Grandmothers, Grass Skirts and a Little Piece of Paradise
Date
2011
Authors
Zeplin, P.J.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Intersections : Gender, History & the Asian Context, 2011; (27)
Statement of Responsibility
Conference Name
Abstract
She could never imagine that a garish grass skirt could come to mean so much. It emerged from under a winter raincoat hanging on a coat hook in the hallway of her home and must have been there, she realised, for more than a decade. In that moment of re-discovering this piece of cheap tourist kitsch, she smiled, remembering how it came to define a very special relationship during one of the happiest times in her life. This was a relationship between a toddler and a woman of a certain age. The little grass skirt may have been incidental to the deeper bond between them but for her, it was deeply imbued with memories and stories that belied its tatty raffia reality. The garment conjured up a very personal Pacific; of desire and dancing and a kind of bodily enchantment—precisely those taboo qualities of paradisiacal 'otherness' bedevilling this region for centuries.
School/Discipline
Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
Access Status
Rights
Copyright 2011 The Author(s). This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access. However, we prohibit reproduction or commercial use of any material published in Intersections – this includes the republication of articles. Please consult our copyright policy. (http://intersections.anu.edu.au/copyright.htm)