Hawaiian Creole English and Its Place in Literature

“Linguistic identity and cultural identity are skin and flesh. When you sever one from the other, you make it OK not to be who you are” (Takahama 1996). Standard English (SE) is the primary language taught in Hawai‘i’s schools although Hawaiian Creole English (HCE) is the primary language of locals in Hawai‘i (“local” refers to non-Caucasians born in Hawai‘i). HCE is part of our identity. Locals recognize each other based on whether someone speaks it (Furukawa 29). It is a sign of whether one is really local – as far as growing up in Hawai‘i and having roots back to plantation days. Pidgin (as the locals call it) is a unique and rhythmic dialect that began as a “medium” through which various races communicated with each other as a result of being forced to work together on Hawai‘i’s historic plantations (29). Since then, HCE has been spoken by subsequent generations – children grow up knowing HCE as their first language.

Since the 1940s, there has been a significant push to minimalize, if not entirely erase, the use of HCE from the vocabulary of locals by banning it from educational classrooms (Standwood 59). As a local myself, I remember being chastised for speaking pidgin, especially from my mother who is a teacher. In multiple literary sources, local Hawai‘i authors describe how, as children, they learned that HCE, the language they grew up with was improper and if they wanted to succeed in life, they needed to learn SE fluently (Takahama 1996; Tonouchi 32). However, as these writers developed their writing style, what made them unique in the world of literature was that they used pidgin that accurately represents local Hawai‘i culture. The language they were told to lose is the same language that made them successful because it captured the essence of living in Hawai‘i. Instead of trying to eliminate a language that descends from a unique historic, cultural amalgamation, we should celebrate and embrace it. According to local pastor Earl Morihara, “So who we are, all that we tink and do on dis island, all dat stuff that make Hawaiian culture is kinda captured in the language" (Pidgin 2009). The richness of pidgin is perpetuated by a few brave souls unabashedly willing to share their culture with the world.

Many local authors give examples of how they were discouraged from speaking HCE: teachers would admonish the use of it in class and shame the students that spoke it. HCE is unique to the culture of Hawai‘i much like Patois is to Jamaica, therefore, to “teach” it out of children is to remove that sense of belonging and culture that ties them to their ancestors and history. Even today, students in Hawai‘i’s education system will inevitably come across the attitude that it is not fine to speak HCE and those who wish to excel must speak SE. However, there are multiple successful individuals who embrace HCE and use it in their professional lives. One example is the Mayor of Hilo, Billy Kenoi. Kenoi has been the mayor of Hilo since ??? and in a majority of his speeches and interactions, he speaks HCE. He cannot be dismissed as “just a local braddah” because according to his biography on his mayoral website, Kenoi’s academic career includes graduating from the University of Massachusetts, then the William Richardson School of Law, and he is an attorney by trade (“About Mayor Billy Kenoi”). Kenoi connects to the people he leads by interacting with them in pidgin. It is the language of Hawai‘i’s heart and should not be so easily dismissed – especially with evidence that speaking the language does not deter one from succeeding in society. This is also true in the world of literature.

Lee Tonouchi, who self-proclaimed himself as “Da Pidgin Guerilla,” discovered that HCE could be used in higher academic learning while getting his bachelor’s degree at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa (Tonouchi 2015). Although he had spoken pidgin his entire life, it was always discouraged in school and he never saw it written as an actual language. However, in one English class in college, he read Eric Chock’s poem, “Tutu” and could not believe that it was written in pidgin (2015). Stumbling across this poem changed everything for Tonouchi and he became an ardent advocate for the perpetuation of pidgin; so much so that he proudly says in Living Pidgin that he wrote his thesis paper for his master’s degree in HCE (Tonouchi 17). Being discouraged from writing and speaking HCE while growing up is a common topic that Tonouchi addresses especially in two of his books, Da Word and Living Pidgin. In Da Word, he gives an example of a local student who reads aloud his essay in HCE after which the teacher admonishes him: “You mustn’t write like how you speak” (Tonouchi 11). The only student who understood the admonishment was Caucasian while the other local students were just as confused about what he was being scolded for. Tonouchi accurately describes the trials that local kids who speak HCE experience in school, often experiencing confusion in being told that the way they speak is wrong. He understands that taking away the language of Hawai‘i’s kids disconnects them further from their culture.

Similarly, Lois-Ann Yamanaka, a local Hawai‘i author, experienced the same confusion while attending school. She writes her books in HCE and is a strong advocate of speaking it. Growing up in a tiny plantation town, HCE was her first language and she had difficulty connecting to the SE that was being taught in schools. In her book, Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers, her teacher tells the class,

No one will want to give you a job. You sound uneducated. You will be

looked down upon. You’re speaking a low-class form of good Standard

English. Continue, and you’ll go nowhere in life. (Yamanaka 10)

Years later, as a public school teacher in Hawai‘i, she was warned against using HCE in her classroom (Takahama 1996). Yet she found using pidgin with her students allowed them to learn better because it was the language they understood. After writing her first book, Saturday Night at the Pahala Theatre, a piece written entirely in pidgin, Yamanaka saw that her book was not allowed to be used in school readings or discussions (1996). She became an advocate for pidgin and uses her writing to push forward HCE by writing solely in that style. The language that Yamanaka was discouraged from using as a child and as an adult has made her into the prominent award-winning author she is today.

Lee Cataluna, another Hawai‘i-born author and playwright, writes her plays and stories with her characters speaking HCE. Although she does not consider herself as an advocate for pidgin, she includes it in her book, Three Years on Doreen’s Sofa (Cataluna 1). Pidgin accurately portrays the main character, Bobby, and allow the readers to connect with him. Without the language, Bobby would not seem realistic as a local Hawai‘i boy nor would he have been as relatable.

There are hardcore advocates for both SE and HCE. Those who advocate for HCE argue that it is the rich language of the local people of Hawai‘i originating from the first Western contact and cannot be discredited because it is not “proper” English; those who advocate for SE claim that for children of Hawai‘i to succeed in life outside of Hawai‘i, they must be fluent in “proper” English. Mako Araki, a Board of Education member, reports that their “…job is to empower people – English is the language of power” (Reinhold 1987). Lee Tonouchi, however, disputes that citing that he was invited to speak at the Ford Foundation in New York in pidgin (Tonouchi 18). Regarding the standardization of English, Tonouchi correctly notes in his book Living Pidgin: Contemplations of Pidgin Culture, “If we move from place to place, person to person, eh-vry-body’s so called “standard” english is diff’rent. If we move across da timeline, language is constantly evolving… Eh-rybody supposedly talking english, but all sounds kinda diff’rent.” Advocates for SE argue that HCE is not standardized and so is not a “real” language, however, as Tonouchi points out, English itself has its discrepancies depending on where you travel and throughout time. Hegemony is a popular cry for HCE advocates – SE is prominent purely because of American dominance over Hawai‘i. In any other country not ruled by the American system, SE would not be seen as the most acceptable language.

Within Hawai‘i, there are many mixed opinions regarding pidgin. Once, Lee Tonouchi, while dining at a restaurant, received a note that said,

Your short story on “Ben the Betrayer” is the stupidest piece of paranoid

garbage I’ve ever read. My mother speaks better English than you’ll ever

speak and she was blacklisted by the D.O.E. H.C.E. is a badge of ignorance

and illiteracy, and everyone knows it. Grow up and have some respect for

the language of Shakespeare, Milton, and Swift. (Tonouchi 19)

This note shows the vehemence against HCE and the attitude of superiority felt towards SE. The reason for such animosity is due to several factors: the hegemony of the English language, misunderstanding the richness and validity of HCE, and the Department of Educations’s demeaning stance of HCE. By the time local students reach the university level, most of HCE has been eradicated from their vocabulary (Tonouchi 2015). There is a poignant poem in Living Pidgin in which Tonouchi compiles a list of things that local students believe cannot be done if one speaks pidgin (10-17). The poem is appropriately called, “Dey Say if You Talk Pidgin, You No Can…”. The list includes such things as, “Score. Sound intellectual. Survive. Talk straight.” It is ingrained into local young people that to speak pidgin is to limit yourself. While it currently makes sense for local Hawai‘i children to learn English as it is the dominant language in our society, it is important that Hawai‘i’s people remain true to their culture and not to deny this language just because another culture says to.

In this world where cultures are constantly overshadowed and overtaken by Western society, it has becoming increasingly difficult to cling to the idiosyncrasies of an indigenous culture even when it is modified by the inclusion of others. Growing up in Hawai‘i is unique – alongside the Hawaiian love for the ‘aina and its people is the amalgamation of Asian cultures stemming from plantation days. From this unwitting joining of forces came the necessity for people to find a means of communication. Thus, pidgin was born which then evolved into HCE; because of this, generations of children grew up with pidgin as their primary language. Japanese, Filipino, Chinese, Hawaiian, Portuguese, and English languages intermingled and danced around each other until there was some sort of understanding between peoples. One HCE sentence can include words from three different languages. American hegemony insists that it is not a “proper” language because it does not fit into the mold of the American-English model. Yet as Yamanaka constantly asserts, culture and language are inseparable (Takahama 1996). To take away one is to destroy the other. If HCE is completely removed from those who speak it, other unforeseen implications may occur that further tear a culture apart.

There are still those who advocate for pidgin by writing books, producing plays, teaching classes—all in pidgin—and supporting it as an actual language. However, the dominant opinion is that SE is the language to acquire to ensure success in life. Pidgin may never gain the recognition that its advocates hope for but with the lifeline of the language being nudged closer and closer to eradication, it may be enough to merely keep it alive right now. Pidgin is inexplicably tied to our culture and identity – to lose it is to lose a part of ourselves.

Works Cited

“About Mayor Billy Kenoi.” billykenoi.com. Billy Kenoi, n.d. Web. 20 Apr 2015.

Cataluna, Lee. Three Years on Doreen’s Sofa. Honolulu: Bamboo Ridge Press, 2011. Print.

Furukawa, Toshiaki. Humor-ing the Local: The Multivocal Performance in Stand-Up Comedy in Hawai‘i. Diss. University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, 2011. Print.

Reinholdt, Robert. “In Hawaii, Pidgin is the Mother Song.” The New York Times 13 Dec 1987. Web. 20 April 2015.

Standwood, Ryo. On the Adequacy of Hawai‘i Creole English. Diss. University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1999. Web. 21 Apr 2015.

Takahama, Valerie. “Controversial adventures in 'paradise': bully burgers and pidgin.”

Orange County Register 15 Feb 1996. Web. 20 April 2015.

Tonouchi, Lee. Da Word. Honolulu: Bamboo Ridge Press, 2001. Print.

Tonouchi, Lee. Living Pidgin: Contemplations of Pidgin Culture. Kane‘ohe: Tinfish Press, 2002. Print.

Tonouchi, Lee. “Re: Howzit.” Message to the author. Email. 16 Mar. 2015.

Yamanaka, Lois-Ann. Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers. New York: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1996. Print.