title: The postcolonial lesbian text: readings of four novels by Renée

authors: Sayer, Susan

abstract: This thesis addresses the question: “How might a text, written in a signifying relationship to the postcolonial nation Aotearoa New Zealand, be read as a lesbian text?” Part One addresses the possibility of the reading postcolonial lesbian text in four novels by Renée. It begins with an overview of humanist and poststructuralist reading and writing strategies which are contested within a contemporary Western lesbian literary field. At an intersection of poststructuralist and postcolonial debates I identify the potential for a queer reading strategy to disrupt lesbian humanist discourses by bringing the term lesbian into a textual relationship with the categories of (at least) sex, gender, sexuality, race and class. 

Also in Part One, I locate the four novels by Renée in the context of a New Zealand lesbian literature which is not widely recognised. I demonstrate how the hostile reception of four novels by Renée has been characterised by a colonialist discourse which manifests as the vestiges of a colonialist literary aesthetic operating in a contemporary culture sphere. Part One also outlines the strategy I have developed for reading the four novels by Renée. This strategy was originally formulated by Roland Barthes for rereading the classic text. The classic textual model is located within a Western humanist system of representation, the cornerstone of which is the Western humanist subject. Firstly, I adapt Barthes’s strategy to a rereading of three short colonialist texts, texts which promote a relationship of agreement with the reader as to the cultural and symbolic authority of the British Empire. This rereading strategy makes it possible to read the privileged Western humanist subject as always and already sexed-gendered-sexualised-classed-raced variously male-masculine-hetero-bourgeoisie-white. Barthes also offers a strategy for reading the writerly text. In contrast with the classic text, the writerly text positions the reader as a producer rather than as a consumer of the text.

Secondly, in Part Two I demonstrate how a queer reading strategy can be productively applied to texts written in signifying relationships to a postcolonial context. In my reading of the four novels by Renée I demonstrate how each is characterised by a writerly approach to the constitution of colonialist subjectivities, these writerly texts being unlike classic colonialist texts in that they foreground the traces of cultural and symbolic inscription in colonialist discourses. I demonstrate, for example, how in the writerly text of each of the four novels the British Empire is connotatively signified in relation to family, home and nation in colonialist discourses. In each of the four novels, lesbian and other queer subjectivities are also discursively reconstituted in signifying relationships to colonialist texts of family, home, nation and empire. I demonstrate how, in relation to signifying imperatives of colonialist discourses, the novels are characterised by a postcolonial textuality which manifests the symbolic and cultural authority of the British Empire. It is my thesis that the four novels by Renée are writerly texts which foreground the traces of an earlier British textual imperialism operating in the postcolonial nation Aotearoa New Zealand. My queer reading of four novels by Renée also makes manifest the postcolonial lesbian text.

text: The postcolonial lesbian text: readings of four novels by Renée This thesis addresses the question: “How might a text, written in a signifying relationship to the postcolonial nation Aotearoa New Zealand, be read as a lesbian text?” Part One addresses the possibility of the reading postcolonial lesbian text in four novels by Renée. It begins with an overview of humanist and poststructuralist reading and writing strategies which are contested within a contemporary Western lesbian literary field. At an intersection of poststructuralist and postcolonial debates I identify the potential for a queer reading strategy to disrupt lesbian humanist discourses by bringing the term lesbian into a textual relationship with the categories of (at least) sex, gender, sexuality, race and class. 

Also in Part One, I locate the four novels by Renée in the context of a New Zealand lesbian literature which is not widely recognised. I demonstrate how the hostile reception of four novels by Renée has been characterised by a colonialist discourse which manifests as the vestiges of a colonialist literary aesthetic operating in a contemporary culture sphere. Part One also outlines the strategy I have developed for reading the four novels by Renée. This strategy was originally formulated by Roland Barthes for rereading the classic text. The classic textual model is located within a Western humanist system of representation, the cornerstone of which is the Western humanist subject. Firstly, I adapt Barthes’s strategy to a rereading of three short colonialist texts, texts which promote a relationship of agreement with the reader as to the cultural and symbolic authority of the British Empire. This rereading strategy makes it possible to read the privileged Western humanist subject as always and already sexed-gendered-sexualised-classed-raced variously male-masculine-hetero-bourgeoisie-white. Barthes also offers a strategy for reading the writerly text. In contrast with the classic text, the writerly text positions the reader as a producer rather than as a consumer of the text.

Secondly, in Part Two I demonstrate how a queer reading strategy can be productively applied to texts written in signifying relationships to a postcolonial context. In my reading of the four novels by Renée I demonstrate how each is characterised by a writerly approach to the constitution of colonialist subjectivities, these writerly texts being unlike classic colonialist texts in that they foreground the traces of cultural and symbolic inscription in colonialist discourses. I demonstrate, for example, how in the writerly text of each of the four novels the British Empire is connotatively signified in relation to family, home and nation in colonialist discourses. In each of the four novels, lesbian and other queer subjectivities are also discursively reconstituted in signifying relationships to colonialist texts of family, home, nation and empire. I demonstrate how, in relation to signifying imperatives of colonialist discourses, the novels are characterised by a postcolonial textuality which manifests the symbolic and cultural authority of the British Empire. It is my thesis that the four novels by Renée are writerly texts which foreground the traces of an earlier British textual imperialism operating in the postcolonial nation Aotearoa New Zealand. My queer reading of four novels by Renée also makes manifest the postcolonial lesbian text.

year: 1998

title: Twardowski, rationality, and post-truth

authors: Ulatowski, Joseph W.

subjects: Kazimierz Twardowski

abstract: If Twardowski is correct about rationality, then truth comes in degrees. If truth comes in degrees, then we must replace a classical conception of truth with a nearby alternative. Post-truth accepts that statements need not be true or false but may be scalar. Thus, Twardowski's own vision of rationality (logistic anti-irrationalism) would have to accept that truth comes in degrees.

text: Twardowski, rationality, and post-truth If Twardowski is correct about rationality, then truth comes in degrees. If truth comes in degrees, then we must replace a classical conception of truth with a nearby alternative. Post-truth accepts that statements need not be true or false but may be scalar. Thus, Twardowski's own vision of rationality (logistic anti-irrationalism) would have to accept that truth comes in degrees.

year: 2026

title: Ko Waikato-Maniapoto te iwi

authors: Ngaia, Te Ingo Karangaroa Terehia

subjects: Waikato Maniapoto

abstract: Nō te ūnga mai o Tainui waka, i Whangaparāoa, ka tīmata i reira te tautapa haere a Tainui waka i tōna rohe, i tāna tere i Te Ika-ā-Māui. Nāwai rā ka tau ki tōna tumu i roto o Kāwhia Moana, Kāwhia Kai, Kāwhia Tāngata, i te taha hauāuru o Te Ika-ā-Māui. I roto i ngā rautau i muri mai i te ūnga o Tainui waka me ngā tūpuna i tere mai i te waka, ka tīmata ngā tūpuna te mātoro haere i te whenua hou me te whakanoho i ngō rātou whānau. Ka tupu i koneki ngā hapū me ngā iwi i heke mai i ngā waka. I roto i ngā tātai whakapapa o Tainu waka, e mārama mai ana ngā kāwai heke ki ngā iwi o Waikato me Maniapoto hoki. Ka whai mana ngā rangatira o ngā iwi nei i ngō rātou kāinga me ngā pānga whenua i noho ai rātou.
I hua tuatahi ai te iwi o Waikato-Maniapoto i roto i ngā pakanga me ngā whakaipoipotanga mo ngā kāinga me ngā pānga whenua, kai, moana hoki. Nā ngā pūkenga wānanga, pakanga hoki, i whakawehe, i kotahi ai rānei ngā iwi.
I te taenga mai o te Pākehā ki te pēhi i ngā tikanga a te Māori, ka huri te aro o te Pākehā ki te whakahau me te whakawai i ngā rātou tauira hou ki runga i ngā iwi.
Ka whakaturengia ngā ingoa o ngā tikanga hou, nā te Kāwanatanga Pākehā hou nei i whakamana, ā, i whakaū ngēnei tikanga hou kia pēhia ngā tikanga taketake ake a te Māori. Ka huri a Waikato-Maniapoto iwi ki te aru i ngā tauira hou ki te whakawhanake i ngā uri whakatupu i roto i te ao hou. Hoi, i mau tonu i a Waikato-Maniapoto te wairua me ngā tikanga i heke iho ki ngōna uri.
Ka whakaūngia te wairua me ngā tikanga o ngā mātua tūpuna ki roto i te tauira hou o te Kīngitanga. Ka mahi ngātahi te Kīngitanga me te iwi o Waikato-Maniapoto ki te whakatinana i tōna kaupapa, arā, hei pupuru i te toto; hei pupuru i te whenua; ā, hei pupuru i te mana Māori motuhake. I roto i te Kīngitanga nga 
hanganga iwi hou i puta hei kōkiri i ngā rautaki whakawhanake i te iwi whānui i roto i te ao hou nei.
Huhua noa atu ngā uri o Waikato-Maniapoto i whai wāhi i runga i ngā tūranga whakawhanake i te iwi whānui mā te whakaū i te mana Māori motuhake i roto i te reo me ngā tikanga o Waikato-Maniapoto iwi me ngōna kaupapa. Ko te whakahua i ngā hononga iwi kia whai whanaungatanga, kia whai tūrangawaewae te whakatinanatanga o te whakapono ā-wairua nei ki ngā taonga tuku iho o Waikato-Maniapoto. Ka whai mana, ka tūturu te kīanga a Waikato-Maniapoto i roto i te whakamana a ngā uri i ngā kōrero whakapapa o te iwi o Waikato-Maniapoto me te whakamana i te kīanga nei i ngā reanga whakapapa.

text: Ko Waikato-Maniapoto te iwi Nō te ūnga mai o Tainui waka, i Whangaparāoa, ka tīmata i reira te tautapa haere a Tainui waka i tōna rohe, i tāna tere i Te Ika-ā-Māui. Nāwai rā ka tau ki tōna tumu i roto o Kāwhia Moana, Kāwhia Kai, Kāwhia Tāngata, i te taha hauāuru o Te Ika-ā-Māui. I roto i ngā rautau i muri mai i te ūnga o Tainui waka me ngā tūpuna i tere mai i te waka, ka tīmata ngā tūpuna te mātoro haere i te whenua hou me te whakanoho i ngō rātou whānau. Ka tupu i koneki ngā hapū me ngā iwi i heke mai i ngā waka. I roto i ngā tātai whakapapa o Tainu waka, e mārama mai ana ngā kāwai heke ki ngā iwi o Waikato me Maniapoto hoki. Ka whai mana ngā rangatira o ngā iwi nei i ngō rātou kāinga me ngā pānga whenua i noho ai rātou.
I hua tuatahi ai te iwi o Waikato-Maniapoto i roto i ngā pakanga me ngā whakaipoipotanga mo ngā kāinga me ngā pānga whenua, kai, moana hoki. Nā ngā pūkenga wānanga, pakanga hoki, i whakawehe, i kotahi ai rānei ngā iwi.
I te taenga mai o te Pākehā ki te pēhi i ngā tikanga a te Māori, ka huri te aro o te Pākehā ki te whakahau me te whakawai i ngā rātou tauira hou ki runga i ngā iwi.
Ka whakaturengia ngā ingoa o ngā tikanga hou, nā te Kāwanatanga Pākehā hou nei i whakamana, ā, i whakaū ngēnei tikanga hou kia pēhia ngā tikanga taketake ake a te Māori. Ka huri a Waikato-Maniapoto iwi ki te aru i ngā tauira hou ki te whakawhanake i ngā uri whakatupu i roto i te ao hou. Hoi, i mau tonu i a Waikato-Maniapoto te wairua me ngā tikanga i heke iho ki ngōna uri.
Ka whakaūngia te wairua me ngā tikanga o ngā mātua tūpuna ki roto i te tauira hou o te Kīngitanga. Ka mahi ngātahi te Kīngitanga me te iwi o Waikato-Maniapoto ki te whakatinana i tōna kaupapa, arā, hei pupuru i te toto; hei pupuru i te whenua; ā, hei pupuru i te mana Māori motuhake. I roto i te Kīngitanga nga 
hanganga iwi hou i puta hei kōkiri i ngā rautaki whakawhanake i te iwi whānui i roto i te ao hou nei.
Huhua noa atu ngā uri o Waikato-Maniapoto i whai wāhi i runga i ngā tūranga whakawhanake i te iwi whānui mā te whakaū i te mana Māori motuhake i roto i te reo me ngā tikanga o Waikato-Maniapoto iwi me ngōna kaupapa. Ko te whakahua i ngā hononga iwi kia whai whanaungatanga, kia whai tūrangawaewae te whakatinanatanga o te whakapono ā-wairua nei ki ngā taonga tuku iho o Waikato-Maniapoto. Ka whai mana, ka tūturu te kīanga a Waikato-Maniapoto i roto i te whakamana a ngā uri i ngā kōrero whakapapa o te iwi o Waikato-Maniapoto me te whakamana i te kīanga nei i ngā reanga whakapapa.

year: 2010