Pidgin: The Voice of Hawai'i

April 2, 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Manoa Campus, Art Auditorium

From the promotional material

"You can't really understand Hawaiʻi until you understand Pidgin, the language of Hawaiʻi's heart and soul. Born on sugar plantations, spoken by more than half of Hawaiʻi's population, part English, part Hawaiian, with other languages mixed in, Pidgin captures the essence of multi-ethnic Hawaiʻi and of President Obama.

"Pidgin: The Voice of Hawaiʻi," a one-hour documentary film produced by Marlene Booth and the late Kanalu Young, profiles this language of Hawaiʻi’s working people in its rise from plantation jargon to a source of island identity and pride. Along the way, English Standard Schools fueled anti-Pidgin sentiment and left behind a legacy of shame in speaking Pidgin.

But Pidgin did not die".

The premiere of "Pidgin: The Voice of Hawaiʻi" is presented by UH Mānoa’s Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge to honor Kanalu Young. A professor and director of graduate studies at Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, Young was a PhD in history, and wrote on the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, and colonization and decolonization in the Pacific. He also composed songs and chants, and was an adviser to the UH-Mānoa football team and helped develop its pre-game ha`a.

Ticket Information
Free

Event Sponsor
Hawai`inuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, Manoa Campus

Language as a Political Tool: Authenticity, Kuleana, and Hawaiian Language Revitalization

By looking at Hawaiian rap, we'll continue our discussion of language as a political tool in Hawai‘i. We'll bring together our experience with ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i and Pidgin to examine how issues of authenticity, kuleana, and the art of resistance interact. As we've discussed, issues of colonial oppression and solidarity with other colonized peoples, especially in North America, are common themes in this genre.

How are issues of language and identity dealt with in this art form?

Thursday preview: Pidgin in the Movies

Pidgin, or Hawai‘i Creole English, features prominently in Hollywood films about Hawai‘i but what function does it serve? The 1987 film North Shore about an Arizonan who wins a wave pool surf contest and comes to O‘ahu to tame the famous breaks of the North Shore and to win the heart of a kind wahine is an interesting, and problematic, example.