Birds of a Different Feather: Tok Pisin and Hawai'I Creole English as Literary Languages

Abstract

This paper compares the use of two Pacific creole languages, Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea and Hawai'i Creole English in the Hawaiian Islands, as written languages in a literary or poetic function. Although both languages are widely used in their respective territories, their sociolinguistic status and functions differ dramatically. In Papua New Guinea, Tok Pisin has existed about seventy years as a written language with a codified standard. Hawai'i Creole English has, by contrast, never been written as a language in its own recognized orthography. Because it has no writing system of its own, Hawai'i Creole English is represented as if it were a deviant or nonstandard variety of English. In other words, Hawai'i Creole English is forced to be a literary dialect rather than a literary language. I look at some of the practical problems connected with the elaboration process such as standardization and related theoretical issues associated with narrative technique. Neither language has been used for extended third person narration in the novel. I will show how literary activity has been connected with cultural and political nationalism in the two contexts. The paper concludes by considering the likelihood of successful resolution of these problems within the current political situation in the Hawaiian Islands and Papua New Guinea.