What caught most of my attention in the article was
Queen Lili’oukalani’s ablility to conceal the emotions/motivations behind her
rhetoric. Surely, it was an impossible task. She was faced with appealing to
the Westerners’ sympathy, while making it clear that being overthrown was
unjust, and while not making her a savage-esque enemy. I find it brilliant that
she uses Western rhetorics within Kaona.
She had to have been appealing to her native audience as well, while not
encouraging them to rebel and cause any further conflict (106).
I also find it
interesting that her rhetoric inscribes narrative that is mythical and
native to her culture, and she uses it to appeal to the American audience as
well as her own native audience. The best example would be her story of Kapi‘olani
throwing the sacred berries into the lake of fire (volcano). What immediately
came to my mind was that this was reference to the Book of Revelations when God
throws Heaven, Earth and Hell into a lake of fire and creates a new heaven and
hearth. It was undoubtedly intended to read as Christian oriented, as Mcdougal
argued. But the fact that Queen Lili’oukalani conceals the meanings that were
meant to be understood only by her native people while making them resonate
with the Christian mentality behind the American audience shows that there must
be an understanding between the two opposing audiences. She arguably fought the
best rhetorical battle by understanding the rhetorics behind the imperialist
nation important while rhetorically fighting for the beliefs within her
sovereign nation. It is almost unique in the sence that most indiginous
cultures just opposed the invasive cultures while rejecting the invasive
culture’s rhetorics and belief systems. The queen took on the understanding of
the Western tradition and used it to her rhetorical advantage, while standing
behind her nation.
I have to agree that the efforts of Queen Lili’oukalani was the most attention-grabbing part of the article. I indeed also find it fascinating that she had learned Western rhetoric, and was able to incorporate its use with Kaona to form a multi-purposed text to both the colonizers and the indigenous Hawaiians.
ReplyDeleteYour observation of the similarity between the story of Kapi’olani throwing berries and stones into the volcano and the passage from the Book of Revelations was most interesting to me, as I would never have been able to see this myself. Lili’oukalani was indeed a clever queen, being able to look past her anger towards the colonizers, using their own rhetoric and beliefs to confront them like one of their own. It is truly sad to know that her efforts, like most other colonized peoples leaders, had little actual impact in her time. To me, it adds to the pile of evidence of why the western rhetoric is as established as it is. The colonizers were indeed thorough in their work to eradicate any other culture than their own.
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ReplyDeleteThe look in to how speakers appeal to two audiences. It would be a unique point of view to analyze during the revolutionary time and native american tribes because not only do you have two parties to look at like the Hawaiian culture and traditions, but the multiple European cultures that interacted with the natives (because how else would we get the French-Indian War and the 7 Year War.)
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