Talanoa: Prof. Ty P. Kāwika Tengan

Our Talanoa series comes out of our Marsden Project (2019-2023), 'Vā Moana: space and relationality in Pacific thought and identity'.

Ty P. Kāwika Tengan is an Associate Investigator in the Marsden-funded research Vā Moana: space and relationality in Pacific thought and identity and a Professor of Ethnic Studies and Anthropology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. In this talanoa, Ty elaborates on wā being the space between two points, not only spatially, but also temporally. Further, he explains the meaning of wā as a roar, a din, or a rift, which glosses with the Samoan understanding of vā. He suggests that the vibration of the voice during ʻoli chants relates to wā, as in wawā: a reduplication of wā; reverberations that connect past and present, space and time.

To cite: Tengan, T. P. K. (27 November 2023). Interview with Ty P. Kāwika Tengan (Videographer/editor: Emily Parr, interviewer: Albert L. Refiti). Vā Moana: space and relationality in Pacific thought and identity interviews, Vā Moana - Pacific Spaces Research Cluster, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

Click here to watch the talanoa.