Sociolinguistics Seminar Delves Deeper into Honolulu's Chinatown
CCLE Staff
March 5, 2025
On March 5 of this year, Professor Song Jiang’s Sociolinguistics Seminar course met with Gary Coover, a civil engineer-turned historian, who led the class on a tour of Honolulu’s Chinatown. The tour, which saw thirteen participants, served as an excellent follow-up to an informative talk on the history of Honolulu’s Chinatown that Coover gave at UHM the previous week.
The tour was very comprehensive in nature and included visits to each street and block that comprises Honolulu’s Chinatown. The photographs Coover provided during the previous week’s lecture provided an excellent frame of reference for those curious about the changes seen in the cityscape of Honolulu’s Chinatown, both in terms of there being changed facades as well as buildings that have since replaced those in the photographs.
Coover provided an excellent job of providing much more detailed explanations of the contents of the various plaques and government signage than the signs did themselves, giving the participants greater insight into the various changes that the locations in question had undergone.
Of particular interest was Coover’s explanations of the attempts by the government as well as other institutions to reinvigorate the area and restore “Chinese-ness” through the addition of various works projects and signage. These attempts often fell short, as evidenced by the overall design of Maunakea Marketplace.
The Honolulu Chinatown tour was very informative and a great treat overall for those in attendance. The Sociolinguistics Seminar class hopes to continue working with Gary Coover in the future and to build upon his work.
