Traditions and Transitions folk narrative in the contemporary world
16-20
July 2001 The University of Melbourne, Australia
|
|
|
|
Traditions and Transitions folk narrative in the contemporary world |
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | main abstract index | main congress page |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
In an effort to trace their genealogies and to analyse
their varying social uses, this paper discusses specific contemporary legends
as participating in the economy of place-centred narratives circulating in
Hawai‘i today. Because place records cultural hybridity and because land is so
crucial to Hawai‘i's political struggles, indigenous and immigrant narratives
of place in Hawai‘i embody competing relationships to nature, expose different
layers of located history, and make claims to replace one another. Localized
ghost and horror tales in Hawai‘i as told informally, scripted in newspapers,
performed during tours, retold in commercial audiotapes, and published in
collections, do not (contra Grant 1996) simply or innocuously conflate
different traditions (mainstream American, Asian, and native Hawai’ian) of
belief tales. Rather people and institutions bring competing experiences,
goals, and commitments to the telling and valorising of these legends in
Hawai‘i. Thus, these narratives play a crucial role in the articulation of
values and fears as the struggle for Hawai’ian sovereignty intensifies.
Furthermore, these stories actively engage in offering commentary on and at
times resistance to various forms of globalisation.
Grant, Glen. Obake Files: Ghostly Encounters in Supernatural Hawai’i.
Honolulu: Mutual, 1996.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | main abstract index | main congress page |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |