Translation in the Culture War for Hawaii: The Arabian Nights in Nineteenth-Century Hawaiian Newspapers

Abstract

This article discusses the motivations behind the translations of The Arabian Nights in two competing nineteenth-century Hawaiian-language newspapers: Ka Hoku Pakipika and Ka Nupepa Kuokoa. Translations of The Arabian Nights serve as an epicenter of cultural conflict in the war for societal and political dominance of the Hawaiian Islands on the eve of their annexation to the United States. Furthermore, the role of translation itsel in the formation of cultural identities is discussed, focusing on the role of the translations of The Arabian Nights in the war for cultural hegemony in nineteenth-century Hawaii.