Chapter 22 - Literature in Hawaiian Pidgin and the Critique of Asian Settler Colonialism

Summary

In this essay, I draw on scholarship in sociolinguistics and liberal political theory on language diversity and linguistic justice to examine whether literature in Hawaiian Pidgin can still have a countercultural force given the criticism of Asian settler colonialism. Literary criticism on literature in Pidgin has focused on demonstrating the capacity of the much-stigmatized language to represent the rich and varied culture of its speakers. In this process, literature in Pidgin has come to be associated with a countercultural position that illuminates the dynamics of social domination. Here, I turn to the controversy surrounding Bamboo Ridge, an independent publishing house and journal established by Eric Chock and Darrell H. Y. Lum in 1978, and the writings of Lee A. Tonouchi and Lisa Linn Kanae to explore the significance of literature in Pidgin in relation to new political and cultural consciousness of the enduring and wide-ranging repercussions of settler colonialism. I locate in Pidgin’s guerilla philosophy an idea of linguistic justice that approaches the concept from experiences of linguistic domination rather than from liberal ideas of justice and suggest that literature in Pidgin can be an ally to indigenous rights and claims based on its philosophy of critiquing cultural hegemony.