In the thirties and forties politics and public themes bore in upon writers influencing what they wrote about, the forms they chose and their conception of their function in society. It is a period in which writers sought to make literature serve the larger political end and often artistic merit is a function of the success the writer had in accommodating in his work the demands of outside pressures. It is always difficult to detach a period of history from the longer continuum but there is, nevertheless, a case to be made for viewing the years from about 1930 to around 1950 as a relatively homogeneous unit in New Zealand's literary history, distinct in important respects from what came before and from what followed. The new generation of writers in England in the thirties, particularly Auden and the group around him influenced young New Zealand writers both technically and in the attitudes they adopted to the relationship between the artist and society. The prevailing left-wing ethos emphasised the political and public responsibilities of the writer. Retreat into private, esoteric, literary modes was seen as an abdication of these responsibilities. The major themes of this period in New Zealand writing were social realism and nationalism; the literary products of the pressures exerted by political and economic forces. For the young writers the political awareness and sense of social commitment generated by the depression, together with the crusade to inhabit the land imaginatively, provided a sense of literary direction. These writers and their contemporaries accepted responsibility in both these areas seeing themselves as crusaders for social justice and creators of the imaginative understanding necessary to achieve a sense of belonging to this country. Such an understanding would be reached not through seeing it as offspring of England, nor as a picturesque, innocent new society; but by exploring it honestly and creating the terms and vocabulary for describing it. This study documents the careers of John Mulgan, Frank Sargeson, R.A.K. Mason, A.R.D. Fairburn and Allen Curnow in the period, roughly, 1930 to 1950, and looks at the ways each responded to the public demands they perceived were placed upon them. In their different ways these writers went about the business of changing New Zealand society, broadening its understanding of itself, creating an atmosphere conducive to artistic and literary development. Despite the fact that the degree of success in accommodating these demands varies considerably from writer to writer, the literary output of the period as a whole generated the confidence and energy that were a prerequisite to the development of an indigenous literature. During this period there developed an acceptance, albeit highly critical, of New Zealand and a feeling that the tradition which had been established in the thirties and forties could be extended by succeeding generations of artists and writers.

This thesis examines contemporary interpretations of a selection of important texts written by New Zealand women between 1910 and 1940, and also a film and film script written more recently (which are considered as re-readings of a novel by Mander). The thesis argues that, though reading or meaning-making is always an activity of construction there will, at any given moment, always be reasons for preferring one way of reading over another-a reading most appropriate to a situation or circumstances. This study is motivated by a desire to understand how literary criticism has changed in recent years, particularly under the influence of feminism, and how a reader today can make a choice among competing methods of interpretation. Comparisons are drawn between various possible readings of the texts in order to classify methods of reading, particularly nationalist and feminist reading strategies. The over-all tendency of the argument is to propose a more self-critical and self-conscious approach to reading, and to develop a materialist and historical approach which I see as particularly important to the New Zealand context in the 1990s. / Thesis is now published as a book. Paul M. (1999) Her Side of the Story: readings of Mander, Mansfield and Hyde. Dunedin: Otago University Press. http://www.otago.ac.nz/press/ for more information.

This thesis explores the topic of literature-into-film adaptation by investigating the use of New Zealand fiction by film-makers in this country. It attempts this task primarily by examining eight case-studies of the adaptation process: five features designed for cinema release (Sleeping Dogs, A State of Siege, Sons for the Return Home, The Scarecrow and Other Halves), one feature-length television drama (the God Boy), and two thirty-minute television dramas (The Woman at the Store and Big Brother, Little Sister, from the series Winners and Losers). All eight had their first screenings in the ten-year period 1975-1985. For each of the case-studies, the following aspects are investigated: the original work of fiction, a practical history of the adaptation process (including interviews with people involved), and a study of changes made during the scripting and shooting stages. The films are analysed in detail, with a focus on visual and auditory style, in particular how these handle the themes, characterisation and style of the original works. Comparisons are made of the structures of the novels and the films. For each film, an especially close reading is offered of sample scenes (frequently the opening and closing scenes). The thesis is illustrated with still photographs – in effect, quotations from key moments – and these provide a focus to aspects of the discussion. Where individual adaptation problems existed in particular case-studies (for example, the challenge of the first-person narration of The God Boy), these are examined in detail. The interaction of both novels and films with the society around them is given emphasis, and the films are placed in their cultural and economic context - and in the context of general film history. For each film, the complex reception they gained from different groups (for example, reviewers, ethnic groups, gender groups, the authors of the original works) is discussed. All the aspects outlined above demonstrate the complexity of the responses made by New Zealand film-makers to the pressure and challenges of adaptation. They indicate the different answers they gave to the questions raised by the adaptation process in a new national cinema, and reveal their individual achievements. / Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.

This study seeks to establish how cultural change is transforming Samoan perceptions of alcohol and its role in social life by comparing understandings of, attitudes to, and patterns of alcohol use in successive generations of Samoans to establish how these are changing, and how trends in alcohol use might be expected to affect Samoan health status. It examines the complex relationships between alcohol and culture, and how such relationships interact to influence health. As well, it explores how Samoan culture, fa'asamoa, has changed since contact with Europeans, how, these changes have influenced Samoan people's perceptions and use of alcohol, and the role alcohol now plays in Samoan social life. Moreover, the thesis documents the social history of alcohol in Samoa since the nineteenth century, and explores the roles of some of the Europeans in shaping Samoan people's attitudes and behaviours towards alcohol and its use. Additionally, it examines the commercial and political economic interests of early European agencies in Samoa such as beachcombers, traders, colonial administrators, and missionaries which impacted on and influenced, to a considerable extent, Samoan people's drinking patterns. The study uses a qualitative methodological approach, utilizing qualitative interviewing as the main method of gathering data and various other methods to supplement the data. The sample population included Samoan men and women, of various religious denominations, drinkers and abstainers, born and raised in Samoa and in New Zealand. Unstructured interviews with thirty-nine participants, and eight key informants were conducted in Apia, Auckland, and Christchurch. The key informants included: a bishop of the Church of Latter Day Saints, the Samoan Police Commissioner, and the Secretary of the Samoan Liquor Authority who were interviewed in Apia; a pastor/lecturer of the Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa who was interviewed in Pago Pago, American Samoa; while two Samoan-born medical health professionals, a pastor of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa, and one New Zealand-born woman researcher were interviewed in Auckland. The study found that alcohol and the drinking of it has secured a place in the social life of Samoans in the islands and in migrant communities such as those in Auckland, and to a lesser extent, Christchurch. It also found that while older women's and men's experiences and attitudes to alcohol differ significantly, particularly those born and raised in the islands, some similarities in the attitudes and practices of younger people towards alcohol, especially those born- and raised in New Zealand have emerged.

This dissertation examines the eight dramas which Lord Byron wrote in Italy, to evaluate this motives in writing plays, and to trace his views on various fields. The plays are discussed individually in some detail. The Introductory Chapter indicates the status of the theatre in Byron's time, and distinguished "poetic" dramas from plays written with a view to the stage. Byron's idea of a "mental theatre" is indicated, together with his involvement in the production of dramas as a member of the Drury Lane Management Committee. Chapter Two: Manfred, Byron's first play, written in 1817, is seen as a development from Gothic drama; a closer examination suggests Byron described the world in dualistic terms. The eponymous protagonist defies the claims of the "evil Principle in propria persona." Promethean aspects of the hero are indicated, and auto-biographical elements in the play are considered. Chapter Three: Marino Faliero is seen as a "political" drama, in which the tragic protagonist identifies the State as the oppressor of individual rights. The Doge Faliero's "traditional" code of ethics is opposed by a revolutionist ethic which he adopts in order to crush the State. Byron suggests the Doge is used by both the State and his revolutionary allies as a figurehead; the Doge's character is investigated, and Byron's involvement in political affairs is briefly examined to show any political motive in his writing the play. Chapter Four: Sardanapalus explores the idea of a humane ruler condemned by his subjects as too "soft," and deposed by traditional elements in the army and state religion. Byron's skeptical and "liberal" views are indicated. Chapter Five: The Two Foscari shows the "suppressed passions" operating against a political current. Byron is seen to question assumptions concerning "duty" and patriotism, along lines explored in the two preceding neoclassical plays. Chapter Six: Cain. Byron's most controversial play is seen as an attempt to define man's relationships to God and nature. Byron takes up earlier suggestions in his plays of a dualist view of the universe, and expatiates on his sceptic views. A notion of the mind's self-sufficiency, outlined in Manfred, is further developed. Chapter Seven: Heaven and Earth provides further definition of man's place in an ostensibly hostile universe. Japhet, the "hero" of the drama, is confounded by the apparent indiscriminateness of God's punishment of man in the Flood. The notion of plural worlds, suggested in earlier works, and particularly in Cain is again utilised. Chapter Eight: Werner. In Byron's most "theatrical" work, an inheritance of guilt is reviewed to suggest the notion of a "damned world." Byron's deliberate melodramatic structuring of Werner, and his concern with psychological investigation of notive are examined. Chapter Nine: The Deformed Transformed. Byron's last, unfinished, play provides a recapitulation of themes of the earlier plays and looks forward to the style and concerns of Don Juan. Byron is most "inventive" and unrestrained in this drama that abrogates all the classical unities and appears to work toward an endorsement of the idea of salvation by act of will. The concluding chapter relates Byron's view of the universe that emerges form the dramas considered separately and together. The particular aims of each play, and the stylistic features of each, which defy general statements about an overall ambition, are recapitulated. Byron's reasons for choosing dramatic form are briefly sketched in light of the investigation of individual works. His concern to experiment, and to avoid prescription, is seen as indicating a possible mode of operation for a revival of the English drama in the Romantic era.

Introduction Subject matter. The content of the following pages is the result of a research project originally concerned solely with Dutch translations of Shakespeare’s plays; but even in its preliminary stages – the collecting of copies and data – it became evident that the field was far too wide to be done justice in one single short-term study. Between the middle of the seventeenth century and the present day more than fifty Dutch authors have busied themselves with the translation or adaptation of Shakespeare’s plays. It might have been feasible to subject the work of one of these to detailed scrutiny, or to devote a less thorough, but still fairly comprehensive analysis to half a dozen of them. But such a study would have taken shape in a vacuum: since, to date, little academic research on this topic has been undertaken by Dutch scholars and, to my knowledge, none whatsoever in the English-speaking world, there would be no way of relating the findings on any one translator or any one limited set of translators to the merits of their many colleagues, to the cultural environment in which his or her work was conceived, and to the historical perspective of these efforts. Hence, the project developed, firstly, towards the establishment of such a historical and cultural perspective and, secondly, towards viewing the problem of translating Shakespeare into Dutch in general terms, and in a framework that would accommodate, in a cursory way, at least all those translators whose work has been – and in many cases still is – accessible to the Dutch public of this century, either in published versions or in performance on the stage. The historical and cultural perspective. The first thirteen chapters, therefore, contain only a limited amount of material on translations. A few pages of Chapter I are devoted to an isolated seventeenth-century version of The Taming of the Shrew; Chapters III and IV are concerned, respectively, with a set of eighteenth-century prose translations and with the classicist French and German derivates of some Shakespearean plays that were translated into Dutch and performed in the Netherlands, in some cases, until less than a century ago; Chapters VII and VIII deal briefly with a dozen nineteenth-century translators whose work, but for that of one of them (L. A. J. Burgersdijk), is of historical interest only. Finally, Chapter XI introduces the efforts of twentieth-century translators, which come under closer scrutiny in the second part of the study. Had this work been submitted to a university in the Netherlands, a brief reference to texts by scholars such as Dr. R. Pennink, Prof. Dr. B. Hunningher and Prof. Dr. H. H. J. de Leeuwe would have rendered the writing of Chapters II and V, as well as some sections of Chapters VI, IX and XII superfluous. These chapters and sections deal with the earliest reactions to Shakespeare by the world of Dutch letters – between the early eighteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries - , with the Dutch theatre of the past two centuries and with those who were concerned with, and involved in it as writers, critics and directors. However, this material is only accessible to Dutch readers, and must be assumed to be totally unfamiliar to their English counterparts and, for that reason, had to be summarised and incorporated in this study, even though my limited research period in the Netherlands – a little short of twelve months – left no scope for independent work on my part in these specialized fields. The same applies to the content of Chapter I: the movements of strolling players from England in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century, and their effect on the dramaturgy and theatre history of The Netherlands and Germany.

This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge about the realities of women's lives in the seventeenth-century Iberian peninsula, through a socio-historical interpretation of the poetic production of five women. One is Portuguese, Violante del Cielo, and four are Spaniards: Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza, Leonor de la Cueva y Silva, Marcia Belisarda and Catalina Clara Ramírez de Guzmán. All are from the educated upper or noble classes and their lives span some one hundred and forty years, from 1566 to 1693. The thesis focuses particularly on their sonnets of love and friendship, both secular and religious. The sonnet was specifically chosen as the vehicle to study the ideas and concerns of literate, seventeenth-century women. As a difficult form of poetry requiring wit, artistry and education, sonnets enable a display of intellectual capabilities and offer opportunities for veiled criticism of contemporary systems of control. These women do not overtly rail against a system that offers them much in terms of social advancement and privilege. However, they do re-write our understanding of the Baroque by presenting their interests, pleasures and discontents from a feminine viewpoint. This detailed, contextual study of women's works, set against the philosophical, religious and moral treatises that governed their age, enables a wider interpretation of women's thought and intentions in the Iberian peninsula than may hitherto have been acknowledged, particularly in terms of relationships of affection within the family. Collectively, their individual works display a determination to demonstrate women's intelligence and moral strength. Furthermore, it becomes clear that women living within a system that utilised biological determinism as proof that they were incapable of reason, strive in their works to show that they are both capable of reason and determined to demonstrate it as undeniable fact.

In acknowledging continual educational under-achievement of Maori children, this thesis investigates the relationship between education policy and Maori under-achievement. It argues that under-achievement is framed within boundaries of changing recognitions and realisations of power and difference: that conceptions of difference have influenced education policy and schooling practices for Maori. Theoretically, the thesis examines 'what counts as difference' and 'what differences count'. In recognising that unequal power relations between dominant and subordinate groups produce distinct views about difference, 'what counts as difference' encompasses the perspectives of dominant groups and 'what differences count', subordinate groups. The former view is developed to expand the basis for investigating 'Pakeha conceptions of difference', and the latter, 'Maori conceptions'. The thesis traces the interactions and relationships of 'difference' and 'power', and examines, historically, how they have contributed to and sustained Maori educational under-achievement. The contribution of these conceptions of difference to informing schooling practices is investigated through four sequential 'Classification Schemes' of Assimilation, Integration, Multiculturalism and Biculturalism. The thesis argues that Biculturalism is based on a positive view of Maori cultural differences, and examines the extent of Maori influence on four recent education policy making processes. The thesis also acknowledges a Maori focus on the importance of structural differences for addressing their needs. On the basis of those two different perspectives, the thesis develops the concepts 'Maori-friendly' and 'Maori-centred', to examine processes, and structures and the relative influence of Maori on mainstream policy forming processes. The thesis shows that Tomorrow's Schools, Education for the Twenty-First Century and the Maori Affairs Select Committee Inquiry encapsulate different degrees of both Maori-friendly and Maori-centred approaches, though arguing that ultimately, it is Pakeha conceptions of difference that inform and influence all the policy forming processes. However, the fourth policy process examined was originally a wholly Maori-centred initiative - Te Kohanga Reo. The thesis points to and traces the incorporation of Te Kohanga Reo into the mainstream education system and its consequences for Maori, and concludes that structural differences ensure continuing Pakeha control over Maori conceptions of difference and henceforth Maori educational under-achievement.

This thesis is based on 18 months fieldwork in 1979-80 in the Solomon Islands. The study was carried out among the Tikopia people both on their home island and in the settlement of Nukukaisi in Makira. The central focus of this study is an analysis of the women of Tikopia from several perspectives. First they are examined in time: the women of Professor Raymond Firth's study of 1929 are contrasted with women 50 years on. Next they are described in different geographical settings - the home island and the settlement. Special attention is paid to two categories of women: the fafine taka 'unmarried women' and the fafine avanga 'married women'. These two groups stand in strong contrast with one another. The unmarried women have considerable social and sexual freedom. However, their structural position in society is undergoing some redefinition as they are required to replace in the domestic workforce their brothers who have migrated as wage labourers to other parts of the Solomons. The departure of the young men has caused some demographic imbalance among the young and their absence decreases opportunities of marriage for the young women. No other career is available to young women as they do not leave Tikopia for schooling or work as their brothers do. By contrast, the married women, to whom marriage ostensibly brings social maturity, are the most tightly controlled section of the population, being responsible to the patriline into which they have married. The social and symbolic elements of gender relations in Tikopia are therefore examined through the lives of these two groups of women. A further concern which underlies this work are the developments in theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of gender by anthropologists, with special reference to their application in the Pacific area.

The primary aim of this thesis Me he korokoro kōmako [‘With the throat of a bellbird’] is to demonstrate the existence of a distinctive Māori aesthetic in Māori literature written in English. Its introductory section, of three chapters, investigates the ways in which mainstream critical discourse in various ways appropriates Māori literature to its own Western-derived models of meaning and values, and proposes instead a definition of a Māori aesthetic grounded in the principle of whakapapa, whose whole cultural components for Māori literature include distinctive textual functions for myth, orality, acts of naming, other aspects of language, and symbolism. The concept of whakapapa also provides the organizing principle and methodology of the central chapters of the thesis, which are divided into two Parts – each of six chapters. These are framed by a Prologue and Epilogue, whose subject is the profound cultural symbolism of the waka in the work of a founding figure for Māori writing in English, Jacqueline Sturm, and in Star Waka, by a major later writer in English, Robert Sullivan. Part One devotes three chapters each to the adult fiction of one female writer, Patricia Grace (Potiki and Baby No-Eyes), and one male writer, Witi Ihimaera (The Matriarch). Part Two, following the principle of whakapapa, devotes six chapters to Māori literature for children. Its primary text is the major anthology of such writing – Te Ara O Te Hau: The Path of the Wind, Volume 4 of Te Ao Mārama, edited by Witi Ihimaera, with Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D.S. Long. It grounds its reading of the volume’s many texts (literary and visual, in Māori and in English) in the many distinctive cultural behaviours and meanings attached to the figure of Māui. Each of the authors and texts has been chosen in order to study and exemplify a particular aspect of the Māori aesthetic defined in the Introduction, through close readings which draw strongly on the work of major Māori social historians, authors of iwi histories and genealogies, and interpreters of cultural meanings attaching to the natural worlds, and recent work on literary stylistics by Geoffrey Leech and others. It also draws on conversations with numerous Māori informants, including some of the authors discussed. The readings are designed to reveal the rich, culturally contextualised knowledges which Māori readers bring to the texts, and which their authors share and invoke through their deployment of the values and practices of whakapapa. While such representations and explorations of self offer new interpretive possibilities for Pākehā readers, they are also part of a global movement in which indigenous peoples engage in the politics of decolonisation from a position of strength, the stance of self-knowledge. E kore e hekeheke he kākano rangatira Our ancestors will never die for they live on in each of us. / Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.