The Discursive Construction of Identity in Minority Language Media: The First Person Inclusive Plural Pronoun kākou as a Membership Category in Hawaiian Video Clips

Abstract

This paper examines language employed in Hawaiian language videos produced by a recently emerging media initiative in Hawaiʻi in order to describe how the media discourse constructs for its audience a sense of what it means to be native Hawaiian. More specifically, the analysis relies on insights from membership category analysis to demonstrate how a specific linguistic resource, the first person inclusive plural pronoun kākou, serves as a means for reinforcing traditional aspects of a native Hawaiian identity. Discussion of the analysis centers on the role that discourse on a media initiative of an endangered language can contribute to the revitalization of that language.