Home > Catalogue > English Literature > 3 | 2016 > From Galileo to Aldo Moro
cover
cover

From Galileo to Aldo Moro

Italian Imagery in Contemporary New Zealand Literature

Paola Della Valle    Università degli Studi di Torino, Italia    

VIEW PDF DOWNLOAD PDF

abstract

Italian images and symbols are numerous in contemporary New Zealand literature. A basic distinction must however be drawn between Pākehā writers, that is, New Zealanders of European origin, and writers belonging to the indigenous minority: the Māori. Italy has aroused a different emotional response and its imagery has served (or not) a political purpose according to the author’s affiliation to the group of the colonizers or that of the colonised. In this article I will analyse how Italian images are employed by two living Māori writers, Witi Ihimaera and Patricia Grace, and by a Pākehā poet, Allen Curnow, passed away in 2001. In particular, I will focus on whether these images pertain to a common system of values and on the extent to which they are functional to the dominant discourse or constitute a means of subversion of it.

Published
Dec. 23, 2016
Accepted
Aug. 5, 2016
Language
EN

Keywords: GalileoWiti IhimaeraPatricia GraceAllen CurnowAldo Moro

Copyright: © 2016 Paola Della Valle. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.