The Artistic Legacy of the Kalākaua Era
The Artistic Legacy of the Kalākaua Era
This chapter examines the enduring cultural legacy of the Kalākaua administration, which is testament to the capacity of Kalākaua-era national cultural forms to continue to generate meanings and form communities. The monuments examined in this study represent different modes of meaning-making, however, all demonstrated the history and continuity of the modern Hawaiian nation and did so in a highly public manner. Visual culture mediated the forming of social groups. Drawing the attention of those in whom the Native leadership wished to instill a sense of belonging and optimism for the future, Hawaiian national visual culture fashioned spaces of discourse through which communities—publics—coalesced. Self-creating and self-sustaining publics gain unity, coherence, and identity through representation.
Keywords: Kalākaua administration, national cultural forms, modern Hawaiian nation, visual culture, social groups, social spaces, Native leadership, Hawaiian visual culture
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