1. Hawaiian Pidgin in Media

During the stay in O'ahu, it was difficult to find printed advertisements with HCE. What we could find were only some greeting cards in HCE, and one local graffiti that looked like HCE words; yet they are not at all in a large scale. In searching for radio programs with HCE as the medium, the difficulty remained. Usually the disc jockeys or hosts spoke Standard English with no traces of using Pidgin, but one of the interviewees did tell us that there is a radio program in which two people with fishing poles deliver local news in Pidgin. Unfortunately, we were not able to find the program.  

Clip 1: HCE in Radio Program



Cards 1 & 2: HCE in Greeting Cards

Photo1: Local Graffiti with Creole

Romaine (1994) pointed out that HCE was mainly used in popular songs and the comic entertainment in the 1940s, and is still prevalence in comic domain nowadays. Although we were not able to find any comic strips or books during the field trip, some of the greeting cards we found do show very simple comic which demonstrates some of the common local expressions in HCE, such as Howzit which is translated as "how is it?" and wassup which means "what is up?"

Cards 3-9: Simple Comic Strips with HCE on Greeting Cards

                     

          

HCE has been used in drama since Kumu Kahua (“Original Stage”) was found in 1971 (Romaine 1994). Though, the use of HCE in drama is limited as the group is the only one in Hawaii which producing local plays.

From the little data we were able to collect, there seems to be a lack of evidence of media using Pidgin. Two reasons can be proposed to explain the phenomenon. First, it may reflect the unpopularity of the language in the media, which maybe related to the general social perception on HCE that the language reflects “being uneducated”. Nonetheless, it may also arise from a more neutral reason that there is a wide diversity of people having different cultural backgrounds in Hawaii and not every one can understand Pidgin that the media prefers to use a more common language for fear of the exclusion of some groups.

Regarding the questions about the feeling of inclusion/exclusion when HCE is used in advertisement, we have considered the results of three statements rated by the creole speaking participants, and the statements are “I am more attracted and persuaded to advertisements that use or incorporate Hawaiian Pidgin”, “I feel I am targeted by advertisements that use or incorporate Hawaiian Pidgin” and “I feel more attached to political slogans in Hawaiian Pidgin”.

Both local and non-local speakers show a similar neutral response, with the local speakers give an average point of 2.57 considering all three statements and non-local speakers give a mean point of 2.23. The result is consistent with the one seen in creole as a marking for local identity. This is logical: while the interviewees do not feel their identity being marked by the creole, the use of creole in advertisement cannot draw their attention of inclusiveness. Therefore, the two result findings can be explained by similar reasons that are explained earlier.

Regarding this question, we have also considered the results of three statements rated by the non- creole speaking participants, and the statements are “I feel less attracted and persuaded by advertisements that use or incorporate Pidgin”, “I feel I am not targeted by advertisements that use or incorporate Hawaiian Pidgin” and “I feel less attached to political slogans in Hawaiian Pidgin”. By looking at the mean points, which is 2.94, generated by the 3 statements, we can conclude that they do not feel particularly alienated from the advertisements. This may be attributed to the limited advertisements in creole, as shown by the little data we could collect. While they cannot see a large scale of these kinds of advertisement, the sense of alienation should not be strong. 

References

Romaine, S. (1994). Hawai'i Creole English as a literary language. Language in society, 23, 527-527.