Dissertation

DISSERTATION Titel der Dissertation „‘Kiwi’ Masculinities in New Zealand Short Stories“ Verfasserin MMag. phil. Maria Hinterkörner angestrebter akademischer Grad Doktorin der Philosophie (Dr. phil.) Wien, 2012 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt : A 092 343 Dissertationsgebiet lt. Studienblatt: Anglistik und Amerikanistik Betreuerin: Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Astrid Fellner [i] ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “‘[New Zealand] is not quite the moon, but after the moon it is the farthest place in the world,’” said Sir Karl Popper (as quoted in KING 2003: 415), Austrian-New Zea- land-British philosopher; and ‘off the edge of the world’ in unlikely Kawakawa is where Friedensreich Hundertwasser built a colourful public toilet after having abandoned Austria for the sheep-crowded archipelago in the South Pacific. Little did I know about New Zealand as a country, as a people, as a nation and – above all – about how to pen a doctoral dissertation when I set out on this scien- tific journey a little while ago. At a very early stage of my doctoral endeavours, I knew my inquisitiveness could not be satisfied with the holdings at the University of Vienna, Austria, a country on the opposite side of the earth of the country’s lit- erature that I had chosen as subject of investigation. I was lucky enough to call Aotearoa/New Zealand my home for six months in 2009 – a sojourn that proved most fecund to my work, provided me with an abundance of motivation, and left me awe-inspired by the country’s inhabitants – scholars, fishermen, tattooists – its natural beauty and its rich and colourful culture. I was able to spend most of my time in the immense libraries of New Zealand’s universities and in conversation with scholars and authors who so very openly supported my work and provided answers where clarity had yet been missing. I experienced a plethora of emotional, financial and academic highs and not so for- tunate lows while I was penning my dissertation and most certainly, my work would have not been finished without the help, support and encouragement of so many people; people I met along my path and will be forever grateful to. [ii] My thanks go to Ian Conrich, director of the Centre for New Zealand Studies at the University of London, Birkbeck, and local staff, who supported my work especially in the beginning of 2008 by allowing for first steps in research at the Centre and inviting me along to the New Zealand Studies Conference in Florence. He also in- troduced me to Katharina Luh, a fellow PhD candidate I still frequently share news and knowledge with. I also thank New Zealand author Ian Wedde, my first inter- viewee, who provided initial glimpses into the New Zealand psyche. At the University of Vienna I am indebted to Karin Lach, head of the English and American Studies’ library, who ordered piles of books and restocked the New Zea- land section of the library very supportively. Christa Knellwolf-King, whom I first met as a visiting professor in Vienna proved an enormous motivational instance and accompanied me confidently through difficult times. In New Zealand, I need to bow in gratitude to Claudia Bell, who not only led me along to the great holdings of the General Library at the University of Auckland but also provided accommodation when I first arrived in New Zealand. Of Auckland, I would also like to thank the enormously helpful staff at the Department of Sociol- ogy, and Susan Jacobs whom I met for a coffee talk over the late Renato Amato. A month later on the southern end of the North Island, I was welcomed warmly by Rob Rabel, Pro vice-chancellor and historian at Victoria University of Wellington. I am grateful to Lydia Wevers of the Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies, and I very much treasure the interesting meeting and interview with Norman Bil- brough, novelist and short story writer. The New Zealand South Island proved most helpful to my work in the hands of Al- istair Fox, director of the CRNI – the Centre for Research on National Identity at the [iii] University of Otago, Dunedin. I am so very grateful for having the chance to work at Otago University and the Hocken Library as a visiting scholar. The prevenience of the staff at the English department and especially Neale Macdonald, fellow PhD candidate, assigned friend and lovely person, I will never forget. I also have to thank Lawrence Jones, apt literary scholar, and Owen Marshall, novelist and short story author and one of New Zealand’s most beloved, for their immense generosity to meet up, share their time and knowledge with me and stand their ground during my interviews. From April 2009 until March 2010 I was the proud recipient of a DOC-Fellowship of the Austrian Academy of Sciences at the institute of English and American Stud- ies at Vienna University, which enabled me to meet all afore mentioned people and concentrate fully on doctoral endeavours. Indeed, without the Academy’s financial support my intensive work would have not been possible; and I remain utterly thankful to the Academy of Sciences for proclaiming their interest in my academic research. I am indebted to my dissertation supervisor Astrid Fellner, who guided me through highs and lows, pushed me when I needed a push and supported me whenever I longed for support. She undertook my scholarly endeavours with me, accompanied my developments from draft to version, and I shall long be grateful for her bravery to supervise a thesis of such ‘exoticity’. Lastly, I bow in gratitude to my family and friends, old and new ones, who supported me in every possible way during the years of being a PhD-candidate – through financial strains, emotional lows and times of academic despair and ex- haustion. They were always with me and strengthened me with their belief in me and my work. [- 1 -] TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................... I TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................................... - 1 - TOEING THE LINE - STARTING POINTS ................................................................................................ - 3 - FINISHING LINE – AIMS , GOALS , TARGETS ..................................................................................................... - 3 - HISTORY OF AOTEAROA /N EW ZEALAND – A GENDERED BUSINESS ..................................................................... - 8 - THE NEW ZEALAND SHORT STORY – PRIMARY SOURCES .................................................................................- 26 - CONCEPTUAL LENSES....................................................................................................................... - 39 - MASCULINITY STUDIES – STATE OF THE ART AND NEW ZEALAND ......................................................................- 39 - NEW ZEALAND ’S A STAGE / AND ALL THE MEN MERELY PLAYERS - PERFORMANCE AND PERFORMATIVITY ...............- 46 - THE CRAVING FOR MAGICAL TOGETHERNESS - IMAGINED COMMUNITIES AND NEW ZEALAND NATIONAL IDENTITY ....- 52 - 1 IMITATING TRADITION ........................................................................................................... - 64 - 1.1 PERFORMING DOMI NATION : “THE BIG GAME ” (1944) .......................................................................- 64 - 1.2 KIWI , BY NECESSITY : “A MARRIED MAN ” (1959) ...............................................................................- 74 - 1.3 HOW TO BECOME A NEW ZEALAND PIONEER : “O NE OF THE TITANS ” (1961) ...........................................- 88 - 1.4 FOREVER THE MAN ALONE : “H EATING THE WORLD ” (1991) ................................................................- 96 - 1.5 ‘T RADITIONAL ’ MĀORI PATRIARCHY : “A SK THE POSTS OF THE HOUSE ” (2007) .......................................- 105 - 2 BREAKING TRADITION .......................................................................................................... - 132 - 2.1 LETTING HE-MAN DROWN: “A GREAT DAY ” (1937) .........................................................................- 132 - 2.2 EPIC FAIL !: “T HE ISLAND ” (1985) ..................................................................................................- 142 - 2.3 IN LOVE WITH THE GROTESQUE BODY : “M AN WITH TWO ARMS ” (1991) ..............................................- 149 - 2.4 NEW ZEALAND ’S EMANCIPATING SONS : “W EIGHT ” (1999) ................................................................- 164 - 2.5 MOCK HEROIC : “R AT ” (1999) ......................................................................................................- 172 - 3 CREATING NEW TRADITIONS ................................................................................................ - 182 - 3.1 QUEERING THE NATION : PETER WELLS ............................................................................................- 183 - 3.1.1 A (Different) Taste of Kiwi – Trendsetting 1990 ........................................................... - 183 - 3.1.2 Rewriting History: “Little Joker Sings” (2006) .............................................................. - 187 - 3.2 PROUD AND OUT – DOWN IN BROWN : TAKATĀPUI AS MĀORI QUEER IDENTITY ......................................- 206 - [- 2 -] 3.2.1 Takatāpui Regain’d ...................................................................................................... - 206 - 3.2.2 Performing Queer Māoriness: “Queen” (1999) ...........................................................

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