Voices of Fire
Reweaving the Literary Lei of Pele and Hi'iaka
Restoring the literature of Pele and Hi‘iaka to its rightful place in Native culture and identity
- Honorable Mention – MLA Prize for Studies in Native American Literatures, Cultures, and Languages – Modern Language Association
312 Pages, 6 x 9 in
- Paperback
- 9780816679225
- Published: May 7, 2014
- Series: First Peoples: New Directions in Indigenous Studies
- Hardcover
- 9780816679218
- Published: May 1, 2014
- Series: First Peoples: New Directions in Indigenous Studies
- eBook
- 9781452941219
- Published: May 1, 2014
- Series: First Peoples: New Directions in Indigenous Studies
Details
Voices of Fire
Reweaving the Literary Lei of Pele and Hi'iaka
Series: First Peoples: New Directions in Indigenous Studies
ISBN: 9780816679225
Publication date: May 7th, 2014
312 Pages
16
8 x 5
"An amazingly well-crafted, well-selected, and well-analyzed lei that is, in and of itself, an incredibly powerful narrative destined to become an integral component of the intellectual lei of Kanaka Maoli literature."—Native American and Indigenous Studies Journal
Stories of the volcano goddess Pele and her youngest sister Hi‘iaka, patron of hula, are most familiar as a form of literary colonialism—first translated by missionary descendants and others, then co-opted by Hollywood and the tourist industry. But far from quaint tales for amusement, the Pele and Hi‘iaka literature published between the 1860s and 1930 carried coded political meaning for the Hawaiian people at a time of great upheaval. Voices of Fire recovers the lost and often-suppressed significance of this literature, restoring it to its primary place in Hawaiian culture.
Ku‘ualoha ho‘omanawanui takes up mo‘olelo (histories, stories, narratives), mele (poetry, songs), oli (chants), and hula (dances) as they were conveyed by dozens of authors over a tumultuous sixty-eight-year period characterized by population collapse, land alienation, economic exploitation, and military occupation. Her examination shows how the Pele and Hi‘iaka legends acted as a framework for a Native sense of community. Freeing the mo‘olelo and mele from colonial stereotypes and misappropriations, Voices of Fire establishes a literary mo‘okū‘auhau, or genealogy, that provides a view of the ancestral literature in its indigenous contexts.
The first book-length analysis of Pele and Hi‘iaka literature written by a Native Hawaiian scholar, Voices of Fire compellingly lays the groundwork for a larger conversation of Native American literary nationalism.
ku’ualoha ho’omanawanui is associate professor of Hawaiian literature in the English department at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.
Papa Kuhikuhi / Table of Contents
Ka Pule Wehe / The Opening Prayer: Kūnihi ka Mauna (Steep Stands the Mountain)Ka Pane / The ResponseʻŌlelo Haʻi Mua / PrefaceNā Mahalo / Acknowledgments
ʻŌlelo Mua / Introduction: Ke Haʻa lā Puna i ka Makani (Puna Dances in the Breeze)
Mokuna / Chapter 1. Mai Kahiki Mai ka Wahine ʻo Pele (From Kahiki Came the Woman, Pele): Historicizing the Pele and Hiʻiaka MoʻoleloMokuna / Chapter 2. ʻO nā Lehua wale i Ka‘ana (The Lehua Blossoms Alone at Kaʻana): Weaving the Moʻokūʻauhau of Oral and Literary TraditionsMokuna / Chapter 3. Lele ʻana ʻo Kaʻena i ka Mālie (Kaʻena Soars Like a Bird in the Calm): Pele and Hiʻiaka Moʻolelo as Intellectual HistoryMokuna / Chapter 4. Ke Lei maila ʻo Kaʻula i ke Kai ē (Kaʻula Is Wreathed by the Sea): Pele and Hiʻiaka Moʻolelo and Kanaka Maoli CultureMokuna / Chapter 5. ʻO ʻOe ia e Wailua Iki (It Is You, Wailua Iki): Mana Wahine in the Pele and Hiʻiaka MoʻoleloMokuna / Chapter 6. Hulihia Ka Mauna (The Mountain Is Overturned by Fire): Weaving a Literary Tradition: The Polytexts and Politics of the Pele and Hiʻiaka MoʻoleloMokuna / Chapter 7. Aloha Kīlauea, ka ʻĀina Aloha (Beloved Is Kīlauea, the Beloved Land): Remembering, Reclaiming, Recovering, and Retelling: Pele and Hi‘iaka Mo‘olelo as Hawaiian Literary Nationalism
Ka Pule Pani / The Closing PrayerʻŌlelo Wehewehe Hope / NotesPapa Wehewehe ‘Ōlelo / GlossaryPapa Kuhikuhi o nā Mea Kūmole ʻia / Works CitedPapa Kuhikuhi Hōʻike / Index