Moʻolelo Āiwaiwa: The Fantastic, Indigenous Futurisms, and Speculative Fiction in Hawaiian Literature
Course Description
Elements of wonder and the fantastic have always been an integral component of ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) moʻolelo (story, history), from traditional orature to contemporary literature. It is the foundation of contemporary genres of literature that has enjoyed an increased popularity over the decades, such as fantasy, science fiction, and speculative fiction. Since the early 2000s, Indigenous speculative fiction has grown at a steady rate as more Indigenous authors in multiple genres have garnered larger recognition and audiences, which have widely broadened the scope of what constitutes such literature. Yet despite its long-standing presence in moʻolelo, āiwaiwa, or wonder and the fantastic, are not often studied yet alone recognized in ʻŌiwi literature, particularly in a scholarly context. This course focuses on the fantastic, Indigenous futurisms, and speculative fiction in Hawaiian literature, with an emphasis on new twenty-first century texts (2000-present). This course was developed with student interests and input in mind, and is designed to introduce key terms, texts, writers, scholarship and critical texts in a comparative context between Hawaiʻi, Moananuiākea (the wider Pacific), and Native North America.
Salient questions: What are moʻolelo āiwaiwa, and why are they important to study? What understandings of Hawaiian literary production and cultural aesthetics can we come to through close reading and analysis of such texts? What do such texts contribute to our overall understanding of Hawaiian literature? How do these texts counter problematic settler colonial hegemonic discourse about Hawaiʻi, Kanaka ʻŌiwi, and Kanaka ʻŌiwi intellectual and aesthetic production? How do these texts further ʻŌiwi literary nationalism and reflect aloha ʻāina politics? Why do these questions matter?
Course SLOs:
- Familiarize students with key terms related to the course theme, as well as with key texts, authors, scholars, and discussions within the fields of Hawaiian and Indigenous literatures, studies, and contexts, as reading, discussing, and understanding key texts, authors, and themes can assist students interested in researching and teaching in this and related subjects;
- Develop more complex understanding of the dynamics of the historical, social, cultural, and political conditions surrounding the creation, production, popularity of such works, and their intervention and integration of, and unsettling of non-Indigenous (settler colonial) narratives (i.e. fatal impact theory, death of authentic Native peoples and cultures post-contact, the [Noble] Savage, etc.) about Kanaka ʻŌiwi (and other Indigenous peoples).
This course also provides students the opportunity to engage with and practice department SLOs for graduate students, including:
- Developing comprehensive knowledge in an area of concentration (Cultural studies Asia/Pacific, Literary Studies);
- Practice advance research methods in CSAP/LS, utilize relevant theoretical models, such as Indigenous Literary Nationalism, employ close reading skills in the analysis of texts that engage with ethical, cultural, aesthetic, and political issues and map these in written coursework and oral presentations in preparation for MA Project and PhD dissertation writing;
- Practice college-level teaching through presentation of research to peers in both written and oral formats;
- Practice responsible and ethically-conducted research from our cultural location in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific where applicable;
- Practice written and oral ability to place creative and scholarly work within broader artistic and/or critical conversations.
Expectations and evaluation:
Attendance and engagement. Students are expected to attend class weekly; read a selection of primary texts (narrative prose, poetry, graphic novel, comics, selected visual arts) and critical texts; engage in regular (weekly) class discussion and online discussion board responses to questions; attend a Library Research Workshop (led by the Hawaiʻi-Pacific Collection librarian specialists at Hamilton library).
Research and writing. Weekly written responses (500-600 words); a short critical essay (1500-2000 words) on a specific topic relevant to the course theme; a final research-based, thesis-driven project (8,000 words or 15 pages of writing) on a specific text, writer, theme, question, or issue relevant to the course topic, chosen in consultation with the professor.
Oral presentation components. Present and lead a class discussion on an assigned reading (30 min.); present findings of final project to the class at the end of the semester (15 min.).
Texts for the course:
- Britos, Peter. The Valley of Spiraling Winds (forthcoming, July 2025).
- Dillon, Grace. Walking the Clouds, An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction (2012).
- hoʻomanawanui, kuʻualoha, Joyce Pualani Warren, and Cristina Bacchilega, eds. An Ocean of Wonder, the Fantastic in the Pacific (2024).
- Leong, Sloane. Prism Stalker (2018).
- Parker, Lehua. One Truth, No Lie (2016).
- Pierce, Joseph. Speculative Relations, Indigenous Worlding and Repair (forthcoming, August 2025).
- Additional readings posted to Lamakū.
The UH Bookstore deadline to order textbooks passed on March 1, so students will need to procure their own copies of selected texts (note: as of this date, Britos’ novel is forthcoming and not yet available). Some texts are available in electronic forms, through the UH or state library system.