POETRY AS LEGAL PROTEST: A Law and Literature examination of the mele of Queen Lili‘uokalani

As an historical figure, Lili‘uokalani stands at the crossroads of some of the most important and controversial legal and political matters of her time, issues which to this day remain largely unsolved. My thesis is structured around three of these legal areas – treaty-making, sovereignty and land law – and the study of these topics are informed, shaped and elucidated by close reading of literary texts. In order to do so, I use the methodology of Law and Literature, more specifically, the examination of literary texts using a legal lens. The texts I will be using are the mele (poetry/lyrics) written by Lili‘uokalani, who reigned as Queen of Hawai‘i from 1891, until she was forced to abdicate by a group of haole (white) Hawaiian politicians and businessmen in 1895.