ENG 370 is cross-listed with ES 370: English majors can choose to use this course to fulfill either English major requirements OR upper-division core credits
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 first examine the ways that Kanaka ‘Ōiwi
writers like Queen Lili‘uokalani trace their genealogies back to the kulāiwi,
the ancestral lands, mapping through mo‘olelo, the stories and histories, the
literary and cultural significance of places that are a part of our daily
lives. Later, many other narratives
emerged from efforts in the 1970s to define a “local” identity in community
struggles to protect leased agricultural lands slated for commercial and urban
development. Visual texts of local
solidarity in newspapers show people linking their arms in a human blockade
across Kamehameha Highway in front of the Waiāhole Poi Factory in protest
against the police-enforced eviction of farmers. Throughout the course, we will sketch the literary,
historical and political contexts that map our knowledge and reading of land
and places in Hawai‘i. We will discuss the complexities of local
communities, such as the survival strategies of a young local Filipino boy
growing up gay and working-class in Kalihi and the sexual trafficking of Korean
women to the local bar system on Ke‘eaumoku Street that is the transnational
legacy of Japanese and U.S. militarism in Korea. 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 and to envision a more sustainable future
for Hawaiʻi.
This course has a Hawaiian and Asian or Pacific Issues (H)
Focus designation. Hawaiian and Asian
issues are fully integrated into the main course material and will constitute
at least 2/3 of the course content.
Student Learning Outcomes
(SLOs) include an awareness of the contributions of Hawaiʻi literatures to the
formation of the contemporary field of English Studies, including such
subfields as twentieth-century American literature, ethnic literatures,
rhetoric, and cultural studies.
Requirements:
Two mid-term exams, a final exam, six scheduled quizzes, attendance and
participation.
Required Texts (available
at Revolution Books, 2626 S. King Street, between Puck’s Alley
and 7-11):
Queen Lili‘uokalani, Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen(1898)
Lois-Ann Yamanaka, Saturday Night at the Pahala Theatre
(1993)
R. Zamora Linmark, Rolling the R’s(1995)
Nora Okja Keller, Fox Girl (2002)
Lee Cataluna, Folks You Meet in Longs (2005)
Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua,
Erin Kahunawai Wright and Ikaika Hussey, eds.
A Nation
Rising: Hawaiian Movements for Life, Land and
Sovereignty(2014)
A required course reader
will include works by Noenoe Silva, Linda Revilla, Tony Lee, Gizelle Gajelonia,
Ann Kapulani Landgraf, Mark Hamasaki, Dennis Kawaharada, Keanu Sai, Darrell
Lum, Judy Rohrer, Alice Chai, Richard Hamasaki, Ann Kapulani Landgraf, Eric
Yamamoto, Walter Ritte, and others. The
course reader will be available during the second week of classes.