ʻAkahi kā hoʻi ka paoa a pale iho i waimānalo: He kālailaina i ka inoa ma ka moʻolelo kahiko
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2025-05
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Abstract
The topic of this dissertation is the study of the usage of names—place names and character names—in traditional Hawaiian stories written by the first generation of Hawaiians born and raised with the knowledge of the western writing system. Names are an intrinsic part of Hawaiian culture and Hawaiian literature. Hawaiian names are used daily in the names of places, streets, people, traditional proverbs, songs, and are particularly prevalent in traditional Hawaiian stories, yet little has been researched on the style and the usage of names in Hawaiian stories and are oftentimes glossed over in the interpretation of the story. This dissertation examines the traditional perspective of storytellers of the generation known for their writing of Hawaiian stories and their usage of place names to present ideas in relation to the story. To orient the reader and set the perspectives in which the topic of this paper is based on, chapter one examines and compares the perspective of the older generation of Hawaiian writers with the previous generation raised without writing—along with subsequent generations—in relation to their usage of names in stories. It also discusses the features and style of wordplay in names and compares it to features of folk-etymology. Chapter two examines previous literature on the usage of names in Hawaiian stories. Chapter three demonstrates the usage, combination, and adaptation of two pre-existing approaches to examining Hawaiian literature wordplay to the process of analyzing names in Hawaiian stories. Chapter four examines and presents a certain genre of words known as hōʻailona paoa—bad omens—frequently used in names in stories. Chapter five analyzes and presents examples of name usage in stories while chapter six analyzes and presents examples of a travel motif—an ethno-literary device in which names containing hōʻailona paoa are listed in travel-logue fashion as the character moves from one scene to another.
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Language, Literature, ethno-literary device, Hawaiian, Names, Omes, symbolism, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
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620 pages
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