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Hawaiian Myths of Earth Sea and Sky
THOMPSON, Vivian L., Hawaiian Myths of Earth, Sea and Sky. Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, 1988. 83 pages, ISBN: 978-0-8248-1171-2 (hc), 0-8248-1171-2(pa), $11.99(USD). Illus.
Vivian L. Thompson has lived in Hawaii for many years. She’s had a long fascination with Hawaii’s tales and legends. She’s collected and published these tales in several books after conducting research on the subject. This book tells 12 brief stories of Hawaiian deities of the earth, sea and sky. The stories are written to keep the flavor of oral tradition in written form. Like many collections of folktales, this book is intended to introduce young readers to myths and legends of a culture which is most likely foreign to them.
Hawaiian Myths of Earth, Sea and Sky is an average introductory book of cultural tales for an audience aged 9-12. Though it is written in language which is appropriate to the age level, the style is not distinctly Hawaiian. The tales presented in this book have a European voice; that is the diction, while simple is more appropriate to the stories found in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Maria Tatar (W.W. Norton & Co., 1999).
In using directional descriptions, the book is inconsistent. Most often the terms north, south, east and west are used. However, the more descriptive, and perhaps more authentic, term of “on the sunrise side” (page 13) does appear. The stories themselves lack the sort of resolution common to cultural myths. Folktales, fairy tales and myths are designed to explain the world around a people, and to provide lessons of appropriate behavior. The stories presented here tell of such events as the creation of the land, sea, and sky; and of how Pele came to make the Great Kilauea her home. They attempt to explain the world of Hawaii; however they do not do it well. Often the reader is left wondering the significance why the story evolved the way it did, or what the conclusion actually was. Many of the stories lack clear explanation or message. There was even a reference to the Milky Way (page 40), which is very out of place.
Overall, the voice and style the stories are told in is not Hawaiian or even Polynesian. They have a western European perspective which makes it hard to take them seriously. If the reader would like to read Hawaiian myths and legends from a purely Hawaiian perspective, Hawaiian Mythology by Martha Warren Beckwith (University of Hawaii Press, 1970) is a good alternative. In addition to inappropriate diction, there are also instances of sexist language - using the pronoun “he” when the context is not gender specific. This usage is outdated and excludes readers.
The book contains a valuable glossary of the Hawaiian language introduced in the stories. The terms are defined in understandable language. It also provides a description of vowel pronunciation in Hawaiian, as well as a pronunciation guide for both terms and names. This glossary is very helpful to one unacquainted with the Hawaiian language. This is supportive for the readers who wish to understand and consider what they have read.
This is recommended for only for consideration in Hawaiian research collections. If it were not for the distinctly European voice the author used, it would be a decent introductory storybook for elementary school curricula and libraries. This Caucasian bias in the stories of a Polynesian culture is completely inappropriate. However, this is a good book to examine in courses of comparative or children’s literature, or ethnic studies.
Vivian L. Thompson has lived in Hawaii for many years. She’s had a long fascination with Hawaii’s tales and legends. She’s collected and published these tales in several books after conducting research on the subject. This book tells 12 brief stories of Hawaiian deities of the earth, sea and sky. The stories are written to keep the flavor of oral tradition in written form. Like many collections of folktales, this book is intended to introduce young readers to myths and legends of a culture which is most likely foreign to them.
Hawaiian Myths of Earth, Sea and Sky is an average introductory book of cultural tales for an audience aged 9-12. Though it is written in language which is appropriate to the age level, the style is not distinctly Hawaiian. The tales presented in this book have a European voice; that is the diction, while simple is more appropriate to the stories found in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Maria Tatar (W.W. Norton & Co., 1999).
In using directional descriptions, the book is inconsistent. Most often the terms north, south, east and west are used. However, the more descriptive, and perhaps more authentic, term of “on the sunrise side” (page 13) does appear. The stories themselves lack the sort of resolution common to cultural myths. Folktales, fairy tales and myths are designed to explain the world around a people, and to provide lessons of appropriate behavior. The stories presented here tell of such events as the creation of the land, sea, and sky; and of how Pele came to make the Great Kilauea her home. They attempt to explain the world of Hawaii; however they do not do it well. Often the reader is left wondering the significance why the story evolved the way it did, or what the conclusion actually was. Many of the stories lack clear explanation or message. There was even a reference to the Milky Way (page 40), which is very out of place.
Overall, the voice and style the stories are told in is not Hawaiian or even Polynesian. They have a western European perspective which makes it hard to take them seriously. If the reader would like to read Hawaiian myths and legends from a purely Hawaiian perspective, Hawaiian Mythology by Martha Warren Beckwith (University of Hawaii Press, 1970) is a good alternative. In addition to inappropriate diction, there are also instances of sexist language - using the pronoun “he” when the context is not gender specific. This usage is outdated and excludes readers.
The book contains a valuable glossary of the Hawaiian language introduced in the stories. The terms are defined in understandable language. It also provides a description of vowel pronunciation in Hawaiian, as well as a pronunciation guide for both terms and names. This glossary is very helpful to one unacquainted with the Hawaiian language. This is supportive for the readers who wish to understand and consider what they have read.
This is recommended for only for consideration in Hawaiian research collections. If it were not for the distinctly European voice the author used, it would be a decent introductory storybook for elementary school curricula and libraries. This Caucasian bias in the stories of a Polynesian culture is completely inappropriate. However, this is a good book to examine in courses of comparative or children’s literature, or ethnic studies.
Submitted in October 2009, by Mary Kate Durkee, LIS Student, the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
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