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Ominous metaphors: the political poetics of native Hawaiian identity

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posted on 2023-06-09, 09:11 authored by Emma Scanlan
This thesis examines poetry by Native Hawaiian activists written between 1970 and 2016 in order to develop a detailed understanding of the multi-faceted ways poetry incorporates, transmits and enacts contemporary political identity. Whilst fundamentally a literary analysis, my methodology is discursive, and draws on a range of critical approaches, archival research and interviews with poets, in order to address why poetry is such a powerful form of resistance to American hegemony. By reading contemporary poetry as an expression of deeply held cultural and political beliefs, this thesis suggests that writing and performing poetry are powerful forms of political resistance. Adopting a lens that is attentive to both the indigenous and colonial influences at play in Hawai?i, it elucidates the nuanced ways that traditional literary techniques enter contemporary Native Hawaiian poetry as vehicles for cultural memory and protest. Attention to the continuities between traditional Hawaiian epistemology and the ways those same methods and values are deployed in twentieth and twenty-first century poetry, means this thesis is a part of a growing body of work that endeavours to understand indigenous literature from the perspective of its own cultural and political specificity. The introduction establishes the historical and critical context of the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement and the Hawaiian Renaissance. It outlines the main developments in Native Hawaiian literary criticism since the late 1960s, including the reclaiming of traditional narratives and the privileging of indigenous epistemologies. Chapters One to Seven proceed chronologically, each addressing a particular collection, anthology or body of work. Chapter One focuses on Wayne Kaumuali?i Westlake’s radical rejection of Westernised Waikiki, whilst Chapter Two explores the anthologies Malama: Hawaiian Land and Water and Ho?iHo?i Hou: A Tribute to George Helm and Kimo Mitchell, in relation to the Sovereignty Movement’s dedication to Aloha ?Aina (love the land). Chapters Three to Five deal with five poetry collections, two by Haunani-Kay Trask, and one each by Imaikalani Kalahele, Brandy Nalani McDougall and Mahealani Perez-Wendt. The chapters address how these poets articulate Native Hawaiian identity, nationalism and continuity through traditional mo?olelo (stories), which underpin the political beliefs of three generations of sovereignty activists. Chapters Six and Seven address contemporary performance poetry in both published and unpublished formats by Jamaica Osorio, David Keali?i MacKenzie, No?ukahau?oli Revilla and Kealoha, demonstrating how a return to embodied performance communicates aloha (love, compassion, grace). The conclusion, Chapter Eight, indicates projects that are already productively engaging Hawaiian epistemology in the areas of geography and science, and points towards developments in the digital humanities that could extend this indigenised methodology into literary studies, in order to further engage with the depth and multiplicity of storied landscapes in Hawai?i.

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  • Published version

Pages

344.0

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  • English Theses

Qualification level

  • doctoral

Qualification name

  • phd

Language

  • eng

Institution

University of Sussex

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  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-12-05

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