use Controls in Hawaii, at two bookstore appearances during January. The public is invited to meet and speak to Professor Callies at these events:

Saturday, January 15, 3:00-4:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble, Kahala Mall, phone: 737-3323

Saturday, January 29, 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble, Ala Moana Center, phone: 949-7307

Talks Scheduled for Author of Haoles in Hawaii

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Haoles in HawaiiJudy Rohrer, author of Haoles in Hawai‘i, is scheduled to present her book at the following free events and the public is invited to attend:

Book signing
Saturday, January 8, 12:00-1:00 p.m.
Basically Books – Hilo
160 Kamehameha Avenue, phone: 808-961-0144

Author talk and book signing party (refreshments will be provided)
Sunday, January 9, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Native Books/Nā Mea Hawai‘i, Ward Warehouse
1050 Ala Moana Blvd., phone 596-8885

Author presentation
Thursday, January 13, 5:00-6:30 p.m.
Windward Community College, Hale Alaka‘i, Room 102

Friday, January 14, 12:30-2:00 p.m.
Author talk and discussion
Sponsored by the Center for Biographical Research
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Kuykendall 410

Choice Magazine’s Outstanding Academic Titles for 2010 Announced

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Each year Choice Magazine, the official publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries, compiles a distinguished list of Outstanding Academic Titles. The following UH Press book was recognized for 2010. A complete list of titles will be available in Choice’s January 2010 issue.

Traditional Micronesian Societies: Adaptation, Integration, and Political Organization in the Central Pacific
by Glenn Petersen

“This overview . . . is one of the most significant contributions to Pacific studies of the past decade. . . . [It] will become the standard by which future synthetic treatments of Micronesia are judged. . . . Essential.” —Choice —Choice (May 2010)

Book of Honu Author Signings

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The Book of HonuPeter Bennett and Ursula Keuper-Bennett, authors of The Book of Honu: Enjoying and Learning About Hawai‘i’s Sea Turtles, will be signing copies of their book at these Maui locations:

Barnes & Noble – Lahaina
Saturday, December 18, 2:00-3:00 p.m.

Maui Ocean Center Store
Sunday, December 19, 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

“A magnificent guide for the budding high school marine biologist or anyone else with an interest in sea turtles. . . . Extensively researched, and the Bennetts’ passion for these creatures shines through every page.” —Honolulu Advertiser

Gossip and the Everyday Production of Politics Honored

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GossipGossip and the Everyday Production of Politics, by Niko Besnier, received an honorable mention for this year’s Edward Sapir Prize. The prize was established by the Society for Linguistic Anthropology in 2001 and is awarded in alternate years to a book that makes the most significant contribution to the understanding of language in society or the ways in which language mediates historical or contemporary sociocultural processes.

Select UH Press Titles Now on Kindle

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UH Press is pleased to announce 9 of its titles are now available for Kindle readers. See below plus Kindle books by the “Beaches of Hawai‘i” series’ John R. K. Clark and Stuart M. Ball, Jr., author of our popular hiking guides.

The Value of Hawaii
The Value of Hawai‘i: Knowing the Past, Shaping the Future
edited by Craig Howes and Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio
How did we get here? Three-and-a-half-day school weeks. Prisoners farmed out to the mainland. Tent camps for the migratory homeless. A blinkered dependence on tourism and the military for virtually all economic activity. The steady degradation of already degraded land. Contempt for anyone employed in education, health, and social service. An almost theological belief in the evil of taxes. At a time when new leaders will be elected, and new solutions need to be found, the contributors to The Value of Hawai‘i outline the causes of our current state and offer points of departure for a Hawai‘i-wide debate on our future.

Bright Triumphs from Dark Hours
Bright Triumphs From Dark Hours: Turning Adversity into Success
by David Heenan
Bright Triumphs From Dark Hours examines the lives of ten extraordinary people who overcame great adversity in their personal or professional lives by applying winning strategies that guided them out of the darkness of near-defeat and into the light of success.

“David Heenan’s fascinating stories of overcoming adversity make Bright Triumphs both a timely and inspiring read.” —Spencer Johnson, M.D., New York Times best-selling author of Who Moved My Cheese? and Peaks and Valleys

“This is an inspiring book. All of us, if we honestly look into our hearts, we know that there have been moments when we have failed. Failed ourselves, failed our family, and failed our communities. This book tells you that failure should not be the cause and reason for your demise.” —U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye

Melal
Melal: A Novel of the Pacific
by Robert Barclay

“An absorbing, original read.” —Honolulu Weekly

“A first novel that left me dazzled. . . . All the characters—the Marshallese, the members of their spirit world, and even the Americans—are well developed and deeply, sensitively drawn.” —Manoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing

“Barclay is a first-time novelist who simply got it right. . . . Melal is a powerful and at times heart-wrenching novel that should appeal to a wide range of readers interested in the region today.” —The Contemporary Pacific

“It is wonderful to have a novel of the Pacific, of people firmly rooted in the past and present of the great ocean, its atolls, islands, homes, and spiritual homelands. This is a wrenching story of people—voiceless, powerless—as they attempt to survive the horrors of nuclear testing, relocation, Western arrogance and domination. It is a good story with robust characters—some real and contemporary, others mythical and ancient—and an important book.” —Patricia Grace

“What separates this novel from others, even highly respected ones, is its extraordinary descriptive mastery. . . . This precise and vivid evocation of experience is what writing has been about from the beginning. In all respects, this is a superb book.” —Ian MacMillan

Polynesia Events in October

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PolynesiaThe visual arts of Polynesia offer a richly diverse and relatively little known body of work, covering an enormous geographical area yet linked by shared artistic conventions. The collection of Mark and Carolyn Blackburn, one of the greatest private collections of Polynesian art in the world, encompasses this broad field of artistic endeavor. It features both ceremonial and functional traditional forms in diverse media, from delicate ivory ornaments and decorated barkcloth to formidable weaponry and imposing sculpture in coral, wood, and stone. In Polynesia: The Mark and Carolyn Blackburn Collection of Polynesian Art, by Adrienne Kaeppler, for the first time, these unique works of art are on display, fully described and annotated, for the enjoyment and appreciation of scholars, collectors, and interested readers alike. Celebrate the publication of this handsome volume, which features more than 800 color illustrations, this month at the following events:

Thursday, October 28, 6-8 p.m., Native Books/Na Mea Hawai‘i
Author Adrienne Kaeppler, curator of Oceanic ethnology at the Smithsonian, will give a talk on private collecting and be available to sign copies of her book. View demonstrations by cultural practitioners, and enjoy music and refreshments.

Saturday, October 30, 11-12 noon, Academy Shop, Honolulu Academy of Arts
Dr. Kaeppler will sign copies of Polynesia.

Sunday, October 31, 2-4 pm, East-West Center Gallery (Burns Hall, adjoining UH Manoa)
Dr. Kaeppler completes her visit to Honolulu with an illustrated lecture on Polynesia. Books will be available for purchase. Attendees are welcome to view the current gallery exhibition, Kyrgyzstan: Nomadic Life in the Modern World, and enjoy refreshments.

Learn more about Polynesia:
–Listen to an interview with collector Mark Blackburn on Radio Australia: Click here for the podcast.
–Read an article in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser: http://www.staradvertiser.com/features/20101024_book_celebrates_art_of_polynesia.html

October 2010 / ISBN 978-1-883528-38-6 / $100.00 (CLOTH) / ISBN 978-1-883528-40-9 / $150.00 (SLIPCASED)
Distributed for Mark and Carolyn Blackburn

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