Abstract
This study investigates stage performances of Asian immigrants in the U.S., focusing their cultural interactions in Hawai‘i prior to World War II. Previous studies of Asians in the U.S. during the early twentieth century have focused on their separate ways of preserving homeland culture or presentation of mainstream American culture to express a sense of belonging to the host society and relieve anti-Asian sentiments. Despite increasing cultural interactions in cities during this period, the discussion of cultural exchanges among immigrant communities have received limited attention. This study expands previous perspectives by examining the performing arts to demonstrate that diverse multicultural events in Hawai‘i were important tools to promote respective Asian ethnic groups’ cultural identities, foster interactions among young adults of Asian ancestry, and inspire their national pride. The Asian diasporas in Hawai‘i constituting a majority of the local population, despite foreign-born Asian immigrants’ limited access to U.S. citizenship, appreciated opportunities to curate their own ethnicity on stages and culturally interact with other ethnic groups. The multicultural experiences ultimately instilled the satisfaction and national pride into the young adults of Asian ancestry.
Highlights
This study explores musical activities of Asian immigrants and their children during the early twentieth century in Hawai‘i to find what identities the Asian ethnic groups reflected through stage performances
This study expands previous perspectives by examining Asian presentation of music, dance, and folk culture representing their ethnicity at multicultural events that fostered cultural interactions in Hawai‘i in the 1920s and 1930s, before the beginning of WWII, when most of cultural events disappeared due to concerted efforts of the local authorities to win the war
This study argues that performing arts prior to WWII in Hawai‘i were important tools to strengthen Asian ethnic group’s cultural identity, foster interactions among young adults of Asian ancestry, and inspire their national pride
Summary
This study explores musical activities of Asian immigrants and their children during the early twentieth century in Hawai‘i to find what identities the Asian ethnic groups reflected through stage performances. The labels with which individuals identify, whether ethnic, national or gender-based, are often vague, as their definitions are situational, ever-evolving, and dissolving Despite their ambiguous construction, individuals and groups at times closely guard their identity. Social groups get to know themselves as a particular organization of individual and social interests – of sameness and differences – through cultural activity including musical performances. The requirement of obtaining citizenship was not applied to the foreign-born first-generation Asians It was because of the original U.S Naturalization Law of 1790, limiting naturalization to immigrants who were “free white persons of good character.”. A United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled, “A child born in the United States becomes at the time of his birth a citizen of the United States by virtue of the first clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.”
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