Wo Fat walls

Abstract This study is framed by nexus analysis and utilizes a photo-elicitation task as part of ethnographic interviews to explore community perspectives on practices and authorship in the Linguistic Landscape (LL) of Honolulu Chinatown. A single wall site, the Wo Fat Building’s street-facing walls, is the focus as nexus point and sample of the neighborhood’s LL. By utilizing texts from these walls to elicit perspectives from diverse community participants, this research aims to understand the heritage identity of Chinatown as well as its acceptance and integration into Oahu Island society as an immigrant ethnic place in Hawaiian space. This study is backdropped by Hawaiian indigenous history of colonization and ongoing concerns over indigenous people’s loss of heritage place, language, and history.