Volume 30, Issue 1 (2016) Rooted in Wonder

From the Editors

Fairy tales are wonder tales, but not all tales of wonder are fairy tales. In colonial contexts, all too commonly, the label of fairy tale has been imposed on the wondrous stories—histories, belief narratives, and fictions—of colonized peoples with damaging and lasting results. For instance, referring to Hawaiian mo‘olelo (story, legend, tradition, or history) as fairy tale overlooks the intimate relationship that mo‘olelo weave, linking humans to specific places, natural phenomena, and events; disconnects the stories from their native generic identification; and mistakes their ways of knowing for signs of primitivism and ignorance. With guest editors Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada and Aiko Yamashiro, we are pleased to publish this special issue, “Rooted in Wonder,” in the hope that it marks a step toward resituating and invigorating a decolonial conversation between Indigenous and folklore and fairy-tale studies.

Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada is the co-translator of The Epic Tale of Hi‘iakaikapoliopele: Woman of the Sunrise, Lightning-Skirted Beauty of Halema‘uma‘u, As Told by Ho‘oulumāhiehie (2006); and Aiko Yamashiro is co-editor of The Value of Hawai‘i 2: Ancestral Roots, Oceanic Visions (2014). Both guest editors have published contributions in Marvels & Tales dealing with the political function and power of fairy tales. “Rooted in Wonder” showcases Indigenous traditional and contemporary storytelling from Hawai‘i, Guåhan (Guam), and North America that deploys wonder as a nurturing source and transformative power against colonizing forces, whether the deracination of peoples from their land and culture, statism, or militarism. We take this as an opportunity for fairy-tale scholars to rethink the differences and the affinities of fairy tales and other wonder genres, their ontologies, and the activist uses to which they are put today, and perhaps to build solidarity across disciplines as well.

With this issue we also welcome co–Review Editors Claudia Schwabe and Christy Williams. We believe that they will, given their diverse scholarly interests, make a dynamic duo and offer our readers a wide range of invigorating reviews in the field of fairy-tale and folktale studies. Continuing in a recent tradition, some of the reviews connect with the theme of the special issue.

Cristina Bacchilega and Anne E. Duggan