Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/733
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Item Avatar: a cultural and ethical journey across settler-colonialism(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2023) Koh, Celia; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Alex HarmonThis thesis critically examines James Cameron's blockbuster Avatar, as a complex cinematic narrative that delves into themes of colonialism, environmental degradation, and Indigenous rights. By identifying the practices of settler-colonialism present and denounced in the movie, this paper aims to draw parallels with the settlement in America and to understand if Avatar's anti-colonial and environmental messages is a truthful representation of Native American culture in the United States. In this line of reasoning, the focus will be on the portrayal of Pandora as a parallel representation on Earth and his interpretation of the roles of the Indigenous inhabitants of Pandora. First, looking at the movie as a critique of settler-colonialism, also embedded in the American history, and of the cultural construction of race will help shed light on the intricacies of the understanding of cultures and their appreciation. Then, by focusing on the strong environmental message conveyed in the movie, as interconnectedness, respect for nature, and the safeguarding of resources is omnipresent throughout, I aim to understand to what extent Jamec Cameron's Avatar is authentically--or not--representing Native American spirituality and environmental values. Finally, this paper explores the potential of the movie as decolonizing, although Cameron's representation and depiction of Indigenous cultures have caused controversy.Item Disrupting American identity through the lens of the Pacific: essays from Hawai'i on belonging, invading and surviving(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2023) Greene, Deborah Walsh; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Susan KollinThe cooptation of Native Hawaiian Culture along with colonialism, settler privilege and distorted perceptions have reshaped the lands of Kanaka creating what activist and scholar Haunani-Kay Trask calls "a postcard image" of the place. Through a series of case studies that draw on feminist, Indigenous, and historical sources and using auto-theory as a method to examine personal experiences of place, this project analyzes the danger of fantasy as it plays out in geography, culture, family, and what it means to be American. In doing so, this dissertation foregrounds the complex relationship between the US and Hawai'i, moving beyond the popular fantasy of a tropical vacation destination to reveal how settler desires are often informed and shaped by larger nation building practices. Weaving together memoir with academic scholarship, this project examines the way in which settlers in the 1970s often depicted Hawai'i as a paradise that provided them the means for developing an "extraordinary" life, regardless of whether they were welcome there or not. This dissertation is multifaceted, highlighting the counterculture of the 1970s, the complex stories that tell about various families that worked and made lives for themselves in Hawai'i and the risk of using an imagined place to construct an idea of self that relies on notions of authenticity. To counter these misunderstandings, this dissertation foregrounds the autonomy and the resistance of Hawaiian sovereigns in the 1800s and what Kanaka are still doing today to combat the rampant spread of tourism and exploitation of the islands' resources by outside entities.