![]() ![]() In the first scene of the play Emma hears the call of Laka, the goddess of hula, after ignoring her grandmother and hula for several years. Many of those props will be discussed in this essay, but it is the lei hoaka that is particularly interesting in a consideration of how postcolonialism is addressed. ![]() ![]() Many props are used to signify how characters are reacquainted with their Hawaiian heritage in Emmalehua. This essay will examine the playwright's use of an ancient lei hoaka and how it highlights the complications for native Hawaiians in a postcolonial society. Using traditional and ancient practices, Kneubuhl traces the trials of the protagonist, Emma, and her family as they each struggle to encourage each other not to forget their heritage and give into Americanization. Instead, the playwright weaves history with current struggles native Hawaiians experience with Americanization and the consequences of centuries of colonization. (1) Kneubuhl's play is not simply a history lesson of Hawai'i's past. In Emmalehua Kneubuhl specifically traces complicated issues of Americanization prevalent in Hawai'i in the 1950s through the negotiation of a specific stage prop, a lei hoaka. Three of Kneubuhl's published plays can easily be categorized as postcolonial. ![]() VICTORIA NALANI KNEUBUHL, a postcolonial playwright of Samoan, Hawaiian, and Caucasian descent, unveils the challenges Hawaiian American women face in their construction of an identity that embraces their heritage, yet still allows comfortable social movement within the dominant U.S. ![]()
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