This course will be looking at Moʻolelo and Kaʻao, Hawaiian historical, legendary and mythological texts. We will begin the semester (first two weeks) by breaking down what these terms mean and how Moʻolelo and Kaʻao function in the Hawaiian world. Then we will read a diverse set of Moʻolelo and Kaʻao from antiquity, to the historical texts and finish up the semester with some modern Hawaiian fiction. We will also be viewing three Moʻolelo (Kaluaikoʻolau, Nā Kau a Hiʻiaka, Lāʻieikawai) as they were staged as Hana Keaka (plays).
Throughout the semester we will explore questions of ethics, resource management, Kapu and Noa, language and translation, the role of Mele (song/poetry) in story telling, and orature/literature more broadly as we try to answer the question “What do these Moʻolelo have to teach us?” at the level of the idiosyncratic particular as well as the global universal.