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Title: ‘Seascape epistemology’ and native Hawaiian healing: A reading of Kimo Armitage’s The Healers  

 

Vol. 13(2), 2025, pp. 124-137

DOI: https://doi.org/10.46687/ASXB3561  

 

Author: Kristiawan Indriyanto

About the author: Kristiawan Indriyanto is a lecturer at the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Prima Indonesia and head of the PUI Bahasa Sastra dan Literasi. He holds Ph.D. in American Studies from Universitas Gadjah Mada on the topic of postcolonial ecocriticism in Hawai’ian-American literature. His main research interests are analyzing literature with a postcolonial ecocriticism perspective, primarily focusing on Native Hawaiian literature and the decolonizing discourse of Hawaiian indigene through Aloha ‘āina. His other research interests include environmental ethics, econarratology, space in literature and world literature. He is the author of over 85 publications on various topics, a number of which are indexed in Scopus or Web of Science. He is also active as Editorial Board members, Section Editors and Reviewers of several International (SCOPUS-Indexed) and Indonesian nationally accredited journals.

E-mail: kristiawanindriyanto@unprimdn.ac.id        

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7827-2506 

 

Author: Rudy Rudy

About the author: Rudy Rudy been a lecturer at the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Prima Indonesia since 2012. He holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from Gadjah Mada University, obtained in 2017, complementing his Master of Arts in American Studies (2008) and undergraduate degree in English Literature from Methodist University of Indonesia (2005). Beyond his teaching and mentoring roles, Rudy actively contributes as a reviewer for campus journals such as The ELT (English Language Teaching Prima), RUBIKON (Journal of Transnational American Studies), and JOLALI (Journal of Language and Literature). He also frequently publishes scholarly articles in Literature, Culture, Film Studies, and Education.

E-mail: rudyl@unprimdn.ac.id                     

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7381-1452

 

Link: http://silc.fhn-shu.com/issues/2025-2/SILC_2025_Vol_13_Issue_2_124-137_14.pdf

Citation (APA): Indriyanto, K., & Rudy, R. (2025). ‘Seascape epistemology’ and native Hawaiian healing: A reading of Kimo Armitage’s The Healers. Studies in Linguistics, Culture, and FLT, 13(2), 124-137. https://doi.org/10.46687/ASXB3561.

 

Abstract: This study analyzes Kimo Armitage’s The Healers to examine how seascape epistemology provides an alternative framework for understanding human-environment relationships. The novel presents Native Hawaiian healing practices that position the ocean as an active, sacred entity central to identity, ancestry, and well-being rather than a passive setting. Armitage’s narrative challenges terrestrial ecological paradigms by emphasizing oceanic relationships where healing encompasses both physical and spiritual dimensions. The novel draws on Indigenous Hawaiian cosmology to reframe the sea as a genealogical and ethical space that preserves cultural memory and sustains ecological balance. This interpretation advances blue humanities scholarship by centering Native epistemologies that Western environmental discourse often marginalizes. The analysis employs literary interpretation alongside cultural theory to demonstrate how The Healers articulates a comprehensive vision of oceanic existence and knowledge systems.

Keywords: blue humanities, environmental discourse, Indigenous literature, Native Hawaiian, seascape epistemology

 

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