Buck, Elizabeth. Paradise Remade. Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1993. 242 pp. Illustrated. Notes. Index. $34.95.


Elizabeth Buck's fine addition to Hawaiian history examines Western impact on Hawaiian society by looking at gradual changes in hula and oli (chant); however, this book is not a history of hula or oli. In a clear, well-written introduction, Buck suggests that the "continuous productivity" of oli in Hawaiian society, coupled with the changes brought to it by Western influence might afford an interesting view of the dynamic of political and cultural change over time. Buck writes:

"Long before Cook arrived, Hawaiian chant and hula had been changing as the economic, political and ideological structures of the islands changed; it is still developing as each new wave of outside cultural and social influence reaches the islands and as relations of power are reformed. By looking at the ways chant, hula and contemporary Hawiian music have been variously used...music emerges as an important area of struggle" (p. 17)

It is difficult for modern day thinkers to "conceptualize social relations and institutions in societies in which economic, political and ideological practices were not shaped by the forces of capitalism," (p. 19), so in Chapter Two, "Thinking about Hawaiian History," Buck invites the reader to make such constructs using Marxist-informed and postructuralist theories. Chapter Three, "Hawai'i before Contact with the West," requires no prior knowledge of Hawaiian history or culture for essential arguments to be understood. Readers unfamiliar with Hawai'i will appreciate the author's command of the subject. In Buck's opinion, the notion of Hawai'i as "paradise," promotes a limited and simplified view of a very complex and rich pre-contact social and political structure:

"With the problemization of the liberal progressive view of the islands--that Hawai'i can retain its beauty... has emerged a countertendency to romanticize the islands before Western contact as a model of natural harmony. To so idealize the islands denies the complex society that Hawai'i was--a society of intellectual and technological achievements, a society that politically, religiously, and economically was neither primitive nor simple." (p. 32)

Precontact Hawai'i was sometimes a brutal and scary place, and a place that was certainly not immune to the foibles of human passions--greed, power struggles, political conflict and class hierarchy. Buck examines the transformation of Hawaiian communal structure, prior to Captain Cook's arrival, from one that was maka'âinana (commoner) centered to one that favored the ali'i (chiefs), sometimes at the expense of maka'âinana. Though historian David Malo documented the occasional maka'âinana victory in times of struggle between the two classes, the uncompromising political dynamic of ali'i as ruler and maka'âinana as commoner was never seriously threatened. However, this intermittent tension, a minor fray in the social fabric, did make Hawaiian society more susceptible to manipulation by merchant and missionary alike, which led to the eventual and rapid decline of pre-contact Hawai'i.

In chapter Four, "Western Penetration," Buck recounts the sad history of Western merchants essentially turning the ali'i into merchant middlemen, the Mâhele's commodification of land, and the Hawaiians' steady alienation from their own lands (which many scholars and Native Hawaiians believe to be the single greatest tragedy in Hawaiian history), along with the theft of crown lands and the seizing of political power by Western big business.

In chapter 5 "Transformations in Ideological Representations: Chant and Hula," and chapter 6 "Transformations in Language and Power," Buck's thesis is fully realized. After Western contact, changes to hula and oli were inevitable. Buck observes that both were vulnerable, yet resilient to Western contact. Much of the ancient hula tradition passed down to the present day was conducted secretly by individuals and hâlau on the Outer Islands and in remote districts of rural O'ahu, far from prying missionary eyes. Missionary suppression and Western devaluation of the hula, along with rapid economic changes in the society, contributed to Hawai'i`s second greatest tragedy--the alienation of Hawaiians from the Hawaiian language. Prior to Western contact, oli was a political and social form of expression. Suppressing the Hawaiian language would be certain death to oli. Though Kalâkaua revived these ancient arts, the overthrow of Lili'uokalani ended the oli's political power. The political nature of oli was a threat to Westerners, who recognized the enormous power of the Hawaiian language and were determined to annihilate it. Hula and oli again went underground. For centuries, Hawaiians encrypted many, if not all oli, with kaona, or hidden meanings. Transparent to Western eyes, kaona preserved the messages of those who composed them, enabling many oli to survive.

"Resistance in late twentieth century contemporary Hawaiian music has occasionally been evident in explicitly political lyrics but is found most particularly in the strategic use of the Hawaiian language. Hawaiian words and their hidden meanings--relearned by Hawaiian musicians from kûpuna, kumu hula or in Hawaiian language courses--are used as a way of separating insider from outsider. Words and their meanings have been the only things that Westerners could not totally appropriate, could not buy like they bought land, or remake into their own as they did the political system." (p. 119)

Buck also notes that the change from orality to literacy was a formidable political tool that greatly impacted the Hawaiian language, as foreign morals and ways of thinking were introduced at a monumental point in Hawaiian language history. Languages of other societies have also been corrupted this way, with equally devastating results. Fortunately, the Hawaiians have been able to reclaim and reinvigorate the one remaining thing that is theirs alone, the Hawaiian language, and are moving forward. Elizabeth Buck's book is an important contribution to research and public library collections. Buck's style and readability will appeal to researchers and general readers. She has faithfully maintained Hawaiian orthography with the proper use of kahakô (macrons) and 'okina (glottal stops) for Hawaiian words, and has made a fascinating, complex part of Hawaiian history accessible to a wide audience.

Kevin M. Roddy
Public Services Librarian, University of Hawai'i at Hilo