Putting feathers on our words: Kaona as a decolonial aesthetic practice in Hawaiian literature
544x376 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE In this essay, I examine contemporary literary examples of “kaona connectivity,” the ways that kaona requires Hawaiians to connect with our kūpuna and with each other, as an affirmation of our aesthetic sovereignty. I begin by offering a reading of the kaona within Donovan Kūhiō Colleps’ “Kāhulu” to discuss kaona as an intellectual and aesthetic practice. I then discuss Hawaiian literary aesthetics and aesthetic sovereignty before giving close readings of contemporary literary works for their kaona. Specifically, I examine a short story by John Dominis Holt, as well as poems and art by Imaikalani Kalahele, who both employ kaona to connect Hawaiians with the Kumulipo, a genealogical chant tracing the last two monarchs of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi to the beginning of the universe. I conclude with a discussion of the Kumulipo’s continued cultural, spiritual, and political significance and the power of Hawaiian aesthetic sovereignty.
Rhetorical Sovereignty: What Do American Indians Want from Writing?
After years of colonization, oppression, and resistance, American Indians are making clear what they want from the heretofore compromised technology of writing. Rhetorical sovereignty, a people’s control of its meaning, is found in sites legal, aesthetic, and pedagogical, and composition studies can both contribute to and learn from this work.
We are the ocean : selected works
"We Are the Ocean" is a collection of essays, fiction, and poetry by Epeli Hau'ofa, whose writing over the past three decades has consistently challenged prevailing notions about Oceania and prescriptions for its development. He highlights major problems confronted by the region and suggests alternative perspectives and ways in which its people might reorganize to relate effectively to the changing world.Hau'ofa's essays criss-cross Oceania, creating a navigator's star chart of discussion and debate. Spurning the arcana of the intellectual establishments where he was schooled, Hau'ofa has crafted a distinctive-often lyrical, at times angry-voice that speaks directly to the people of the region and the general reader. He conveys his thoughts from diverse standpoints: university-based analyst, essayist, satirist and humorist, and practical catalyst for creativity. According to Hau'ofa, only through creative originality in all fields of endeavor can the people of Oceania hope to strengthen their capacity to engage the forces of globalization.