title: “On and On It Goes”: Representations of the New Zealand Wars in novels, film, and theatre

authors: Sheridan, Brendan Daniel

subjects: History

abstract: This thesis considers fictional representations of the New Zealand Wars. Through the media of novels, feature films, and drama with links to Shakespeare, it explores common features between representations. It examines how these representations change in tone or style over time and how different representations negotiate the complex issues of race, gender, and colonialism.
	I examine key representations ranging from 1861 to 2017 in terms of genre. I begin with the nineteenth-century novel as many of the key tropes used in representations of the New Zealand Wars emerge in this period. I then look at the twentieth-century novel, before concentrating specifically on Maurice Shadbolt and Witi Ihimaera. My discussion then turns to the genres of film and theatre. In all of these diverse representations there are recurring tropes and motifs. Many of the fictions feature stock characters such as the European traveller, the imperial official, and the Māori maiden and bear the imprint of historical romance conventions, popularised by Sir Walter Scott’s Waverly and James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans. The vast majority of stories take place in the North Island between 1860 and 1870. Variations in the depiction of historical events are shaped by the historical scholarship and dominant ideologies of the time, such as the post-colonial tonal shift that emerges following the publication of work by James Belich and Ranginui Walker. I contextualise representations with their point in history, and how they treat the New Zealand Wars in terms of events, characters, and historical figures. 
	Through this approach, my thesis argues that representations of the New Zealand Wars do not form themselves in isolation and do not occur in isolated clusters. This thesis seeks to demonstrate that representations of the New Zealand Wars occur on a steady continuum. Representations of the conflict exist in parallel to one another (intentional or not) and are affected by the social climate, dominant ideologies, and published histories available to the author at the time of writing. The variety of representations—novel, feature film, stage play—share many core tropes. Even so, chronologically this continuum also features shifts in tone, ideologies, and sympathies. A novel of the 1980s has a very different perspective regarding settlers compared to a novel from the 1860s. In the same manner, a play staged in the 2000s shows a different attitude towards the conflict compared to a film from the 1940s. This thesis demonstrates that while representations of the New Zealand Wars share a common subject, how they approach the material is constantly evolving.

text: “On and On It Goes”: Representations of the New Zealand Wars in novels, film, and theatre This thesis considers fictional representations of the New Zealand Wars. Through the media of novels, feature films, and drama with links to Shakespeare, it explores common features between representations. It examines how these representations change in tone or style over time and how different representations negotiate the complex issues of race, gender, and colonialism.
	I examine key representations ranging from 1861 to 2017 in terms of genre. I begin with the nineteenth-century novel as many of the key tropes used in representations of the New Zealand Wars emerge in this period. I then look at the twentieth-century novel, before concentrating specifically on Maurice Shadbolt and Witi Ihimaera. My discussion then turns to the genres of film and theatre. In all of these diverse representations there are recurring tropes and motifs. Many of the fictions feature stock characters such as the European traveller, the imperial official, and the Māori maiden and bear the imprint of historical romance conventions, popularised by Sir Walter Scott’s Waverly and James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans. The vast majority of stories take place in the North Island between 1860 and 1870. Variations in the depiction of historical events are shaped by the historical scholarship and dominant ideologies of the time, such as the post-colonial tonal shift that emerges following the publication of work by James Belich and Ranginui Walker. I contextualise representations with their point in history, and how they treat the New Zealand Wars in terms of events, characters, and historical figures. 
	Through this approach, my thesis argues that representations of the New Zealand Wars do not form themselves in isolation and do not occur in isolated clusters. This thesis seeks to demonstrate that representations of the New Zealand Wars occur on a steady continuum. Representations of the conflict exist in parallel to one another (intentional or not) and are affected by the social climate, dominant ideologies, and published histories available to the author at the time of writing. The variety of representations—novel, feature film, stage play—share many core tropes. Even so, chronologically this continuum also features shifts in tone, ideologies, and sympathies. A novel of the 1980s has a very different perspective regarding settlers compared to a novel from the 1860s. In the same manner, a play staged in the 2000s shows a different attitude towards the conflict compared to a film from the 1940s. This thesis demonstrates that while representations of the New Zealand Wars share a common subject, how they approach the material is constantly evolving.

year: 2019

title: Genealogical Violence: Mormon (Mis)Appropriation of Māori Cultural Memory through Falsification of Whakapapa

authors: Simon, Hemopereki

subjects: whakapapa

abstract: The study examines how members of the historically white possessive and supremacist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United States (mis)appropriated Māori genealogy, known as whakapapa. The Mormon use of whakapapa to promote Mormon cultural memory and narratives perpetuates settler/invader colonialism and white supremacy, as this paper shows. The research discusses Church racism against Native Americans and Pacific Peoples. This paper uses Anthropologist Thomas Murphy’s scholarship to demonstrate how problematic the Book of Mormon’s religio-colonial identity of Lamanites is for these groups. Application of Aileen Moreton-Robinson’s white possessive doctrine and Hemopereki Simon’s adaptation to cover Church-Indigenous relations and the salvation contract is discussed. We explore collective and cultural memory and discuss key Māori concepts like Mana, Taonga, Tapu, and Whakapapa. A brief review of LDS scholar Louis C. Midgley’s views on Church culture, including Herewini Jones’s whakapapa wānanga, is followed by a discussion of Māori cultural considerations and issues. The paper concludes that the alteration perpetuates settler/invader colonialism and Pacific peoples’ racialization and white supremacy. Genetics science and human migration studies contradict Mormon identity narratives and suggest the BOM is spiritual rather than historical. Finally, the paper suggests promoting intercultural engagement on Mormon (mis)appropriation of taonga Māori.

text: Genealogical Violence: Mormon (Mis)Appropriation of Māori Cultural Memory through Falsification of Whakapapa The study examines how members of the historically white possessive and supremacist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United States (mis)appropriated Māori genealogy, known as whakapapa. The Mormon use of whakapapa to promote Mormon cultural memory and narratives perpetuates settler/invader colonialism and white supremacy, as this paper shows. The research discusses Church racism against Native Americans and Pacific Peoples. This paper uses Anthropologist Thomas Murphy’s scholarship to demonstrate how problematic the Book of Mormon’s religio-colonial identity of Lamanites is for these groups. Application of Aileen Moreton-Robinson’s white possessive doctrine and Hemopereki Simon’s adaptation to cover Church-Indigenous relations and the salvation contract is discussed. We explore collective and cultural memory and discuss key Māori concepts like Mana, Taonga, Tapu, and Whakapapa. A brief review of LDS scholar Louis C. Midgley’s views on Church culture, including Herewini Jones’s whakapapa wānanga, is followed by a discussion of Māori cultural considerations and issues. The paper concludes that the alteration perpetuates settler/invader colonialism and Pacific peoples’ racialization and white supremacy. Genetics science and human migration studies contradict Mormon identity narratives and suggest the BOM is spiritual rather than historical. Finally, the paper suggests promoting intercultural engagement on Mormon (mis)appropriation of taonga Māori.

year: 2024

title: Aspects of Mary Wollstonecraft's Religious Thought

authors: Morgan, Suzanne Melissa

subjects: Religion

abstract: The works of Mary Wollstonecraft have been largely utilized in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries within the domain of feminist studies.  They were influential throughout the 'feminist movement' of the 1960s and 1970s and Wollstonecraft is routinely given the title of 'mother' of feminism.  One result of her works being classified as important feminist texts is the elision of the religious element in her works.  Moreover, recent scholarship has drawn attention to the central importance of religion in eighteenth century British discourse.  This thesis will primarily argue that Wollstonecraft was heavily influenced by religion, and that her writings were conceived in response to a profoundly theologico-political culture.  This influence of religion has generally been overlooked by researchers and this thesis will aim to redress this absence.

Four of Wollstonecraft's works - all produced within a 'similar' political climate and within a concise time period - are utilized to show that religion was a foundational element within Wollstonecraft's thought and arguments.  This thesis shows that Wollstonecraft was not so much a 'feminist' thinker, but a unique intellectual determined to show that the inferior position of women went against 'God's will', teachings and the equality He had ascribed to both men and women during Creation.

text: Aspects of Mary Wollstonecraft's Religious Thought The works of Mary Wollstonecraft have been largely utilized in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries within the domain of feminist studies.  They were influential throughout the 'feminist movement' of the 1960s and 1970s and Wollstonecraft is routinely given the title of 'mother' of feminism.  One result of her works being classified as important feminist texts is the elision of the religious element in her works.  Moreover, recent scholarship has drawn attention to the central importance of religion in eighteenth century British discourse.  This thesis will primarily argue that Wollstonecraft was heavily influenced by religion, and that her writings were conceived in response to a profoundly theologico-political culture.  This influence of religion has generally been overlooked by researchers and this thesis will aim to redress this absence.

Four of Wollstonecraft's works - all produced within a 'similar' political climate and within a concise time period - are utilized to show that religion was a foundational element within Wollstonecraft's thought and arguments.  This thesis shows that Wollstonecraft was not so much a 'feminist' thinker, but a unique intellectual determined to show that the inferior position of women went against 'God's will', teachings and the equality He had ascribed to both men and women during Creation.

year: 2007