- Key People:
- Frank Sargeson
- Janet Frame
- Patricia Grace
- Maurice Gee
- Witi Ihimaera
- Related Topics:
- literature
- Oceanic literature
New Zealand literature
-
What is New Zealand literature?
New Zealand literature includes all oral and written literature produced in New Zealand. The desire to establish a national identity distinct from other cultures has strongly influenced the arts in New Zealand.
The first genuinely original New Zealand writers were Katherine Mansfield, a short story author, and R.A.K. Mason, a poet, whose work appeared in the 1920s. A national tradition of writing was established in the 1930s by a group of poets who wrote about their New Zealand experience. Allen Curnow was the most notable member of this group.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Which languages are commonly used in New Zealand literature?
New Zealand literature features a range of languages, reflecting the country's diverse cultural landscape. Predominantly, literature is written in English, which is the most widely spoken language in New Zealand.
However, MÄori (te reo MÄori), an official language since 1987, also holds a significant place, with a growing number of poets rediscovering and using classic MÄori forms. Though most MÄori writers initially wrote in English, there's been a resurgence in using MÄori, viewed by some as a brave assertion of identity. Additionally, the literature of recent immigrants introduces languages such as Samoan, Italian, Dutch, and Bulgarian.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Who are some famous authors from New Zealand?
New Zealand has produced many famous authors who have earned international recognition. Katherine Mansfield is celebrated as a master of the short story, known for her distinctive prose and psychological insights. Witi Ihimaera, a MÄori author, explores the clash between MÄori and PÄkehÄ cultures in his novels and short stories, such as The Whale Rider. Janet Frame is another leading New Zealand writer, known for her novels, short fiction, and poetry that explore themes of alienation and isolation, such as Owls Do Cry. Other notable authors include Allen Curnow, Frank Sargeson, James K. Baxter, Keri Hulme, and Hone Tuwhare.
6 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What themes are often found in New Zealand literature?
New Zealand literature often explores themes related to the country's unique cultural identity, the relationship between MÄori and PÄkehÄ (European-derived) cultures, and the experience of colonial life. Many writers focus on the tension and clashes between traditional MÄori society and the individualistic PÄkehÄ society.
Since the 1950s, there has been a cultural revival that has determined efforts to preserve artistic and social traditions. Some MÄori writers address political issues and the impact of colonialism, while others emphasize the importance of MÄori people taking responsibility for their own challenges. The landscape, isolation, and the search for national identity distinct from other cultures also appear as prominent themes.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How does New Zealandās landscape and culture influence its literature?
New Zealand's literature is deeply entwined with its landscape and culture. Early writers focused on adapting British literary traditions to their new home, depicting the experiences of immigrant writers in the "new" land.
The emergence of MÄori writers introduced themes of cultural identity, tradition, and the intersection of MÄori and PÄkehÄ (European) culture, enriching New Zealand literature with unique perspectives and voices. This fusion of landscape and cultural identity continues to shape the country's literary scene.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How has MÄori culture and history shaped New Zealand literature?
MÄori culture and history significantly influenced New Zealand literature, especially after World War II. Initially, MÄori writers like Hone Tuwhare and Witi Ihimaera wrote in English, focusing on MÄori subjects and sensibilities.
The 1980s saw a rise in the politicization of MÄori issues in literature, highlighting the struggles and misfortunes faced by MÄori people due to colonialism. This led to debates within the MÄori literary community, with some writers like Alan Duff advocating for individual responsibility and integration. Contemporary MÄori poets have also rediscovered classic forms of MÄori poetry, writing in the MÄori language to assert their identity. MÄori tradition has found expression in theatre, with plays incorporating MÄori language and themes.
Early on, Europeans collected and translated MÄori poems and stories, increasing awareness of MÄori culture. These narratives and traditions continue to shape New Zealand's literary landscape.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
New Zealand literature, the body of literatures, both oral and written, produced in New Zealand.
Maori narrative: the oral tradition
Like all Polynesian peoples, the Maori, who began to occupy the islands now called New Zealand about 1,000 years ago, composed, memorized, and performed laments, love poems, war chants, and prayers. They also developed a mythology to explain and record their own past and the legends of their gods and tribal heroes. As settlement developed through the 19th century, Europeans collected many of these poems and stories and copied them in the Maori language. The most picturesque myths and legends, translated into English and published in collections with titles like Maori Fairy Tales (1908; by Johannes Carl Andersen), were read to, or by, Pakeha (European) children, so that someāsuch as the legend of the lovers Hinemoa and Tutanekai or the exploits of the man-god Maui, who fished up the North Island from the sea and tamed the sunābecame widely known among the population at large.
Oratory on the marae (tribal meeting place), involving voice, facial expression, and gesture, was, and continues to be, an important part of Maori culture; it is difficult to make a clear distinction, such as exists in written literatures, between text and performance. Nor was authorship always attributable. And the Maori sense of time was such that legend did not take the hearer back into the past but rather brought the past forward into the present, making the events described contemporary.
" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">
Throughout the latter half of the 19th century, the Maori people, disastrously affected by European āminorā diseases to which they had only weak resistance, appeared to be in decline, and European scholars recorded as much Maori legend as they could, believing that the Maori would die out and that their oral culture, highly figurative and often of rare poetic beauty, deserved preservation. Some of this material was published; a great deal more was stored in libraries and is studied today, not least by Maori students and scholars intent on recovering their own cultural past.
Although Maori individuals and groups have become notable performers of various kinds of European music, their traditional music also survives. To the 19th-century European ear, the words of Maori poetry were impressive and beautiful, but the music was ātuneless and monotonousā and tended to be ignored. It is, however, inseparable from the words, and the scholars Mervyn McLean and Margaret Orbell were the first to publish text and music together. McLean and Orbell distinguished three kinds of waiata (songs): waiata tangi (lamentsāfor the dead, but also for other kinds of loss or misfortune), waiata aroha (songs about the nature of loveānot only sexual love but also love of place or kin), and waiata whaiaaipo (songs of courtship or praise of the beloved). In addition, there are pao (gossip songs), poi (songs accompanying a dance performed with balls attached to flax strings, swung rhythmically), oriori (songs composed for young children of chiefly or warrior descent, to help them learn their heritage), and karanga (somewhere between song and chant, performed by women welcoming or farewelling visitors on the marae). Some chants are recited rather than sung. These include karakia (forms of incantation invoking a power to protect or to assist the chanter), paatere (chants by women in rebuttal of gossip or slander, asserting the performerās high lineage and threatening her detractors), kaioraora (expressions of hatred and abuse of an enemy, promising terrible revenge), and the haka (a chant accompanied by rhythmic movements, stamping, and fierce gestures, the most famous of these being war dances that incorporate stylized violence). In every aspect of this tradition, the texts, which in pre-European times survived through memorization, were inseparable from gestures and sometimes music. The most widely used modern development of these traditional forms is the waiata-a-ringa (action song), which fits graceful movements to popular European melodies.
