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Collegiate Debating Societies in New Zealand: The Role of Discourse in an Inter-Colonial Setting, 1878-1902 A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Canterbury, New Zealand by Bettina Kaiser University of Canterbury 2008 Submission date 30 April 2008 Dissertation Length 80,000 words Copyright © 2008 by Bettina Kaiser All rights reserved To Brunhild, Andrea und Peter Kaiser, Elisabet Pehl and Francis Zinke. Man is ‘the heir of all the ages’; he cannot divest himself of his patrimony and begin the world again. John Macmillan Brown, 1881, 13 Abstract Collegiate Debating Societies in New Zealand: The Role of Discourse in an Inter-Colonial Setting, 1878-1902 By Bettina Kaiser This thesis examines how, in New Zealand during the nineteenth century, debate was practised as an educative means to cultivate a standard of civic participation among settlers. Three collegiate debating societies and their activities between 1878 and 1902 are the object of this study. The discussion of these three New Zealand societies yields a distinctly colonial concept of debate. In the New Zealand public forum, a predominantly Pakeha intellectual elite put forth the position that public decisions should be determined by a process of deliberation that was conducted by educated individuals. This project was dominated by scientific argumentation that underpinned debate as a reliable means of discursive interaction. New Zealand’s intellectual elite was influenced by similar trends in Britain and the United States. Moreover, the concept of debate, that developed over the period of thirty years, carried significant normative connotations that rendered rational argumentation an acceptable form of discursive interaction. It is shown that nineteenth-century debating practice in New Zealand should be understood as a cultural phenomenon that combines the practice of debate with alternative forms of discursive interaction like mock trials or musical evenings. Mostly composed of students, these societies negotiated ideal standards of discourse and real encounters on the debating platform. In order to understand this relation of real and ideal in nineteenth-century discourse, Habermas’s theory of communicative action helps to identify levels of interaction that reveal the social structure of debating activity. In addition, this thesis discusses events of imperial dimension like the Boer War and the Australia Federation movement to locate students’ discourse in an inter-colonial setting and identify discursive patterns of colonial policy making. Due to the lack of rhetorical research in New Zealand, American scholarship on literary and debating societies in the Gilded Age era provide a frame of reference for this study. The story of nineteenth-century New Zealand was written in an inter-colonial web of written and oral discourse. As such, the understanding of a distinctly New Zealand nineteenth-century concept of debate contributes to a shift of perspective in New Zealand historical research towards a rhetorical interpretation of discourse culture. Furthermore, this study informs a reading of New Zealand’s past that takes into account the strategic function of public discourse and its effect on the creation of jingoism and grounds for national identification. This thesis concludes that nineteenth-century debate was an imagined and ideal standard imposed on the public forum as well as a lived and embodied experience of social interaction. While this thesis focuses on the activities of three debating societies, it is suggested that literary and debating societies, in general, were more numerous and influential that historical scholarship has acknowledged. iv Acknowledgements Many people, both professional colleagues and friends, have helped to bring this thesis to fruition. First of all, I must thank my supervisory team at the University of Canterbury and Victoria University. I am especially indebted to Mark Williams, senior supervisor, who unwaveringly supported the project and continuously strove to improve the presentation of this thesis. Especially during the final weeks of the project, he took on an immense workload, for which I am very grateful. Huw Griffiths, assistant supervisor, stayed committed to the project even after his career took him to Sydney. His invaluable comments on Habermas pointed me in the right direction and were of crucial importance in developing the argument. I thank Maureen Montgomery, associate supervisor, for her input and comments on the thesis. I am grateful to all three supervisors for their interest and engagement. Early drafts of the chapters were discussed in the doctoral colloquium at Humboldt University, Berlin and among the participants of the post-graduate colloquium at Canterbury University. I am particularly grateful to Sharon McIvor, Sally Provan and Karyn Stewart for their comments and suggestions, as well as their collegial friendship during the long days and nights at the office. Tanja Schwalm’s enthusiasm was an inspiration to all of us and she deserves particular thanks for organising the post-graduate colloquium in Christchurch. She proved the best of friends during the completion of this thesis and I am deeply indebted to her. My gratitude for support in writing this thesis also goes to the staff of the Macmillan Brown Library in Christchurch. Alex Liggitt, Alexander Thomas, and Claudia Ascher read early drafts of the chapters. I thank them for their patience, input and unwavering friendship. Daniela Haase’s and Sabine Brandt’s support was invaluable during the three years of the project; their optimism was infectious and their presence reassuring. I with to thank Mélianie Raymond and Rhian Salmon for their unwavering belief in me. I am greatly indebted to Francis Zinke, whose friendship, strength and love of life inspired this work. I also would like to thank all those who, through their constant friendship, enabled me to complete this task: Andrea Guell, Britta Kägler, Dirx Brennemann, Janin Lenk, Magali Claeskens, and Ulrike Witte. Daniel’s loving support during the final stages of this project was a great source of strength. Finally and most importantly, loving thanks to my family, Andrea, Brunhild, and Peter, and Elisabet without whom this project could not have been completed. v Abbreviations AUCC Auckland University College Calendar AUDS Auckland University Debating Society CCC Canterbury College Calendar CCDS Canterbury College Dialectic Society CCR Canterbury College Review CMDR Canterbury Museum Documentary Research CPL Christchurch Public Library DNZB Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Hocken Hocken Library, Dunedin JNZS The Journal of New Zealand Science LT Lyttelton Times MBL Macmillan Brown Library NZH New Zealand Herald NZIM New Zealand Illustrated Magazine NZJH New Zealand Journal of History NZUC New Zealand University Calendar OED Oxford English Dictionary OUC Otago University Calendar OUDS Otago University Debating Society OUR Otago University Review OW Otago Witness SCUA Special Collection, University of Auckland TCA The Theory of Communicative Action TPNZI Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute vi CONTENTS INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER ONE THE “NOBLE MISSION” OF ARGUMENTATION IN DEBATE ............................................ 16 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................... 16 THE SPOKEN WORD, LITERACY AND MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT IN NEW ZEALAND ......................... 17 REASON AND RATIONAL RECREATION: DEBATE AND COLLEGE LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND................ 34 DYNAMICS OF FORMALISATION: HABERMAS AND THE NINETEENTH CENTURY ............................. 44 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................. 53 CHAPTER TWO THE “GALLANT DEFENDERS” OF FELLOWSHIP AND HOME ......................................... 56 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................... 56 THE INTERVENING HORIZON: REASON AND THE LIFEWORLD......................................................... 58 THE NORM AND VISIBILITY OF FELLOWSHIP ................................................................................. 63 THE BOER WAR AND THE PERFORMANCE OF “US” ........................................................................ 81 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................. 96 CHAPTER THREE HOW TO CLOSE A DEBATE: CONSENSUS, CONFLICT AND ESPRIT DE CORPS.......... 100 INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................100 THE POWER OF CONSENSUS IN DEBATE ........................................................................................101 PROCESSES OF CONSENSUS FORMATION: ARGUMENTATION, BARGAINING, AND VOTING.............112 ESPRIT DE CORPS AND THE EMERGENCE OF AN INVENTED TRADITION IN NEW ZEALAND.............123 DEBATING TOURNAMENTS: THE MANIFESTATION OF ESPRIT DE CORPS .......................................133 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................143