Sublime

aloha is a commodified product and service—the hospitality and love of Hawaiian people packaged and sold by a multinational, state-sponsored tourist industry—it is nevertheless insistently referred to as something elusive and noncorporeal: a “spirit,” a “warmth,” an “unseen force.”40

colonial encounters between Hawaiians and Americans were frequently imagined as points of intimate contact, with Hawaiians freely giving aloha to Americans, and Americans eagerly accepting these gifts of hospitality.

“Aloha has sometimes been defined in this way: ‘A’ signifies light or enlightenment. ‘Lo’ means close to the earth, and ‘Ha’ is the living breath of the Creator. By this definition, Aloha means ‘Enlightenment on this earth through the breath of the Creator.’