Bøger af Dennis Kawaharada

A translation of Matsuo Basho's "Narrow Roads of the Deep North" ("Oku no Hosomichi") illustrated with color photos and Edo Period art and maps. The text includes a short biography and notes on literary, cultural, religious, geographical, and lunar-calendrical contexts, along with 262 footnotes notes explaining the details of references to these contexts. The 173 Illustrations include over 100 photographs taken on road trips between 2005-2017 documenting what the places and landscapes mentioned in the text look like today.

From a review of by Ragnar Carlson, Honolulu Weekly, Vol. 9, June 8-14, 2005: In this collection, Dennis Kawaharada, a noted chronicler of native Hawaiian literature, explores the historical and contemporary terrain of his beloved Hawai'i. From a memoir of boyhood days in Kane'ohe to a travelogue from a recent expedition to the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, each of these essays weaves Kawaharada's experience into something larger, creating a remarkable tapestry of cultural, personal and natural history. Kawaharada is a gifted essayist--in his hands, the book's title piece becomes in equal parts discussion of the Hawaiian calendar, historical biography of Hawaiian literary figures and exposition on "Moolelo o Pakaa a me Kuapakaa," a native Hawaiian chant in which the speaker circles O'ahu, naming each ahupua'a and each wind along the way. The opening essay, "Mango Trees on Kea'ahala Road," explores the alienation and confusion that result when one's identity is rooted in the soil of Kane'ohe but assaulted by a barrage of cultural and political messages from faraway lands. "I found my prime meridian ran not through Greenwich, God, America or the Bank of Hawai'i," Kawaharada writes, "but through the mango trees on Kea'ahala Road.""Personal reflections on home territory" posted on Amazon Book Reviews, January 20, 2014: I really enjoyed and appreciated this very personal account of growing up and seeking a deep understanding of the author's home - Hawaii. The author is of Japanese ancestry and describe what it was like through childhood, college and establishing adulthood on the island of Oahu-how the races related and how he grew to increasingly set roots in his home. The format consists of a series of essays which also include chapters about the voyaging canoe Hokule'a and visits to the tiny, distant NW Hawaiian islands. Some of the discussion of races in Hawaii is quite frank but refreshingly honest from the author's perspective. The book also serves as a guide to important literature on Hawaiian roots. Highly recommended.JW, email, Sept, 29, 2014: Thank you for your wonderful book! That small volume enlightened and educated me in a way that felt very satisfying. My family has lived on the islands since 1972 and I moved here in 2006 from California, (San Francisco born, third generation, UC Berkeley grad). You gave me a way to relate to the multicultural life here, that I couldn't find on my own. Feeling that I appreciated so much, culturally and historically, but didn't understand many aspects of life here, your words taught me, filled a void and gave me a needed friend-your voice and insight, enriched with your dedicated studies, humanitarian concerns and uninhibited expression. Once I complete reading the literature you cite, I know my feet will be planted more firmly on this island ground!DR, letter, April 9, 2005: I just finished reading your recent book, Local Geography.I don't think I'm the typical reader you had in mind while writing. I'm a haole girl from Seattle who's been in Hawaii for a little over two years. Immediately after arriving I noticed how little I knew about Hawaii and it's culture, so I began checking out books at the library to learn more about my new "home." I came across your book on my latest trip to the library. I've read many books about various aspects of Hawaii (history, culture, fiction, non-fiction), but none have made the culture here as real and dynamic as yours. I felt like I was able to look through your eyes and see Hawaii's culture from a Kama'aina's perspective from childhood into adulthood. Your stories that taught me some new things as well as verified some feelings I had but couldn't confirm.

A translation of Matsuo Basho's "Narrow Roads of the Deep North" ("Oku no Hosomichi") illustrated with black-and-white photos and Edo Period art and maps. The text includes a short biography and notes on literary, cultural, religious, geographical, and lunar-calendrical contexts, along with 262 footnotes notes explaining the details of references to these contexts. The 173 Illustrations include over 100 photographs taken on road trips between 2005-2017 documenting what the places and landscapes mentioned in the text look like today.

"Storied Landscapes: Hawaiian Literature and Place" contains six essay about places in Hawai'i and traditional stories and chants of gods and people associated with them: the fishing gods of Hana, Maui; the owl and shark gods of Honolulu; the voyaging chiefs of Kane'ohe Bay, on the windward side of O'ahu; the cannibal king of central O'ahu; the water god of Nihoa, in Papahanaumokuakea (the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands); and Kaluaiko'olau and Pi'ilani, a husband and wife who lived in Kalalau Valley on Kaua'i in the 19th century.From "Sense of Place," a review by Stu Dawrs, Honolulu Weekly. Vol 9, No. 45, Nov. 17-23, 1999: Writing about his search for information on the fishing deity Ku'ula-kai in the opening piece of his six-essay book, Kawaharada lays the groundwork for Storied Landscapes: "Where were the spirits of the land? Was it possible to claim to know, to be a part of, to dwell comfortably in a place without honoring ancestral spirits and traditions which humanize every landscape?"For Kawaharada, this process of honoring is a wide-ranging one, taking on many forms. The opening piece, "A Search for Ku'ula-kai," centers on a personal narrative involving Kawaharada's family history on Maui and O'ahu, along with his father's love of fishing. In the process of telling that story, the author covers a variety of matters, including historical, geographical and religious aspects of Hawaiian fishing deities, and the ecological havoc wreaked by modern commercial fishing techniques.In a scant 112 pages, Kawaharada manages to cover much, from a geographical/historical/legendary tour of the Manoa/Mo'ili'ili area to a scathing deconstruction of Jack London's "Ko'olau The Leper." On more than one level, his ability to draw from a wide range of well-documented sources is one of the true values of his book. On the straightforward, academic plain, the book's bibliography covers a wide swath of essential ground. Beyond that, though, the overall sense one gets from reading "Storied Landscapes" is one of deeper meanings and an interconnectedness of names and places that we might otherwise take for granted. In that sense, the book plants the seeds of a lifetime's challenge for its readers: To take an active role in learning about the land, to celebrate the myths that humanize, and to incorporate those myths into a daily existence - not just culturally, but economically and politically - that meshes more completely with life on these islands.From "Legends and living color of the Islands," a review by Charlene Luke, Honolulu Advertiser, October 9, 1999: "Storied Landscapes" contrasts moral values with the ideas of mortal men. It blends fact with fiction, letting you pick and choose to form your own opinion. And it mixes Hawaiian landscapes with ancient legends.From a heartfelt firsthand encounter, Kawaharada humanizes the face of Kalaupapa, offering words that soften nearly a century of infamy and segregation. He examines our fears and gives us facts and figures that help put things into perspective. Once you've digested all the qualitative and quantitative data with which Kawaharada surrounds these Hawaiian landscapes, you'll never view the Islands' landmarks quite the same way again.