The aloha paradox: law, language, and culture in Hawai‘i

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the paradoxical relationship between law and the concept of aloha in contemporary Hawai‘i. In examples of public space, such as the airport, the courtroom, the roadway, the retail store, and the community park, the Native Hawaiian concept of aloha is culturally celebrated as the practice of social affirmation. Yet, in these same places, this same concept is commodified as an identity through which law seeks affiliation and dominance. This paper examines the socio-legal construction of aloha found in linguistic policies that convey a particularly conflicted notion of aloha that characterizes law’s dependency on custom for its legitimacy.

KEYWORDS:

• Hawaii
• law
• tourism
• language
• jurisprudence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Sarah Marusek, PhD (University of Massachusetts Amherst 2008), is an Associate Professor of Public Law in the Department of Political Science at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. Her research interests focus on sites of constitutive law, legal geography, and legal semiotics while engaging legal pluralist frameworks of visual jurisprudence.

Notes

1 For more information, see the recent controversy involving the proposed Akaka Bill and relationship between the United States Department of the Interior and Native Hawaiian sovereignty status at the federal level.

2 For a more in-depth study of Waikiki tourism, see Downey (2007).

3 An anonymous reviewer for this article gently inquired whether ‘A ia oukou e malihini’ should instead be ‘e na malihini’. I rechecked the state’s Hawaiian Language Greeting as launched at Molokai Airport, and A ia oukou e malihini is as it appears according to the Greeting’s publisher, the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority. While I appreciate the reviewer’s careful reading and wish to respect the reviewer’s suggestion for a change in language, because I am not a native speaker of Hawaiian, I will leave it as originally published.

4 The HTA’s statement on the Diacriticals of the Hawaiian Language is as follows:

HawaiiTourismAuthority.org recognizes the use of diacritical markings of the (modern) Hawaiian language including the ‘okina [‘] or glottal stop and the kahakō [ō] or macron (e.g., in place names of Hawai‘i such as Lāna’i). However, you may notice these diacritical markings have been omitted throughout the website to ensure the best online experience for our visitors. HawaiiTourismAuthority.org recognizes the importance of using these markings to preserve the language and culture of Hawaii and respectfully uses them in all communications beyond the online platform.

The writer of this not well-versed in Hawaiian diacriticals and is limited, at the moment, to the use of the ‘okina in Hawai‘i and means no disrespect.

5 This viewing, and subsequent judging, may be based on skin tone, speech habits, and mannerisms.

6 For further discussion of belonging in Hawai‘i, please see Rohrer (2010).

7 For further discussion of this and related issues and contexts, please read further: Silva (2004); Kēhaulani (2008); Goodyear-Kaopua, Hussey, and Wright (2014); and Merry (2000).

8 Ethann and I presented our written collaboration as a paper to an audience of multiple departments at our university and also at a regional academic conference. I include sections here from our earlier collaboration with his permission.