Picturing difference An investigation of Maori women’s characters in New Zealand picturebooks
Kathrin Rochow
Mater’s Thesis submitted to the Department of Informatics and Media, Uppsala University for obtaining the Master’s Degree of Social Science in the field of Media and Communication Studies
Supervisor: Christian Christensen
2011 ABSTRACT
Children’s books have been around since the early 1500s. They reflect the traditional values of the times, yet they still serve as a socializing tool transmitting values from one generation to the next in today’s society (Gooden and Gooden 2001). Only in the latter years of the twentieth century has the picturebook become a serious object of academic study (Lewis 2001). Researchers began to take notice of the (under-) representation of women in children’s books and asserted commonly that reducing sexism in children’s reading materials is crucial for developing an equitable and democratic society. Although previous research has examined the representation of gender and race in children’s literature extensively, there is, however, a major gap, focusing on the portrayal of New Zealand’s indigenous Polynesian people – specifically, the Maori woman. Little is known about the visibility of Maori women in print media (Evans 1994) and even less about their depiction in children’s picturebooks. In order to address this gap in the literature, this paper investigates the visual and verbal representation of Maori women in contemporary New Zealand picturebooks. Following the theories of Peter L. Berger, Thomas Luckmann and George Herbert Mead I developed a model illustrating the circular process of picturebook communication. Moreover those theories serve as a theoretical framework, constituting the subsequent content analysis. As I examined the characters of Maori women in different New Zealand picturebooks, I identified three typifications, constituting the identity of an indigenous New Zealand woman in those narratives. The Teacher, the Entertainer and the Spiritual Maori woman reinvent and reproduce, yet delimit and constrain the identity of Maori women in contemporary picturebooks. Those books fail to intertwine and integrate the two differing cultures of Maori and Pakeha (New Zealander of European descent), in their storyline, and neglect current struggles or conflicts in the social reality of New Zealand. Based on one outstanding book, I drew the conclusion that it is through integrating the two differing symbolic universes of Pakeha and Maori into the storyline, that the multiple roles carried by Maori women can be acknowledged and an authentic portrayal of Maori women is achieved.
I ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank the International Office of Uppsala University for making this journey possible. Without their support I would have not been able to visit New Zealand as an exchange student and could not have realized this research project.
Many thanks to Maria Bargh, lecturer of the Methodology of Maori Research course at Victoria University of Wellington. She was a great inspiration, always willing to help and guide me through the process of developing my research topic.
Thanks to my dear friends and flatmates here in New Zealand, Sweden and Germany as well as my parents and sister, for their constant encouragement and support across countries, continents and time zones.
Very special thanks go to my friend Veronika Schwarzenberger who proof read my entire thesis and taught me how to withstand the struggles of text formatting and layouting. Du bist die Beste!
II
Books are only ink on paper. But more than ink on paper, books are people. (Chambers 1996:9)
III TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION ...... 1 1.1 Research purpose and research questions ...... 2 1.2 Prior Research ...... 5
Chapter 2: CULTURAL BACKGROUND ...... 9 2.1 Maori in New Zealand – a socio-historical context ...... 10 2.2 Maori and the media ...... 13
Chapter 3: THE PICTUREBOOK ...... 16 3.1 The nature of modern picturebooks ...... 17 3.2 The interaction of image and word in picturebooks ...... 19
Chapter 4: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...... 23 4.1 Social Constructionism ...... 24 4.1.1 George Herbert Mead ...... 25 4.1.2 Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann ...... 26 4.2 The Social Construction of Gender ...... 28 4.3 The Social Construction of Maori Women: Maori Feminist Theory ...... 30 4.3.1 Key themes of Mana Wahine ...... 34 4.3.1.1 Whakapapa (genealogy) ...... 34 4.3.1.2 Whanau (extended family) ...... 35 4.3.1.3 Wairua (spirit) ...... 36 4.3.1.4 Atua Wahine (female goddesses) ...... 37 4.3.1.5 Te Tiriti (The Treaty of Waitangi) ...... 38 4.3.1.6 Decolonisation ...... 39 4.4 The Social Construction of picturebooks ...... 40 4.4.1 Typifications ...... 41 4.4.2 Objectivation and signification ...... 43 4.4.3 Symbolic Universes ...... 44 4.4.4 Socialization ...... 46 4.4.5 The social self ...... 48 4.4.6 Language in picturebooks ...... 50 4.4.7 The Social Construction of gendered Ideology in picturebooks ...... 53 4.5 Conclusion: A Model of picturebook Communication ...... 56
Chapter 5: METHODOLOGY ...... 58 5.1 Research Approach ...... 59 5.2 Method ...... 60
IV 5.3 Data gathering ...... 61 5.4 Sampling ...... 61 5.5 Coding ...... 63 5.5.1 The societal coding frame ...... 63 5.5.1.1 Whakapapa (genealogy) ...... 64 5.5.1.2 Wairua (spirit) ...... 65 5.5.1.3 Whanau (extended family) ...... 65 5.5.1.4 Atua Wahine (female ancestors) ...... 65 5.5.2 The individual coding frame ...... 66 5.6 Credibility and Dependability ...... 67 5.7 Confirmability and Transferability ...... 68 5.8 Limitations ...... 68
Chapter 6: RESULT AND ANALYSIS ...... 70 6.1 Words around pictures ...... 71 6.2 The findings ...... 72 6.2.1 Societal coding ...... 73 6.2.1.1 Whanau (extended family) ...... 73 6.2.1.2 Atua Wahine (female goddesses/nature) ...... 76 6.2.1.3 Whakapapa (genealogy/traditions) ...... 77 6.2.1.4 Wairua (spirit) ...... 78 6.2.1.5 Societal coding – a conclusion ...... 81 6.2.2 Individual coding frame ...... 82 6.2.3 Maori women in New Zealand picturebooks – three typifications ...... 83 6.2.3.1 The Teacher ...... 83 6.2.3.2 The Entertainer ...... 85 6.2.3.3 The Spiritual Maori woman ...... 87 6.2.3.4 Maori women in New Zealand picturebooks – Making a difference! ...... 90
Chapter 7: CONCLUSION ...... 94 7.1 The media’s social construction of reality ...... 95 7.2 Final Words ...... 98
LITERATURE ...... 101
APPENDIX 116 Appendix A: Maori Glossary ...... 117 Appendix B: Societal coding frame ...... 119 Appendix C: Individual coding frame ...... 121 Appendix D: Details about the authors ...... 122 V List OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Picturebook Communication Circle ...... 57 Figure 2: Illustration (Duncan 2007) ...... 74 Figure 3: Illustration (Grace 2008) ...... 75 Figure 4: Illustration (Drewery 2005) ...... 76 Figure 5: Illustration (Belcher 2006) ...... 78 Figure 6: Illustration (Drewery 2006) ...... 80 Figure 7: Illustration (Drewery 2005) ...... 82 Figure 8: Illustration (Tipene 2008) ...... 85 Figure 9: Illustration (Darroch 2004) ...... 87
VI List of Tables Table 1: Societal coding frame and its categories ...... 66 Table 2: Individual coding frame and its categories ...... 67
VII Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
1 This chapter provides an introduction to the study which investigates Maori women’s characters in New Zealand picturebooks. Subchapter 1.1 introduces the research purpose and research question and closes with an outline of the following chapters. Section 1.2 illustrates prior research in the field of media-, gender-, maori-, literature- and diversity studies and illuminates the gaps in current literature.
1.1 Research purpose and research questions
Stories for children are like dreams that we share with our kids. And since dreams can be rehearsals for reality, it’s important what roles they find to play in those stories (Alda 1976).
Everybody knows them, and everybody likes them – the intriguing adventures of Pippi Longstocking, Momo, Oliver Twist, Robin Hood or Alice in Wonderland. Children’s literature attracts an audience of readers of all ages and has become part of our culture. In fact, children’s books have never been the product of only one culture but “develop independently from culture to culture around the world” (Keifer 1995:54). Every year there are more than 4,000 newly published books, many of those depicting different cultures, encouraging the young readers to travel, at least in their minds, to unknown places that go beyond their everyday reality. Numerous children in many countries receive a “secret education”, delivered by children’s books, teaching them to accept the world as it is illustrated in those “social blueprints” (Dorfman 1983:ix). These blueprints, however, often depict merely one world, where one race, one gender and one country are dominant over another, persuading the reader to accept the dominant group’s norms and ideas (Madsen 2011:28-29).
In the social reality of Aotearoa/New Zealand1, the dominant group is Pakeha (New Zealander of European descent), constituting 67.6 per cent of the entire population (Statistics New Zealand 2006). As the “culture of power” (Delpit 1988:282), Pakeha far outnumber Maori, New Zealand’s indigenous Polynesian people, who represent with 14.6 per cent the largest minority group of the country (D’Arcy 2010). Maori and Pakeha exist as two ethnic categories in relation to each other, sharing a history, which is coined by nineteenth-century colonization and twentieth-century assimilation (ibid). Today’s New Zealand society is characterized by its bicultural and multicultural media- scape (Stuart 1996), aiming to accord voice to Maori and Pakeha equally, in order to strive against structural inequality and Maori social, political, and economic
1 Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand and means “land of the long white cloud”
2 The Treaty of Waitangi is the founding document of New Zealand as a nation and was signed by2 subordination (Adds et al. 2005). Nevertheless, current research suggests, that Maori voices are still disadvantaged significantly in mainstream media coverage (Barclay and Liu 2003). Instead of giving status to Maori as equal Treaty partners2 there is widespread consensus that the portrayals of Maori “confirm negative stereotypes, portray Maori inaccurately, and fail in various ways to provide balanced, fair and accurate reporting” (Adds et al. 2005:47).
One of the most marginalized groups in contemporary New Zealand society, however, are Maori women (Palmer and Master 2010). It is through “the destruction of their [traditional] spheres and sites of power and the imposition of colonial and Western ideologies of gender and race” that Maori women have been made invisible and their voices and interests were silenced (Hoskins 1997:31). Maori feminists argue, that in order to fully comprehend the social reality of Maori women’s lives, it is crucial that their stories are told (McNicholas 2004:2). It is for this reason that Maori feminists reclaim visibility and space to the ‘herstories’ of Maori women, and emphasize the need to write Maori women back into the historical discourse (Johnston 1998).
As children’s books are the carriers of ‘secret education’ they are a vital medium for improving the social and economic position of Maori women in New Zealand. They serve as a socializing tool, communicating ideologies, values and believes to the next generation and thus impinge on children’s perception of Maori women’s roles (Gooden and Gooden 2001). The representations of Maori women in children’s literature hence contribute to the formation of the ‘social blueprints’ prevalent in today’s New Zealand society and constitute a crucial component in the process of reclaiming visibility for Maori women.
Clearly, children’s books provide valuable insights into the social reality of everyday life and have therefore been researched extensively. Although previous studies have discussed the representation of gender and race in children’s literature within various cultural contexts, they have yet failed to investigate the portrayal of New Zealand’s
2 The Treaty of Waitangi is the founding document of New Zealand as a nation and was signed by representatives of the British Crown and several Maori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand in the year 1840. The Treaty is an agreement in Maori and English, that recognised Maori ownership of their lands and properties, and gave the Maori the rights of British subjects. Different understandings of the Treaty (caused by difficulties in the Maori translation) have long been the subject of debate. From the 1970s especially, many Maori have called for the terms of the Treaty to be honoured. Some have protested – by marching on Parliament and by occupying land. There have been studies of the Treaty and a growing awareness of its meaning in modern New Zealand. For more information see: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/category/tid/133 3 indigenous Polynesian people – specifically, the Maori woman. How does New Zealand literature represent their indigenous women to a juvenile audience? In what context are Maori women depicted? How do those books communicate the multiple roles of Maori women to the young readers?
The present paper aims to answer those questions by investigating the representation of Maori women in contemporary New Zealand picturebooks. Using the theories of Peter Berger, Thomas Luckmann and George Herbert Mead, I aim to analyse the visual and verbal aspects constituting the character of a Maori woman in those books and draw conclusions about the way picturebooks contribute to the social construction of a Maori woman’s identity in a modern New Zealand society. In order to pursue this investigation, I will conduct a content analysis, examining Maori women’s characters in twelve different picturebooks, each composed by both Maori and Pakeha authors.
This research paper is divided into seven chapters. Chapter one, the introduction, focuses on the purpose and the question of issue, discusses previous research and illustrates the current research gap. Chapter two provides an overview of the theoretical foundation of the study, comprising the approaches of Peter Berger, Thomas Luckmann and George Herbert Mead. Following, chapter three outlines vital socio-historical background information concerning Maori (women) and their representation in New Zealand media. The nature of the picturebook as an object of investigation is discussed in chapter four in more detail. Chapter five illustrates the methodology and research approach underlying the study, followed by a detailed analysis of the selected picturebooks in chapter six. Lastly, chapter seven summarizes and discusses the result of the picturebook analysis and proposes ideas for further research.
In order to support the cultural context in which this study is epistemologically centred, the following thesis incorporates Te Reo Maori (Maori language) and provides the English translation in brackets immediately after the first use of the word. For words that require additional explanation, a footnote is provided.
4 1.2 Prior Research
Today it is difficult to imagine the book industry without its huge output of children’s books. The mass production of children’s books is taken for granted as a prominent and indispensable part of publishing activity… Society views childhood as the most important period of life and tends to account for most of adult behaviour on the basis of childhood experience. Society is […] used to its understanding of what childhood is, as well as to the existence of books for children (Shavit 1986: 3).
Almost two centuries ago, however, children’s literature has inclined to be culturally marginalized and children were not regarded as having special needs or being very different from adults. It is only in the last twenty years that the picturebook has been taken seriously as an object of academic study. With the establishment of organisations such as the International Research Society for Children’s Literature (IRSCL) and the Children’s Literature Association (ChLA), the picturebook has gained increasing recognition and is now “becoming part of the institutional/cultural critical map” (Hunt 1992: 2). Conferences as well as particular publications have enabled scholars around the world to elevate the status of the picturebook as well as to focus on various issues that have previously been neglected. One such issue is the role of women in children’s literature.
Children’s picturebooks play an important role in early sex-role socialization (Weitzman, Eifler, Hokada, & Ross 1972, Turner-Bowker 1996). They function as a vehicle for the presentation of societal values and as an instrument for persuading children to internalize those values (Weitzman et al. 1972). By the age of three, children can already recognize their own gender and that of others. The young individuals are able to assume the "typical" personality characteristics for the member of each sex (Jacklin & Maccoby 1978; Wasserman & Stern 1978). Moreover, illustrated characters in picturebooks provide role models from which children form their ideas about themselves and their environment (Turner-Bowker, 1996). Hence, previous research commonly agrees that gender bias in picturebooks contributes negatively to children’s development (Hamilton et al. 2006, Weitzman et al. 1972, Turner-Bowker 1996, Gooden and Gooden 2001, McCabe et al. 2011).
Schau and Scott (1984) analysed the consequences of sexist versus non-sexist children’s instructional materials and concluded that a consistent tendency for sexist materials
5 reinforces children’s biases (Hamilton et al. 2006: 757). According to a study conducted by Ashton (1978), children make more stereotypic toy choices after they have read biased books.
One of the “hallmark” studies in the field of gender bias in children’s literature was conducted by Weitzman, Eifler, Hokada, & Ross (1972). These scholars evaluated Caldecott Medal-winning books3 and determined that women were highly under- represented in children’s picturebooks. Male characters far outnumbered female characters and were more often shown outdoors, being adventurous and playful, whereas women were mostly portrayed as passive, staying and acting inside the house. From 1967 till 1971, merely one Caldecott honouree featured a female in the title while eight picturebook highlighted males (McCabe et al. 2011). Similar to Weitzman et al. (1972), various studies have since concluded that women and girls are underrepresented in children’s picturebooks (e.g., McDonald 1989; Clark, Lennon, and Morris 1993; Kortenhaus and Demarest 1993; Tepper and Cassidy 1999; Hamilton et al. 2006, McCabe et al. 2011)
A recent study by McCabe et al. (2011) analysed the representation of males and females in the titles and central characters of children’s books published throughout the twentieth century. The result illustrates that males are represented nearly twice as often in titles and 1.6 times as often as central characters. According to the authors, these disparities are evidence of symbolic annihilation and have implications for children’s understandings of gender.
In a “Twenty-first Century Update” Hamilton et al. (2006) investigate sexism in contemporary award winning children’s books and conclude that modern “children’s picturebooks continue to provide nightly reinforcement of the idea that boys and men are more interesting and important than are girls and women” (Hamilton et. al 2006:764).
The focus on Caldecott or other award-winning books, however, obscures the general understanding of gender in children’s literature. Although award-winning books
3 The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. For further information see: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/ caldecottmedal/caldecottmedal.cfm 6 represent an essential segment for a variety of reasons (e.g., they serve as models for other books, they are “gatekeepers” (Weitzman et al. 1972)), they are not inevitably the most widely read books (Tepper and Cassidy 1999), nor are they likely to be representative of children’s books (McCabe et al. 2011).
Besides research on gender relations in picturebooks, there have been various studies on the treatment of different racial and ethnic groups in children’s literature (e.g. Carlson, 1969, Napier 1970, Bingham 1970, Fisher 1971, Sims 1985, Lechner 1991, Martin 2004). Pictures are a pervasive and powerful means of communicating, “whether diverse groups of people are integral and important to society; destructive and harmful; or invisible and unimportant” (Pardeck and Markward 1995). Fox (1993) suggests, that it is the responsibility of authors to provide affirming literature for all children in a society, not only those who belong to the dominant race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, class, mental or physical ability or religion. However, the number of multi- or bicultural characters, themes, stories and information in children’s literature is very limited.
Literature reviewed on the portrayal of Maori in the media is considerable (eg McGregor and Te Awa (1996), Rice (1990), Spoonley and Hirsch (1990), Shortland (1990), Dawson (1991), Stuart (1996), Russel (1995), Crombie et al. (2002), Norris (2002), Walker (2002), Barclay & Liu (2003), Adds et al. (2005), Groot (2006)). However, most research emphasizes the ‘symbolic annihilation4’ of Maori by the media (McGregor and Te Awa 1996, Adds et al. 2005, Groot 2006, McCabe 2011), as Maori are frequently stereotypically depicted, under represented or excluded in the news media coverage (Groot 2006).
The relative invisibility of Maori in the media is particularly noticeable in the representation of Maori women (Johnson 1998, Pihama 2001, Hutchings 2002, McNicholas 2004). For many years, the voices of Maori women have been “defined, painted, filmed, researched, imaged within dominant Pakeha frameworks and assumption” (Pihama 2001:244). Today, Maori women are one of the most marginalized groups in New Zealand society (Palmer and Masters 2010). Maori feminists such as Pere (1988, 1991), Irwin (1990, 1992a, 1992b), Te Awekotuku (1989, 1991b, 1992), Pihama (2001), Evans (1994) and Tuhiwai Smith (1992, 1999) discuss
4 Symbolic annihilation refers to the exclusion and underrepresentation of Maori in the media. For more details see McGregor and Te Awa 1996, Adds et al. 2005, Groot 2006, and McCabe 2011. 7 the concerning issues regarding the role and status of Maori women in contemporary New Zealand society and stress the need to make Maori women more visible.
Among the various fields of study including media5-, gender6-, maori-, literature- or diversity studies, there has yet been a major gap. Generally speaking, past research has neglected gender dynamics in the media, in particular, the way how Maori women are represented in the media of today’s New Zealand society.
Little is known about the visibility of Maori (women) in print media and even less about their representation in children’s picturebooks. It is for this reason that the present paper aims to investigate the visibility of Maori women in recent New Zealand picturebooks, and analyses how picturebooks contribute to “write Maori women back into the historical discourse” (Johnston 1998 as in McNicholas 2004:10).
The following chapter provides vital background information concerning the socio- historical context of Maori, their representation in New Zealand media and the prevalent ideas of Maori feminism.
5 For more detail on “Maori in the media” see chapter 2.3 6 For more detail on Maori feminism see chapter 2.2 8 Chapter 2: CULTURAL BACKGROUND
9 This chapter begins with a brief introduction into the socio-historical context of New Zealand’s indigenous Maori in section 2.1, followed by an overview of the current situation concerning Maori in New Zealand media in subchapter 2.2.
2.1 Maori in New Zealand – a socio-historical context
New Zealand is a multi-ethnic society, and home to about 4.3 million people of many different national origins. According to Statistics New Zealand (2006), 67.6 per cent identified ethnically as European, 14.6 per cent as Maori, 9.2 per cent as Asian and 6.9 per cent as Pacific peoples. Twenty-three per cent of New Zealand’s population were born overseas. Although most people immigrate from the United Kingdom and Ireland (29 per cent), the number of people from East Asia (mostly mainland China, but also Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan) has been increasing rapidly in recent years (ibid.). However, Maori people are not only New Zealand’s largest ethnic minority group, but also its oldest, since they were the first settlers cultivating the two islands (Glade 2003).
Although in 1893 New Zealand became the first nation in the world to grant all women the right to vote (Wilson 2009), it was not until the 1980s, that the term ‘biculturalism’ appeared, suggesting that New Zealanders could exist in one nation but as two peoples – Maori and Pakeha.
According to Houkamau (2010) it is essential, in order to ‘really understand’ Maori people, and the way they interpret their identities as they do, to comprehend how lives are shaped by socio-historical conditions. Those broader contextual factors are thus central to the identity of Maori women, as they shape the meanings these women were exposed to, regarding what it means to be Maori. The identity of Maori women is therefore deeply rooted in the soil of colonization, New Zealand nationalism, colonialism and assimilation. An understanding of those factors is crucial in order to understand the status of Maori woman in a contemporary post-colonial environment7 (Prentice 1995; McLeod 2000).
Pre-colonial Maori society was communal and tribally based (Houkamau 2010). When the first British whalers and traders arrived during the 1700s, self-sufficient, tangata whenua (New Zealand’s indigenous population) lived in tribal communities (iwi).
7 It is argued that ‘postcolonialism’ can be expressed in numerous ways (McLeod 2000). Prentice (1995 ) suggests that in the New Zealand context ‘post-coloniality’ could be defined as a set of socio-cultural conditions that have been produced out of the legacy of colonialism. 10 Despite iwi had their own variants of tribal structures, language, values, beliefs and practices, there were also several shared commonalities (Walker 1990). By conducting the self in a manner that “honoured the collective mode of operation”, one could achieve social acceptance, “a sense of purpose and meaning and indeed an identity within their social world” (Barlow, 1991 as in Houkamau 2010). In 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by some Maori chiefs and early British settlers in order to prevent further decimation, while retaining the rights to their fisheries, seabeds, lands and foreshores (Kelsey 1984). However, the Treaty of Waitangi was not upheld and by the early 1900s, Maori lost the majority of their lands. “Tangata whenua were nearly ‘extinct’ through exposure to diseases; colonialism, imperialism and monoculturalism ensured the economic political, and cultural dominance of Pakeha over Maori” (Moeke- Maxwell 2005:499). Due to the loss of their socio-economic base, the Maori capacity to self-support changed remarkably and Maori became increasingly dependent upon paid employment by Pakeha landowners and employers (Walker 1990).
Between 1840 and 1940 Maori society had changed rapidly. The vast majority of Maori kept living in rural areas while Pakeha settled in larger New Zealand cities (Houkamau 2010). Thus generations of Maori families lived in the same communities and young Maori were socialised by their own familial role models (ibid.). After the 1950s, Maori society changed significantly, as New Zealand’s economy grew and Maori moved to the cities in order to find some work (Walker 1990). It was during the time of urbanisation that many New Zealanders held the opinion that Maori should assimilate to mainstream or ‘New Zealand’ culture and become ‘One People’ with Pakeha (Houkamau 2005:182). Based on this ideology, the education system did not support Maori language or culture, which fostered negative views around Maori and the development of stereotypes. A study by Beaglehole and Beaglehole (1946) identified numerous negative stereotypes attached to Maori by Pakeha, illustrating the indigenous people as ‘slackers’, dirty, lazy and dishonest. Consequently, Maori were mainly channelled into semi-skilled labouring and service jobs, which became scarce during the 1970s. The increasing unemployment of Maori further entrenched the economic and social divisions between coloniser and the colonised (Walker 1990). In order to survive, many Maori were forced to acculturate and emulate Pakeha people and culture, which caused the loss of Maori values and practices, and alienated Maori further from their tribal relatives and role models (Houkamau 2005:183). By the 1970s many Maori were
11 disillusioned with monoculturalism (Moeke-Maxwell 2005:500). As a consequence, Maori activists such as Donna Awatere (1984) openly espoused Maori sovereignty and proposed Pakeha had tried to “eliminate Maori through ‘forced assimilation’, which denied Maori their ‘identity’ and promoted the view Maori would only progress if they were true to their own culture” (Houkamau 2005:183). Maori nationalists positioned themselves “with an essentialist identity via whakapapa (genealogy), whenua (land), Te Reo Maori (Maori language), and wairuatanga (spirituality)” protesting against their social and economic position and demanding distributive justice (Moeke-Maxwell 2005:500). By emphasizing their roots and traditions, Maori challenged the Government to reinvoke the Treaty of Waitangi as the nation’s founding document. It was only during the 1980s and 1990s that, based on statistical evidence of Maori poverty and “underachievement”, a bicultural model was inscribed into the National and the Labour Government policy (ibid.). As Maori culture became increasingly acknowledged by the Government as well as among non-Maori people, Maori began to revitalize their culture by acquiring Te Reo Maori (Maori language) skills and actively engaging with their history, culture and beliefs (Webster 1998). Since the late 1980s, various Government- funded initiatives emphasize the need to recognise the value of Maori cultural distinctiveness and aim to reduce Maori inequalities concerning education, health and criminal offending (Chapple 2000).
It is only since this ‘cultural renaissance’ of Maoridom, that mainstream schools began to provide Maori curriculums, education centres and childcare centres specialised in imparting Maori language, and Maori established their own political party in order to encourage their economic, political and social progress (Houkamau 2005:183).
In addition to that, in 2004 a Maori controlled television station was launched, aiming at revitalizing indigenous language and serve as a tool of decolonisation “that can help to heal the impact of European colonisation on the social and cultural structures of Maori society (Smith 2006:34).
Over the last 30 years most Maori have been exposed to new socio-political concepts, reconstructing Maori in binary opposition to Pakeha and hence acknowledging both groups as culturally distinct (Mohanram 1996). In today’s New Zealand society, Maori are now seen as equal, however different from Pakeha and other New Zealanders (Houkamau 2005:180). However, despite this cultural revitalisation, Maori continue to
12 feature prominently in most negative social statistics (New Zealand Ministry of Social Development 2008). In the year to December 2011, the unemployment rate for Maori was with 13.4 per cent, substantially higher than the one of non-Maori, which was 6.5 per cent in the year to December 2011 (Department of Labour 2011). Furthermore, Maori are significantly overrepresented in criminal justice statistics in comparison with other ethnic groups. In 2009 Maori accounted for 41.9 per cent of the total police apprehensions in New Zealand (Statistics New Zealand 2010).
Since these statistics are frequently publicised in the national media, New Zealanders are „subject to a bombardment of unfavourable concepts and imagery around Maori“ (Houkamau 2005:184). The identity of Maori women is thus coined by colonialism, assimilation and New Zealand Nationalism. Nevertheless have Maori women always be seen as “Maoridom’s spiritual cornerstone”, responsible for “upholding the cultural reproduction and cultural authenticity of the Maori nation” (Moeke-Maxwell 2005:501). Identifying as a ‘Maori woman’ is therefore a matter of identification “with what it means to be ‘Maori’ and ‘woman’, each with their own history” (McKinley 2002:101). It is for this reason that Maori feminists claim: “in order to make sense of the reality of Maori women’s lives, their connections with the past, their contemporary situation and their dreams for tomorrow, their stories must be told (McNicholas 2004:2).
2.2 Maori and the media
Any theory of media is also a theory of society: the media must be understood within their particular social and historical context (Maharey 1990:25).
According to Maharey (1990) the media are “a window on the world.” They reflect a range of social and political interests, “help determine the way in which agendas are constructed and understood, the way in which dominant images and the language of public and private debates are formed or influenced, and provide a characterisation of the various players” (Spoonley and Trlin 2004:9).
There is a considerable body of research concerning minorities and the media, both indigenous and ethnic communities (e.g. Twitchin 1988, Spoonley and Hirsh 1990; Cottle 2000;). However, there is a much smaller literature, which emphasizes New Zealand’s largest minority group, the indigenous Maori and their representation in contemporary media.
13 However, in the last two decades a number of commentators have argued that Maori voices are significantly disadvantaged in mainstream media coverage, often marginalizing Maori and depending on the viewpoint of non-Maori, in order to frame issues concerning their own culture (Fox 1988, 1992; McGregor and Te Awa 1996; Maharey 1990; Spoonley and Hirsh 1990). According to Husband (2005) a major flaw in the media’s coverage of minorities is the insufficient supply of valuable background information. As certain realities portrayed in single stories about Maori accumulate, they might create a negative summary message, which undermines Maori and continuously distorts social reality (McGregor and TeAwa 1996). The misrepresentation and relative invisibility of Maori as sources in the media clearly indicates the lack of diversity in New Zealand’s news coverage (ibid.). In recent years, several social scientists and media workers, including Maori, have contested the importance of media for an equitable and democratic society (Maharey 1990; Spoonley 1990; Spoonley and Hirsh 1990) and emphasize the need for media “to recognise ignorance, acknowledge shortcomings and strive for professionalism” (McGregor 1991:11).
According to McGregor and TeAwa (1996) minorities experience a ‘symbolic annihilation’ in contemporary media coverage as their stories are trivialized, excluded or stereotypically represented in the daily news media coverage. McCabe et al. (2011) state that not showing a particular group or showing them less frequently than their proportion in the population conveys that the group is not socially valued. According to Spoonley and Hirsch (1990), media in New Zealand are “mono-cultural, prejudiced and unwilling to be scrutinised” (Adds et al. 2005:45). They depict incorrect images of minorities, use one-word definitions such as ‘radical’, ‘demonstrator’ and ‘activist’ and their news coverage focuses on conflict and disaster (ibid.). Besides, Maori opinion is not represented equally and monoculturalism is reflecting the ownership and control of the media. Hence, Maori seek for a voice in New Zealand media, free of bias, stereotypes, conflict and sensation, however representing their own ideas, desires, ambitions and accomplishments (McGregor and TeAwa 1996).
However, only during the last 15 years have Maori used the mass media for their own ends (Stuart 2003:45). With the growth of the bilingual Maori newspapers, radio stations and television channels, Maori political leaders and thinkers were finally able to speak to Maori through their own channels. The utilisation of media has allowed Maori to take part in mediations concerning indigenous rights and “symbolises a community- 14 based practice of media production that has endured intermittently through to the present” (Groot 2005:4). Maori media aim to actively create positive images of Maori in present-day New Zealand, as mainstream media lacks to perform and represent these roles adequately (Stuart 2003:48). Thus an increase to Maori media production is vital in order to strengthen connections with Maori communities, facilitate a sense of community, support Maori education, and develop “mutual plans for maintaining advocacy for social justice” (Groot 2005:4).
Although Maori cultural concepts have evolved and were altered within a modern global context, they continue to maintain an equivalent and parallel reality within the Maori world (Nikora 2005). The media can actually use those ‘Maori world resources’ – “that is metaphors, images, concepts, ways of talking and so on – to communicate messages to an audience who have the capacity to understand, identify, interpret, and give meaning to such” (Nikora 2006 in Groot 2006:1).
The present study aims to investigate those ‘images, metaphors and ways of talking’, constituting a certain medium: the picturebook. By analysing the depiction of Maori women’s characters in contemporary children’s picturebooks, the present study aims to analyse how ‘Maori womanness’ is constructed through word and picture and represented to an juvenile audience who has the ‘capacity to understand, identify, interpret, and give meaning to such.’
The next chapter sheds light on the picturebook as a means of academic research and illustrates its importance in the socialization process of a juvenile audience.
15 Chapter 3: THE PICTUREBOOK
16 This chapter begins with subchapter 3.1 where the nature of modern picturebooks is outlined, illuminating the unique character of the medium. This section is followed by a discussion of the complex interrelationship of word and image in those books in subchapter 3.2.
3.1 The nature of modern picturebooks 8 A picture book is text, illustrations, total design; an item of manufacture and commercial product; a social, cultural, historical document; and, foremost an experience for a child. As an art form it hinges on the interdependence of pictures and words, on the simultaneous display of two facing pages and on the drama of the tuning page. On its own terms its possibilities are limitless (Prefatory note to Bader 1976:1).
The present paper will be concerned with most of the notions mentioned by Bader: sophisticated picturebooks, which require sophisticated readings (Arizpe and Styles 2002:19); picturebooks, which are art objects and simultaneously the primary literature of childhood; a medium, which hinges on the interdependence of image and word; a compelling narrative text, which, indeed, works on the basis of ‘the drama of the turning page’ (ibid.). However, it must be emphasized that a picturebook is not the same as a book with illustrations, but a book “in which the story depends on the interaction between written text and image and where both have been created with a conscious aesthetic intention (not just for pedagogic and commercial purposes)” (ibid.:22). Picturebooks are composed of words and images whose “intimate interaction creates layers of meaning, open to different interpretations and which have the potential to arouse their readers to reflect on the act of reading itself” (ibid.).
Children’s books have a long history around the world. Orbis Pictus, published in 1657 in Nürnberg, Germany, is considered to be the first picturebook intended for children (Nodelman 1988:2). However, although books have always been illustrated, the combination of text and picture, which is now known as picturebook, is a rather recent invention (Gooden and Gooden 2001). Other forms of printed matter such as nursery rhymes, chapbooks, toy books, comics or alphabet books pioneered the modern picturebook until the late twentieth century. Since the 1960s more and more picturebooks have been published every year, yet it was only in the 1980s that the medium began to be taken seriously as an object of academic study (Lewis 2001: xiv).
8 Current research uses various ways of spelling ‘picturebook’, such as picture-book (hyphenated word), picture book (two distinct words) or picturebook. In order to reflect the compound nature of the medium I have chosen to spell it as a compound word ‘picturebook’. 17 “Words About Pictures” by Perry Nodelman, and “Ways of the Illustrator” by Joseph Schwarcz (Schwarcz 1982; Nodelman 1988) were some of the first attempts to analyse form and nature of the workings of picturebooks. Since then there has been a continuous increase in the flow of book chapters, articles and conference papers, dedicated to the analysis, study and criticism of the picturebook.
However, although there has been a gathering sophistication in the attempts to understand children’s picturebooks, there is still some vagueness concerning some of the picturebook’s most significant features (Lewis 2001:31). This vagueness is mainly based on the particular format of the picturebook, its combining of two distinct modes of representation – pictures and words – into a composite text. Both, the texts and the pictures in these books are different from and communicate differently from texts and pictures in other circumstances. According to Nikolajeva and Scott (2000), picturebooks represent a clear shift of artistic representation from the mimetic toward the symbolic, which might be “correlated with the postmodern interrogation of the arts’ ability to reflect reality by means of language or visual means” (Nikolajeva and Scott 2000:260). Based on the unique blending of words and illustration, the picturebook is categorized not by its content but by format and is thus considered a genre apart from any other kind of literature (Goldstone 2001:362).
The picturebook’s unique conventions of structure and shape, distinctive rhythms and body of narrative techniques facilitate the development of the reader’s imaginative, critical and creative thinking, and make the picturebook a valuable means of academic investigation (Nodelman 1988: viii). Recent literature commonly agrees that the picturebook communicates and “appeals to children as young as six month of age through adolescence and the young adult ages of eighteen or nineteen.” Especially young children do not approach picturebooks with certain kinds of ‘fixed’ moral, religious beliefs, or any other conventional criteria about what constitutes art, culture or literature (Arizpe and Styles 2001:22). Picturebooks therefore expand, extend and enrich children’s background of experiences and “their literary and aesthetic interests, tastes, and preferences by providing a variety of sensory images and vicarious experiences, plots characters, and themes” (Cianciolo 1997:1).
Furthermore, those books serve as a socializing tool, transmitting values from one generation to the next (Weitzman, Eifler, Hokada, & Ross 1972). Picturebooks are thus
18 a powerful means through which children learn their cultural heritage (Bettelheim 1977).
Children’s picturebooks provide messages about right and wrong, the beautiful and the hideous, what is attainable and what is out of bounds—in sum, a society’s ideals and directions. Simply put, children’s picturebooks are a celebration, reaffirmation, and dominant blueprint of shared cultural values, meanings, and expectations (Cianciolo 1997:2).
A brief investigation of children’s picturebooks published within the past decade will reveal that one may find a (English) picturebook on almost any topic. They are diverse and cosmopolitan, expansive and varied in direction and scope (ibid.). Nevertheless, the fundamental question remains: How can the complete entity of visual and literary elements, comprising a picturebook, generate meaning? The next section will explore some of the ways in which the illustrations in picturebooks engage with the words in order to communicate information and tell stories in a unique way.
3.2 The interaction of image and word in picturebooks
The big truth about picture books […] is that they are an interweaving of word and pictures. You don’t have to tell the story in the words. You can come out of the words and into the pictures and you get this nice kind of antiphonal fugue effect ( Ahlberg cited in Moss 1990:21).
Modern society has become increasingly dependent on the visual, particularly for its capacity to communicate universally and instantly (Bamford 2003:2). Pictures exist all around us. Everywhere, texts are routinely ‘pictured’. All around the world, Western culture has been pictorialized to an overwhelming degree and with stupendous rapidity, exploiting consumers’ increasing visual sophistication (Lewis 2001:63). Visual images are becoming the predominant form of communication across a variety of teaching and learning resources, delivered across various formats and media. According to Ausburn and Ausburn (1978:287), modern society is an era of visual culture, which influences values, beliefs, attitudes and life-style of each individual.
From the viewpoint of literary theory, however, the heritage of several centuries of great un-illustrated literature reveals, that stories can be told adequately by words on their own. Why, then, should pictures be added?
19 Since the intended audience for picturebooks is young and inexperienced, most adults tend to presume that the reason for their distinctive features is merely educational. This assumption is mainly derived from the definition of the term ‘illustration’ offered by The American Heritage Dictionary: “Visual matter used to clarify or to decorate a text.” Hence, pictures can provide information complementing the meaning of the words and thus clarify the message being conveyed. Alternately, the purpose of pictures is understood to be mainly decorative, since they attract the attention of the reader and serve as “a source of immediate sensual pleasure” (Nodelman 1988). According to Nodelman, illustrations are “concentrated versions of aspects of physical reality”, which inevitably attract and hold children’s interest and help them to learn about a subject (Nodelman 1988: 4). For Nodelman, however, the main purpose of illustrations lies beyond the ability to clarify and decorate a text. Pictures can “communicate automatically and be understood effortlessly by even very young children” (ibid.:5). Thus pictures put no particular stress on the mind but communicate more readily and universally than words do.
The sounds we use to speak to each other and the symbols we use to represent those sounds in writing rarely have any significant connection with the objects, ideas, or emotions they refer to […], like the red traffic lights that tell us to stop, their meaning is nothing more than a matter of agreement among those who use them (ibid.).
The connections between signs and their meanings are arbitrary; hence verbal narratives demand much specialized expertise in order to understand any utterance or peace of writing. These predispositions, laid down by the text itself trigger the discussion of an implied reader or “co-creator of the work,” supplying parts of the text which are not written but only implied (Sipe 1998:99).
There is however, also some question about whether visual representations equally project an implied viewer. Although the connections between visual images and what they represent appears to be much less arbitrary – children are able to interpret visual images without ever having been specifically taught to do so – there are thus, many aspects of pictorial representation and recognition that are merely conventional and therefore have to be learned (Nodelman 1988:7). The idea of an implied viewer does not only impinge on our understanding of the relationship between pictures and words but
20 alters the consequent relationship “between picture books and their intended audience, young children new to the culture that adults take for granted” (ibid.).
Walter Ong, professor of English literature states, “A wise man once said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Yet, if this statement is true, why does it have to be a saying? Because a picture is worth a thousand words only under special conditions – which commonly include a context of words in which a picture is set” (Ong 1982:7). Nevertheless, this is also true for the same reason that pictures can show us more than words can say. As pictures reproduce the surface appearance of objects, they inevitably contain more visual information than required for the verbal message they accompany. (Nodelman 1988: 215). By showing us more than words can say pictures can easily cause confusion as to what is important about the various things they depict.
Pictures in picture books, like all pictures, are most significantly images to put words around – most interesting, and most communicative, when we have some words to accompany them (ibid.: 216).
Thus, a picturebook’s ‘story’ is never to be found in the pictures or the words alone, but develops out of their mutual interanimation9. “The words change the pictures and the pictures change the words and the product is something altoghether different” (Lewis 2001:36). It is in these mixed media forms that language and image are in a complementary relation. Although the words might clearly communicate a certain message, they come only fully to life and gain their complete meaning within the story when read alongside the accompanying picture. Hence, if a reader “wants the whole experience,” picture and words “have to be taken together” (ibid.). However, this word- picture relation in picturebooks is never entirely symmetrical. Hence, words and pictures do tell the same story, yet repeat the information in different forms of communication (Nikolajeva and Scott 2000:225). Words can draw attention to the parts of the image, that the reader should attend to, whereas the images provide the words with a specificity in form of shape, form and colour. Thus, “what the words do to the pictures is not the same as what the pictures do to the words” (Lewis 2001:35).
Pictures can communicate much to us, and particularly much of visual significance – but only if words focus them, tell us what it is about them that might be worth paying attention to. In a sense,
9 Lewis (2001:169) defines ‘interanimation’ as “the process by which, in composite texts such as picturebooks, comics and graphic novels, the words and images mutually influence one another so that the meaning of the words is understood in the light of what the pictures show, and vice versa”. 21 trying to understand the situation a picture depicts is always an act of imposing language upon it – interpreting visual information in verbal terms; Reading pictures for narrative meaning is a matter of applying our understanding of words. (Nodelman 1988:211).
Therefore, pictures limit not only possible interpretations of the situation being illustrated, but also the range of plausible responses to it. By limiting each other, “words and pictures together take on a meaning that neither possesses without the other” (ibid.:221). Together they have a quite different and more specific meaning than each on its own. As a result, the relationship between text and pictures in picturebooks appears to be ironic: “each speaks about matters on which the other is silent” (ibid.).
There is a complex interrelationship between words and pictures, and both have to be interpreted in order to understand a picturebook. In fact, “a picture book contains at least three stories: the one told by the words, the one implied by the pictures, and the one that results from the combination of the first two” (Nodelman & Reimer 2003: 295).
Concluding, contemporary picturebooks are extremely rich, sophisticated and challenging concerning their subject matter as well as their literary and artistic styles. However, they need to be seen as a complete product, as ‘iconotext’10 – “an inseparable entity of word and image, which cooperates to convey a message” (Nikolajeva & Scott 2001: 6). It is through the synthesis of text and pictures along with the layout of the book and the turning of pages, that the picturebook gains its total narrative and “communicates its message in a way which is untranslatable into any other form of aesthetic expression” (Schwarcz:1982:195).
10 The notion ‘iconotext’ was coined by Swedish scholar, Kristin Hallberg (1982). 22 Chapter 4: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
23 This chapter provides a brief summary of the theoretical components that will be taken into consideration throughout the study. Subchapter 4.1 illustrates the main ideas underlying the social constructionist viewpoint. Subsequently, section 4.1.1 outlines the theories of George Herbert Mead, followed by a brief overview of Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann’s concept of the “social construction of reality” in subchapter 4.1.3. The subsequent chapter 4.2 discusses the social construction of gender, followed by subchapter 4.5 which emphasizes the social construction of Maori women and Maori feminist theory. 4.3.1 illustrates the key themes of mana wahine including whakapapa (4.3.1.1), whanau (4.3.1.2), wairua (4.3.1.3), atua wahine (4.3.1.4), Te Tiriti (4.1.3.5) and decolonisation (4.3.1.6). This chapter continues with an overview of the social construction of picturebooks in subchapter 4.4, discussing typifications (4.4.1), objectivation and signification (4.4.2), symbolic universes (4.4.3), socialization (4.4.4), the social self (4.4.5), language in picturebooks (4.4.6) and the social construction of gendered ideology in picturebooks (4.4.7). Finally this chapter concludes (4.5.) with the presentation of the picturebook communication circle, a model illustrating how picturebooks serve as a socializing tool creating and maintaining the image of certain individuals or groups in a society.
4.1 Social Constructionism
The research question of the present paper is based on a social constructionist viewpoint expressed by the theories of Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann as well as George Herbert Mead.
Social constructionists represent the idea that the world is socially manufactured through human thought and language. In fact, society is unlike Durkheimian ideas, not viewed as a pre-existent domain, but rather as the product of individuals engaging with one another. According to Berger and Luckmann (1966), the relationship between human beings and the social world is dialectical. “That is, man (not, of course, in isolation but in his collectivities) and his social world interact with each other. The product acts back upon the producer” (Berger and Luckmann 1966:61). Externalization, objectification and internalization are the three dialectical moments in which the individual participates in the social reality.11
Moreover, constructionists suggest, that our understanding of the social world is culturally and historically determined. Thus, the meaning of events is dependent upon the concrete context in which they appear (Garfinkel 1984). Furthermore, constructionism argues against the notion of essential structures within society and thus the individual. Instead, the observer is summoned to emphasize the relativistic and
11 Those concepts will be discussed in more detail in subchapter 4.5. 24 subjective nature of the social world, where all knowledge is perspectival and contingent (Lyotard 1984).
These underpinning facets can be subdivided into two main perspectives: on the one hand, emphasis is put on the role of human agency in the construction of the social world (Giddens 1991, Mead 1964, Berger & Luckmann 1966); on the other hand, the concept of discourse takes centre stage in the process of shaping experience (Foucault 1972). For the purpose of this paper, the former perspective, represented by Berger, Luckmann and Mead, is of main importance.
4.1.1 George Herbert Mead Mead published rather little during his lifetime, however, after his death his lectures were published in book form, Mind, Self and Society (1934), Movements of Thought in the Nineteenth Century (1936), The Philosophy of the Act (1938), and thereby his work reached a broader audience. Mead aimed to investigate the genesis of the self both in terms of its practical social experience (its external aspects), as well as its experience as consciousness (its inner aspects) (Swingewood 2000:167).
Human society, as we know it could not exist without minds and selves, since all of its most characteristic features presuppose the possession of minds and selves by its individual members (Mead 1964:227).
According to Mead, it is through the mind and the self that humanity has the capacity to reason and to reflect. The self, however, exists only in relation to social groups, since “the individual himself belongs to a social structure, a social order” (ibid.:1f). Mind and self, consciousness and action, were therefore cooperative not individual phenomena involving social relations, roles and social institutions (Swingewood 2000:168).
Mead was concerned with developing a concept of symbolically mediated interaction, beginning with “an objective social process” and working inward “through the importation of the social process of communication into the individual by the medium of the vocal gesture” (Mead 1934: xxii).
For Mead, it is through language and interaction, that the individual acquires a social self. Instead of approaching human experience in terms of individual psychology, Mead investigates experience from the “standpoint of communication as essential to the social order” (Martin and Barresi 2006:250).
25 The communicational process consists of two phases. Firstly there is the conversation of gestures and secondly the conversation of significant gestures (or significant symbols). Language, for Mead, is communication through significant symbols. Both communicational processes presuppose a social context within which two or more individuals interact with one another. A significant symbol is a (vocal) gesture that calls out in the individual making it, the same response that is called out in other person to whom the gesture is directed (Mead 1934:24).12
Based on vocal gestures the individual indicates meaning to others and the self. Thus, there is no “mind or thought without language;” and language “is only a development and product of social interaction” (ibid:191f.). Hence language surfaces as a result of human interaction and collaboration.
Language is often utilized as a media tool to maintain the gender status of individuals in our society (Turner-Bowker 1996:462). As children learn how to read, they are exposed to the cultural symbols contained in books. These “significant symbols” (Mead 1934) play a strong role in the “determination of a society's future, by providing the basic models from which children form their ideas about themselves and others” (Rachlin and Vogt 1974:549).
As this paper aims to analyse the representation of New Zealand’s indigenous Maori women in contemporary picturebooks, Mead’s approach will be vital for the analysis of the cultural symbols constituting those characters in the narrative.
4.1.2 Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann For Berger and Luckmann, society consists of an objective and subjective reality. In order to become a member of society the human being needs to be socialized, which is to say the induction of an individual into the objective world of a society and is described as “primary socialization” by the authors. This first step of the socialization process takes place in the childhood of an individual. It is the process of internalizing the objective social world around one’s self “as a manifestation of another’s subjective processes which thereby becomes subjectively meaningful“ (Berger and Luckmann 1966:61) to an individual.
12 The concept of language as significant symbols and its relation to picturebooks is discussed in more detail in chapter 4.4. 26 13 By means of language, the child identifies with his significant others in various emotional ways, takes on their roles and attitudes and thus learns how to become a member of society. Primary socialization is completed after the individual established a 14 firm comprehension of the generalized other and developed a symmetrical relationship between objective and subjective reality thereupon (ibid.).
Based on the primary socialization the already formed self enters the process of secondary socialization. In the secondary socialization, the individual internalizes institutional sub-worlds and learns role-specific vocabularies in order to manage his way through those “partial realities” (ibid.:158). Hence, according to Berger and Luckmann, an individual is not born as a member of society, but becomes one. However, it is through the interrelationship with its environment, the particular social context in which the individual is positioned, that the human self is formed (ibid.:68). This reality of everyday life is shared with other individuals who are apprehended and ‘dealt with’ by means of typificatory schemes. Those typifications guide the social interaction and constitute social structure, which is “the sum total of these typifications and of the recurrent patterns of interaction established by means of them” (ibid.:48). Typifications of habitualized actions constitute institutions, which “by the very fact of their existence, control human conduct” by channelling and filtering that conduct “as against the many other directions that would theoretically be possible” (ibid.:72.). Finally the created institutional structure is legitimized by means of symbolic universes, providing “bodies of theoretical tradition” which integrate different “provinces of meaning and encompass the institutional order in a symbolic totality” (ibid.:113).
For Berger and Luckmann (1966), everyday reality is a social reality. Through picturebooks, children experience early encounters with this social world, including prevailing values, ideologies and beliefs. Picturebook communication is hence a part of the socialization process and an important mechanism through which culture is conveyed from one generation to the next. Based on Berger and Luckmann’s understanding of “the social construction of reality” and Mead’s definition of significant symbols as prerequisite to a social self, the present study aims to analyse the representation of Maori women in New Zealand picturebooks.
13 Significant others are people immediately around the individual who raise them and serve to mediate the world to them (Berger and Luckmann 1966). 14 Generalized others are an abstraction from the roles and attitudes of significant others. It is the roles in general (Berger and Luckmann 1966). 27 4.2 The Social Construction of Gender
One of the issues of greatest interest to social constructionists has been gender and its social construction (e.g. Unger 1989; Lorber & Farrell, 1991; Bohan 1993). Gender is not seen as an inherent trait of the individual but as an external process, which is defined by interactions between people, language and by the discourse of a culture (DeLamater and Hyde 1998).
According to the viewpoint of social constructionism, the reality of everyday life is socially manufactured through human thought and language (Berger and Luckmann 1966). Among the most forceful factors shaping the constructions of everyday reality are “the modes of discourse by which we exchange our perceptions and descriptions of reality” (Bohan 1993:13). Hence, “what we call knowledge is simply what we agree to call truth” (ibid). It is during the process of agreeing to a certain reality of a phenomenon, that precisely that reality is being constructed. Gender, is thus, not a freestanding phenomenon that exists inside individuals, but it is an “agreement that resides in social interchange; it is precisely what we agree it to be” (ibid). As West and Zimmermann (1987) would put it: one does not have gender; one does gender.
Throughout their lives, individuals do not only see and learn what is expected but also react in ways, which are expected and hence construct as well as maintain the gender order:
The very injunction to be a given gender takes place through discursive routes: to be a good mother, to be a heterosexually desirable object, to be a fit worker, in sum, to signify a multiplicity of guarantees in response to a variety of different demands all at once” (Butler 1990: 145).
This categorization of people, things and ideas is also referred to as the construction of dichotomous oppositional difference by various feminist scholars (e.g. Spivak, 1990, 1993, 1999; Hooks 1984; Collins 1986). The associations in dichotomies between women/the home/emotion on the one hand, and men/work/reason on the other hand are ideological constructs rather than empirical descriptions (Bondi 1992). Those pervasive either/or dualities gain their meaning only in relation to their dissimilarity from their oppositional counterparts. Hence they suppress other alternatives and delimit the multiple positions real women occupy (Poovey 1988:62). As a result, dichotomies “invariably imply relationships of superiority and inferiority, hierarchical relationships
28 that mesh with political economies of domination and subordination” (Collins 1986:20). Binary thinking has thus stabilized women as a group that could be collectively oppressed (Poovey 1988). Brittan and Maynard (1984) emphasize the impact of dualistic thinking in linking systems of sexual oppression with those of racial oppression. They state that:
there is an implicit belief in the duality of culture and nature. Men are the creators and mediators of culture-women are the manifestations of nature. The implication is that men develop culture in order to understand and control the natural world, while women being the embodiment of forces of nature, must be brought under the civilizing control of men ... This duality of culture and nature […] is also used to distinguish between so- called higher nations or civilizations, and those deemed to be culturally backward […]. Non-European peoples are conceived of as being nearer to nature than Europeans. Hence, the justification […] for slavery and colonialism […] (ibid:193-94).
This interlocking nature of gender, race and class oppression is shaped by their subordinate status in an array of either/or dualities and remains a recurring theme in the works of Black feminism (Murray, 1970; Beale, 1970; Lewis, 1977; Hooks, 1981; Davis, 1981; Steady, 1981; Dill, 1983). Those scholars aim to determine the links among gender, race and class systems, treating the “interaction among multiple systems as the object of study” in order to develop “new theoretical interpretations of the interaction itself” (Collins 1986:20).
Hence, dismantling, or deconstructing the hierarchical and oppositional logic of those binary oppositions into “an economy in which terms circulate rather than remain fixed” and mobilizing another ordering system “in which the construction of false unities intrinsic to binary opposition would not prevail,” outlines more accurately “the multiple determinants that figure in any individual’s social position and (relative) power and oppression” (Poovey 1988:58). As the dichotomous construct is “revealed to be artificial, the identity and rigidity of the two seemingly fixed terms can be destabilized,” allowing other possibilities to be formulated (ibid.: 59). The practice of deconstruction thus exposes the fact that gender and its opposition of “masculine” and “feminine” is a social construction and illustrates that there is no necessary connection between “anatomical sexuality and gender stereotypes or roles” (ibid.:59).
29 Consequently Black, and White feminists do not only need to write the history of women’s oppression but also the future of gender differences in order to deconstruct binary logic and make the social construction of (sexed) identities a project of social and political concern (ibid.:63).
Based on the idea of gender as an achieved status, which is constructed through psychological, cultural and social means (West and Zimmerman 1987), the following picturebook analysis will refer to Berger and Luckmann’s (1966) Social Construction of Reality. According to the authors, everyday reality including gender roles and stereotypes, are human products. As it is “impossible to separate the structure and thematic content of thought from the historical and material conditions shaping the lives of its producers,” (gendered) representations of Maori women in New Zealand picturebooks are “historical products of human activity” and thus part of a socially constructed reality (Berger and Luckmann 1966, Mannheim 1936; as cited in Collins 1986:16). Furthermore, as for Mead language surfaces as a result of human interaction and collaboration, his approach complements the theoretical background in order to analyse the cultural symbols constituting Maori women in New Zealand picturebooks.
The following paragraphs will illustrate how the identity of Maori women is socially constructed in a bicultural New Zealand society and how those women face the struggles of marginalization, oppression and decolonisation.
4.3 The Social Construction of Maori Women: Maori Feminist Theory
As Maori women, we will continue to contest dominant views and representation of our ‘differences’. We need to change the situation, because the discussion on difference has continued to marginalise us, to name our pain, without even asking us what pain is. Feminist discourses isolate and ignore us, marginalise and oppress us, because they still exclude us except as token participants or silenced subjects. We thus are Othered and continue to be the ‘differenced’ and, although we are different, it is for us, as Maori women, to decide what differences count (Johnston 1998:36).
Maori women are counted among the group of women in the world who have been historically constructed as ‘Other’ by white patriarchies and white feminisms (Smith 1992:33).
Due to a distinctive history of colonial capitalism and a predominantly Anglo-Saxon 30 migration flow, it was only in the early 1980s that Maori women were getting organised as a separate force. The first National Black Women’s Hui15 was held in 1980 and women in the new Maori political party, mana motuhake, formed a separate Maori women’s policy group, mana wahine16 (Dann 1985:35). Once Maori women had taken up the question of feminism they organized fast, challenging Pakeha feminists to acknowledge and to understand that there was more than one way of interpreting gender relations (Ibid. 37).
Several Maori scholars, such as Kathie Irwin, Leonie Pihama, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Patricia Johnson and Ripeka Evans expressed their discontent about the marginalisation of Maori women “through the destruction of their (traditional) spheres and sites of power and the imposition of colonial and Western ideologies of gender and race” (Hoskins 1997:31). These women have given substance to and have contributed to the impetus for theories of Maori feminism (also referred to as mana wahine), criticizing the notion of European values as a landmark of progress and emphasizing that Pakeha feminisms consist mostly of “imported theoretical assumptions derived from Anglo- American scholarship” (McNicholas 2004:9). By refusing to acknowledge and take responsibility for their colonisation, Pakeha feminists engendered the dilemma of forming an alliance with Maori feminists (Smith and Taki 1993; Mikaere 1994; Smith 1999). Pakeha women’s movements have focused on the dualism of men versus women, however, continue to marginalise Maori women, who are seeking not only validation of their womanhood, but also their iwi (tribe), hapu (sub-tribe), whanau (extended family) and their cultural positions (Pihama 1993).
Maori feminism was grounded in the identity and creation of this country, grounded in the rivers, lakes, mountains, seas and forests, grounded in the war and peace between tribes and families, grounded in the whakapapa (genealogy) of generations of family, tribes, waka, Gods and Goddesses, grounded in
15 Hui is the Maori expression for: „gathering, meeting, assembly, seminar, conference” (www.maoridictionary.co.nz) 16 Mana ist the Maori expression for: prestige, authority, control, power, influence, status, spiritual power, charisma - mana is a supernatural force in a person, place or object (www.maoridictionary.co.nz). Wahine is Maori for: women, females, ladies, wives (ibid.). Maori feminist Leonie Pihama (2001), views mana wahine as being defined in line with its two key components, 'mana' and 'wahine'. In regard to the concept of wahine she states: „Mana wahine refers to Maori women's analysis that encompasses the complex realities of Maori women's lives. It is defined within cultural terms and in a context that affirms fundamental Maori values and the ways in which they are negotiated. As such mana wahine brings to the fore a need for analysis that will reclaim Maori worldviews in terms of gender and gender relationships” (Pihama, 2001:235). 31 notions and concepts of time and space that required reclamation (Evans 1994:58).
The whanau-hapu-iwi links support Maori feminism with a philosophical base, which originates from historical and cultural sources, preceding and succeeding their society (Johnson and Pihama 1993:16). Thus, in Maori society, the rights of the collective group are crucial and provide the context for a consideration of the rights of the individual (Irwin 1993).
Although there is a plethora of historical evidence indicating the leadership roles performed by Maori women over time, the vast majority in modern day New Zealand society assumes that leadership in Maori society is traditionally a male preserve (McNicholas 2004:11). According to Irwin, Maori women have to be reconstructed in a contemporary context equally powerful as Maori men in order to reclaim the status of Maori culture and not become a hybrid version of international patriarchy (Irwin 1992; Mikaere 1999 as in McNicholas 2004). Thus, the notion of Maori feminism is central to the political vision of equality for all Maori (Hoskins 1997). As pointed out by Irwin:
Maori feminism is not anti-Maori. It is pro-Maori, an integral part of Maori development and seeks to re-establish the mana wahine of our women (status of Maori women), to allow us to stand tall beside the men in our whanau (extended family) again. Not in front of them, the movement is not anti-men, nor behind them, we are not apologetic for our strength or our visions, but beside them, where our culture tells us we should be (Irwin 1990:23).
As a result, various Maori women theorists, writers, artists and activists contributed to the development of their own form of feminist expression encompassing Maori society and culture from a position of what it means to be a Maori woman in a contemporary post-colonial environment (McNicholas 2004:9).
Awatere (1984), a leading feminist scholar and initiator of the impetus for Maori feminism, identified Maori sovereignty as a fundamental goal for feminists. By criticizing the primacy of gender oppression in New Zealand, Awatere suggested a ‘tripod theory of oppression’ according to which the power relations of race, class and gender constitute the “separate but equal pillars of human oppression” (Edwards 2010).
An increasing complexity within and between categories of gender, race, ethnicity and class in New Zealand challenged Maori feminists to develop strategies of change for
32 Maori women. By developing their own forms of feminist expression, Maori women have to face particular struggles not only with the sexism of Maori and non-Maori men and the racism of non-Maori women but also with the system of patriarchy of non- Maori men.
This has meant challenging the role of Maori men for their continuing complicity in our oppression, the role of white women and white women’s feminisms for their own racism and the role of white men for the system of patriarchy, which is seen as an enduring source of privilege (Smith 1992:12).
Challenged by the endeavour to assume control over the interpretation of their struggles, Maori feminism focuses strongly upon the need to make Maori women more ‘visible’ and to “write Maori women back into the historical discourse” (Johnston 1998 as in McNicholas 2004:10).
In the documentation of our stories, Maori women were written out, marginalised, and made invisible. Those who recorded and wrote the stories assumed that the leading characters within Maori history were Maori men (Johnson 1998:31).
Thus, Maori feminists have claimed that the most challenging legacy of colonisation for Maori women is the impact it has had on the way Maori women perceive themselves today (Evans 1994; Mikaere 1994). However, the underlying aim and focus of Maori feminism in its diverse forms, allows Maori women to have space to develop their own ideas and analysis about what is happening to their culture.
‘Mana Wahine Maori’- reclaiming and celebrating what we have been, and what we will become. It is not a re-action to males, and their violence against us; it is a pro-action, a determining of ourselves as Maori women, with authenticity and grace (Awekotuku 1991:10).
Thus, mana wahine recognises and values the diverse backgrounds and realities of Maori women and is part of a larger movement towards decolonisation and the honouring of the Treaty of Waitangi (Kahukiwa 2000).
Several Maori scholars (Te Awekotuku 1992, Smith 1999, Pihama 2001) have identified certain key themes comprising a wide range of discussions about mana wahine and thus constituting an important context for the present study. Those themes are discussed in more detail in the following section.
33 4.3.1 Key themes of Mana Wahine It is important that Maori women take control of spaces where our stories can be told. This includes theoretical space. Our voices have been silenced for too long. The silencing of Maori women’s voices has meant the silencing of our theories, worldviews. 1t has meant that Maori women’s stories are able to then be defined as ‘myths’, and therefore some figment of the cultural imagination. The marginalisation of mana wahine has meant that Maori women are constantly having to try and 'find' ourselves within the texts of the dominant group. We are forever trying to see ourselves in the images created by the colonisers. It is also necessary in the process to look to the work that our tupuna wahine (female ancestors) have already undertaken in laying a foundation for ensuring Maori women are active in all areas that pertain to our wellbeing (Pihama, 2001:240).
Mana wahine is not only a movement of Maori women against colonial powers, structures and definitions, but also a space for Maori women to develop their own ideas and analysis concerning the colonial past of their culture (Hutchings 2002:54). As Maori women have diverse backgrounds and realities, mana wahine recognises these differences instead of proposing a homogenised theory that applies to all Maori women. However, Pihama (2001), Smith (1999) and Awekotuku (1992), identified six key themes, underlying the main mana wahine framework: whakapapa (genealogy), whanau (extended family), wairua (spirit), atua wahine (female goddesses), Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangy) and decolonisation are not definitive themes but constitute a significant conceptual context in the field of mana wahine.
4.3.1.1 Whakapapa (genealogy) Whakapapa is a “taxonomic framework that links all animate and inanimate, known and unknown phenomena in the terrestrial and spiritual worlds” (Taonui 2011). It is through whakapapa that mythology, legend, tikanga (custom), knowledge, history, philosophies and spiritualties are related and organised, preserved and transmitted from one generation to the next. According to Williams (2001), whakapapa is defined as “place in layers, lay one upon another” and “recite in proper order genealogies, legends etc.” (Williams 2001:259). Similarly, Ngata (1972) describes whakapapa as “the process of laying one thing upon another. If you visualise the foundation ancestors as the first generation, the next and succeeding ancestors are placed on them in ordered layers” (Ngata 1972:6). By building layer by layer upon the past towards the present, and on into the future, Maori women and men are connecting with their roots and with one another. Thus, whakapapa plays a major part in their knowledge transmission and 34 identity formation.
Having knowledge of whakapapa helps ground us to the earth. We have a sense of belonging here, a sense of purpose, a raison d’etre, which extends beyond the sense of merely existing on this planet (Te Rito 2007:4).
An understanding of whakapapa and the inclusion of whakapapa within mana wahine analysis brings with it 'herstories’ that are located within Maori understandings. However, the complexity of whakapapa is often denied within the Eurocentric, anthropologically driven worldview, and the multiple layers of whakapapa are often reduced to a one-dimensional genealogical table (Pihama 2001). A mana wahine framework is informed by whakapapa, which brings with it a way of viewing and understanding the multiplicity of relationships constituting Maori worldviews and relays the complexities of Maori women’s experiences.
4.3.1.2 Whanau (extended family) Another key theme is whanau, which is often translated as ‘family’ however, its meaning is more complex. Whanau includes emotional, physical and spiritual dimensions and is based on whakapapa (Metge 1995). The practice of whanau is a fundamental building block for Maori society since it guides interaction with the environment, people or circumstances; universal relationships and interrelationships (Hutchings 2002:52). Especially for Maori women, the juxtaposition of whanau to family is particularly dangerous.
The dominant representation of family in Aotearoa is considered to be the nuclear family, this ideology persists irrespective of the fact that there are many family types. That dominant representation reinforces the gendered notions that are inherent to the nuclear family structure. This is not to say that all people adhere to such notions but it is a reminder that the nuclear family is in many ways the antithesis to whanau (Pihama 2001:271).
Mason Durie (1994) describes whanau as more than solely an extended family network. For Durie, whanau can be seen as diffuse unit, based on common whakapapa, within which certain obligations and responsibilities are maintained. He acknowledges that in more recent times whanau has been broadened to include a number of non-traditional situations where Maori form a cohesive group despite a missing blood relationship.
Metge (1995) discusses the diverse range of relationships between Maori and proposes 35 various definitions, aligned to different circumstances:
· a set of siblings · all the descendants of a relatively recent ancestor but not their spouses and whangai [foster child] · all the descendants of a relatively recent ancestor and their spouses and whangai · all the descendants of a recent ancestor and their spouses and whangai who interact together on an on-going basis · descent groups also known as hapu [clans or descent groups] and iwi [ tribe] · a nuclear family · a group of unrelated Maori who interact on a regular basis · a group of people gathered for the purpose of supporting an individual or individuals · a large group of people gathered for a common purpose
Those definitions present similar aspects and unique differences, which reflect the range of traditional and contemporary configurations comprising whanau. The structure of whanau can thus vary from the immediate family to much broader collectives, can be multi-layered, dynamic and flexible. It was due to colonisation that many Maori women had to move from their traditional structure of whanau to the Pakeha concept of the nuclear heterosexual family.
They (Maori women) became dependent on their husbands as breadwinners, while they became increasingly isolated as care givers at home. Some women were expected to work both outside and in the home, as economic hardship required them to contribute financially, while Christian values about what constituted a good wife and mother compelled them to maintain that role as well. Such values also meant that husbands became increasingly the head of the family, wives feeling obliged to remain with them no matter what (Evans 1994:5).
Mana wahine, however, values whanau and emphasizes both an analysis of how relationships between Maori women and Maori men are constructed and played out, and also a focus on the construction of relationships between Maori women themselves (Pihama 2001:272).
4.3.1.3 Wairua (spirit) The second key theme, wairua, is the “spiritual dimension” which “denotes positive and
36 negative streams. It concerns our mental and spiritual well-being. It is the balance between the negative and the positive and a belief in something greater than humanity” (Hutchings 2002:51). For Pere (1988) wairua is
a powerful belief in supernatural forces governed and influenced the way one interacted with other people and related to the environment (Pere 1988:13).
Hence, every act, natural and other influences are considered to have both physical and spiritual implications. For some Maori, the relationship with wairua and their belief in it governs everything they do, especially their interaction with the environment. Pihama (2001) argues that the spiritual reality of Maori women cannot be separated from the physical reality.
How we talk about the social constructiveness of events, positions and realities must also include a discussion of the spiritual elements that are apart of those things. This is where the argument within critical theory that all things are socially constructed falls short in that it does not provide for wairua (Pihama 2001:280).
The visibility of wairua is a part of a wider agenda to affirm Maori knowledge and challenge colonial notions that have marginalised and denied the power of Maori women. According to Evans (1994), the destruction of wairua with the replacement of Judeo-Christian beliefs was an essential element of colonisation. Hence, western feminisms were criticized as spiritually ‘impoverished’, relegating spirituality to the domain of religion (Pihama 2001). Within the mana wahine agenda, however, it is necessary to counter the work of Judeo-Christian beliefs and colonisation and provide space for reclaiming the right of wairua (Hutchings 2002:52).
4.3.1.4 Atua Wahine (female goddesses) For Maori women, the sources of mana wahine include te ara uwha o Tahu (the heavenly female path of Tahu), the primal parent Papatuanuku (the earth mother, and creator of all life) and other female deities (Higgins and Meredith 2011). Papatuanuku is the first female entity in the Maori creation narrative, followed by Hineahuone, who was created out of clay by Tane at Kurawaka17. Thus, Hinahuone links women to the land, as she is physically formed of the earth. Papatuanuku personifies the earth mother,
17 There are numerous stories about the emergence of human beings from the natural environment. They begin with Ranginui (the sky) and Papatūānuku (the earth), who are the parents of Tāne, the progenitor of humankind. Tāne is a celebrated figure. Among his many feats was the creation of a woman from the soil at Kurawaka. Her name was Hineahuone (the female element who comes from the soil) (Smith 1913:34). 37 and is regarded as ‘earthness, the nurturing one’. “Papatuanuku is therefore the nurturer of life and from her humankind is born, and like her Maori women also nurture life (Hutchings 2002:50). It is the relationship of mana wahine to Papatuanuku, that Maori women are seen as land.
Our cosmology connects Maori women and reaffirms that our connection to the land is that we are land […] Within our cosmologies, human rights to utilise the earth's natural resources are based on Maori principles and lore of sustainability, the cosmologies of Hineahuone and Hinetitama reaffirm Maori women's close spiritual connection to the earth (ibid.).
By reclaiming the stories of atua wahine Maori women aim to correct an imposed imbalance and re-establish a balance by emphasizing the images of atua wahine who have been ‘dismembered’ through colonisation.
In addition to safeguarding our Maori language, we must also nurture our spirits, the Earth Mother and all the other aspects of the natural world upon which we human beings are dependent, re-establishing a balance at a personal, cultural and environmental level (Yates-Smith 1998:4).
Mana wahine theory seeks to bring forward the stories and identities of atua wahine as a way of gauging the many and varied roles Maori women carry. It values atua wahine as an “integral component in the relationships between people and all elements of cosmology, spiritual, human and physical being” (Pihama 2001:261).
4.3.1.5 Te Tiriti (The Treaty of Waitangi) Since Te Tiriti (The Treaty of Waitangi) was signed in 1840 little has been done to active1y protect the rights of Maori women as it was guaranteed in the Treaty. Essentially, the claim aims to emphasize the marginalisation of Maori women and stresses that “exclusionary practices of the Crown prevented participation by Maori women in tribal models of self-determination resulting in a negative effect on Maori women in Te Ao Maori” (Hutchings 2002:45). Moreover the claim argues for the right of mana wahine, yet the arguments about mana wahine do not begin at this time, as that confines the argument in the parameters of Pakeha history. “Mana wahine extends deeper, for as Maori women (we) ground (our) mana wahine to Papatuanuku the earth mother and her mauri, which goes back to the beginning of time (ibid.).” However, the perception of the claim has been clouded largely by the colonial discourses that have shaped the discussions about it.
38 For mana wahine it is important to notice that Maori women signed Te Tiriti and were thus party to the document on which modern New Zealand is founded. Consequently, Maori women were politically active and active participants in the formation of the Aotearoa nation state. “A mana wahine analysis, therefore, is also a Te Tiriti analysis as it positions the rights of mana wahine as Tiriti rights” (ibid.).
4.3.1.6 Decolonisation The last key theme is decolonisation. Within the framework of decolonisation in relation to mana wahine, it is vital for Maori women to recognise the impact western colonial notions of women have had in terms of defining their identity (Hutchings 2002:47).
In the colonists' eyes Maori women were not equal in any way to the status of white women but were seen as lower in status and worth, as they were 'native' and 'savage women of colour' (ibid.).
Mana wahine analysis, however, recognises the colonial reality for Maori women and aims to create space to retell their stories and give them the right to reclaim past historical constructions of themselves. By reclaiming visibility for Maori women, mana wahine challenges the western assumptions of dominance and place of privilege within knowledge and historical construction (ibid.).
The mana wahine framework will serve as basis for the following content analysis of New Zealand children’s picturebooks. The themes of Te Tiriti and decolonisation provide crucial background information and context for the picturebook analysis. Whakapapa, whanau, wairua and atua wahine are the four main pillars constituting the coding frame developed for the present study and will be discussed in more detail in chapter five.
The following subchapter will focus on the picturebook as medium of investigation and how its content is a product of the social construction of everyday reality. With Berger and Luckmann (1966) and Mead (1934) providing the theoretical foundation, the subsequent paragraphs will illustrate how picturebook communication is a part of the socialization process and an important mechanism through which culture is conveyed from one generation to the next.
39 4.4 The Social Construction of picturebooks
Pippi Longstocking – Swedish rebel and feminist role model was the headline of a recent article published by The Local,18 retelling and advertising the unorthodox antics of Astrid Lindgren’s ‘super-child’ (Cotton 2000:15). While presenting her readers with a view of childhood with an exciting experience to be relished, Pippi Longstocking is a girl rebel, who since 1945 has helped liberate children all over the globe (Meri 2008).
All over the world, Pippi Longstocking (Långstrump) has encouraged generations of girls to have fun and to believe in themselves. In the process, she has done wonders for equality between the sexes (ibid.).
By breaking conventional ideas about how girls should behave, and making fun of adult’s gender roles, Pippi openly criticizes the social reality of the 1940s. Writing Pippi Longstocking in 1945, Astrid Lindgren can thus be seen as a forerunner of the French feminist Simone Beauvoir (1949) who states that “one is not born, but rather, becomes a woman.” Hence, gender is an achieved status: “that which is constructed through psychological, cultural, and social means” (West and Zimmerman 1987:125). By viewing gender as an accomplishment, the focus shifts from matters internal to the individual to interactional processes and, ultimately, institutional arenas (ibid.). Hence, gender is not simply what one is, but what one does and is actively constructed within the everyday social reality.
By emphasizing individual choices instead of natural or human laws, the construction of gender and race is, according to Berger and Luckmann (1966), an on-going, dynamic process performed by people acting and interacting based on their knowledge and their interpretation of it. Picturebooks partake in this dynamic process, reproducing, reinforcing as well as legitimating the prevalent “patriarchal gender system” (McCabe 2011:198) to the young readers. However, it is not only gendered ideology embedded and constructed in the storylines of contemporary picturebooks. Picturebook communication is a complex process contributing to the development of the social self and thus the social reality as a whole. The following paragraph will shed light on how the picturebook is both, a socially implicating and socially implicated medium and hence a valuable resource of academic investigation.
18 The Local-Sweden’s News in English. URL: http://www.thelocal.se/followsweden/article/Pippi- Longstocking-Swedish-rebel-and-feminist-role-model/ 40 4.4.1 Typifications Social reality, for Berger and Luckmann, is a human product. It is the knowledge shared with others in the routines of daily life that constitutes “the fabric of meanings without which no society could exist” (Berger and Luckmann 1966:27). The world of everyday life is a taken for granted reality for the ordinary members of society and originates “in their thoughts and actions, and is maintained as real by these” (ibid.:33). However, the reality of everyday life is shared with others. It is through the interaction of human social relations, that everyday reality is a social reality creating numerous social relationships from the anonymous and distant to the intimate (Myatt 1995). These relationships are apprehended in a continuum of typificatory schemes through which individuals interpret and classify one another and determine their reaction in face-to- face encounters (Berger and Luckmann 1966:45).
Thus I apprehend the other as ‘a man’, ‘a European’, ‘a buyer’, ‘a jovial type’, and so on. All these typifications ongoingly affect my interaction with him as, say, I decide to show him a good time on the town before trying to sell him my product (ibid.).
These interpretative categories emerge out of the observation of habitually repeated actions, construed by those doing the typifying. Thus, although typifications may appear as objective categories, existing independently of human interaction, they are however human creations developed from the social interaction of individuals (Myatt 1995).
The typification of Maori in New Zealand’s society has suffered strongly from colonial and Western ideologies and beliefs. Even years after the European world put its first footprint firmly onto the land of Aotearoa, the effects of colonisation for Maori are still widely felt.
With the dawning of the so called ‘Maori Renaissance’ in recent New Zealand history, the previously idyllic and dominant (mis)conception of New Zealand as one ‘racially’ harmonious nation was shattered, and stereotypical typifications representing Maori as a threat were revived at the same time (Wetherell and Potter 1992). This post-colonial movement conceptualized and promoted Maori identities as “a sort of collective 'one true self', hiding inside the many other, more superficial or artificially imposed 'selves'” (Hall 1990: 223). The remodelled Maori typification embodied attributes such as an inner holistic spirituality or ties to the whanau (extended family), iwi (tribe) and the land. Moreover, it emphasised a shared subjectivity that has been shaped in contrast to 41 Pakeha: what is 'traditional' (i.e. pre-European) is characterised as Maori, whereas all that is 'modern' is categorised as Pakeha (Wall 1997:41).
For Maori women, typificatory schemes involved the “destruction of their [traditional] spheres and sites of power and the imposition of colonial and Western ideologies of gender and race” (Hoskins 1997:31). Stereotyped thus, the Maori woman suffers particular forms of racism. As Butler (1993) stated:
The culturally dominated undergo a paradoxical oppression, in that they are both marked out by stereotypes and at the same time rendered invisible. As remarkable, deviant beings, the culturally imperialized are stamped with an essence. The stereotypes confine them to a nature which is often attached in some way to their bodies, and which cannot easily be denied.
Hence, Maori feminism place special emphasis on the ‘visibility’ of Maori women and aims to “write Maori women back into the historical discourse” by challenging the existing imperialistic typifications (McNicholas 2004:10). Furthermore, they seek to reconstruct the social reality of Maori women and men in a contemporary context as equally powerful, in order to reclaim the status of Maori culture and “not become a hybrid version of international patriarchy” (Irwin 1992; Mikaere 1999 as in McNicholas 2004).
Mainstream media contribute heavily to the formation of negative typifications, marginalizing Maori voices and confirming negative stereotypes (Adds et al. 2005:47). Wall (1997) identifies four ‘stereotypical constructions’ of Maori as the racialised ‘other’ which are prevalent in the media. Maori are depicted as the ‘comic other’ (e.g. Billy T. James)19, as ‘primitive natural athlete’ (e.g. Auckland Warriors)20, as ‘radical political activist’ (e.g. the Pakaitore protest)21 or as the ‘quintessential Maori’ with a
19 According to Wall (1997): “Billy T. James was a Maori comedian. He developed a number of humorous figures but none were as popular (or notorious) as what Billy T. called his 'black singlet' character. This character was constructed as a low dass, happygo- Iucky Maori bludger, who was always telling tall stories and was always slightly on the wrong side of the law.” (For further details see: Wall, M., 1997. Stereotypical Constructions of the Maori Race in the Media. New Zealand Geographer, 53 (2)). 20 As Wall (1997) states: “The stereotype of the socially acceptable savagery of Maori as the primitive natural athlete is exemplified by the phenomenally successful promotional campaign of Auckland Warriors Rugby League Limited. They invoked stereotypical images of primitive Maori savagery to market the athletic prowess of the Auckland Warriors. When the team was named in 1992, the word 'warrior' had become synonymous with Maori masculinity in the popular vernacular of Aotearoa/New Zealand. This image of the generic Maori male as the primitive athlete, advanced by the Auckland Warriors, typifies Maori as being 'naturally' more suited to physical activity, as opposed to other careers.” (For further details see: Wall, M., 1997). 21 Wall (1997): “There was growing propensity in the mid-1990s, amongst some Maori groups, to occupy land which they believe is rightfully theirs. The Pakaitore occupation was the most prominent, and 42 romanticised past (e.g. films and academic notions)22.
The (re)formation of contemporary stereotypical typifications of the Maori 'race' in the media is central to how these racialised identities are popularly conceived, experienced and reproduced in the social reality of today’s New Zealand. It appears to be paradoxical that such typifications seem to have independent ontological status and yet are human constructions (Myatt 1995). However, according to the approach of Berger and Luckmann, this serves to emphasize the “dialectical nature of the process of reality construction as it is carried out in its social context” (ibid.:10).
4.4.2 Objectivation and signification For Berger and Luckmann, the fundamental dialectic process of society consists of three moments: externalization, objectivation and internalization.
Externalization is the on-going outpouring of human being into the world, both in the physical and the mental activity of men. Objectivation is the attainment by the products of this activity (again both physical and mental) of a reality that confronts its original producers as a facticity external to and other than themselves. Internalization is the reappropriation by men of this same reality, transforming it once again from structures of the objective world into structures of the subjective consciousness. It is through externalization that society is a human product. It is through objectivation that society becomes a reality sui generis. It is through internalization that man is a product of society (Berger 1969:4).
Through the process of externalization habitual, typified actions become social institutions, which again form the social world (Berger and Luckmann 1967). Different reasons might initiate a certain behaviour or pattern of social relations, however they will soon be accepted merely because "this is how we do things here" (Myatt 1995:10).
involved a core group of around 150 men, women and chi1dren from a local tribe. Articles (in the New Zealand Herald) about the occupation were often accompanied by incongruent but evocative photographs depicting young Maori men either solely or in small groups. These photographs constructed the unknown Black male aggressor(s) in a pose of menacing Maori male criminality, visible signifiers of White terror of the Black Other.” (For further details see: Wall, M., 1997). 22 Wall (1997) “Movies by Maori filmmakers such as Barry Barclay's Ngati (1987) and Merata Mita's Mauri (1988) seek to emphasise a feminised reinvention of Maori identity that rests on the following traits: rurality (particularly affinity with the land), spirituality, and family. Both films are set in the past where a quintessential Maori identity is (possibly) less problematic, its unified expression more protected from fragmentation as their lived experience fits more comfortably with what is considered to be 'traditional'. However, While the desire for self-naming is generated by a perceived need to reverse the effects ofthe colonial subjugation and conceptual domination of the Maori, the quintessential Maori identity has resulted in cultural closure where the past is reified and “cised, where the problems of the present are decontextualised, and where differences within Maori are erased”. 43 In the case of Maoridom, it is Pakeha institutions, such as family, education or religion which „control [their] conduct by setting up predefined patterns of conduct, which channel it in one direction as against the many other directions that would theoretically be possible“ and thus restrict Maoris from developing their own culture (Berger and Luckmann 1967:72). The institutional world, then, is experienced as an objective reality, confronting the individual with undeniable facts, which “resist his attempts to change or evade them.” However, it is vital to “keep in mind that the objectivity of the institutional world, however massive it may appear to the individual, is a humanly produced, constructed objectivity” (ibid.:78).
Furthermore, a crucial aspect of objectivation is signification. It is through externalization, that the individual creates signs, which serve as an index of subjective meaning (ibid.:50). Human products, such as Maori carvings or greenstone jewellery, become objectivated by their capacity to carry subjective meanings of human intentions. They become symbols of meanings, which go beyond their original significance. Hence, the Maori carvings symbolize more than a mere means for decoration. Rather they are representations of historical figures such as renowned ancestors or legends and are thus “indeed symbolical, expressing and enacting religious beliefs” (Thornton 1959:41).
4.4.3 Symbolic Universes A symbolic universe is the frame of reference, embracing all human experience and knowledge (Berger and Luckmann 1967:114). It is conceived of as “the matrix of all socially objectivated and subjectively real meanings; the entire historic society and the entire biography of the individual are seen as events taking place within this universe” (ibid.). It is through the symbolic universe, that the institutional order of society is explained and justified, so that the individual “may locate himself within it” and “can reassure himself that he is living correctly” (ibid.:114-117). By placing an individual within the context of a symbolic universe, social roles are reaffirmed and the individual’s subjective identity legitimised.
Furthermore, the symbolic universe orders history. It locates all collective events in a “cohesive unity that includes past, present and future” (ibid.:120). Hence, it elaborates a common frame of reference for the projection of individual actions and establishes a ‘memory’, shared by all the individuals socialized within one collectivity.
44 Since the arrival of the British whalers and traders in Aotearoa during the 1700s, the European-Catholic society established their own symbolic universe, legitimizing the assimilation and alienation of indigenous Maoris. British missionaries and the colonial government adopted a policy of assimilation of Maori into Pakeha culture through “actively discouraging Maori language, belief system and culture” (Jenkins and Matthews 1998:85). By imposing their monocultural ideas upon the indigenous population, Pakeha neglected the symbolic universe constituting the social reality of Maori and ensured the economic, political and cultural dominance of their own people over Maori. The knowledge generated by theoreticians in the Pakeha sphere of reality was deliberately appropriated in order to bolster their own claims to authority. Hence, Pakeha theories became a key feature of the symbolic universe of Pakeha people, with the result that the habits and usages of the native Maoris were “assimilated as speedily as possible” to those of the European population (Jenkins and Matthews 1998:86). The two autonomous universes were aimed to be assimilated into one overarching universe of meaning, dominating and legitimating the social reality of two diverging cultures.
As the process of cultural loss slowed during the 1970s, Maori began to reclaim their symbolic universe by revitalising and strengthen the Maori language and culture. When the National and Labour government finally inscribed a bicultural model in the government policy during the 1980 and 1990, Pakeha New Zealand juridically acknowledged the existence of the symbolic universe of Maori. However, the dominant Pakeha mainstream culture can still be described as “the culture of power” (Delpit 1988:282), constituting the framework for today’s main New Zealand ideologies and beliefs.
Maori women are seen as the spiritual cornerstone of Maoridom, responsible for reproducing the Maori nation, its peoples and cultural traditions (Moeke-Maxwell 2005:501). Although the New Zealand women’s movement split into Pakeha and Maori feminist communities, with the white feminists mainly focusing on women’s issues, Maori women’s concerns generally reflect the ideologies and sentiments of Maori nationalism and thus the entire symbolic universe of all Maori.
She [the Maori woman] provides the frame upon which the Maori national community constructs itself as unchanged over time, permitting the emergence of a newly reconfigured patriarchal alliance between Maori and Pakeha (ibid.).
45 The different roles women play in either their Pakeha or Maori environment confirms the existence and dynamic of the two diverging universes of Maori and Pakeha spheres of reality.
Contemporary New Zealand society is characterized by its pluralism, which voids the idea of an all-encompassing symbolic universe, however, provides alternative symbolic universes that offer different interpretations of the larger social world.
According to Berger and Luckmann “most modern societies are pluralistic” and therefore have “different partial universes coexisting in a state of mutual accommodation” (Berger and Luckmann 1967:142). However, since Maori and Pakeha occupy the same society and “belong to roughly the same ‘culture’” it is assumed that there is only one perspective on events (Adds et al. 2005:47). This consensus view of society is quite common in modern, organised, democratic, capitalist societies, however disregards the plurality and co-existence of different symbolic universes within one social reality. The consensus view in New Zealand has been that of Pakeha, neglecting the symbolic universes of Maori and other ethnic groups such as Asians or Pacific minorities, which differ from each other in fundamental ways. However, pluralism encourages both scepticism and innovation and is thus “inherently subversive of the taken-for-granted reality of the traditional status quo” (Berger and Luckmann 1967: 143).
4.4.4 Socialization Based on the social constructionist viewpoint of Berger and Luckmann, the individual is not born as a member of a symbolic universe nor a society but becomes one through the process of internalization, that is:
the immediate apprehension of interpretation of an objective event as expressing meaning, that is, as a manifestation of another’s subjective processes which thereby becomes subjectively meaningful to myself (ibid.).
Internalization is hence the basis for an understanding of one’s fellowmen and for the perception of the world as a meaningful social reality (ibid.:150). Berger and Luckmann call this ontogenetic process socialization. Primary socialization is the fist process introducing an individual into the existing symbolic universe(s) during childhood, followed by secondary socialization which “is any subsequent process that inducts an
46 already socialized individual into new sectors of the objective world of his society” (ibid.:150).
The child is born into an objective social world, which is mediated to him by his significant others23. Those significant others modify the child’s reality by selecting aspects of the social world in accordance with their own location in the social structure, and “by virtue of their individual, biographically rooted idiosyncrasies” (Berger and Luckmann 1967:151). Thus, the child basically “becomes what he is addressed as by his significant others” (ibid.:152). By taking the roles and attitudes of the significant others, the young individual becomes capable of identifying himself and developing a subjectively appropriated identity. Hence, the self is a reflected entity, “reflecting the attitudes first taken by significant others towards it” (ibid.).
An important aspect of internalization and socialization in New Zealand is the ‘filtering out’ of stereotypical narratives, which contribute to perpetuating racial discrimination towards Maoris. During primary socialization, the child internalizes the attitudes and roles of his significant others, such as his parents, grandparents, brothers or sisters. Negative as well as positive ideas about Maoris are therefore conveyed through parenting and shape the child’s understanding of the generalized other24. Through the generalized other, the individual identifies not only with concrete others but with a generality of others (Pakeha/Maori) and hence the society as a whole. It is thus during primary socialization, that fundamental ideas and attitudes towards Maoris are developed and guided by the ideas and attitudes of the significant others. As this concept has been crystallized in the consciousness of a child, a symmetrical relationship between objective and subjective reality is established and primary socialization is completed successfully (ibid.: 155).
Books often serve as a socializing tool, transmitting societal values to the young child and thereby shape his or her social world (Gooden and Gooden 2001:89). In fact, children’s books present a microcosm of ideologies, values and beliefs from the dominant culture, including race and gender roles (Taylor 2003:301).
23 Berger and Luckmann introduce the term significant other, referring to the people in charge of an individual’s primary socialization, such as the mother/father/grandparents/siblings. 24 According to Berger and Luckmann, the generalized other is an abstraction from the attitudes and roles of concrete significant others to the attitudes and roles ‘in general’ (ibid.:151). 47 Through books, children learn about the world outside of their immediate environment: they learn about what other boys and girls do, say, and feel; they learn about what is right and wrong; and they learn what is expected of children their age. In addition, books provide children with role models-images of what they can and should be like when they grow up (Weitzman et al. 1972:1125).
By consciously choosing picturebooks which represent a realistic Maori worldview, Maori culture and beliefs instead of reflecting colonial discourses, parents can actively contribute to the process of ‘filtering out’ westernized viewpoints and stereotypes of Maoris during the primary socialization of their children. The world during those first years of childhood is the only existent and conceivable world for the young individual, which is why primary socialization is much more firmly entrenched in consciousness than the worlds internalized in secondary socialization (Berger and Luckmann 1967:154).
During secondary socialization the already socialized individual internalizes institutional or institution-based ‘sub-worlds’ and acquires role-specific knowledge. These sub-worlds are partial realities, characterized by the complexity of the division of labour and the concomitant social distribution of knowledge (ibid.:158). The New Zealand school and education system plays a vital role in the secondary socialization process of young individuals. Although the child already internalized the reality mediated by its significant others, the continuous distribution and internalization of knowledge is necessary in order to develop and maintain a social self.
4.4.5 The social self Selves can only exist in definite relationships to other selves […] since our own selves exist and enter as such into our experience only in so far as the selves of others exist and enter as such into our experience also (Mead 1934:164).
The social self is a phenomenon that emerges from the dialectic between individual and society. It is embedded in the symbolic universe and its “theoretical legitimations,” and is formed by social processes (Berger and Luckmann 1967:195). Hence, the self is not initially there at birth, but “arises in the process of social experience and activity, that is, develops in the given individual as a result of his relations to that process as a whole and to other individuals within that process” (Mead 1934:135). However, the individual experiences himself as such not directly, but indirectly from the viewpoint of other
48 individual members of the same social group or from the generalized viewpoint of the social group as a whole. Therefore it is through the process of taking the attitudes of other people toward himself, that the individual can become an object to himself and reaches its full development (ibid.:142). Communication in the sense of significant symbols provides the essential behaviour for the organism or the self in order to become an object to itself.
However, a symbol is significant only, if it can call out the same response in another that it calls out in the thinker. Thus the symbol must have some sort of universality in order to be taken over into the individual’s conduct and facilitate the development of a social self.
Children may use the significant symbols presented in picturebooks when they are role- playing and forming impressions of the generalized other. The ‘typical’ man, for instance, is mostly depicted as adventurous, independent, aggressive and bold, whereas the ‘typical’ woman appears to be rather quiet, caring, emotional and expressive (Turner-Bowker 1996:463).
This process of taking the role of the other is the primal form of self-objectification and is essential to self- realization. When a child assumes the role of another, he organizes in this way the responses, which he calls out in other persons and calls out also in himself (Mead 1934:150). It is through the activity of playing with invisible, imaginary companions that the child controls the development of his own personality. However, in this early stage of playing there is no basic organization gained, since the child passes from one role to another “just as a whim takes him.” In the game however, a number of individuals are involved and the child must know the responses of each position involved in his own position in order to carry out his own play. This set of responses of the others need to be organized in a way that the attitude of one calls out the appropriate attitudes of the other which constitutes the rules of the game (ibid.:151). By allowing the attitude of the other to take control over his own immediate expression, the individual takes over the morale of the social group surrounding him and becomes “a self-conscious member of the community to which he belongs” (ibid.:160). Therefore, it is through the process of play and game that the self reaches its full development and the individual becomes an organic member of society.
The picturebook is a medium, participating in the development of the self between the 49 two phases of play and game. The young reader is exposed to the depiction of certain characters in the book, which possibly become part of the play in so far as he or she deliberately takes their roles and plays at being a ‘Maori girl’ for instance. This means that the book offers a certain set of stimuli, which the child adopts in order to call out in itself the responses that they would call out in others, answering to the role (-model) of a ‘Maori girl’. Through the recurring depiction of certain characters in a certain way, those roles eventually become habituated, which leads to the development of typifications and eventually fosters stereotypes. As the child passes into the game, those typifications become part of the organized whole, reflecting the “general systematic pattern of social or group behaviour in which it [the child] and the others are all involved” (Mead 1944:158). Hence, the way Maori women are depicted in modern picturebooks is crucial, as those typifications determine the attitudes and responses of an individual towards Maori women in everyday life.
4.4.6 Language in picturebooks Every language is a temple in which the soul of those who speak it is enshrined. Therefore, the taonga, our Maori language, as far as our people are concerned, is the very soul of the Maori people. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but suffer the loss of his own soul? What profit to the Maori if we lose our language and lose our soul? (Waikerepuru and Nga Kaiwhakapumau 1986: 40–41).
According to Bell (1990), attitudes towards language reflect reactions to the people who speak it. Hence the reaction of Pakeha to the Maori language can be seen as a mirror of Pakeha attitudes towards the indigenous Maori (Ka’ai 2004). Te Reo Maori (Maori language) was banned from the education system for over 70 years. It was only in 1987 that the Maori language was considered to be an integral part of Maori culture and became an official language of New Zealand (Ka’ai 2004). This revitalisation of Maori language is vital in order to maintain their tradition and culture by providing access to valued beliefs, knowledge and skills (Peterson 2000). Hence, Maori language is both, part of their culture and the medium transmitting this culture from one generation to the next (ibid.).
According to Berger and Luckmann (1966), language constitutes “the most important content and the most important instrument of socialization” (ibid.:153). It is through language, that the objective reality can be translated into subjective reality with
50 language being the “principal vehicle” of this process and hence “essential for any understanding of the reality of everyday life” (ibid.:52).
Regarding the function of language and signs, Berger and Luckmann are indebted to George Herbert Mead. For Mead (1934) language is communication through significant symbols. If a vocal gesture arouses in the individual making it, the same response which it arouses in the individual to whom it is addressed, this gesture becomes a significant symbol (ibid.:46). In order to be significant, the symbol always presupposes a “universe of discourse,” constituted by a certain group of individuals “carrying on and participating in a common social process of experience and behaviour.” Within this group, the symbols have the same or common meanings for all individuals, “whether they make them or address them to other individuals, or whether they overtly respond to them as made or addressed to them by other individuals” (ibid.:89). Mead’s “universe of discourse” is closely related to Berger and Luckmann’s (1966) “symbolic universe”25 which fosters the previous assumption that language plays a central role in the social construction of reality.
Te Reo Maori is therefore an important component in picturebook communication, representing the symbolic universe of Maori and revitalizing the associated significant symbols for the younger generations. Including Maori language into the picturebook text, “makes possible the existence or the appearance of that situation or object, for it is a part of the mechanism whereby that situation or object is created” (ibid.:78). While children read or are read a narrative including significant symbols representing Te Reo Maori, and those significant symbols arouse in the child, what they aroused in the author of the book, meaning is created. When significant symbols are “evolved in the process of human social experience,” they become identified with meaning and hence become conscious parts in the social stock of knowledge (ibid.:80). Thus, language is not only a system of symbols, facilitating communication between individuals but a prerequisite for the development of the social self.
For Mead (1934) the human self-arises in the process of social interaction, particularly by means of linguistic communication. Hence, the words and sentences constituting fictional identities in children’s picturebooks are ‘building bricks’ in the development of the child’s own identity. As the child encounters the characters depicted in those books,
25 A symbolic universe is the frame of reference, embracing all human experience and knowledge (Berger and Luckmann 1967:114). This term will be discussed in more detail in the following section 4.5.3 51 it aims at taking the role of the other. It is through this process of role taking that, the young individual organizes the response which they call out in other individuals and in themselves and develops its personality thereupon (ibid.:150). Therefore, it is through language, that the process of role taking takes place, which illustrates the importance of language for an individual in the creation of the self (ibid). Consequently, it becomes apparent, that language plays a vital part in the depiction of Maori women in children’s picturebooks as a means of developing an authentic image of Maori women’s identity.
In addition to that, it is through language that thinking takes place (ibid.:146). Thoughts are constituted by internalized conversations of significant symbols, hence “thinking always implies a symbol which will call out the same response in another that it calls out in the thinker” (ibid.:147). Since language is prior to thinking, it is essential in order to construct and distribute ideas about other individuals and develop stereotypes. In fact, it is through communication and the language of a culture, that stereotypes are learned, altered and maintained, as language provides a basic mechanism by which people can be categorized and share those categorizations with others. (Macrae et al. 1996:11). Therefore, as “language must have been prior to the development of mind or thought” (Mead 1934:192), there is “no completely non-verbal social stereotyping” (Fishman 1956:48).
In summary it can be stated that language is a powerful media tool, which shapes, constructs, conditions and yet restricts the self:
On one hand, it (language) offers freedom for individuals to express themselves and to create; and, on the other hand, it restricts our ability to create. Language serves as vehicle to perpetuate or abandon stereotypes. It plays a strong role in the determination of a society's future, by providing the basic models from which children form their ideas about themselves and others (Rachlin and Vogt 1974:549).
For the present picturebook analysis certain issues about language appear to be of particular importance:
Language is a vital medium for distributing and maintaining cultural knowledge. Te Reo Maori is considered to be “the core of Maori culture” and its loss has had major impact on the “Maori sense of identity” (Ka’ai 2008:170). Picturebooks containing Maori language can thus contribute to the revitalization of Te Reo and support the distribution of Maori traditions, ideologies, values and beliefs. 52 Furthermore, language plays a vital role in the development of a social self (Mead 1934). Te Reo Maori and English are vital in order to develop a Maori or Pakeha identity, as they facilitate role taking, which enables the child to organize the attitudes of others into “organized social or group attitudes” by which the young individual can reach a full developed personality (ibid.:159). The characters in picturebooks can serve as role models, which emphasizes the power of those books in the socialization process of young individuals.
Lastly, the development of stereotypes stems from the utilization of significant symbols as a means of categorization. Language provides a mechanism by which social groups can be labelled and stereotypic beliefs are stored at a collective, consensual level (Macrae 1996:11)
4.4.7 The Social Construction of gendered Ideology in picturebooks Ideology. A systematic scheme of ideas, usu. relating to politics or society, or to the conduct of a class or group, and regarded as justifying actions, esp. one that is held implicitly or adopted as a whole and maintained regardless of the course of events (Oxford English Dictionary).
Writing for children is mostly purposeful. Its purpose is to establish a positive apperception of certain socio-cultural values in the juvenile reader, which are commonly shared by the author and the audience (Stephens 1992:3). These values comprise contemporary ideals about moral and ethical matters, “a sense of what is valuable in the culture’s past”, social formations regarding fundamental traditions as well as aspirations about the present and the future of a certain culture (ibid.). Such socially dominant concepts epitomize the ideology of a society, yet, are neither absolute nor essential in their constitution but are constructed within social practices. The “intelligibility which a society offers its children is a network of ideological positions, many of which are neither articulated nor recognized as being essentially ideological” (ibid.:8). Ideologies are “systems of beliefs” by means of which an individual makes “sense of the world” and participates in daily social life (ibid.). In order to taking part in society and acting purposively within its structures, a child has to “master various signifying codes used by society” to order itself (ibid.). Language can be seen as the principal code, since it is the most common form of social communication. Hence, it is through language, “that the subject and the world are represented in literature, and
53 through language that literature seeks to define the relationship between child and culture” (ibid.:5).
By memorizing and recording stories, most societies aim to “exemplify and inculcate” their current values and attitudes. This particular use of language as an “agent of socialization” is a conscious and deliberate process. However, there is no narrative without an ideology: “ideology is formulated in and by language, meanings within language are socially determined, and narratives are constructed out of language” (ibid.). Thus all writing either assumes values although they might not be overtly espoused, or is composed and read within a social and cultural framework “which is itself inevitably suffused with values, that is to say, suffused with ideology” (Hunt 1999:41). Due to the diversity and multiplicity of both, ‘child’ and ‘book’ and the social world in which “each of these seductive abstractions takes a plenitude of individual forms”, ideology becomes an “inevitable, untameable and largely uncontrollable factor in the transaction between books and children” (Hunt 1992:27).
In order to make sense to its audience, a picturebook is rooted in some version of “consensus reality” and will use “conventional codes of representation,” which have to be interpreted by its viewers (Stephens 1992:158). Whereas adults master the complexity of picturebooks easily, children have to learn how to decode those pictorial, linguistic and cultural codes. As a child learns about the social formations of its immediate and more distant context, it learns how to interpret the codes whereby actual world phenomena are represented.
It is merely sentimental to assert that children see with unspoiled perceptions and therefore see everything in a scene, whereas corrupted adult perceptions see only in part because they ignore minor details (ibid.).
Through the playfulness of text and picture, those codes are inverted, altered, tested and finally assimilated by their readers. A well-known example of those ‘conventional codes of representation’ is the communication of normative ideas about masculinity and femininity. Gender codes are “culturally constructed belief systems that define and dictate the appropriate roles and behaviour for men and women in society” (Maasik and Solomon 2003:476).
Around age five, children begin to model the behaviour of adults, become more independent and develop their self-identity (Gooden and Gooden 2001). Thus, 54 childhood is central to the development of gender codes and schemas.26 It is during the early phase of infancy, that the girl or boy begins to experience gender roles arranged across a system of binary oppositions (men are this, women are the opposite) (Maasik and Solomon 2003:476).
Indeed, these oppositions are so deeply encoded in our culture that you may find yourself protesting that men are aggressive, women are passive, men (as the bestseller has it) are from Mars, women are from Venus. But the fact that these roles can be reversed—indeed, they are being reversed more and more often these days—shows that they reflect cultural values rather than natural facts (ibid.).
However, although gender roles can be reversed, they are mostly reinforced and hard to change (McCabe et al. 2011). Only serious effort and determination can combat those dominant cultural messages established by the majority of contemporary picturebooks (Bem 1983). According to Turner-Bowker (1996), it is through the utilization of language as a media tool, that gender ideologies and codes are maintained within our society. Hence, while reading picturebooks children might learn or add to preconceived notions about their gender identity, which makes the picturebook a powerful vehicle in the socialization process (LaDow 1976).
Children are not passive observers. As they develop, children look for structure in their lives and are driven by an internal need to fit into this structure. They observe the world and try to develop sets of rules that they can apply to a wide variety of situations. A child’s knowledge of his own gender and its implications is known as gender identity (Shaw 1998:24).
Gender roles are thus the behaviours determined by society, reflecting cultural values rather than natural facts (Maasik and Solomon 2003). Together with parents, peers and teachers, books contribute to the way children understand those sex roles and how they construe their place in the social structure. As picturebooks provide opportunities for young children to see images outside of their own experience, it is crucial that those pictures are “full, diverse and culturally rich” (Edmonds 1986).
26 The term gender schema is coined by Bem (1983). In her social construcionis approach, Bem advocates gender as a self-fulfilling prophecy: „Gender schema theory proposes that sex typing derives in large measure from gender-schematic processing, from a generalized readiness on the part of the child to encode and to organize information including information about the self-according to the culture's definitions of maleness and femaleness. [...] gender schema theory further proposes that gender-schematic processing is itself derived from the sex-differentiated practices of the social community.“ (Bem 1983:603). 55 The following picturebook analysis will investigate how ‘full, diverse and culturally rich’ are the contemporary depictions of Maori women in New Zealand picturebooks or if those illustrations delimitate and constrain the development of a Maori woman’s identity in a modern, bicultural society.
Concluding, the subsequent paragraph will summarize and visualize the hitherto discussed characteristics and effects of the picturebook as a powerful means of socialization and communication.
4.5 Conclusion: A Model of picturebook Communication
Based on the theoretical outline discussed above, the following model illustrates the process of picturebook communication as emergent in a social constructionist framework.
Picturebooks provide children with role models, which, once being internalized, develop into typificatory schemes. Those interpretative categories affect the interaction between child and the ‘other’ as a type, since significant symbols defining those types, are being externalized by the young individual. It is through the externalization of typifications by means of significant symbols (e.g. language), that those types are culturally shared and stereotypes become established in the social stock of knowledge.27 The prevalent knowledge of a society constitutes the fabric of meanings (Berger and Luckmann 1967:27) and serves as a basis for the social construction of reality, which again is mirrored in children’s picturebooks.
The picturebook communication circle illustrates how picturebooks serve as a socializing tool creating and maintaining the image of certain individuals or groups in a
27 In order to clarify the terms “stereotype” and “typification” I want to refer to Jones’ (1997:167) definition: “Literally, a stereotype is a metal plate that is used to make duplicate pages of the same type. Social commentator Walter Lippman borrowed this term back in 1922 to describe what he considered to be a biased perception. The bias was evidenced by comparing those “pictures” we had in our heads of someone and the reality the person presented to us. The bias resulted from preconceptions that were the result of the stereotyping process, whereby we “stamped” every member of the group as a duplicate of every other member – in other words, we created a stereotype. When we encountered a member of the group, we did not see him or her realistically. Instead, we saw the image of him or her filtered through this mental picture of the group we had stereotyped.” For the purpose of this research, a typification is, what Lippman (1922) considers to be a “picture in the head” of an individual and the stereotype is the duplication of this picture, constructed and shared within a society. Thus whereas the typification refers to a general classificatory process of an individual towards the other, a stereotype is the projection of this type to the whole group by a whole group (society). As the author of a picturebook illustrates the Maori woman as a certain ‘type’, this typification equals a stereotype, since picturebooks (and thus this typification) are distributed throughout society. Hence, if the term typification refers to a certain depiction of Maori women in a picturebook analysed for the purpose of the present study, it can be used interchangeably with the expression ‘stereotype’. 56 society. Hence, picturebooks can facilitate the development of stereotypes, yet are also in position to interrupt the communication circle and can create a more diverse and authentic image of the social world.
Figure 1: Picturebook Communication Circle
For the following analysis of Maori women’s characters in New Zealand children’s literature, the picturebook communication circle provides vital background information. Based on the relations outlined in Figure 1, I aim to draw conclusions about the current picturebook communication concerning Maori women in contemporary New Zealand children’s literature. Are stereotypes created and confirmed or does New Zealand picturebook communication interrupt the circle, representing an authentic picture of Maori women?
57 Chapter 5: METHODOLOGY
58 This chapter provides a comprehensive and detailed description of the methodology used in the current study. Subchapter 5.1 outlines the research approach, 5.2 introduces the methods underlying the picturebook analysis, followed by a description of the data gathering process in subchapter 5.3. The subsequent section 5.4 illustrates the sampling strategies and the process of coding is discussed in section 5.5, focusing on the societal coding frame in section 5.5.1 with its subcategories whakapapa 5.5.1.1, wairua 5.5.1.2, whanau 5.5.1.3 and atua wahine 5.5.1.4. The next subchapter 5.5.2 outlines the individual coding frame. Thereafter credibility and dependability are discussed in subchapter 5.6 followed by confirmability and transferability in section 6.7. Lastly, this chapter illustrates the limitations underlying the present study.
5.1 Research Approach The totality of meaning is never fully rendered: There is an immense mass of implications, even in the most explicit of languages (Merlau-Ponty 1964:29).
As mentioned above, the research question of this paper is based on a social constructionist perspective and strongly linked with the ideas of Mead (1934) and Berger and Luckmann (1966) in several ways. According to both, Mead as well as Berger and Luckmann, the reality humans experience is largely socially constructed. Social constructionism is a broadly based mainstream qualitative approach, emphasizing the world of experience as it is lived, felt and undergone by people acting in social situations (Schwandt 2007). Theory is derived from the “‘real world’ to enhance understanding of how actors intersubjectively create, understand and reproduce social situations” (Turnbull 2002:319). In choosing a qualitative approach, I thus aim to seek “explanations about how social experience is created and given meaning” by analysing the “social structures that create and constrain the meaning we put on our experiences” (ibid.:327).
Within the qualitative research strategies, there are three main research purposes including explanatory, critical and interpretive traditions. Interpretive research assumes that “our knowledge of reality, including the domain of human action, is a social construction by human actors. Our theories concerning reality are ways of making sense of the world, and shared meanings are a form of intersubjectivity rather than objectivity” (Walsham 2006:320). The present study adopts an interpretive research approach in order to build a complex, holistic picture of the social and cultural settings constituting the social world under study and achieve an understanding of “the process by which events and actions take place” rather than its outcomes (Merriam 1988: xii.).
59 Within the interpretive approach, the researcher’s interpretations play a key role, bringing “such subjectivity to the fore, backed with quality arguments rather than statistical exactness” (Garcia and Quek 1997: 459). Although in qualitative studies, the researcher is mostly the instrument of the research, the present study aims to incorporate the researcher’s experience and identity, yet maintain authenticity and integrity in the findings.
The main goal for this research is therefore not to uncover reality or an absolute truth but to understand “the sense that people make of the social world in their everyday lives” (Turnbull 2002:320).
5.2 Method
The present research is based on content analysis of contemporary children’s picturebooks by New Zealand Maori and Pakeha authors. By conducting content analysis one examines the artefacts of material culture associated with social communication (Taylor 1998:302). Among the forms suitable for study are written documents or various other forms of social communication such as children’s books, photographs, magazines, television programs or music recordings (ibid.). Hence it can be stated that content analysis is “the study of recorded human communication” (Babbie 2003:333) and highly suitable for the purpose of the present research goal.
Content analysis can be conducted in either an inductive or a deductive manner or some mixture of both (Strauss 1987). In case of limited or fragmented former knowledge, an inductive approach is recommended whereas deductive content analysis is used when “the structure of analysis is operationalized on the basis of previous knowledge” (Kyngäs and Vanhanen 1999). Since previous research has investigated gender issues in children’s books rather extensively, the present study can draw back on former knowledge. However, there has been no attempt to analyse the portrayal of Maori women in children’s picturebooks in particular. Hence for the purpose of this study a dialectical approach, which combines inductive and deductive techniques, will be applied.
The procedure of qualitative content analysis requires several analytical steps, in order to successfully “proceed from texts to result” (Krippendorff 2004:83). Those steps include formulating the research question, selecting the sample to be analysed, defining the categories to be used, outlining and implementing the coding process, determining 60 trustworthiness and analysing the result of the previous coding process (Hsieh and Shannon 2005).
5.3 Data gathering The objects of study in the following content analysis are New Zealand children’s picturebooks. As stated in chapter three, a picturebook is “an inseparable entity of word and image” (Nikolajeva & Scott 2001: 6), a medium in which the visual and the verbal aspects are both essential for full communication, since “both have been created with a conscious aesthetic intention” (Arizpe and Styles 2002:19). The data has been gathered by means of the Wellington City Libraries database (see http://www.wcl.govt.nz/) and through conducting on site research examining the offered titles in the children’s book section.
5.4 Sampling
Sampling is the process of systematically selecting that, which will be examined during the course of a study (Cohen and Crabtree 2006). Qualitative inquiry typically focuses in depth on relatively small samples, selected purposefully (Patton 2002). Purposeful sampling is a strategy in which “particular settings, persons, or events are selected deliberately in order to provide important information that can’t be gotten as well from other choices” (Maxwell 1996:70). There are several different strategies for purposefully selecting data. In the present study a combination of purposeful random sampling and expert sampling is used in order to “develop a systematic way of selecting cases that is not based on advanced knowledge of how the outcomes would appear” (Cohen and Crabtree 2006).
Experts have been consulted in order to elicit the views of people who have specific expertise in the field of study, and to limit the sample size. Among the experts there have been two librarians form the Wellington City Libraries, as well as two academics working in the field of Maori and Literary Studies. The librarians assisted me in the selection of the picturebooks by suggesting certain books and authors that were popular among the readers. After discussing the picturebooks with the academic experts, I redefined and reselected the sample once more.
Expert sampling is aimed at providing evidence for the validity of the sample identified by purposeful random sampling. The purpose of a random sample is to increase
61 credibility but not to foster representativeness (Patton 2002). By choosing an additional small purposeful random sample, the suspicion about why certain books were selected for the study is reduced, however, such a sample still does not permit statistical generalizations (ibid.).
In order to keep the sample size manageable within the scope of the study, I have limited the quantity to a number of twelve New Zealand picturebooks published between 2004 and 2008, written and illustrated by Maori as well as Pakeha authors. By choosing books from a public library, I aim to reassure the availability of the medium to a broad audience and hence achieve a valuable result.
Finally, picturebooks were selected for the purpose of this analysis if they met the following criteria: (1) the book is a New Zealand children’s picturebook written by a Maori or Pakeha author for children in their preschool years; (2) published between 2004 and 2008 and (3) portrays Maori women’s character(s) in its storyline. The following 12 books were identified as potentially meeting the criteria28:
1. Mere McKaskill’s Boil-up (by Tracy Duncan) 2. Maraea and the Albatrosses (by Patricia Grace) 3. Off You Go Autnie Ma! (by Sharon Holt) 4. The Girls in the Kapahaka (by Angie Belcher) 5. Dad’s Takeaways (by Melanie Drewery) 6. Hinemoa te toa (by Tim Tipene) 7. Itiiti’s Gift (by Melanie Drewery) 8. Mrs. Parata Rides Again (by Ruth Darroch) 9. Mrs. Parata’s Problem Pets (by Ruth Darroch) 10. Nanny Mihi’s Treasure Hunt (by Melanie Drewery) 11. Nanny Mihi’s Christmas (by Melanie Drewery) 12. Nanny’s Taonga (by Christine Murray and Raina Fowlds)
Excluded from the sample were picturebooks written entirely in Te Reo Maori (Maori language) or stories based on Maori mythology. Those Maori women depicted in myths and legends refer to fictional realities, which do not necessarily reflect the social reality of contemporary New Zealand society and the present perception of Maori women.
28 For a more detailed description of the authors see Appendix D. 62 By limiting the data to the analysis of picturebooks, the study examines literature encountered earliest by Maori and non-Maori children, aiming to explore the visual imagery, as well as the textual imagery inscribed within these books.
5.5 Coding
Content analysis is a useful method for collecting and analysing qualitative data through the use of an objective coding scheme (Berg 2001). The goal of coding, however, is not to produce counts of things, but to “fracture” (Strauss 1987:29) the data and rearrange it into categories or broader themes and issues in order to “facilitate the comparison of data within and between those categories” (Maxwell 1996:79). The key feature of qualitative coding is that it is grounded in the data (Glaser and Strauss 1967) and developed in “interaction with, and is tailored to the understanding of the particular data being analysed” (Maxwell 1996:79). Hence, the present study uses the theories of Berger, Luckmann and Mead as well as Maori feminist theory as points of reference in order to develop a suitable coding frame for the investigation of Maori women’s characters in New Zealand children’s picturebooks.
According to Berger and Luckmann, identity is a social product that “emerges from the dialectic between individual and society” (Berger and Luckmann 1967:195). Thus the coding frame consists of two parts: the individual and the societal coding frame29. The individual coding frame emphasizes the appearance and character of the Maori woman, including her physiognomy, clothing, personality and role in the narrative, whereas the societal coding frame considers the environment and social world surrounding the Maori woman in the picturebook.
5.5.1 The societal coding frame The categories comprising the societal coding frame are mainly based on the theories of Maori feminism – precisely on the six themes of mana wahine (Maori feminism) as laid out by Hutchings (2002) and discussed previously in section 2.2.1.
In her PhD thesis on genetic modification in New Zealand, Hutchings recommends that mana wahine is incorporated into the Environmental Studies curriculum to allow for a fuller and wider analysis that is relevant to Maori women (Hutchings 2002). The author suggests a mana wahine conceptual framework, which aims to give “visibility and space
29 Both parts of the coding frame are attached in the appendix. 63 to the herstories of Maori women” and reveal “what is really happening” to their culture (ibid.:38). The framework consists of six main themes which were explained earlier (see chapter 2.2.1): whakapapa (genealogy), wairua (spirit), whanau (extended family), atua wahine (female goddesses), te tiriti (The Treaty of Waitangi) and decolonisation. Those fields provide an important conceptual context for Hutchings’ (2002) research by illustrating that “mana wahine allows for the expression of diverse realities and herstories of Maori women to be visible and valid in all spheres of life” (Hutchings 2002:182). Although Hutchings established this framework with regard to genetic modification, she recommends, that “others weave with these themes to develop and create new and stronger strands of mana wahine discourse” (ibid.). In order to increase visibility and space for the herstories of Maori women, whakapapa, wairua, whanau and atua wahine are proposed to be underlying any mana wahine context, deconstructing colonial influences, structures and definitions.
Therefore, Hutchings’ mana wahine themes serve as a basis for the following picturebook analysis, constituting the main pillars of the (societal) coding frame. The Treaty of Waitangi and decolonisation are not used as separate coding categories, since those issues are rather rarely thematised in children’s picturebooks. They do however provide vital background information comprising the analysis.
By examining the representation of Maori women’s characters in the realm of whakapapa, wairua, whanau and atua wahine, the study aims at drawing conclusions about the social construction of Maori women’s identities through contemporary children’s picturebooks. However, the four main pillars serve as a framework and not a checklist. They represent key mana wahine themes and hence support the recognition of the diverse realities and herstories of Maori women. Yet, they are not meant to limit the researcher’s interpretive freedom but assist and support it.
5.5.1.1 Whakapapa (genealogy) It is through whakapapa that Maori women relate to their ancestors and connect with their roots and with one another. Whakapapa is a “taxonomic framework that links all animate and inanimate, known and unknown phenomena in the terrestrial and spiritual worlds” (Taonui 2011) and plays thus a major part in the knowledge transmission and identity formation of Maoris. Within the societal coding frame, whakapapa is represented by the subcategories of traditions, rites and matauranga Maori (Maori
64 knowledge).30 It refers to any traditional behaviour and knowledge, performed and distributed by the Maori woman.
Whakapapa, as it is interpreted above, will be referred to as whakapapa (genealogy/traditions) in the following analysis in order to clarify its meaning.
5.5.1.2 Wairua (spirit) Wairua represents the “spiritual dimension” and “the belief in something greater than humanity” (Hutchings 2002: 51). Every situation or event is thus considered to have both physical and spiritual implications, which influence the way people interact with one another and how they relate to the environment. Wairua is represented by the subcategory symbols/metaphors in the societal coding frame. This category will comprise any (fictional) character, representation or icon framing the Maori woman and relating to Maori culture.
5.5.1.3 Whanau (extended family) The extended family is a fundamental building block for Maori society. As opposed to the Western understanding of a nuclear family, the whanau includes certain individuals despite a missing blood relationship. The subcategories of whanau as illustrated in the societal coding frame are based on Metge’s (1995) definition. The segmentation reflects the wide range of traditional and contemporary configurations and emphasizes the different relationships between Maori women and Maori men. Thus, this category emphasizes the relation and interaction between the Maori woman and her immediate surrounding.
5.5.1.4 Atua Wahine (female ancestors) Female ancestors such as Papatuanuku (the earth mother, and creator of all life) or Hineahuone (the female element who comes from the soil), reflect the relationship of Maori women to their land. It is through cosmology, that Maori women recognize that their connection to the land “is that we are land” (Hutchings 2002:50). The relationship to nature is represented by the category of atua wahine in the societal coding frame and is divided in the subcategories relation to animals, relation with natural powers, means of transport and relation with (native) plants. Those categories reflect the relation of the Maori woman to her natural environment.
30 Matauranga Maori: Maori knowledge - the body of knowledge originating from Maori ancestors, including the Maori world view and perspectives, Maori creativity and cultural practices. See: http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/index.cfm?dictionaryKeywords=matauranga+maori&search.x=0&sear ch.y=0&search=search&n=1&idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan= 65 In order to clarify the term atua wahine as interpreted above, it will be referred to as atua wahine (female ancestors/nature) in the following analysis.
Table 1 provides an overview of the key themes of mana wahine constituting the main categories of the societal coding frame including its subcategories. The complete coding frame is attached in the appendix of the study.
Table 1: Societal coding frame and its categories
Mana Wahine theme Subcategory
Whakapapa (genealogy) Traditions, rites, matauranga Maori (Maori knowledge)
Wairua (spirit) Symbols, metaphors
Whanau (extended family) Various definitions according to Metge (1995).
Atua Wahine (female ancestors) Relation to animals, relation with natural powers, means of transport, relation with native plants
5.5.2 The individual coding frame Since identity is a social product that “emerges from the dialectic between individual and society” (Berger and Luckmann 1967:195), the societal coding frame is complemented by the individual coding frame. This part of the coding emphasizes the appearance and the character of the Maori woman depicted in the picturebooks. Clothes, hair, skin and eye colour, age and physique are subcategories of the section ‘appearance’ whereas personality, role in story and relation to others represent subcategories of the ‘character’ division. Those categories aim to identify visual typifications underlying the depiction of Maori women’s characters in children’s picturebooks.
Table 2 illustrates the main categories constituting the individual coding frame comprising its subcategories.
66 Table 2: Individual coding frame and its categories
Maori woman character Subcategory
Appearance Clothes, hair, skin, eye colour, age, physique
Character Personality, role in the story, relation to others
It is, however, the combination of both individual and societal coding frame that a holistic picture of the social and cultural settings can be achieved, and the social construction of a Maori woman’s identity in New Zealand children’s literature can be analysed successfully31.
5.6 Credibility and Dependability “Quality and credibility are connected in that judgments of quality constitute the foundation for perceptions of credibility” (Patton 2002:542). However, the quality of qualitative inquiry can be judged from different perspectives and within different philosophical frameworks. For the purpose of the present research, a social constructionist approach has been adopted. According to Lincoln and Guba (1986), constructionist inquiry demands different criteria from those inherited from traditional social science. They suggest “credibility as an analog to internal validity, transferability as an analog to external validity, dependability as an analog to reliability and confirmability as an analog to objectivity” (Lincoln and Guba 1986:76). This makes credibility and transferability the main goal of qualitative research. Only, if the readers “recognize in the findings the meaning that the research has for them in their own social context”, the study can be considered credible (ibid.:85). In order to establish credibility of the study, the researcher needs to ensure “that the research is carried out according to the canons of good practice and submitting research findings to the members of the social world” (Bryman 2008:377). This study was filtered and evaluated several times, ensuring the ‘canons of good practice’ and establishing valuable research findings.
However, since there can be “no validity without reliability (and thus no credibility without dependability), a demonstration of the former is sufficient to establish the
31 Additionally to the above-mentioned categories, both coding frames comprises “others” as an optional part of each sub-category in order to allow and acknowledge any other details emerging during the picturebook analysis and not be delimited to atua wahine, whanau, wairua, whakapapa or certain personality characteristics. 67 latter” (Lincoln and Guba 1985:316). Dependability closely corresponds to the notion of ‘reliability’ in quantitative research and hence refers to the assumption of replicability or repeatability (Kirk and Miller 1986). In a social constructionist framework, replication is an artificial goal to pursue since there is no single reality to be captured in the first place (Ritchie and Lewis 2003). Qualitative research is thus considered a complex phenomenon, which can, nor should never be replicated (ibid.). However, Lincoln and Guba (1985) suggest one measure, which might enhance the dependability of qualitative research. That is by establishing an ‘inquiry audit’, in which both the product and the process of the research are examined for consistency. This study aims to provide profound information about the medium being analysed as well as the process of inquiry.
5.7 Confirmability and Transferability Confirmability refers to objectivity or the degree of neutrality and the extend to which the findings are shaped by the researcher (Lincoln and Guba 1985:55). Qualitative research relies on interpretations and is often considered to be value bound and subjective. Hence the researcher strives to demonstrate the neutrality of the research interpretations by reporting what is found in a balanced way. In order to provide valuable results, the present study yields a profound theoretical framework, objective background information, a detailed analysis and aims to incorporate the researcher’s experience while maintaining authenticity and integrity in the findings. Those details provide, what Geertz (1973) calls ‘thick description’ – that is, a rich cultural context in order to ensure transferability. Chapter three and four offer well-founded insights into Maori history and culture as well as the nature of picturebooks in order to provide the reader with a “database for making judgements about the possible transferability of findings to other milieux” (Lincoln and Guba 1985:316).
5.8 Limitations
Several limitations to this study need to be acknowledged. At first, as a German exchange student, my experiences with the bicultural New Zealand society are rather limited and my knowledge of Maori and Pakeha culture is constrained by time and available resources. The viewpoint of an outsider, however, can add a new perspective, as I have not been exposed to as many conflicts and discussions between the two cultures and therefore might be less biased than a local New Zealander.
68 Second, as English and Maori are not my mother tongue, the language barrier can impinge on the result of the study. Although most literature is written in English, Maori terms are common, especially in the mana wahine (Maori feminist) discourse, which constitutes a considerable part of the present research. In case of translation difficulties during the analysis, the School of Maori Studies at Victoria University of Wellington was consulted for advice.
Due to time constraints, the picturebook sample is limited to the stock of Wellington’s City Library. This covers the largest and most popular picturebook distribution, yet excludes several smaller branches around the Wellington area. By increasing the sample size, the study possibly could have provided more examples supporting the three typifications developed during the analysis. A larger picturebook sample, however, would go beyond the scope of the present research.
Concerning the analysis of images in picturebooks it is important to consider that “looking is always embodied and undertaken by someone with an identity” hence, there is no neutral way of looking (Van Leeuwen 2006:65). Furthermore, the expression of visual imaginings in verbal or written language is rather complex. “Some kind of translation is bound to take place either way but in this case from image to word” (ibid.:76). The present investigation of Maori women’s characters in picturebooks is thus affected by my subjective perspective, which might impinge on the interpretation of those images and hence limit the results of the study.
Lastly, the present research should not be seen as an attempt to provide categorical ‘truths’ about the representation of Maori women in children’s picturebooks in general. However, it is an attempt to draw valuable conclusions by looking at a small sample in detail, which will lend to a broader, more generalizable study in the future.
69 Chapter 6: RESULT AND ANALYSIS
70 Chapter six comprises the analysis of the picturebooks. Subchapter 6.1 examines language in the chosen picturebooks, followed by the general findings of the study in 6.2. Section 6.2.1 focuses on the societal coding frame and the analysis of its subcategories whanau 6.2.1.1 atua wahine 6.2.1.2, whakapapa 6.2.1.3 and wairua 6.2.1.4 and concludes with a summary of the societal coding frame analysis in subcategory 6.2.1.5. The subsequent section 6.2.2 illustrates the findings of the individual coding frame, including the three typifications (6.2.3) of Maori women identified during the picturebook analysis. The Teacher, the Entertainer and the Spiritual Maori woman are explained in more detail in the subcategories 6.2.3.1 to 6.2.3.3 followed by section 6.2.3.4 which illustrates how picturebooks can avoid the typification and delimitation of Maori women and develop a more diverse, authentic depiction instead.
6.1 Words around pictures The following section provides a brief discussion of the language used in the picturebooks chosen for the purpose of this research. However, the examination is no linguistic analysis but aims at providing a holistic content analysis including pictures and words equally. A more detailed investigation of the verbal content would go beyond the scope of this study.
Te Reo Maori plays a vital part in the picturebooks comprising the sample. Although the main text is generally written in English, most books include basic expressions in Te Reo Maori such as Haere mai (welcome) or Kia ora (hello). Furthermore, Maori names are frequently used in all storylines, facilitating the ethnical identification of the female characters. Itiiti, Mihi, Ngaio, Hinemoa, Mere or Maraea are common Maori names, based on mythological stories (Hinemoa, Itiiti) or merely translations from English (Mere is ‘Mary’ in English).
The storyline of “The Girls in the Kapahaka” continuously incorporates Maori language in order to introduce traditional Maori symbols and gestures to its readers:
This is Koro, who cut the flax that he kuia used to make the piupiu that swished and swirled, that swung from the hips of the girls in the kapahaka (Belcher 2006:9).
Koro (grandfather), Kuia (grandmother), piupiu (traditional skirt) and kapahaka (traditional Maori performing group) are smoothly integrated words, explained by colourful illustrations and additionally translated in the glossary of the picturebook. All the words appear to be closely related to the key themes of mana wahine and thus to a Maori cultural discourse. The words Koro and Kuia represent whanau (extended
71 family), while piupiu and kapahaka are significant symbols relating to whakapapa (genealogy/traditions).
Furthermore, Nanny Mihi addresses her grandchildren with “Haere mai, tamariki ma” (welcome, my children) which also relates to the whanau (extended family) and thus to one of the key themes of mana wahine (Maori feminism). As Nanny Mihi invites her grandchildren to collect nga pua (those seeds) and kina (sea egg), she uses the significant symbol referring to atua wahine (female goddess/nature), which illustrates how “communication […] is responsible for the appearance of a whole set of new objects in nature, which exist in relation to it” (Mead 1934:79).
Apart from “The Girls in the Kapahaka”, which incorporates Te Reo Maori thoroughly, the picturebooks comprising the sample of this study use Maori language rather occasionally. This is due to the fact, that English is the most dominant spoken language in New Zealand. As the language of the dominant culture, however, English constrains the way of negotiating and developing a Maori identity and hence impinges heavily on the representation of Maori women in New Zealand picturebooks (Ka‘ai 2004).
In order to achieve a comprehensive analysis of Maori women in New Zealand picturebooks, it is essential to recognize and understand Maori expressions literally, as well as in its historical and social context. The key themes of mana wahine provide a useful framework, connecting certain words with the wider societal context. The following section will discuss the findings concerning societal context and individual characteristics of the Maori women depicted in the books comprising the sample of this study.
6.2 The findings
It is rare for us to find ourselves in books, but in our own books we were able to find and define our lives (Grace 1986).
This section provides a descriptive account of the picturebooks chosen for this study, considering the societal and individual coding frame discussed in section 5.5. Special attention is paid to the verbal and visual portrayal of the environment in which the Maori women characters are illustrated; as well as the general depiction of their bodies, the activities and movements they are involved with. By emphasizing societal and individual aspects, I consider the cultural knowledge constituting the social reality created in the books as well as the significant symbols defining and representing Maori 72 women in the empirical material. I aim to give an insight into the corpus of works that is to serve as my sample throughout the study and most importantly, I attempt to provide a detailed analysis of how Maori women are portrayed in those picturebooks.
6.2.1 Societal coding The four main pillars constituting the societal coding frame (atua wahine, whanau, wairua, whakapapa) were recognizable in most of the chosen picturebooks. They provide an important conceptual context comprising the symbolic universe of Maori in New Zealand and thus contribute to the identity formation of Maori women. Despite analysing the recurring similarities amongst these texts relating to the four main pillars, I aim to point out the differences in the verbal and visual portrayal of the storyline and thus the depiction of Maori women characters. For there are “varying ways in which roles and relationships are negotiated. This means that analysis that relates to Maori women can not be simplistic, but needs to recognise that relationships within Maori society are multiple” (Hutchings 2002:37).
6.2.1.1 Whanau (extended family) The importance of traditional living arrangements in Maori families was salient throughout the entire picturebook sample. Whether smaller nuclear family constellations such as Nanny Mihis’s, Auntie Ma’s, or Hinemoa’s ‘nanny-grandchild’ relationship, or the extended whanau including “neighbours”, the “butcher”, “greengrocers” and the “flower seller” assembled around the dinner table in Mere McKaskill’s Boil-up, the books clearly demonstrate the emphasis on immediate and extended family relations within Maori culture. In seven of the twelve chosen picturebooks, the main character is an elderly Maori woman, living independently by her own, yet being accompanied by her whanau most of the time. Mere McKaskill prepares a traditional boil-up32 inviting everyone she comes across while shopping for the meal. Finally the greengrocers, the butcher and his wife and daughters, the flower seller and his family and the neighbours arrive at Mere McKaskill’s house, each with a
32 A „boil-up“ is a traditional Maori method of cooking that boils root vegetables such as kumara and potatoes, puha (sow thistle) and spinach in a pork stock. Dumplings, also known as "doughboys", or Maori bread usually accompany the meal. See: http://www.mindfood.com/at-traditional-maori-recipes- global-tastes.seo 73 different dish, and the boil-up lunch turns into a koha33 (potluck) where everyone gathers around the dinner table like a big family.
‘Haere mai, everybody! Said Mere McKaskill. ‘Haere mai ki te kai!’ Everybody sat down together to share Mere McKaskill’s boil-up (Duncan 2007:24).
Figure 2: Illustration (Duncan 2007)
This illustration can be seen as a visualisation of whanau – a Maori concept of (extended) family, which “goes beyond the literal Pakeha translation of ‘family’” and constitutes a “fundamental building block of Maori society” (Hutchings 2002:52).
In Nanny Mihi’s Treasure Hunt and Nanny Mihi’s Christmas, the extended family is more or less confined to Nanny Mihi’s grandchildren and their parents. The exclusiveness emphasizes the close relationship between the family members and elucidates the role of whanau as a “support base from which we as individuals are located in the wider dimensions of whakapapa (genealogy) and Maori society” (Pihama 2001:135).
33 Koha is a gift of food, handicrafts or tools, given by a visitor to help with the host's food and accommodation costs. See: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3605700 74 Less exclusive but yet not less important is the whanau in Maraea and the Albatrosses. Although Maraea lives isolated “high on a hill, with only the enormous sky above and the great spreading ocean below” (Grace 2008:4), the extended family plays a central role in her life and thus the entire storyline of the book. Each spring season Maraea and her sisters, brothers and cousins watch the albatrosses make their nests, lay their eggs and see the “chicks grow big and feathery” (ibid.:15). It is an annual event, as “every day the children looked out to sea as they waited for the new season’s birds to arrive” (ibid.:17). However, as the years go by, the children grow up and move into “towns, cities and far countries to live,” leaving Maraea by herself (ibid.:18).
Figure 3: Illustration (Grace 2008)
The relationship to her whanau clearly changed throughout the story. Family bonds start to disperse while the relationship to the albatrosses reinforces as the whanau leaves Maraea by herself. After everyone had left the village, it seems as if the albatrosses became part of Maraea’s extended family: “they were in her thoughts. They were in her heart” (ibid.:21). Although connected to her whanau, Maraea appears to be an independent woman, living her live in harmony with nature. The storyline of Maraea and the Albatrosses elucidates how the practice of whanau “guides interaction with the
75 environment, people or circumstances; universal relationships and interrelationships” and constitutes the basis of Maori society (Hutchings 2002:52).
6.2.1.2 Atua Wahine (female goddesses/nature) It is through Papatuanuku – the Earth mother, that Maori women establish their identity as being the land itself (Turner 2007). The close relationship to nature is an essential part in the social world of Maori and a significant detail in the present picturebook analysis. Especially native New Zealand plants and animals such as the sweet potato (kumara), sow thistle (puha), pipis (shell fish) or the tui bird (endemic passerine bird) are popular symbols illustrating the connectedness to Mother Nature. Furthermore, the environment or setting of the narrative is mostly described as rural, natural surroundings, portraying New Zealand’s landscape and scenery.
Nanny Mihi lives in her whare by the sea. Every school holidays we go and stay and at Christmas we always do something special (Drewery 2005:1)
Figure 4: Illustration (Drewery 2005)
Nanny Mihi lives in her whare (house) by the sea, where she shows her grandchildren how to make mobiles out of seedpods, shells, driftwood, feathers and kina (sea egg).
76 For Christmas, Nanny Mihi decorates the pohutukawa tree34 in her garden instead of buying an “inside Christmas tree” and shows the kids how the stars can be “the prettiest Christmas lights” they have ever seen (Drewery 2005:21). Nanni Mihi thus epitomises atua wahine by cherishing and utilising the earth’s natural resources and transferring her attitude and knowledge to the younger generation.
In Dad’s Takeaways the beach and the sea replace a usual take-away restaurant providing fresh pipis, mussels and oysters, which, cooked on the fire and opened on “the hot rocks at the side,” become “the best takeaways in the world!” (Drewery 2007:24) Throughout the storyline of Dad’s Takeaways, the two symbolic universes of Maori and Pakeha culture seem to interact and merge to some degree. It is a usual day for Ngaio and the young family, when ‘Dad’ suggests having “the best takeaways in the world.” After packing up some miscellaneous items such as a hammer, matches, newspaper, gloves, buckets and a frying pan, the family drives off to the beach where they dig pipis and cook them traditionally on hot rocks and an open fire. This form of cooking is similar to the traditional hangi (earth oven), a Maori way of cooking food on hot stones, heated on a large fire and covered by earth for some hours before eating (Barlow 1991). By combining the Western concept of ‘take-away’ and the traditional Maori way of cooking food on hot rocks in a natural environment, Dad’s Takeaways does not only comprise the concept of atua wahine but also refers to whakapapa (genealogy/traditions).
6.2.1.3 Whakapapa (genealogy/traditions) Traditions, rites and matauranga Maori (Maori knowledge) constitute a significant part of the picturebook analysis providing herstories located within Maori understandings, which contribute essentially to the identity construction of Maori (women) (Hutchings 2002).
Cooking pipis, mussels and oysters on hot rocks as in Dad’s Takeaways is an example of how whakapapa can be integrated in children’s picturebooks. Furthermore, crafting mobiles out of seedpods, shells, driftwood, feathers and kina, as illustrated in Nanny Mihi’s Christmas, or the annual ‘calling back’ of the albatrosses in Maraea and the
34 The Pohutukawa tree is also called New Zealand christmas tree’ and can be found in coastal areas around New Zealand. They bear large, red flowers about Christmas time and have leaves which are velvety-white underneath. See: http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/index.cfm?dictionary Keywords=pohutukawa&search.x=0&search.zy=0&search=search&n=1&idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&l oan=[Retreived: 12.08.2011] 77 Albatrosses and Mere McKaskill’s traditional boil-up, narrate and communicate traditional matauranga Maori (Maori knowledge).
Angie Belcher’s The Girls in the Kapahaka is essentially the story of “the girls who sang in the kapahaka,35” which is a traditional Maori performance and thus part of whakapapa. The book explains how the koro (grandfather) cuts the flax, which the kuia (grandmother) uses to make the piupiu36 (flax skirt) and how all the children happily perform in the kapahaka. Te Reo Maori (Maori language) is frequently used in order to identify the significant symbols representing the traditional performance and thus explicitly relating to the symbolic universe of Maori.
Figure 5: Illustration (Belcher 2006)
6.2.1.4 Wairua (spirit) The spiritual dimension is an essential part of Maori culture and a common feature in the picturebooks analysed for the purpose of this study. After the “twin pillars of European society, the church and the family” (Hutchings 2002:52) have replaced wairua and enforced a value system emphasizing the state and the judiciary, spirituality has become a valuable sign of the relationship between Pakeha and Maori in the modern New Zealand society. Once being almost entirely abandoned, wairua slowly recovered its status and visibility in the social reality of everyday life (Pihama 2002).
35 Kapa: to stand in a row or rank Haka: to dance (the dance of Tanerore; the quivering of the air on a hot day) Kapa haka is commonly used to describe modern day performance of traditional and contemporary Maori song. The performance can be competitive or non competitive. The kapa can be performed by any number of people. See: http://www.tematatini.co.nz/about/what-is-kapa-haka.htm [Retreived: 14.08.2011] 36 The piupiu is a type of skirt made of flax used in modern times for kapa haka performances. See: http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/index.cfm?dictionaryKeywords=piupiu&search.x=0&search.y=0&sear ch=search&n=1&idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan= [Retreived: 14.08.2011] 78 “Supernatural material” in picturebooks should thus be seen as true only “in a literal sense” – as “embodying in a radical literary way a Maori understanding of the world that is different from that of the Western scientific and rational understanding. These two worlds the rational-utilitarian and the supernatural are not exclusively inhabited by Maori and Pakeha, however, with no blurring of the lines between the two” (Williams 2006).
The interconnectedness of spiritual reality and physical reality is particularly evident in Patricia Grace’s (2008) picturebook Maraea and the Albatrosses. For Maoris, the albatross symbolises beauty and power and is depicted in diverse carve drawings and in meeting houses (Sagar 2009). Maraea is, like the albatrosses, a beautiful and powerful woman, watching the birds grow older and fly out to sea, year after year. Although her whanau (extended family) left the village, Maraea stayed with the albatrosses until she was very old. As the albatrosses return to the cliff tops one day “the rock in the place where Maraea had sat moved and began to change” and “from out of the rock two enormous wings unfolded. A large white head lifted and eyes looked out towards the sky and the ocean” (Grace 2008:25-26). As Maraea turns into an albatross, the storyline changes eventually from a realistic into fictional narrative, combining spiritual and physical reality and therefore providing wairua.
In Itiiti’s Gift both realities, spiritual and physical, are intertwined, elucidating the status of wairua (spirit) and the connection to atua wahine (female goddess/nature) at the same time. As Itiiti tries to find out what she “could be good at,” the natural world around her begins to sing to her.
79 What could I be good at? She asked. The stones creaked and squeaked, the river trickled and gurgled, and they sang her a riverbank song (Drewery 2006:6).
Figure 6: Illustration (Drewery 2006) Itiiti watches each family member engaging in different activities while trying to find her own gift. She feels clumsy and small compared to her family and does not recognise the signs sung to her by the natural world. When she finally stops looking for her gift the “sound of her mother’s guitar crept through the walls and circled around her” (Drewery 2006:21). The songs she heard during the day return into her head, when all of a sudden “her voice rose and the beautiful songs from all around spilled out of her mouth” (ibid.). It is by means of natural powers, that Itiiti finds her skill and finally does not feel “shy or small or clumsy or slow” anymore (ibid.:28). The interplay of pictures and words emphasizes the close relation of wairua (spirit) and atua wahine (female goddess/nature). Metaphorical language (“her voice soared like a bird above them” (ibid.)) is accompanied by colourful, cheerful patterned illustrations, mostly covering a double page. Hence, as the “waves swooshed and swirled” (ibid.:7), so does the background pattern, connecting ocean, beach and the picturebook text on the left- hand side, creating a dynamic and stable picture at the same time.
80 6.2.1.5 Societal coding – a conclusion The analysis of the chosen picturebooks concerning their representation of whanau (extended family), atua wahine (female goddess/nature), whakapapa (genealogy/traditions) and wairua (spirit) provides a fundamental understanding of the social environment surrounding Maori women in contemporary New Zealand picturebooks.
The importance of whanau (extended family), as “fundamental building block of Maori society” (Hutchings 2002:50) is clearly communicated throughout the pictruebooks. Although the protagonist might be a single Maori woman (Mrs. Parata, Mere McKaskill, Maraea, Aunty Mihi), she is always accompanied by her family who plays an essential part in the narrative. Younger Maori, such as Itiiti and Hinemoa clearly value their whanau by desiring to be as talented as them (Itiiti) or capturing their attention by impressing them with their brave and fearless behaviour.
Atua wahine (female goddess/nature) is visually emphasised by the illustrations of the picturebooks, portraying New Zealand’s unique landscapes, flora and fauna. Furthermore, native plants and animals are part of several narratives, which confirms the close relation of Maori to nature and whakapapa (genealogy/traditions). Various books portray Maori women utilizing those natural resources, such as Nanny Mihi as she crafts mobiles out of driftwood, feathers and seedpods or the kuia (grandmother) who makes traditional skirts out of flax for the girls in the kapahaka. Those Maori women are connected to whakapapa and actively distribute the social stock of knowledge (Berger and Luckmann 1966) from one generation to the next.
As the destruction of wairua (spirit) was a “prerequisite to successful colonisation” (Evans 1994:55), reclaiming the right and space of the spiritual dimension is an essential element of mana wahine (Maori feminism). Hence in today’s picturebook landscape of New Zealand, wairua is rather exemplary for Maori narratives, revitalizing the spiritual realm and aiming to “write Maori women back into the historical discourse” (Johnston 1998 as in McNicholas 2004:10). Supernatural elements, such as the metamorphosis of Maraea into an albatross or the singing nature in Itiiti’s Gift clearly relate to the spiritual reality and demonstrate its importance in Maori society.
Concluding, the four main pillars of the societal coding frame were visible and recognizable throughout the entire picturebook sample. The illustration of Maori
81 women in those books is thus clearly related to the key themes of mana wahine (Maori feminism) and hence a wider Maori context. However, each book emphasizes different key themes to a different extent. Therefore, the societal coding frame is not sufficient in order to draw conclusions about the illustration of Maori women in New Zealand picturebooks and needs to be supplemented by a detailed investigation of the particular Maori woman character constituting those narratives. This additional insight is provided by the following analysis of the individual coding frame.
6.2.2 Individual coding frame Since the social self emerges “from the dialectic between individual and society” (Berger and Luckmann 1966), it is crucial to carefully analyse the female Maori characters in order to draw conclusions about the identity of Maori women depicted in those picturebooks. Through the combination of both, societal and individual coding frame I aim to achieve a complex, holistic understanding concerning the identity construction of Maori women in New Zealand children’s picturebooks.
Figure 7: Illustration (Drewery 2005)
Maori women portrayed in the picturebook sample showed some clear characteristics in their appearance: they were mostly elderly women, with long black- or grey hair and brown eyes. Sometimes they were younger Maori girls, however, always in company of adults. Certain books portrayed Maori women with distinctive lips or a wider nose and olive skin colour, which can be seen as some kind of “visual vocabulary of womanhood” (Kitch 2001), constructing the public imagining of Maori women
82 throughout New Zealand. Frequently, the characters wore pounamu (greenstone/jade)37 jewellery, which is a highly treasured stone with spiritual significance, used by many Maori to “denote status and authority, for adornment, and for making peace” (Basil 2009). Greenstone can hence be seen as a symbol, illustrating the connection to the land as well as to whakapapa (genealogy/traditions). Furthermore, several characters wore no shoes throughout the storyline, which demonstrates again the close relation and connection to nature.
While analysing the subcategories ‘personality’, ‘role’ and ‘relation to others’ of the individual coding frame it became apparent that several personality traits and roles were recurring throughout the picturebook sample. Combining the findings of both individual and societal coding frame has led to the development of three main character types: the Spiritual Maori woman, the Teacher and the Entertainer. Those “typifications” – as Berger and Luckmann would call them – are reappearing portrayals of Maori women in New Zealand picturebooks and will be discussed in the following paragraph.
6.2.3 Maori women in New Zealand picturebooks – three typifications
According to Berger and Luckmann (1966), identity ‘types’ are “social products tout court” and embedded in “a more general interpretation of reality” (Berger and Luckmann 1966:195). Picturebooks are a powerful means of creating typifications by habitually illustrating certain characters in certain ways, which eventually leads to the creation of stereotypes. In the present study, Maori women were the subject of investigation, and the analysis of their portrayal in New Zealand children’s picturebooks has led to the development of three typifications which are subsequently outlined in more detail:
6.2.3.1 The Teacher The Teacher type is a friendly, calm, wise, caring and kind Maori woman, mostly at an older age and surrounded by her whanau (family). By mediating and teaching (e.g. her grandchildren) about whakapapa (genealogy/traditions), the Maori women functions as a role model taking part in the socialization process (of the children). This ‘nanny-
37 ”Pounamu, greenstone and New Zealand jade are all names for the same hard, durable highly valued stone, used for making adornments, tools and weapons. Each name is used by different groups: Pounamu is the traditional Maori name. Greenstone is a common term, but increasingly it is being replaced by pounamu. New Zealand jade is a gemmological term that emphasises the similarity of the stone to overseas jade” (Basil 2009). 83 character’ thus frequently embodies the role of a ‘significant other’ in the interaction with others (e.g. grandchildren). Furthermore, the Teacher type provides some kind of ‘comfort-zone,’ which seems rather appealing to the others and makes her a likeable, popular person.
In the present picturebook sample, five out of twelve books illustrate the Maori woman as a teacher type. Nanny Mihi is, as her name already implies, a grandmother very much adored and beloved by her grandchildren. “Christmas is special because we’re here with you” (Drewery 2005:15) are the words of Mihi’s grandson after they prepared the ‘outside Christmas tree’ together. In both books Nanny Mihi’s Treasure Hunt and Nanny Mihi’s Christmas, there is an obvious, well-defined relationship between the elderly Maori woman and the children. Nanny Mihi clearly represents the significant other, explaining and mediating the world to her grandchildren. By showing them how to “collect harakeke (flax) and weave fish and flowers” (ibid.:12) or crafting mobiles out of natural materials, Mihi teaches her grandchildren traditional Maori knowledge.
Mere McKaskill is another picturebook, which portrays the main character as an elderly, friendly and kind Maori woman, however in a rather different perspective than Nanny Mihi does. Mere McKaskill does not teach whakapapa (genealogy/traditions) to any of the other characters in the story directly, however she shows the reader how to prepare a traditional boil-up38 and hence delivers whakapapa indirectly to the audience. Mere’s role in the storyline seems thus also to be that of a ‘teacher’, even though she neither addresses any other characters nor the reader in a direct manner. Yet the book describes in detail how a traditional boil-up has to be made:
Mere McKaskill took a big pot out of her cupboard. She filled it with water, added a pinch of salt and the port bones, and put it on the stove to boil. Then she peeled and chopped the kumara, pumpkin and potatoes, and she washed the puha in the sink (Duncan 2007:11).
The Teacher type can therefore be directly, (such as Nanny Mihi) or indirectly, (such as Mere McKaskill) involved in delivering whakapapa (genealogy/traditions).39 Since Mere McKaskill neither teaches whakapapa (genealogy/traditions) directly, nor is she directly related to any of the other characters in the story, she does not represent a
38 The recipe of Mere McKaskill’s Boil-up can be found in the back of the icturebook. 39 Maori knowledge is, however, not confined to handcraft, rites or traditions but includes values, attitudes and beliefs, which can be communicated directly and indirectly by the Teacher. 84 significant other, however, embodies a role model to the people joining her boil-up, as well as the reader. She is depicted as an exemplary Maori woman, valuing whanau (extended family) and whakapapa (genealogy/traditions) and portrays the typification of the Teacher.
6.2.3.2 The Entertainer The Maori woman representing the Entertainer type appears to be rather tough and brave perhaps slightly boisterous. She can look tomboyish, however her behaviour might be clumsy at times, which draws the attention of others. The combination of toughness and clumsiness creates a funny, charming and amusing character, which constitutes the typification of the Entertainer.
Throughout the picturebook sample, three out of twelve books match the above description of the Maori woman represented as Entertainer. Hinemoa te toa (Hinemoa the brave) states on the very first page, that “Hinemoa was tough” (Tipene 2008:1). Reinforced by the usage of a larger font and followed by an illustration of Hinemoa trying to win back the rugby ball captured by a “grown-up”, this first impression already illustrates her tough, brave and slightly tomboyish character. The picturebook continues to portray the little girl as fearless, picking up “large wetas (bugs)”, fighting monsters in the garden and finally calling herself a “warrior” (ibid.:8). Regardless of what kind of challenge she faces:
Hinemoa was no fool; she kept her cool. She pouted her lips, placed her hands on her hips And gave an evil eye. “I am Hinemoa te toa, bring it on!” (Tipene 2008:13).
Figure 8: Illustration (Tipene 2008)
85 However, as Hinemoa starts her swimming lessons, she does not want to admit that the water is frightening to her “’I’m not scared!’ Hinemoa growled” (ibid.) and so she runs and jumps into the pool, yet drops “right to the bottom” so that some of the other children have to rescue her. After being safely out of the water, Hinemoa is back with her ‘Nana’ (who can be identified as a ‘Teacher’ type in the story), and tells her calmly:
Oh, Hinemoa, being scared reminds us to be careful. If you want to overcome your fear of the water then listen to that fear. Start at the shallow end of the pool and learn to swim properly (Tipene 2008:24).
Hinemoa follows the advice of her Nana and reconsiders her actions before she faces the next challenge. Instead of climbing high up in the tree to get the hat of her little brother, Hinemoa decides asking her Dad for help. “What a wise warrior you are, Hinemoa” (ibid.:32), are the words of her Nana, emphasizing that she can still be a tough, brave warrior although she asks for help. By trying to be a tough warrior, fighting monsters, picking up large bugs and not being afraid of the darkness nor the dental nurse, Hinemoa is the ‘hero’ of the story and, based on the established typifications, classifiable as an Entertainer.
Less of a warrior, nevertheless a brave, funny character, is Mrs. Parata. Both picturebooks, Mrs. Parata’s Problem Pets and Mrs. Parata Rides Again illustrate the Maori woman as an Entertainer, living with her son and a few animals in a rural area close to the sea. Mrs. Parata is well known and liked among the people of the village who greet her happily every time they see her riding her bike through the streets.
Everyone heard her coming … Squeak, clonk, squeak, clonk down the street. Most stopped what they were doing to call out ‘Hello!’ ‘Kia ora!’, ‘Lovely day!’, ‘Nice rain last night!’ and other friendly greetings (Darroch 2004:3).
86
Figure 9: Illustration (Darroch 2004)
The cartoonish language (squeak, clonk squeak, clonk) combined with the illustration of Mrs. Parata riding happily through the village, is highly expressive, emphasizing the characteristics of the Entertainer. Mrs. Parata is depicted as a strong, friendly, tomboyish looking Maori woman, “dressed up in her bright-coloured tracksuit and a straw hat. And as she had to wear a crash helmet, she put that on top” (ibid.:1). In both picturebooks Mrs. Parata wears mainly the same green tracksuit and an orange shirt, which underlines her boyish appearance. Besides the matching outfit of the protagonist, both storylines also organize their plot in a similar way. The ordinary life of Mrs. Parata seems to turn upside down as her well-meaning son tries to help her out. Humorous elements incorporated throughout the narrative liven up Mrs. Parata’s daily routines, creating amusing situations and hence emphasize her appearance as an Entertainer.
6.2.3.3 The Spiritual Maori woman Two out of twelve picturebooks illustrate the Spiritual Maori woman. It is necessary to take into account that narratives based on Maori mythology have been excluded from the sample, since those Maori women depicted in myths and legends refer to fictional realities, which do not reflect the social reality of contemporary New Zealand society and the present perception of Maori women. The remaining books can thus include
87 semi-fiction and realistic fiction storylines, however, exclude non-realistic fiction and fantasy stories.
The Spiritual Maori woman as defined on basis of the selected picturebooks, appears to be rather independent, strong-minded and in peace with herself. She might seem to be a loner, although connected to her whanau (extended family) and being in harmony with nature. It is this connection with herself, her whanau (extended family) and with nature, that seems to establish a relation to the supernatural, and causes mystical experiences.
Maraea (and the Albatrosses) reflects the typification of a Spiritual Maori woman, living remotely “high on a hill, with only the enormous sky above and the great spreading ocean below” (Grace 2008:1). Words and pictures underline the powerful nature of atua wahine (female goddess/nature) and describe the scenery vividly.
With no one to care for the houses, the boards cracked in the summer sun. In winter they were beaten by wind, rain and storms, which toppled them down the cliff on to the rocks below. When the tides came in they were taken away by waves and strong sea currents. Only the crumbling walls of houses remained (Grace 2008:4).
As the story goes back in time, it shows how Maraea lived with her whanau (extended family) in a village on top of those hills, watching the albatrosses making their nests “along the ridges and among the stones and tussock” (ibid.:5). As the years go by and all people move into cities and far countries, Maraea stays in the village, awaiting the albatrosses and calling them to their hilltop places. Her strong roots and mind are essential characteristics, which distinguish Maraea from a usual loner and identify her as the Spiritual Maori woman instead. This assumption is confirmed by the end of the story as a rock turns into an albatross at exactly the place where Maraea had sat and waited for the birds to arrive.
From out of the rock two enormous wings unfolded. A large white head lifted and eyes looked out towards the sky and ocean. A strong beak opened and this new bird cried out (Grace 2008:25-26).
The metamorphosis emphasizes Maraea’s close relationship to ataua wahine (female goddess/nature), and hence “reaffirms Maori women’s close spiritual connection to the earth” (Hutchings 2002:50). Maraea and the albatrosses is thus a relevant example for the illustration of the Spiritual Maori woman in New Zealand picturebooks.
88 The second picturebook representing the character of a Spiritual Maori woman is Itiiti’s Gift. Despite being surrounded by her whanau (extended family), Itiiti wends her way to find out what she is good at, all by herself. While watching her family as they pursue their natural talents, the environment around Itiiti starts singing to her.
What could I be good at?’ she asked. The tui chimed and clanged, the ponga leaves rattled and rustled, and they sang her a bush song (Drewerv 2006:9).
Her strong will and the connection to atua wahine (female goddess/nature) eventually help Itiiti to find what she is looking for. As she hears the sound of her mother’s guitar “it mixed with the memories” and “the songs from her day filled her head […] her voice rose and the beautiful songs from all around spilled out of her mouth.” (Drewery 2009:21). Her mind and body connect with atua wahine (female goddess/nature) and help Itiiti to discover what she is good at. As to her surprise, Itiiti’s gift does find her naturally (ibid.).
‘Aaah’, said Nanny. ‘Sounds like your gift has found you.’ And Itiiti smiled because now she knew it had been there all along (Drewery 2009:27).
Although the mystical moment illustrated in Itiiti’s Gift mainly revolves around the musical environment and is not accompanied by a metamorphosis, transformation or any magical event, it relates to the spirit of nature, “reaffirms Maori women's close spiritual connection to the earth” (Hutchings 2002:50) and demonstrates its existence in the everyday reality of Maori. Hence Itiiti represents a Spiritual Maori woman as illustrated in a contemporary New Zealand picturebook.
The Teacher, the Entertainer and the Spiritual Maori woman are three typifications, reinventing and reproducing the identity of Maori women in New Zealand picturebooks. They are based on certain characteristics and significant symbols which delimitate the identity of Maori women, producing "a fixed reality which is at once an 'other' yet entirely knowable and visible" (Bhabha, 1983: 23).
Despite their clear similarities, such as the underlying key themes of mana wahine (Maori feminism), the four typifications imply vital differences. The following paragraph will discuss similarities and differences between the established typifications of Maori women in those picturebooks and suggest a way of how a real difference can be made. 89 6.2.3.4 Maori women in New Zealand picturebooks – Making a difference! The three identity types developed in the present study represent recurring illustrations of Maori women in contemporary New Zealand picturebooks. Although the Entertainer, the Teacher and the Spiritual Maori woman embody different identities, they all share similar characteristics, constituting positive imaginings of Maori women, yet delimited and constrained. Friendly, open, independent, strong or brave are clearly favourable characteristics, comprising positive typifications, however, indicating the “'good- naturedness' of the Maori 'race,'” which signifies the processes of racialization that occurs in the wider New Zealand society (Wall 1997:42).
Furthermore, as the analysis of the societal coding frame demonstrates, each typification is anchored in one or more key themes of mana wahine. Atua wahine (female goddess/nature), whanau (extended family), wairua (spirit) and whakapapa (genealogy/traditions) provide “distinctive tools through which we can view our world and analyse our experiences as Maori women” (Pihama 2001:24). It is within the symbolic universe of Maori, that those “realms of reality are integrated within a meaningful totality that explains, perhaps also justifies them” (Berger and Luckmann 1966:114).
However, these ‘realms of reality’ constitute a limited framework, focusing on the symbolic universe of Maori and habitually illustrating certain characters in certain ways, which might lead to the creation of typifications. By excluding the symbolic universe of Pakeha, the picturebooks neglect the diverse realities of Maori/Pakeha relations, where there are “multiple subject-positions, aspirations, and contrasts continually at play through ongoing interaction and exchange” (Meredith 1998:1). However, those books reinforce the binary of Maori (the colonised) or Pakeha (the coloniser) and depict the Maori woman in an oversimplified and essentialised manner. In fact, the everyday reality of today’s New Zealand society is a bicultural one including many Maori women who live with more than one cultural identity. As members of a culturally heterogeneous nation, both, Pakeha and Maori are exposed to “a myriad of sometimes conflicting ideas and images […] created by changes in New Zealand’s social and political landscape” (Houkamou 2010:183-184). Those different spheres of reality constitute the two symbolic universes of Maori and Pakeha. According to Berger and Luckmann (1966), the symbolic universe “provides the highest level of integration
90 for the discrepant meanings actualized within everyday life in society” and thus legitimates ideologies, values and beliefs of both, Maori and Pakeha culture (Berger and Luckmann 1966:116).
Most of the picturebooks chosen for the purpose of this study emphasize the symbolic universe of Maori, by focusing their narrative on the four key themes of mana wahine (Maori feminism). They consequently constrain and delimit the identity of Maori women, which actually develops in a bicultural context, continuously interacting with the symbolic universe of Pakeha.
Several picturebooks stress the relation to whakapapa (genealogy/traditions) and construct the identity of the Maori woman thereupon. She teaches and thus distributes traditional Maori knowledge and hence reaffirms the conduct and the roles comprising the symbolic universe of Maori. Other books, such as Itiiti’s Gift and Maraea and the Albatrosses, illustrate the Maori woman in a spiritual context, strong and independent, almost isolated as she is only sometimes surrounded by her whanau (extended family). There are no encounters with Pakeha throughout the picturebooks since the narrative focuses on the symbolic universe of Maori only. The depiction of the Maori women as an Entertainer attempts to incorporate the symbolic universe of Pakeha, by positioning the Maori woman in the centre of the two differing realities. The encounter, however, is not illustrated as a serious event but a humorous episode, emphasizing the clumsy behaviour of the Maori woman, while she is trying to merge two dissimilar universes. As Mrs Parata tries to adapt to the new vehicles her son suggests instead of using her old bicycle, she fails miserably and finally returns to riding her ‘good old bike’ into town. By choosing her rattly bike instead of a modern alternative, Mrs Parata remains not only with her traditional means of transport but also maintains the connection to her whanau (extended family) who she can easily wave and talk to while riding her bike into town. The narrative hence remains in the realm of the symbolic universe of Maori, emphasizing whakapapa (genealogy/traditions) and whanau (extended family) instead of engaging with change and difference.
Between the picturebooks comprising the three typifications of the Entertainer, the Teacher and the Spiritual Maori woman, there is no balanced narrative, aiming to combine the two symbolic universes of Maori and Pakeha equally and go beyond the colonial binary thinking of Pakeha/Maori. Instead, the books mostly represent a social
91 reality where “the past is reified and romanticised, where the problems of the present are decontextualised, and where differences within Maori are erased” (Wall 1997:43).
Among the picturebooks constituting the sample for this study, there is one example suggesting a rather distinct narrative.
Dad’s Takeaways tells the story of a young family preparing their own ‘takeaways’ by fishing pipis, mussels and oysters and cooking them on the fire at the beach. The story combines traditional Maori knowledge, such as preparing pipis, and the Western concept of ‘takeaways’ which reflects the two merging symbolic universes of Maori and Pakeha. As the family cooks the seafood, they use a frying pan instead of covering the mussels with sand or soil as in a traditional hangi (Maori earth oven) and later eat them on toast, such as meat or sausages at a usual barbeque. Furthermore, the young couple seem to live as a patchwork-family. In this non-traditional family concept, the adults are named ‘Dad’ and ‘Ngaio’ by the children, emphasizing a modern way of defining the traditional Maori concept of whanau (extended family). By integrating the two differing symbolic universes of Maori and Pakeha, Dad’s Takeaways creates a less romanticised, and more authentic representation of Maori women and goes beyond the realm of colonial binary thinking and oppositional positioning (Meredith 1998:3). It places the character in a bicultural context and thus reflects the contemporary social world surrounding the Maori woman in today’s New Zealand society.
In order to avoid the delimitation of Maori women’s identity through the creation of typifications and acknowledge the diverse roles carried by Maori women, the narratives in picturebooks should attempt to integrate the symbolic universes of both, Pakeha and Maori.
In summary it can be stated that the key themes of mana wahine are a vital part of the picturebook communication in order to “encompass the complex realities of Maori women’s lives“ (Pihama 2001:277). However it is only by integrating the symbolic universe of Pakeha in the narrative, that an authentic representation of Maori women can be achieved, without delimiting the multiple ways their identity can flourish.
As illustrated by the picturebook communication circle (see 4.4.7), picturebooks are powerful means of constructing and reproducing the image of certain individuals or groups in a society. Teacher, Entertainer and the Spiritual Maori woman serve as role
92 models during the socializing process of the young individual, facilitating the formation of the Maori woman as the generalized other. By repeatedly representing constrained imaginings of Maori women, those types become integrated in the social stock of knowledge and shape the common sense discourse about Maori women in New Zealand. However, the picturebook can be a medium of change.
As Dad’s Takeaways illustrates, it is through integrating the symbolic universe of Pakeha and equally emphasizing the key themes of mana wahine and thus the symbolic universe of Maori, that the multiple roles carried by Maori women can be acknowledged. Through the incorporation of both symbolic universes, the picturebook gives “visibility and space to the herstories of Maori women” while “being able to see what is really happening to [their] culture” (Hutchings 2002:38). The narrative is not confined to one culture but captures the challenges of a bicultural context, which facilitates the creation of a more authentic portrayal of Maori women in contemporary New Zealand society. Instead of excluding the reality of bi-/multi racial Maori women, Dad’s Takeaways challenges the reader to think beyond the dichotomous cultural identities imposed upon Maori women and proposes an identity, which “constantly negotiates itself in relation to the bi/multi racial woman's unique historical circumstances as native/colonial, colonised/coloniser and Maori/Pakeha-Other” (Moeke-Maxwell 2005:7). Unlike most New Zealand picturebooks, Dad’s Takeaways deconstructs the colonial binary thinking (Maori/Pakeha) and hence interrupts the picturebook communication circle by avoiding the delimitation of Maori women’s identity and acknowledging “the indefinite possibilities” of what being a Maori woman is and can be (Wall 1997:44).
93 Chapter 7: CONCLUSION
94 This chapter is intended to summarize the study. Subchapter 7.1 provides an overview of the main aspects underlying this thesis including analysis and result as well as suggestions for further research. The chapter concludes with a personal comment of the author (7.2), illustrating the initial motivation for conducting this study as well as difficulties during the research.
7.1 The media’s social construction of reality
We walk around with media-generated images of the world, using them to construct meaning about political and social issues. And the special genius of this system [the media] is to make the whole process seem so normal and natural that the very art of social construction is invisible (Gamson et al. 1992).
The purpose of this study was to investigate the representation of Maori women in contemporary New Zealand picturebooks. Specifically, to analyse the visual and verbal aspects constituting the character of a Maori woman in those books and draw conclusions about the way picturebooks can contribute to the social construction of a Maori woman’s identity in a modern New Zealand society. For this purpose I provided a theoretical discussion, emphasizing the approaches of George Herbert Mead, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann. Based on the ideas of social constructionism, the media can act as “teachers of values, ideologies and beliefs and […] provide images for interpreting the world whether or not the designers are conscious of this intent (Gamson et al. 1992:374). It remains important to note, however, that the media ‘design’ or create as much as they reflect social reality (Kitch 2001). The social construction of reality is thus a dialectical process, in which human beings act both as the creators and products of their social world (Berger and Luckmann 1966). This dialectic is mirrored in the picturebook communication circle, which illustrates how picturebooks organize and circulate “the knowledge which people have of their own everyday life and of the more remote contexts of their lives" and thus shapes the individual and collective consciousness (McQuail 1972:13). Put differently, by representing a particular social reality, picturebooks can offer notions of the world that go beyond the child’s everyday reality. The characters in those books might serve as role models and hence shape the young reader’s ideas about themselves and their environment. Moreover, these role models guide the general classificatory process of an individual towards the other, and facilitate the development of typificatory schemes. Projecting those types to a whole group facilitates the emergence of stereotypes. As those stereotypes become reproduced in picturebooks again, they foster the individual and collective consciousness and thus
95 contribute to the social construction of reality. The underlying mechanism to the process of reality construction, however, is language. It is through the use of vocal gestures that the individual can take the role of others and thus develop a social self (Mead 1934). As the social self is embedded in its symbolic universe, language provides access to prevalent values, ideologies, beliefs, knowledge and skills. Lastly, words (and pictures) constitute the object of study in the present research and are thus the key to successful or unsuccessful picturebook communication.
During the analysis of the picturebooks chosen for the purpose of this study, I identified three recurring typifications of Maori women in those books. The Teacher, the Entertainer and the Spiritual Maori woman are reinventing and reproducing, yet delimitating the identity of Maori women in New Zealand picturebooks. Based on one outstanding book, I drew the conclusion that it is through integrating the two differing symbolic universes of Pakeha and Maori into the narrative that the multiple roles carried by Maori women can be acknowledged and an authentic portrayal of Maori women is achieved. Whereas most picturebooks represent a confined image of Maori women, Dad’s Takeaways deconstructs the colonial hierarchies of the Maori/Pakeha binary and interrupts the delimited picturebook communication as it illustrates the character in a bicultural context and hence reflects the contemporary social world surrounding the Maori woman in today’s New Zealand society.
The analysis clearly shows that contemporary New Zealand picturebooks still delimit and constrain Maori women’s identity by recurrently depicting them as certain types and reinforcing dichotomous cultural identities. Those books fail to intertwine and integrate the two differing cultures of Maori and Pakeha in their narrative, and neglect current struggles or conflicts in the social reality of New Zealand. Instead of facilitating cultural awareness and sensitivity, the shortcoming of picturebooks comprising diverse and authentic representations of Maori women preserves the “tenacious salience of racialised discourse in New Zealand” and “constructs Maori as the perennial Black Other” (Wall 1997:44). Those picturebooks fail to provide a more critical perspective of biculturalism in New Zealand, which „rethinks our assumptions about culture and identity from an ‘us-them’ dualism to a mutual sense of ‘both/and’“ (Meredith 1998:1).
As those stories continue to fill the bookshelves of children’s rooms, schools, nurseries and libraries throughout New Zealand, they shape the way these young individuals
96 encounter, interact, think and talk about Maori women. They contribute to the “pictures in our head” (Lippmann 1922), which we create in order to simplify the complexity of everyday reality. However, those pictures also exist in the head of the person being stereotyped and are consensually distributed in the entire (New Zealand) society. The stereotypical depiction of Maori women is, unlike the “picture in our head”, culturally shared and hence concerns and affects all Maori in the same way. Therefore, in order to raise cultural awareness and ensure an equitable and democratic society, it is vital to broaden the range of picturebooks emphasizing the two interacting symbolic universes of Maori and Pakeha as well as broaden the way Maori women are illustrated in those books. Instead of constraining their identities to certain types, contemporary New Zealand picturebooks need to acknowledge the diverse roles of Maori women by giving space and visibility to the manifold herstories of New Zealand’s indigenous women.
As we “are told about the world before we see it” and “we imagine most things before we experience them”, those prejudices, biases and preconceptions in picturebooks “govern deeply the whole process of perception” (Lippmann 1922:55). Hence, it lies primarily in the hands of parents and teachers how this world looks like, before we see it and how we imagine things, before we experience them. As one-sided media messages and mediacentric values may augment social inequality and racism (Fleras and Kunz 2001), critical awareness of how the media propagates stereotypes, sexism and racism in children has to be brought to the forefront (Petrozza 2002). By critically discussing or ‘filtering out’ stereotypical representations of minorities, parents and teachers can actively contribute to the reality construction of their children and thus to the future social world as a whole.
The present analysis of Maori women in New Zealand picturebooks provides a profound and critical investigation of children’s literature, contributing to previous research on minorities in the media and opening the gates for future studies concerning one of the most marginalized groups in New Zealand society: Maori women.
Future research could expand this study by increasing the sample size in order to improve validity and complement the established typifications of Maori women with further examples. This may allow for new typifications to be identified or for the already outlined typifications to be better defined. Performing this study on a larger scale can also mean expanding the publication period of the books being analysed.
97 Older narratives could be added to the sample and compared to more recent picturebooks. This comparison can reveal valuable insight into the development of Maori women’s representation in children’s picturebooks during the past years and might allow for interesting relations to socio-political changes in New Zealand during that time.
This study could also incorporate other media material such as local children’s cartoons in order to examine if the illustration of Maori women in those animated television series differs from the portrayal of indigenous women in picturebooks, or if the typifications might be consistent.
Furthermore, as this study only investigates the media’s symbolic representations of reality, future research could examine both “dominant modes of symbolic representations of objective reality […] and the impact of this symbolic environment on the individual's perception of social reality” (Andoni and Mane 1984:335). Putting emphasize on the reader instead of the content could allow for a more complete understanding concerning the effects of Maori women’s portrayal in New Zealand picturebooks, as the audience is no homogenous mass of people but individual “active processors and however encoded our received reality, we may decode it in different ways” (Gamson et al. 1992:384).
7.2 Final Words
It is not necessary (nor is it possible) for an outsider to fully comprehend the subtleties and inner workings of another cultural system (even if it is still fully functional) to perform a useful role in the cultural community. What is necessary, however, is a recognition that such differences do exist, an understanding of how these potentially conflicting cultural forces can impact on people’s lives, and a willingness to set aside one’s own cultural predispositions long enough to convey respect for the validity of others (Ka’ai 2004:213).
When I started my exchange at Victoria University of Wellington in early February 2011, I arrived here as a clean slate. My previous travels around the country have introduced me only to the basics of Maori culture; however, it was enough to be completely enthusiastic and determined to dedicate my final research project to these fascinating people at the other side of the world. As soon as my courses started, I had to realize, that I know even less than I thought and that learning more and more about two unknown cultures, does not necessarily mean that you understand them any better. 98 Reading about ‘settler colonialism’, ‘screen sovereignty’, ‘communication landscapes’, ‘cultural commodification’ and ‘Kaupapa Maori Film Theory’ opened up an entirely new field of media studies to me – exciting, but overwhelming at the same time. How would I be able to cover this topic accurately? Where to start, and where to stop? Could I treat this subject with the essential sensitivity – me, a German student writing about the indigenous women of New Zealand? The point of departure was different to any research I have conducted previously, but I was still convinced that in the end, the journey would be worth it. However, the first difficulty I encountered with the selection of my picturebook sample. How could I know which books are popular New Zealand picturebooks? I could neither draw back on the experiences of friends and family, nor my own childhood and had to discover different resources, guiding me along the research process. After selecting the books for the analysis, developing a coding scheme appeared to be rather challenging. As previous research on Maori women in the media is quite limited, there was no prototype providing a supporting framework for the investigation of Maori women in picturebooks. Literature on mana wahine theory contained valuable information, which comprised the basis of the coding frame, however, required careful reading and research in the field of Maori studies. Certain key concepts (such as wairua, atua wahine, whanau and whakapapa) were termed in Te Reo Maori (Maori language), which took a considerable amount of time to comprehend and translate. However, it turned out to be one of the most exciting parts of my research, as I had to go beyond the surface of general Maori knowledge, exploring underlying ideologies, ideas and concepts of the indigenous people.
After exposing the challenges and difficulties this study brought in its wake, it still remains the question: Why did I choose this topic? The answer seems obvious: I was fascinated by the difference of Maori culture; by the difference of a bicultural society; different (colonial) history; different challenges and struggles this nation has to face and the different ideologies, beliefs, customs and language constituting New Zealand society. Coming from a media and communications background, I was particularly interested in how these cultures interact, communicate and socialize with each other. Yet, my special attention was drawn towards (Maori) women and children. How does the media cover the differences in culture and gender? How does it communicate those differences to New Zealand’s youngsters? It is the children’s innocence, vulnerability and openness that make them highly receptive to the images and stories surrounding
99 them day-by-day; Moreover, children will reuse those stories and pictures constituting their world to create the ‘bigger picture’ and thus, a society’s future.
After I have engaged myself in the differences of Pakeha and Maori culture, their colonial history, their different traditions, ideologies, beliefs, and after having analysed a vast amount of picturebooks circulating in New Zealand bookshelves, I have come to the conclusion that it is not about difference – but about making a difference!
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115 APPENDIX
116 Appendix A: Maori Glossary
Aotearoa Land of the long white cloud (Maori name for New Zealand) Atua wahine Female goddesses Haere mai Welcome! Hangi Earth oven Hapu Sub-tribe or pregnant Harakeke Flax Hui Gathering, meeting, assembly, seminar, conference Iwi Refers to the larger tribal communities and translates as ‘bones’ Kapahaka Traditional Maori performing group Kia ora Hello! Kina Sea egg Koha potluck Koro Grandfather Kuia Grandmother Kumara Sweet potato Mana Having status, influence or power, authority or prestige Mana wahine Power to Maori women. Maori feminist perspective Maori Collective identity of the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa Matauranga Maori Maori knowledge Nga pua Those seeds Papatuanuku The earth mother, and creator of all life Pakeha Often used to refer to New Zealanders of European (predominantly British) descent Pipi Shell fish Piupiu Traditional skirt Pounamu Greenstone/Jade Puha Watercress Tangata whenua New Zealand’s indigenous population
117 Te ara uwha o Tahu The heavenly female path of Tahu Te Tiriti o Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangy Te reo Maori Maori language Tikanga: Custom Tui bird endemic passerine bird Tupuna wahine Female ancestors Wahine Women, females, ladies, wives Wairua Spirit Wairuatanga Spirituality Whakapapa Genealogy Whanau (extended) family (can be genealogical or based on purpose for gathering) Whare House Whenua Land
118 Appendix B: Societal coding frame
Title: Publisher:
Author: Illustrator:
Year: Number of pages:
Atua Wahine
[female goddesses/nature] Relation to animals
Relation with natural powers
Means of transport
Relation with (native) plants
Others
Whanau [extended family] Set of siblings
The descendants of a relatively recent ancestor but not their spouses and whangai (foster child) The descendants of a relatively recent ancestor and their spouses and whangai (foster child) The descendants of a recent ancestor and their spouses and whangai (foster child) who interact together on an ongoing basis Descent groups also known as hapu (clans or descent groups) and iwi 119 (tribe) Nuclear family
Group of unrelated Maori who interact on a regular basis Group of people gathered for the purpose of supporting an individual or individuals Large group of people gathered for a common purpose.
Wairua [spirit] Symbols/methaphors
Other
Other
Other
Whakapapa [genealogy/traditions] Traditions
Rites
Traditional matauranga Maori (Maori knowledge)
Other
Other
Other
120 Appendix C: Individual coding frame
Title: Publisher:
Author: Illustrator:
Year: Number of pages:
Appearance Clothes
Hair
Eye-colour
Skin
Age
Physique
Other
Character Personality
Role in story
Relation to others
Other
121 Appendix D: Details about the authors 40
Author Ethnicity About the author Tracy Duncan unknown Tracy Duncan is born 1971 in Nelson on the South island. She is writing and illustrating children’s books. Many of her books are written in Maori and English. The books Nanny Mihi’s Christmas and Mere McKaskill’s Boil-Up were listed as Storylines Notable Picturebooks. Patricia Grace Maori Patricia Grace is born 1937 in Wellington. She is a novelist, short story and children’s writer and of Maori descent. Since the 1970s, Grace has gained wide recognition as a key figure in the emergence of Maori fiction in English. She was honoured as a living icon of New Zealand art as part of the second biennial Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon Awards in 2005. Melany Drewery Pakeha Melany Drewery is born 1970 in Palmerston North, before she settled down in Nelson. For Drewery the Maori tradition in picturebooks gives the young readers easy access to Maori language and culture. Several of her books have been listed as Storylines Notable Picturebooks. Angie Belcher Pakeha Angie Belcher is born 1956 and works as a writer and drama teacher. She writes children’s books as well as for overseas magazines. Sharon Holt Pakeha Sharon Holt was born 1959 in Auckland. She writes fiction, non-fiction, plays and poems for young children. More than 25 of her books have been published in Australia and New Zealand. Off you Go, Aunty Ma! Was long-listed for the Esther Glen Award. Tim Tipene Maori Tim Tipene, Nga Puhi, is a children’s writer and the founder of a community organisation called Warrior Kids, working with at-risk children. He has a degree in Child and Adolescent Mental Health and works as a martial arts instructor. Chris Murray and Maori The sisters Raina and Chris are producing bi- Raina Fowlds lingual children’s books since 2008 when they launched their company Tu Maia Educational Resources Ltd.
40 The details about the authors are based on the information provided by the New Zealand Book Council. URL: http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/ (Retreived: 15.03.2012). 122