Ethnic Lit of Hawaii (XL ES 370) (60)

Note: This section has an enrollment maximum of
60.  It is designed to interest
non-English majors, but it can be applied toward the major or minor as well.

In this
course, we will be reading literatures written by a broad range of writers who
focus on the importance of the languages, cultures, and knowledges that shape
and are shaped by Hawai‘i as a place.  We
will foreground the history of Hawai‘i and the differences between indigenous
peoples and settler groups.  We will
first examine the ways that Hawaiian writers trace their genealogies back to
the land and continue to use specific forms of oral tradition in their written
narratives.  By contrast, many other
narratives emerged from efforts in the 1970s to define a “local” identity in
community struggles over leased lands slated for commercial development.  We will then map out the changing historical
and political contexts in which the terms “local” and “settler” have emerged,
partly out of literary debates over race, power, and representation.  Throughout the course, we will be asking
ourselves questions about the alternative forms of narrative that Hawai‘i
writers use to address their cultural and political concerns.

Requirements: Two
mid-term exams, a final exam, eight scheduled quizzes and attendance.

Required Texts
(available at Revolution Books)
: Queen Lili‘uokalani, HAWAII’S STORY BY
HAWAII’S QUEEN;Darrell Lum and Eric
Chock, eds., THE BEST OF BAMBOO RIDGE; R. Zamora Linmark, ROLLING THE R’S;Nora Okja Keller, FOX GIRL; Lee
Cataluna, FOLKS YOU MEET IN LONGS; Candace Fujikane and Jonathan Okamura, eds.,
ASIAN SETTLER COLONIALISM: FROM COLONIAL GOVERNANCE TO THE HABITS OF EVERYDAY
LIFE IN HAWAI‘I; Haunani-Kay Trask, LIGHT IN THE CREVICE NEVER SEEN; Lilikalā Kame‘eleihiwa, A LEGENDARY
TRADITION OF KAMAPUA‘A, THE HAWAIIAN PIG-GOD. 
A required course reader will include works by Noelani Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua, Linda Revilla, Keanu Sai, Alice
Chai, Eric Yamamoto, Katherine Moon, Walter Ritte, Ida Yoshinaga and others.  The course reader will be available during
the second week of classes.