IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 4, No. 1, September 2020, pp. 28-40 International Journal of Humanity Studies http://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/IJHS Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 28 BEYOND THE PASTORAL: ENVIRONMENTAL IMAGINATION IN O.A BUSHNELL’S KA’A’AWA Kristiawan Indriyanto Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia correspondence: kristiawanindriyanto@gmail.com DOI: 10.24071/ijhs.v4i1.2255 received 29 November 2019; accepted 17 June 2020 Abstract This paper explores the environmental imagination in O.A Bushnell’s Ka’a’awa through his representation of pastoralism. A Hawaiian novelist, Bushnell conceptualizes his idea of pastoral based on the Hawai’ians’ traumatic experience with the Western colonial powers. Different with the Anglo-American discourse of pastoralism which emphasizes more on the individual self and the reorientation toward the natural world in rural area, Bushnell foregrounds the far-reaching impact of colonialism which affects even the periphery of O’ahu island. The titular village of Ka’a’awa, previously a sacred place where the inhabitants with the blessing of Hawai’ian gods lived bountiful with nature also suffers the outbreak of Western diseases. Employing postcolonial ecocriticism as the framework, this paper argues how instead of a place for reorientation and rejuvenation, Bushnell’s concept of pastoralism in Ka’a’awa evokes the traumatic experience of the islanders in which the picturesque landscape of Hawai’i is the silent witness. To reiterate, this paper argues how Bushnell orients his work within the socio-historical background of Hawai’i and his conception is pastoral functions as a critique towards the impact of colonialism for the Hawai’ian Kanaka Maoli ethnicities. Keyword: Pastoralism, environmental imagination, Hawai’ian literature Introduction Pastoralism, the idea of returning toward simple and rustic village life as contrasted with the decadent of urban center is one of the most long-lasting themes in literature. Pastoral narrative, as summarized by Hamilton & Jones, (2013, p. 12) calls forth the rural world, the locus amoenus or place or delight, a middle place of balance and harmony that is neither civilized or totally wild. Western literature as early as the Greco-Roman period criticizes the rapid urbanization of Mediterranean city-states and glorifies the idyllic -which come to represent situation of rural escape- of the village shepherds. The theme of nostalgia, yearning for the innocence of bygone era is one characteristics of pastoral narrative, along with the spatial distinction of town as ‘frenetic, corrupt, IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 4, No. 1, September 2020, pp. 28-40 29 impersonal’ on contrary with the ‘peaceful’ and ‘abundant’ resources of the village. (Garrard, 2004, p. 35) (Sweet, 2010, p. 422) Starting from the Renaissance period, Christian imagery and trope begins to be associated with the idea of pastoralism, the shepherds of the earlier pagan period are replaced by the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Worster (1977) underlines how the shifting from the arcadian pastoralism into the Christian pastoralism also evoke the changing perception of humankind toward nature. Drawing from the Genesis story of creation and Gods’ command than the world is humankind’s domain, Christianity induces a mechanistic picture of nature to be altered as human sees it fits. This anthropocentric paradigm fueled the industrial revolution of the early modern era and the rapid transformation of landscape. In addition to the gift of objectivity, Christianity may also have contributed to science a technological and mechanistic picture of nature. By denying to nonhuman entities a soul or indwelling spirit, Christianity helped reduce man’s perception of nature to the status of a mechanical contrivance.(Worster, 1977, p. 29) As a critique toward disruptive changes brought by modernity, the commodification of nature and alienation of modern people towards their surroundings, pastoralism becomes a central genre during the American Romantic period. (Gatta, 2005, p. 23) Several notable writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson in Nature (1836) and Henry David Thoreau’s Walden Pond (1854) expounds their ideas of pastoralism as a counter to modernity and rampant capitalism. Emerson’s philosophy is imbedded in Christian belief, exploring symbolism of human’s alienation with nature as their estranged relationship with God, and how nature is the ‘organ’ throughout the universal speaks into the individuals. (Hamilton & Jones, 2013, 112) He explores how human’s true nature, the inner self is revealed by living in tranquil and serene place instead of urban cities. Similarly, Thoreau criticizes the modern lifestyle in burgeoning metropolis and advocates for simple living in the rural area. To Thoreau’s mind, the ‘progress’ of civilization was ruining the frontier spirit, which led him to utterly, famously, that majority of humankind “lives of quiet desperation.” (Newman, 2005, p. 188) His book Walden (1854) narrates his two-years account spend in a Massachusetts wood cabin near Walden Pond in which he self-sufficiently supports himself from the surrounding landscape. “more than just a factual account of life in the woods, Walden is now justly regarded as a classic of American nature writing. As a parable of human experience, it offers an extended meditation on the value of a simple lifestyle, along with profoundly insightful observations of the natural world that foreshadow many aspects of modern ecological thoughts.” (McKusick, 2010, p. 142) Pastoralism remains a prevalent theme in modern American environmentalist discourse in this Anthropocene era, an era marked by the advent of humankind as IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 4, No. 1, September 2020, pp. 28-40 30 a globally transformative species with detrimental impact toward the world. In the vastly changing world and the rapid advancement of technology, “when the comfortably mythopoetic green world of pastoral is beset by profound threats of pollutions, despoliation and diminishment” (Love, 1992, p. 196) American ideal of pastoral brings forward the possible apocalyptic future due to technological misuse. One of the seminal works of American environmentalism, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring conveys the devastation brought by the DDT pesticide in a small rural town in America. Her novel starts with an idyllic depiction of a rural area with “prosperous farms”, “green fields”, “ferns and wildflowers” which is a common figuration in pastoral narrative. The narration later shifts into a macabre tone in which the idyllic paradise is shattered by the use of pesticide which is originally intended to eliminate the pets but it results in an ecological catastrophe. Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change. Some evil spell had settled on the community: mysterious maladies swept the flocks of chickens; the cattle and sheep sickened and died. Everywhere was a shadow of death. (Carson, 1962, p. 21) Pastoralism’s association with Anglo-American environmental discourse and the eco/environmental criticism is subjected into several criticisms. Pastoral narrative is accused of being culturally and geographically confined into America and conveys a ‘distinctive, unique American experience’, which is locally rooted. (Buell, 2007, p. 229)This unique American experience, in Buell’s argumentation can lead into nation-centered discourse instead of a transcultural understanding, which in the lens of global environmental crisis is too narrow oriented. Heise (2008)puts forward the idea that what considered to be ‘American pastoralism’ is actually only taking a limited perspective of the white settlers. The representation of a ‘single, mostly male individuals encountering wild landscapes or homesteading’ agricultural one’ (Heise, 2008, p. 385) silences other voices such as the female and indigenous people by not even acknowledging their presence. Moreover, by overemphasizing on the ‘rural’ and the ‘wilderness’ or ‘nature’ instead of urban environments with their environmental issues, the first wave of ecocriticism is trapped in a narrow perception of environment only as nature instead of environment as all than encompassed us.(Bennett, 2001; Buell, Heise, & Thornber, 2011a; Marland, 2013)This myth of pastoralism and wilderness limits the scope of canonical environmental literature during the early period of ecocriticism which is underlined through Oppermann’s question, “how regional literary narratives that are spatially located can, at the same time, produced meanings of global significance.” (2012, p. 401-402) This study offers a reading on O.A Bushnell’s Ka’a’awa : A Novel about Hawai’i in the 1850’s (shortened to Ka’a’awa) by underlining how Bushnell explores his environmental imagination of Hawai’i pastoralism. This term, originally theorized by Buell and broadened in scope by James explores how the subjective imagination of the writer reflects on his/her narration, especially concerning the environment. Different with Anglo-American environmental outlook which is criticized of being ahistorical and apolitical due to mainly focusing on individual self, Bushnell underlines his idea of pastoralism which is shaped the historical circumstances of Hawai’i and their interaction with the IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 4, No. 1, September 2020, pp. 28-40 31 Western settlers. The titular hamlet of Ka’a’awa, a small enclave on the North coast of O’ahu is conceptualized as a haven and refugee for the protagonists, Saul Bristol and Hiram Nihoa as the area all around O’ahu is devastated by pestilence. The myth of pastoral narrative as a place for rejuvenation, rebirth and rediscovery is shattered as Ka’a’awa also borne the impact of the devastating plague and instead become a valley of sorrow and despair. Bushnell foregrounds how the picturesque representation of Hawai’ian landscape borne witness into the trauma of colonial violence, ravaged by diseases through the native’s interaction with the foreigners and the islanders’ high rate of mortality. Theoretical Framework The term environmental imagination is first coined by Lawrence Buell in his 1995 book, the Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writings and the Formation of American Cultures. He argues that the current state of environmental degradation is caused by the anthropocentric paradigm that designates nature merely as commodity instead of having their own intrinsic values. In Buell’s view, the entrenched anthropocentrism within Western philosophical thoughts argues for a re-conception in how nature should be perceived, and literature functions to provide an alternative view of positioning human and non-human relationship: If, as environmental philosophers contend, western metaphysics and ethics need revision before we can address today’s environmental problems, then environmental crisis involves a crisis of the imagination the amelioration of which depends on finding better ways of imagining nature and humanity’s relation to it. (Buell, 1995, p. 2) Buell’s idea of environmental imagination expands of the capability of literature to reorient humanity in a more ethical outlook. The arts of imagination and the study thereof—by virtue of their grasp of the power of word, story, and image to reinforce, enliven, and direct environmental concern—can contribute significantly to the understanding of environmental problems. (Buell et al., 2011, p. 418) Although he is recognized as one of the seminal theorists of ecocriticism among with Glotfelty and Fromm’s the Ecocriticism Readers (1996), Buell’s early work remains rooted in the Anglo-American pastoral and wilderness narrative as the basis of his concept of environmental imagination. Buell himself acknowledges that his conception of environmental imagination is based on his reading of canonical American literature, as seen in the following passage “Even since the American literary canon begin to crystalize, American literature has been considered preoccupied with country and wilderness as setting, theme, and value in contradiction to society and the urban.” (1995, p. 33) IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 4, No. 1, September 2020, pp. 28-40 32 Expanding on Buell’s seminal concept of environmental imagination, Erin James (2015) on The Storyworld Accord: Econarratology and Postcolonial Narrative employs this term to explore the environmental imagination of the third-world writers. Building her argument from the third-wave of ecocriticism that began to explore interconnection between ecocriticism and postcolonial theories, (Cilano & Deloughrey, 2007; Huggan, 2004; Marzec, 2007; Nixon, 2005), James asserts that writers coming from the third-world countries conceptualizes different environmental imagination from the Anglo-American idea of pastoral. She asserts that environmental imagination should not only be concerned on Anglo-American discourse of pastoralism, wilderness or rural area but instead is a “subjective, site- and culture imagination of life in particular spaces and times. Storyworld can expose us to a new environmental imagination, or conception and experiences of place based upon a subjective understanding of a particular environmental site.” (James, 2015, p. 7) Through her conception of storyworld that recognizes the subjectivity of an environmental imagination, James challenges the supposedly universalism of Anglo-American discourse of pastoral through reading on third-world writers. She underlines the example of a sublime view atop the mountain which is perceived differently by writers of differing historical background. The same landscape, which might evoke a glorious response of the sublime and celebrating the unspoiled nature can be perceived as a landscape saturated with trauma by Caribbean writers, as their slave ancestors walked the path into the plantation. (James & Morel, 2018, p. 359) The difference of socio-historical circumstances, as James asserts is important in underlining an environmental imagination, a view which is also echoed by DeLoughrey and Handley. Certainly there are important distinctions, for example, between what Lawrence Buell has famously called the “environmental imagination” as it has been produced by privileged subjects in the northern hemisphere, and the “environmentalism of the poor” (Guha and Martinez-Alier Varieties of Environmentalism) associated with the global south. (2011, p. 9) Summarizing the prior argument, it can be said that the term environmental imagination which originally employs the Romantic idea of pastoral to challenge the anthropocentrism of Western culture has encompassed distinctive take of pastoralism from other literary tradition. The writers coming from third-world and formerly colonized countries convey pastoralism as something which is shaped by the impact of colonialism, which is not merely a sublime sight but evoke legacies of loss and tragedy. This environmental imagination of pastoralism is also reflected in Hawai’ian literature, such as O. A Bushnell’s Ka’a’awa in which the protagonist, Hiram Nihoa is having to dealt with the devastation of his home island in O’ahu by Western-introduced diseases. IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 4, No. 1, September 2020, pp. 28-40 33 Methodology This study is a qualitative research in which Ka’a’awa, a novel written by O.A Bushnell is positioned as the primary data. Qualitative research aims to explore and to understand individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem. (Creswell, 2009)As proposed by Given, qualitative research is designed to explore the human elements of a given topic, where specific methods are used to examine how individuals see and experience the world.(2008, xxix) The analysis is conducted through postcolonial ecocriticism framework that seeks to underline the disruption of the colonized ecology through the impact of colonialism. Arnold (2015, p. 5) conceptualizes that the core argumentation of postcolonial ecocriticism is underlying the intertwined nature between empire and environment. Through reading on O.A Bushnell’s Ka’a’awa, this paper posits that instead of a picturesque landscape of pastoralism in Western tradition, Bushnell foregrounds the desolation in Hawai’ian rural area which is directly caused by colonialism. Findings and Discussion The novel Ka’a’awa, written by O.A Bushnell in 1972 charts the journey of Hiram Nihoa –a member of Hawai’ian aristocracy as the guardian (kahu) of Prince Alexander Liholiho – on his passage alongside the coastline of O’ahu island. Narrated from Nihoa’s point of view, Bushnell conveys the rapid changes in Hawai’ian society, culturally and ecologically in years following the arrival of the Anglo-Saxon settlers by focusing on the island of O’ahu. Nihoa is entrusted by King Kamehameha III to chronicle the vast changes brought by Western settlers especially in the valley of Ka’a’awa where a white man (haole), Saul Bristol resides. While at first Bristol remains rooted in Western colonial discourse that disparages the local natives as brutish savages, an outbreak of influenzas in Ka’a’awa changes his outlook to be more caring toward the villagers. This novel concludes with Nihoa and Bristol works together to establish a training school in Ka’a’awa. The training school which posits the possibility of harmonious living between human and the environmental, and also humans of different racial background highlights Bushnell’s intention of creating a novel culture, from indigenous and settler perspective as an avenue of sustainability living in Hawai’i.(Indriyanto, 2020, p. 9) In Ka’a’awa, Bushnell foregrounds the rapid changes in Hawai’ian society, culturally and ecologically in years following the arrival of the Anglo-Saxon settlers by focusing on the island of O’ahu. Being the center of Hawai’ian and Western interchanges, this island is the most affected by the presence of Western traders, missionaries and freeloaders especially after the abolishment of kapu (taboo) system by Queen Regnant Ka’ahumanu in 1819. (Haley, 2016, p. 6) As a defining symbol, Honolulu which was a small fishing village in the era of King Kamehameha I (pre-1820) were transformed into a vibrant trading center to accommodate the vast demand of the Western traders. Honolulu’s transformation is followed by a rapid ecological shift, the surrounding areas which consist of marshes, forests, agricultural areas and ponds were drained of waters and IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 4, No. 1, September 2020, pp. 28-40 34 deforested, an act of ecological imperialism, to quote Oppermann. (2007, p. 179) The changes of Honolulu into a modern, westernized city only benefits the Hawai’ian ruling class and the White settlers from the influxes of commerce, while the quality of life deteriorated for the Hawai’ian natives (Kanaka Maoli). (Ireland, 2011) They are slowly being phased out into lower-quality neighborhood in unhealthy slums which causes them to be prone towards endemic outbreaks. The outbreak of diseases, which is a recurring event in the novel devastated both Hawai’ians living in Honolulu and the rural area all around the island of O’ahu. Ka’a’awa chronicles the journey of Hiram Nihoa, a member of the Hawai’ian upper class as a guardian (kahu) of future King Kamehameha IV on his quest to chart the situation in O’ahu island. Through Nihoa’s travel all around O’ahu, Bushnell’s environmental imagination foregrounds the impact of Western colonialism towards the landscape of Hawai’i and the local islanders as the inhabitants. Nihoa is first introduced as taking refuge with his family above Honolulu to escape an outbreak of sickness --“the latest of the new plague the foreigners have brought among us-the influenza” -- in this city. (Bushnell, 1972, p. 9)As the novel later express, the diseases are not only an isolated incident in Honolulu but is an island-wide situation instead. Criticizing the impact of modernity toward Honolulu, Bushnell represents Honolulu as an unsanitary urban area, crowded and polluted in stark contrast with the remaining green area surrounding it. Who would think, looking at Punchbowl from the sea, that this little pocket of greenness, hidden in the cleft of the mountains, lies so close to the dirty, dusty sprawl of houses which is Honolulu? (Bushnell, 1972, p. 73) Although several patches of greenery remain in the close proximity of Hawai’i’s capital with the rapid growth of Honolulu it is inevitably that this city will eventually engulf its surrounding area. Bushnell laments how the Hawai’ian islanders is exempted from all the benefits and comfort brought by modernity, as they are constrained in poor hovels outside Honolulu. And on Ka Papakolea's lowest slopes I saw the latest of these signs of change: scattered among the dry rocks and thirsting weeds, like rubbish blown by the wind, were the hovels of those kolea among men—the poor, the sick, the outcasts of Honolulu. (Bushnell, 1972, p. 73) Through his portrayal of Honolulu, Bushnell scorns how modernity, which is supposed to bring progress and easier life for the Hawai’ian natives actually subjects them into marginalization in their own capital city. The Kanaka Maoli is segregated in unhealthy, dirty and polluted living areas which is vulnerable towards the outbreak of diseases. While Nihoa’s venture away from Honolulu into the open rural area in O’ahu is supposed to represent a nostalgia toward the IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 4, No. 1, September 2020, pp. 28-40 35 unspoiled Hawai’ian landscape, the far-reaching colonial presence has affected the entirely of O’ahu island. I am leaving the dirty town for the clean country Fly the rank city, shun its turbid air: Breathe not the chaos of eternal smoke volatile corruption. (Bushnell, 1972, p. 76) Bushnell conveys the rapid changes in Hawai’ian landscape and the outbreak of diseases as the narration moves from Honolulu into the rural areas in O’ahu. Prior study on the novel Ka’a’awa by Indriyanto (2020) emphasizes how the protagonist, Hiram Nihoa is forced to adapt to the rapid societal changes due to the arrival of Western settlers. The lush forests of Hawai’i are slowly being deforested, as the local woodcutters are no longer having respect towards nature and preferring quick cash by the traders in Honolulu. This is in line with Huggan and Tiffin’s (2010, p. 11)elaboration on the ontological and epistemological shift in indigenous people’s interaction with the environment. As belligerent and industrializing western nations extracted raw materials from the periphery, both colonists and Indigenous peoples bore witness to significant environmental transformations. (Clark, 2014, p. 576) Bushnell laments this needlessness destruction that conceptualizes how the green landscapes of Hawai’i will soon resemble the arid climate of California: Each year the edge of the forest moves farther away. Soon these hills, these mountainsides and ridges, will be robbed of their trees. Then the grass and the ferns will turn brown in the sun, as are the hills of California, and Honolulu will be no different to look upon than are San Pedro and San Diego. (Bushnell, 1972, p. 45-46) Bushnell’s vivid description on the ecological devastation brought by the arrival of Western people in Hawai’i highlights the intertwined nature of postcolonialism and environmentalism. As seen in DeLoughrey, Gosson and Handely’s statement regarding “addressing the historical and racial violence of the environment is integral in understanding literary representations of its geography,” (2005, p. 22), the ecology of colonized countries has been shaped by colonialism. This line of argumentation is further echoed through Kamada’s statement that underlines how “the landscape that they write about is necessarily politicized; their own subjectivity are intimately implicated in both the natural history as well as the traumatic history of the place” (2010, p. 3) Another changes of Hawai’ian ecology as a post-colonial ecology which has been shaped by colonialism is the entrance of non-native flora and fauna, or invasive species in Crosby’s (1986) terminology. The entrance of Hawai’i into the world stage results in the introduction of Western pests, mosquitos, cockroaches, scorpions and centipedes that does not reside in Hawai’i pre-colonial times. IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 4, No. 1, September 2020, pp. 28-40 36 Bushnell sarcastically denotes mosquitoes as “a new kind of demon are they; another presents from our generous foreigners.” (Bushnell, 1972, p. 22)The people living in the rural areas, with their grass houses and lack of pest-control prove to be particularly stung by the presence of invasive species. The creeping, jumping, flying farley in that house were beyond belief! Mosquitoes, fleas, lice, bedbugs’ bit for our blood; cockroaches nibbled at our hair and at the nails of fingers and toes; centipedes clattered frantically over the mats. (Bushnell, 1972, p. 249) Furthermore, Bushnell contextualizes the rapid depopulation of the Hawai’ian villages due to various kind of diseases. Although influenza and smallpox are considered a common sickness in the Western world, Hawai’ians, being the most isolated people in the world pre-colonial contact has no natural immunity towards Western diseases. (Miyares, 2008)Nihoa’s voyage brings himself into many empty villages, where the majority of the people already succumbs to sickness. Contrary with the celebration of pastoralism in Anglo-American discourse, Bushnell presents a morbid idea of pastoral, in which the villages are depopulated as a result of Western diseases. It is a terrible thing, I tell you, to ride through valley after valley, district after district, and to find them almost empty of people where once people lived in plenty. The graveyards are full, but the villages are emptying or are gone, and weeds are the only crop in the fields. (Bushnell, 1972, p. 395) The titular Ka’a’awa, the isolated pastoral area in the northern shore of O’ahu, a sacred place in Hawai’ian lore due to its close proximity to Ka’io’o mountain - the dwelling-place of the gods- is not exempted from the outbreak of diseases that devastated O’ahu. The narration conveys a nostalgia of Ka’a’awa in the pre-colonial era, a peaceful enclave in which the islanders treat it with respect, free from diseases and sickness. This affirms with the Hawai’ian philosophy of aloha aina which positions themselves as “the caretaker of the land that maintains his life and nourishes his soul.”(Gupta, 2014, p. 394) Bushnell’s narration imagines the bygone era in the following passage Do not forget: for many generations have our people dwelled here in Ka'a'awa, in peace and happiness. No battles were fought in this sacred valley, no sicknesses leaped like warriors among the people to strike them down (1972, p. 566) Moreover, Bushnell depicts several chants, voiced by Nihoa and his companion -Eahou- that exalt the beauty of Hawai’i Nei, their home island, especially the area around Ka’a’awa. This interconnection between Hawai’ian culture and their surrounding nature as embodied in the cultural artifacts that celebrates their earthly paradise is in in contrast with Western demarcation of nature and culture. (Emerson, 2007; Mohs, 2018) IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 4, No. 1, September 2020, pp. 28-40 37 Beautiful is Ka'a'awa, beautiful beyond compare," "High are the mountains which enfold it," Eahou continued the age- old chant, "but mightiest of all, most sacred, is the one standing alone, the peak set apart, the one which divides above from below. For there, there in the heights, is the dwelling-place of the god." (Bushnell, 1972, p. 269) The idealized image of Ka’a’awa as sanctified rural area for the Kanaka Maoli, and a supposedly place for comfort and refuge in the end of Nihoa’s voyage is shattered by the current state of Ka’a’awa. Similar to many villages all around O’ahu, Bushnell represents the desolated circumstances of Ka’a’awa through Nihoa’s monologue, “gone, vanished with the dead were the habitations of the people who once had lived in this peaceful valley.” (Bushnell, 1972, p. 272)While Ka’a’awa in the pre-colonial era is romanticized as a place full of mana (spiritual power) due to the blessing of Hawai’ian gods in nearby Ka’oi’o mountain, Ka’a’awa also suffers from the impact of the entrance of modernity to Hawai’i. Only a small percentage of Ka’a’awa villagers remain, working for the ranch of Saul Bristol, a shipwrecked American who reside in Ka’a’awa which becomes the second protagonist that complete Bushnell’s narration. Through Bristol’s depiction in Ka’a’awa, Bushnell represents the figure of a deterritorialized Western person, someone who is alienated from the landscape and surround them and unable to perceive their environment where they reside as a place. (Heise, 2008b) Ka’a’awa becomes a place for Bristol to reorient himself, through his journey on the surrounding jungle, an untamed area, unclaimed by his pasture-land. His exposure toward the sublime sight of Ka’io’o mountain, and his resulting climb to the peak to witness the landscape surround Ka’a’awa is a pivotal event for his reorientation with the natural world. Bushnell narrates Bristol’s acknowledgement of his surrounding place as, “and then.. as I gained the top of the hill, and came out upon the valley’s plain: Oh, the beauty of it made me cry in wonder!” (1972, p. 355 )It is important to underline that immediately after recognizing the beauty of the landscape of Ka’a’awa, Bristol immediately recognize another important aspect, the lushness of Ka’a’awa is marred by desolation, the aftermath of an outbreak of diseases. From that vantage, where once chiefs and priests must have gazed out upon fertile fields and hundreds of happy people, today I saw only desolation. The people are gone, dead and vanished into the earth, and among the smothering weeds only the stone platforms upon which once their houses rose, only a few sagging, rotting grass huts, remain to show that this was a thriving community. (Bushnell, 1972, p. 339) The pastoral area of Ka’a’awa, instead of a place for refugee, rejuvenation and reorientation with the natural world is depicted as a ‘valley of sorrows and griefs’(Bushnell, 1972, p. 513) instead. Instead of joyful bliss and peaceful co- existence between the islanders and the landscape surrounding Ka’a’awa which is IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 4, No. 1, September 2020, pp. 28-40 38 a common trope in pastoral narrative, Bushnell’s narration underlines lamentation as the picturesque terrain becomes the background for the rapid mortality of the Kanaka Maoli. This village is particularly affected as “twenty-five of the valley’s six-score inhabitants had died” in a smallpox outbreak. (Bushnell, 1972, p. 526) Different with Anglo-American discourse of pastoral that emphasized the purity of unspoiled nature, Bushnell’s environmental imagination represents a rural area which is saturated by legacy of colonial encounters in form of diseases. Conclusion It can be concluded that Bushnell’s environmental imagination, particularly concerning his idea of pastoral is shaped by the Hawai’ians’ experience in interacting with the Western colonial power. Bushnell represents a landscape which is shaped by trauma of colonial legacy of diseases and sickness. From Nihoa’s voyage around the island of O’ahu, Bushnell underlines the impact of colonialism on the Kanaka Maoli, being marginalized in their own capital city, suffering from the introduction of invasive species and being particularly prone towards Western diseases. Ka’a’awa, which in the pre-colonial era is a sacred place where the local islanders live bountiful under the blessing of their gods is not exempted by the impact of diseases. Instead of becoming a place for recovery, rejuvenation and reorientation towards natural world for both protagonists, Ka’a’awa is depicted as a valley of sorrow and griefs where the picturesque landscape represents the traumatic experiences of vast mortality of the islanders. To reiterate, Bushnell orients his work within the socio-historical background of Hawai’i and deliver a critique towards the impact of colonialism towards the islanders through his conception of pastoral. References Arnold, D. (2015). Narrativizing Nature : India, Empire and Environment. In A. Deloughrey, Elizabeth M. Didur, Jill. Carrigan (Ed.), Global Ecologies and the Environmental Humanities Postcolonial Approaches (pp. 35–50). New York: Routledge. Bennett, M. (2001). From wide open spaces to metropolitan places. 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