Hawaiian literature has its origins in
Polynesian mythology
The Polynesian narrative or Polynesian mythology encompasses the oral traditions of the people of Polynesia (a grouping of Central and South Pacific Ocean island archipelagos in the Polynesian Triangle) together with those of the scattered cul ...
. It was originally preserved and expanded solely through oral traditions, as the ancient Hawaiians never developed a writing system.
Written literature in the
Hawaiian language and literary works in other languages by authors resident in Hawaii did not appear until the nineteenth century, when the arrival of American missionaries introduced the English language, the Latin alphabet, and Western notions of composition to the kingdom.
The earliest compilations of traditional Hawaiian writing were made by
John Papa ʻĪʻī
John (Ioane) Kaneiakama Papa ʻĪʻī (1800–1870) was a 19th-century educator, politician and historian in the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Life
ʻĪʻī was born 1800, in the month of Hilinehu, which he calculated to be August 3, in later life. He was b ...
, Samuel Kamakau, Kepelino, Kepelino Keauokalani, and David Malo. They were succeeded by King Kalākaua, Martha Beckwith, Abraham Fornander, and William Drake Westervelt, all of whom produced later collections retelling or adapting Hawaii's oral histories.
Other noted authors whose works feature Hawaiian settings and themes, or who were temporarily resident in Hawaii, include Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Jack London. Detective novelist Earl Derr Biggers is remembered chiefly for his books set in early twentieth century Honolulu, whose protagonist is Chinese immigration to Hawaii, Chinese-Hawaiian detective Charlie Chan.
Hawaiian literature in the latter half of the twentieth century was characterized by both rapid growth and an increasing emphasis on realism, sometimes influenced by the Hawaiian Renaissance, Second Hawaiian Renaissance and the Hawaiian sovereignty movement.
List of Hawaii authors
*Noelani Arista
*Robert Barclay, author of ''Hawaii Smiles''
*Alan Brennert, author of ''Moloka'i'' and ''Honolulu''
*Marie Alohalani Brown
*O. A. Bushnell, author of ''Ka'a'awa, The Return of Lono,'' and ''Molokai''
*Lee Cataluna
*Eric Chock
*Kiana Davenport
*Gavan Daws
*Darlaine Mahealani Dudoit, founder of ''
'Oiwi: A Native Hawaiian Journal''
*Glen Grant (historian), Glen Grant
*Kaui Hart Hemmings, author of ''The Descendants (novel), The Descendants''
*John Dominis Holt IV, author of ''Waimea Summer, Princess of the Night Rides, On Being Hawaiian'' and ''Recollections''
*Garrett Hongo
*ku'ualoha ho'omanawanui, co-founder of ''
'Oiwi: A Native Hawaiian Journal''
*George Kahumoku, Jr.
*Matthew Kaopio
*Lopaka Kapanui, author of ''Haunted Hawaiian Nights'' and ''The Legend of Morgan's Corner''
*Nora Okja Keller
*Maxine Hong Kingston
*Juliet Kono
*R. Zamora Linmark, author of ''Rolling the R's''
*Darrell H. Y. Lum
*Wing Tek Lum
*Chris McKinney, author of ''The Tattoo, Mililani Mauka,'' and ''Boi No Good''
*Ian MacMillan (author), Ian MacMillan, author of ''The Red Wind''
*Susanna Moore
*Rodney Morales, author of ''When the Shark Bites''
*Milton Murayama
*Ingrid Naiman
*Barack Obama
*Gary Pak
*Mark Panek, author of ''Hawai'i: A Novel''
*Lehua Parker, author of ''Niuhi Shark Series''
*Mary Kawena Pukui
*Shawna Yang Ryan
*Noenoe Silva
*Cathy Song
*Lee Tonouchi
*Haunani-Kay Trask
*Kirby Wright
*Lois-Ann Yamanaka
List of literary magazines
*''Bamboo Ridge''
*''
'Oiwi: A Native Hawaiian Journal''
References
Hawaiian literature,
Hawaii-related lists, Literature
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