New Zealand literature
Encyclopedia
New Zealand literature is essentially literature in English that is either written by New Zealanders, or migrants, dealing with New Zealand themes or places and is primarily a 20th Century creation. New Zealand literature is almost exclusively literature in the English language and as such a sub-type of English literature.
In the early nineteenth century Christian missionaries developed written forms of Polynesian languages to assist with their evangelical work. The oral tradition of story telling and folklore has survived and the early missionaries collected folk tales. In the pre-colonial period there was no literature, after European contact and the introduction of literacy there were Māori language publications. No literary works in Māori have been translated and become widely read. The Māori language has survived to the present day and although not widely spoken is used in as medium of instruction in education in a small number of schools. As far as Māori literature can be said to exist, it is principally literature in English dealing with Māori themes.
. The first colonial Pakeha poetry was also predominantly sung poetry. Initially colonial poetry had a preoccupation with British themes. New Zealand poetry developed a strong local voice from the 1950s, and has now become a "polyphony" of traditionally marginalised voices.
, Albert Wendt
, Maurice Gee
and children’s author Margaret Mahy
, are prominent in New Zealand.
Keri Hulme
gained prominence when her novel, The Bone People
, won the Booker Prize. Witi Ihimaera
wrote the novel that became the critically acclaimed movie Whale Rider, directed by Nikki Caro. His works deal with Māori life in the modern world, often incorporating fantastic elements.
Writers claimed by New Zealand as its own include immigrants, such as South African-born Robin Hyde
, and emigrants who went into exile
but wrote about New Zealand, like Dan Davin
and Katherine Mansfield
. Erewhon
, a novel set in New Zealand and written by Samuel Butler as a result of a stay in New Zealand, arguably belongs primarily to English literature
. Likewise the New Zealand work of Karl Wolfskehl
, resulting from his sojourn in Auckland, belongs rather to the story of German literature
.
. Support for playwrights and plays in New Zealand is provided by Playmarket
, a national organisation which also publishes and sells plays and scripts. Playmarket also represents Māori and Pacific Island playwrights.
Early Maori literature
The Māori were a pre-literate stone-aged culture until contact with Europeans in the early 19th Century. New Zealand acknowledges the presence of its indigenous Māori and the special place they have in New Zealand culture. Oratory and recitation of quasi historical / hagiographical ancestral blood lines has a special place in Māori culture, eurocentric notions of 'literature' may fail to describe the Māori cultural forms in the oral tradition.In the early nineteenth century Christian missionaries developed written forms of Polynesian languages to assist with their evangelical work. The oral tradition of story telling and folklore has survived and the early missionaries collected folk tales. In the pre-colonial period there was no literature, after European contact and the introduction of literacy there were Māori language publications. No literary works in Māori have been translated and become widely read. The Māori language has survived to the present day and although not widely spoken is used in as medium of instruction in education in a small number of schools. As far as Māori literature can be said to exist, it is principally literature in English dealing with Māori themes.
Poetry
New Zealand poetry, like all poetry, is influenced by time and place and has been through a number of changes. Poetry has been part of New Zealand culture since before European settlement in the form of Māori sung poems or waiataWaiata
Waiata is the sixth studio album by New Zealand New Wave band Split Enz, released in 1981. Its Australian release was titled Corroboree. Waiata is the Māori term for song and singing, while corroboree is the Aboriginal term. According to Noel Crombie the intention was to name the album using a word...
. The first colonial Pakeha poetry was also predominantly sung poetry. Initially colonial poetry had a preoccupation with British themes. New Zealand poetry developed a strong local voice from the 1950s, and has now become a "polyphony" of traditionally marginalised voices.
Writers
Novelists Patricia GracePatricia Grace
Patricia Frances Grace, DCNZM, QSO, is a notable Māori writer of novels, short stories, and children's books....
, Albert Wendt
Albert Wendt
Albert Wendt, CNZM is a Samoan poet and writer who also lives in New Zealand. Among his works is Leaves of the Banyan Tree .-Biography:...
, Maurice Gee
Maurice Gee
Maurice Gee is a New Zealand novelist.-Awards and honors:Gee was awarded the 1978 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel Plumb...
and children’s author Margaret Mahy
Margaret Mahy
Margaret Mahy ONZ is a well-known New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. While the plots of many of her books have strong supernatural elements, her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growing up.Her books The Haunting and The Changeover: A Supernatural...
, are prominent in New Zealand.
Keri Hulme
Keri Hulme
Keri Hulme is a New Zealand writer, best known for The Bone People, her only novel.-Early life:Hulme was born in Christchurch, in New Zealand's South Island. The daughter of a carpenter and a credit manager, she was the eldest of six children. Her parents were of English, Scottish, and Māori ...
gained prominence when her novel, The Bone People
The Bone People
The Bone People is a Booker Prize-winning 1984 novel by New Zealand author Keri Hulme. Hulme was turned down by many publishing houses before she found a small publishing house in New Zealand called Spiral...
, won the Booker Prize. Witi Ihimaera
Witi Ihimaera
Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler, DCNZM, QSM , generally known as Witi Ihimaera , is a New Zealand author, and is often regarded as one of the most prominent Māori writers alive.-Biography:...
wrote the novel that became the critically acclaimed movie Whale Rider, directed by Nikki Caro. His works deal with Māori life in the modern world, often incorporating fantastic elements.
Writers claimed by New Zealand as its own include immigrants, such as South African-born Robin Hyde
Robin Hyde
Robin Hyde is one of New Zealand's major poets. She was born Iris Guiver Wilkinson in Cape Town, South Africa and taken to Wellington, New Zealand before her first birthday. She had her secondary education at Wellington Girls' College where she wrote poetry and short stories for the school...
, and emigrants who went into exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
but wrote about New Zealand, like Dan Davin
Dan Davin
Daniel Marcus Davin was an author who wrote about New Zealand, although for most of his career he lived in Oxford, England, working for Oxford University Press....
and Katherine Mansfield
Katherine Mansfield
Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp Murry was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction who was born and brought up in colonial New Zealand and wrote under the pen name of Katherine Mansfield. Mansfield left for Great Britain in 1908 where she encountered Modernist writers such as D.H. Lawrence and...
. Erewhon
Erewhon
Erewhon: or, Over the Range is a novel by Samuel Butler, published anonymously in 1872. The title is also the name of a country, supposedly discovered by the protagonist. In the novel, it is not revealed in which part of the world Erewhon is, but it is clear that it is a fictional country...
, a novel set in New Zealand and written by Samuel Butler as a result of a stay in New Zealand, arguably belongs primarily to English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
. Likewise the New Zealand work of Karl Wolfskehl
Karl Wolfskehl
Karl Wolfskehl was a German Jewish author who wrote poetry, prose and drama in German. He also translated from French, English, Italian, Hebrew, Latin and Middle High German into German....
, resulting from his sojourn in Auckland, belongs rather to the story of German literature
German literature
German literature comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German part of Switzerland, and to a lesser extent works of the German diaspora. German literature of the modern period is mostly in Standard German, but there...
.
Playwrights
New Zealand has a lively community of playwrights in theatre. One of the country's most significant and successful playwrights is Roger HallRoger Hall
Roger Leighton Hall, CNZM, QSO is a British born New Zealander actor and playwright, known for his comedies that carry a serious vein of social criticism and feelings of pathos.-Early years:...
. Support for playwrights and plays in New Zealand is provided by Playmarket
Playmarket
Playmarket is a not-for-profit organisation providing script advisory services, representation for playwrights in New Zealand and access to New Zealand plays....
, a national organisation which also publishes and sells plays and scripts. Playmarket also represents Māori and Pacific Island playwrights.
See also
Further reading
- New Zealand literature at the New Zealand Electronic Text CentreNew Zealand Electronic Text CentreThe New Zealand Electronic Text Centre is a unit of the library at the Victoria University of Wellington which provides a free online archive of New Zealand and Pacific Islands texts and heritage materials. The NZETC has an ongoing programme of digitisation and feature additions to the current...