New Zealand as dominion and Commonwealth: Mansfield, Sargeson and the short story

Wilson, J. M. (2010) New Zealand as dominion and Commonwealth: Mansfield, Sargeson and the short story. Paper presented to: Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (ACLALS) 15th Triennial Conference: Strokes Across Cultures, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus, 06 - 11 June 2010. (Unpublished)

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Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Abstract:	New Zealand became a dominion in 1907 and joined the Commonwealth in 1931. These markers of independence from colonialism may not have directly affected the work of its writers during these decades, but they were nevertheless imagining the nation through the modes and images of connection and disconnection from the imperial centre that these developments put into place. This paper examines the divergent sites, problematics and tensions from which New Zealand’s early nationalism developed with reference to the impact of the short story genre. It examines the contrasting attitudes to New Zealand of two of its most iconic writers: the European-based modernist, Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923), and the nationalist realist Frank Sargeson (1903-82). It asks what kind of national imaginary emerges from their very different world views, dispositions and locations, and their shared literary aesthetic of fragmented, discontinuous forms. Recent counter-discursive responses to their work -- e.g. Sue Orr’s continuation of Sargeson’s story, “An Affair of the Heart” (2006), Bill Manhire’s The Brain of Katherine Mansfield (1988), Witi Ihimaera’s Dear Miss Mansfield (1989)-- which reposition and reinscribe Sargeson and Mansfield into contemporary culture by parody, mockery and ‘writing back’ will also be examined for the extent to which they rearticulate and contest early twentieth century notions of New Zealand as a commonwealth nation as represented by these foundational writers
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PR English literature > PR8309 English literature: Provincial, local, etc. > PR9639.3 New Zealand literature
Creators:	Wilson, Janet M
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes:	University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Faculty of Education & Humanities > English and Creative Writing University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Research Centre > Centre for Critical and Creative Writing Faculties > Faculty of Education & Humanities > English and Creative Writing Research Centres > Centre for Critical and Creative Writing
Date:	7 June 2010
Date Type:	Presentation
Event Title:	Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (ACLALS) 15th Triennial Conference: Strokes Across Cultures
Event Dates:	06 - 11 June 2010
Event Location:	University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
Event Type:	Conference
Language:	English
Status:	Unpublished
URI:	http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/3195

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