English 272/601 – Intro to Literature: Culture and Literature
(Rooted Identities: Contemporary Place-Based Narratives of Hawaii, Post 1950)*
Course Description:
We start with perhaps with the most basic inquiry: what is narrative, and by extension, literature? Can there be any single answer to this question? Why or why not? To attempt to formulate some sort of determination, we must consider the type of work literature does. Why do we read or write? Is literature simply a medium through which facts, knowledge, and history are preserved and/or conveyed, or does it seek to do more? Is literature also transformative and how?
In this course, we will trace the literary genealogies which existed in Hawaii post 1950, mapping (and deeply meditating on) complex and essential themes of identity, language, race, gender, sexuality, colonialism, indigeneity, and connections to ‘āina (land). We will pay particular attention to these literatures within a socio-political and historical context, identifying specific ways in which literature is dynamic – constantly responding to, and working upon, prevalent individual, communal, and global issues.
In tracing the path of literature in Hawaii, use of the term “genealogy” is, of course, intentional. In Native Hawaiian culture, genealogy, or mo‘okū‘auhau, establishes a firm connection and relationship between kanaka and ‘āina (land). Mo‘okū‘auhau does not merely trace familial lineage, but also embodies the totality of a Hawaiian existence – the mo‘olelo, or (hi)story, of ancestors which influence and inform a descendant’s sense of self. In discussing place-based narratives and “rooted identities” of Hawaii, we will consider the various ways different ethnic groups claim connection to Hawaii. Our investigation will inevitably discuss the differing perceptions of ‘āina (land) and its value by various groups – is land merely a “place,” as the title of our course implies with “place-based narratives,” or can it be considered as more? What are “place-based narratives” in the first place, and can we reimagine this type of narrative to reflect the contested “places” and “spaces” of Hawaii’s contemporary literatures?
In light of the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress Hawai‘i, Outreach College has chosen to offer courses which focus on issues of conservation and sustainability. In canvassing the landscape of Hawaii’s place-based literatures post-1950, we will inevitably encounter narratives that articulate such practices and values, and it will be our task to interrogate these (hi)stories to determine the type of work they do to inform our knowledge of mālama ‘āina (caring for the land).
Course Requirements:
- One (1) introductory, personal narrative – 500 to 1000 words.
- Twenty (20) “blog” postings to our course website concerning assigned readings – 300 words
- Attend one (1) community event involving land stewardship, conservation, and/or sustainability, and compose a reflection essay grounding your experiences in the readings for the particular week – Two (2) pages
- How do your experiences (re)inform your reading of particular stories of place and ‘āina?
- Two (2) close-reading papers where you’ll engage, and put into conversation, both creative works and critical scholarship– Five (5) pages
- One (1) final project proposal/draft – Two (2) pages
- One (1) final project – Five (5) pages
Readings:
- To be announced. Every effort will be made to provide these readings via PDF documents, but it’s possible larger texts may also be assigned.
*The entirety of this course description is tentative and subject to change. Please contact me, Kapena Landgraf, at KAPENAML@HAWAII.EDU should you have any questions.