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Article published In: Linguistic Landscape
Vol. 11:4 (2025) ► pp.355–379

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Wo Fat walls

Community perspectives on the Linguistic Landscape of Honolulu Chinatown

ORCiD logo with link | University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
Published online: 22 April 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.24053.alg
Abstract
This study is framed by nexus analysis and utilizes a photo-elicitation task as part of ethnographic interviews to explore community perspectives on practices and authorship in the Linguistic Landscape (LL) of Honolulu Chinatown. A single wall site, the Wo Fat Building’s street-facing walls, is the focus as nexus point and sample of the neighborhood’s LL. By utilizing texts from these walls to elicit perspectives from diverse community participants, this research aims to understand the heritage identity of Chinatown as well as its acceptance and integration into Oahu Island society as an immigrant ethnic place in Hawaiian space. This study is backdropped by Hawaiian indigenous history of colonization and ongoing concerns over indigenous people’s loss of heritage place, language, and history.
摘要
本研究以交汇分析 (nexus analysis) 为理论框架，并采用照片引导任务(photo-elicitation task) 作为民族志访谈的一部分，以探讨社区对檀香山唐人街语言景观中的实践和作者身份的看法。本研究聚焦于一个单一的墙面场所——和发酒家 (Wo Fat Building) 面向街道的墙面。这一墙面为本研究分析的交汇点和该社区语言景观的样本。通过利用这些墙面上的文本引导来自不同社区成员的观点，本研究旨在理解唐人街的文化遗产认同情况，以及唐人街作为夏威夷空间中的移民族裔聚居地，在瓦胡岛社会中的接受度和融合情况。本研究的背景涉及夏威夷原住民在外来殖民影响下的历史，以及原住民对其文化遗产地、语言和历史流失的持续关注。
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Chinese in Hawaiian Space: Honolulu Chinatown
  • 2.Methods
    • 2.1The site: Wo Fat Building
    • 2.2The texts
    • 2.3The interview instrument
    • 2.4Participants
      • 2.4.1P1 (writer)
      • 2.4.2P2 (painter)
      • 2.4.3P3 (mover)
      • 2.4.4P4 (heritage)
      • 2.4.5P5 (shopper)
    • 2.5Transcript coding
  • 3.Texts and perspectives
    • 3.1Transgressive texts
    • 3.2Chinatown-cultural texts
    • 3.3Renovation signage
  • 4.Discussion and conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
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