April 24

Prof. Lorenz Gonschor: “Our Sea of Islands”

“Our Sea of Islands” in the 19th Century: Retracing Hawai‘i’s Pan-Oceanian Ties through S/Pacific Archival Routes
Prof. Lorenz Gonschor, ‘Atenisi University in Nuku‘alofa, Tonga
12:30 to 2:00 pm
Wednesday, April 24th
Sakamaki Hall A201

More than a century before eminent Pacific scholars such as ‘Epeli Hau‘ofa and Teresia Teaiwa offered a new vision for the Pacific region, a remarkably similar pan-Oceanian ideology was innovatively flowing across the Islands. It was emanating mainly from Hawai‘i’s King Kalākaua in the wake of his predecessors and advisors, before European and American imperialism interrupted it for many decades. This presentation articulates the contours of this pan-Oceanianism by tracing some of the ties established during that period (1870s-1880s) through a careful selection of historical primary sources, several of them written in indigenous Pacific languages and located in archives around the world.

Lorenz Gonschor is Senior Lecturer [equivalent of Assistant Professor] of Pacific Studies at ‘Atenisi University in Nuku‘alofa, Tonga.