A Paradise Lost - KOPS - Universität Konstanz

If ‘the Caribbean’ is conveyed of reductively as one culture, 119 then obviously the
inhabitants of Hawai’i share several qualities with West Indians, such as
- strong retention of pre-contact and oral cultures due to island locale,
- a culture dominated by an exploitative plantation system (even ethnic diversity is due
to this era),
- a language mix including indigenous and Creole languages,
- and an identity historically imposed by a foreign culture.
Socially speaking, some of the common values of both island groups are the importance
of the extended family, the community, and of the elders as repositories of knowledge.
Literary production has similar aspects too: island writers tend to have a small audience, a
small publication market, a ‘small scale’ of literature, and a language dilemma (‘How can
I/we express a creole experience in Standard English?’ versus ‘Who will buy, understand,
and appreciate texts written in my/our vernacular?’) Oral traditions continue to influence
written literature, as do traditional and hybrid art forms such as song and dance; chant,
hula, and ‘Jawaiian’ music in Hawai’i, slave songs, Calypso, and Reggae in the West
Indies. 120
Moreover, if Caribbean literature and culture are seen as tied to place rather than
nation-bound, this is even truer in Hawai’i. Inhabitants of the West Indies are ‘creole’ not
because of their citizenship, but due to their place of birth. 121 In Hawai’i, a similar idea is
that of the Local: you belong to the place, not to one people. However, the Hawaiian
concept appears to be one more open to interpretation; the society or group decides who
is an insider, a true ‘Local,’ whereas in the case of the Caribbean someone is either born
creole or he is not. There are other distinctions to be made; Hawaii’s planters relied on
indentured labor, but not on slavery. The oral cultures are different, too, probably due to
their different origins and time frames: while both are perceived as talkative, even
179).
119 To clarify: Caribbean is an inclusive geographical term, incorporating both Francophone and
Anglophone islands as well as the few Spanish-speaking ones such as Cuba and Puerto Rico, whereas West
Indian refers only to the English-speaking part of the region. Conflation of the two terms here does not
obscure the points I intend to make.
120 In this context, it is interesting to note that Hawaiian musicians have adopted Reggae melodies and looks
since the early 1980s. This musical style has been termed ‘Jawaiian’ (for the mixing of Jamaican and
Hawaiian elements). Local hero Bruddah Waltah, for instance, wears dreadlocks and has released his own
versions of songs like “No Woman No Cry.”
121 The word creole means ‘indigenous’ in French. It evolved in the Caribbean, now meaning ‘born in the
West Indies,’ suggesting miscegenation, creolization, and acculturation as well as interculturation.
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