Lady Friends: Hawaiian Ways and the Ties that Define

by Karen L. Ito

Overview

Many indigenous Hawaiians who have moved to the islands' cities languish at the bottom of the socioeconomic scale and are thought to have lost their cultural roots. Initially apolitical urban Hawaiians were often skeptical of activists who sought to revitalize traditional ways; yet, as Karen L. Ito shows, Hawaiian women in particular continue to maintain and express crucial aspects of their cultural heritage in their lifestyle and interactions with others.

Ito conducted intensive fieldwork with six Honolulu families, all of which shared the distinguishing characteristics of Hawaii's matrifocal society. In her close examination of the friendships and family relations among the women in these households, she focuses on the significance of a traditional manner of speech known as "talk story" which they use when conversing together. She describes how her subjects employ metaphoric language to address issues concerning responsibility, retribution, understandings of self and personhood, and methods for conflict resolution. For these "lady friends," Ito finds, the emotional quality and quantity of their social relationships help define personal identity while their common concepts of morality bind them together.

By applying ethnopsychological strategies to the exploration of culture, Ito demonstrates cultural continuity at a level where most observers would not expect to find it. Lady Friends brings a new dimension to Hawaiian research.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801499395
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	07/19/1999
Series:	The Anthropology of Contemporary Issues
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Karen L. Ito is a research anthropologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and the Neuropsychiatric Institute of the University of California, Los Angeles.

What People are Saying About This

Geoffrey White

At this turn-of-millennium moment, the politics of representing Hawaii are more acute than ever, with a tourist market heated by global capital and a movement for native Hawaiian sovereignty fueled by growing awareness of the plight of indigenous peoples worldwide. Amidst all of this Karen Ito offers up a uniquely fresh perspective on issues of Hawaiian culture and identity. She does this by listening closely to the words of her urban 'lady friends' and in so doing provides a glimpse of the ordinary lives of Hawaiians who neither live on 'the land' nor engage in political activism. As these women discuss their interpersonal lives, invoking distinct images and ways of talking, one can begin to understand the streams of continuity in everyday social life that, despite centuries of colonial suppression and loss, provide a strong basis for today's ongoing cultural resurgence.

Eugene Ogan

Blending history, theory, and empathetically narrated interviews, this book is a welcome contribution to our knowledge of modern Hawaii. Karen Ito's 'lady friends' represent people too often overlooked in academic debates about Native Hawaiian identity. She has done them, and us, a service by adding their 'talk story' to the discussion.

Jill E. Korbin

Karen Ito's Lady Friends masterfully takes the reader into the homes and lives of urban Hawaiian women as they teach her, and us, about the intertwining importance of emotions and social relations in defining the self. This book is destined to become a classic in anthropological work on the self, person, and individual and the remarkable expression of culture through social relationships.

E. L. Cerroni-Long

This book is a rare treat. The author effectively highlights the cultural dimension of Hawaiian ethnicity by skillfully interweaving ethnographic documentation with theoretical analysis. As a result, Lady Friends makes us truly understand the unfamiliar 'habits of the heart' underpinning diversity, and thus broadens our definition of humanity.

Editorial Reviews

"At this turn-of-millennium moment, the politics of representing Hawaii are more acute than ever, with a tourist market heated by global capital and a movement for native Hawaiian sovereignty fueled by growing awareness of the plight of indigenous peoples worldwide. Amidst all of this Karen Ito offers up a uniquely fresh perspective on issues of Hawaiian culture and identity. She does this by listening closely to the words of her urban 'lady friends' and in so doing provides a glimpse of the ordinary lives of Hawaiians who neither live on 'the land' nor engage in political activism. As these women discuss their interpersonal lives, invoking distinct images and ways of talking, one can begin to understand the streams of continuity in everyday social life that, despite centuries of colonial suppression and loss, provide a strong basis for today's ongoing cultural resurgence."

--Geoffrey White, University of Hawaii

"Blending history, theory, and empathetically narrated interviews, this book is a welcome contribution to our knowledge of modern Hawaii. Karen Ito's 'lady friends' represent people too often overlooked in academic debates about Native Hawaiian identity. She has done them, and us, a service by adding their 'talk story' to the discussion."

--Eugene Ogan, University of Minnesota

"Karen Ito's Lady Friends masterfully takes the reader into the homes and lives of urban Hawaiian women as they teach her, and us, about the intertwining importance of emotions and social relations in defining the self. This book is destined to become a classic in anthropological work on the self, person, and individual and the remarkable expression of culture through social relationships."

--Jill E. Korbin, Case Western Reserve University

"This book is a rare treat. The author effectively highlights the cultural dimension of Hawaiian ethnicity by skillfully interweaving ethnographic documentation with theoretical analysis. As a result, Lady Friends makes us truly understand the unfamiliar 'habits of the heart' underpinning diversity, and thus broadens our definition of humanity."

--E. L. Cerroni-Long, Eastern Michigan University, Editor, Insider Anthropology

From the Publisher

"This book is a rare treat. The author effectively highlights the cultural dimension of Hawaiian ethnicity by skillfully interweaving ethnographic documentation with theoretical analysis. As a result, Lady Friends makes us truly understand the unfamiliar 'habits of the heart' underpinning diversity, and thus broadens our definition of humanity."

E. L. Cerroni-Long

"Karen Ito's Lady Friends masterfully takes the reader into the homes and lives of urban Hawaiian women as they teach her, and us, about the intertwining importance of emotions and social relations in defining the self. This book is destined to become a classic in anthropological work on the self, person, and individual and the remarkable expression of culture through social relationships."

Jill E. Korbin

"Blending history, theory, and empathetically narrated interviews, this book is a welcome contribution to our knowledge of modern Hawaii. Karen Ito's 'lady friends' represent people too often overlooked in academic debates about Native Hawaiian identity. She has done them, and us, a service by adding their 'talk story' to the discussion."

Eugene Ogan

"At this turn-of-millennium moment, the politics of representing Hawaii are more acute than ever, with a tourist market heated by global capital and a movement for native Hawaiian sovereignty fueled by growing awareness of the plight of indigenous peoples worldwide. Amidst all of this Karen Ito offers up a uniquely fresh perspective on issues of Hawaiian culture and identity. She does this by listening closely to the words of her urban 'lady friends' and in so doing provides a glimpse of the ordinary lives of Hawaiians who neither live on 'the land' nor engage in political activism. As these women discuss their interpersonal lives, invoking distinct images and ways of talking, one can begin to understand the streams of continuity in everyday social life that, despite centuries of colonial suppression and loss, provide a strong basis for today's ongoing cultural resurgence."

Geoffrey White