In this course, students will discuss the interweaving of rhetoric and literature, specifically through an exploration of Kānaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) concepts of moʻolelo (histories/stories) and moʻokūʻauhau (genealogy). We will start the course with a reframing of how literature is defined and the power of storytelling in Indigenous cultures before moving into rhetorical frameworks to understand and analyze these stories. From there, we will look at the different ways that moʻolelo and moʻokūʻauhau function through an exploration of themes such as the Western Portrayals of Hawaiʻi, Reclamation of Narrative, Narratives as Social Justice, etc. Through these explorations, students will learn to analyze these stories and the context they find the stories within through a series of short writings, close readings, class discussions, and essays.
Course texts may include the following (subject to change):
- Why Indigenous Literatures Matter by Daniel Heath Justice
- The Truth About Stories by Thomas King
- Selections from The Past Before Us: Moʻokūʻauhau as Methodology
- The Power of the Steel-Tipped Pen by Noenoe K. Silva
- Selections from From a Native Daughter by Haunani-Kay Trask
- Selections from Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen by Liliʻuokalani