scholarly journals Pākehā Practice: Music and National Identity in Postcolonial Aotearoa/New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Liam Prince
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Musical Traditions ◽  
American Popular Music

<p>National discourses specific to Aotearoa/New Zealand — for example, biculturalism, which reimagines Māori-Pākehā relations as a partnership based on the Treaty of Waitangi — help to construct, express, and articulate connections between music and New Zealand identity. Yet unquestioned nationalisms — however benign or ‘official’ they seem — can marginalize some ways of being, knowing, organizing, and music-making, through their capacity to advance and reinforce undisclosed social values and political agendas. In this way, nationalism often disguises the consequences of those values and agendas. This thesis demonstrates how, by unproblematically invoking nationalisms for various purposes, significant New Zealand music-related institutions inadvertently reproduce Eurocentric national identity narratives which overlook the social, cultural, economic and political inequities of Aotearoa/NZ’s postcolonial present. Such narratives normalize conceptions of ‘New Zealand music’ dominated by historic and evolving cultural and economic connections between New Zealand society and the broader postcolonial Anglosphere. Consequently, identifications of ‘New Zealand’ culture and music often reflect dominant Pākehā norms, against which other musical traditions are contrasted.  Several prominent ‘national’ institutions involved with music are examined through three cases studies. The first considers how state-supported music policies and agencies construct and legitimize economic, artistic and democratic ideologies as national values, and explores the consequences of a frequent failure to distinguish between a cultural identity, based on dominant Pākehā norms and values, and a culturally plural civic-based national identity. The second case study examines events during and surrounding two major music awards ceremonies, the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards and the Silver Scroll Awards, showing how these ceremonies construct and reinforce a prestige hierarchy of ‘New Zealand music’ in which Anglo-American popular music styles are privileged over other musical expressions. The consequences for cultural representation in relation to New Zealand identity are considered. The final case study analyses the New Zealand popular music heritage presented at Auckland Museum’s exhibition, Volume: Making Music in Aotearoa. Volume’s displays and stories, contextualized and informed by Auckland Museum and prominent entities in New Zealand’s music industry, are shown to reinforce a dominant New Zealand music ‘Kiwiana’, neglecting divergent cultural perspectives and political positions.  The thesis draws on comparative analyses of qualitative interviews conducted by the author, documents and reports, press media and journalism, audiovisual broadcasts and recordings, promotional material and museum visits. These primary materials are contextualized in wider literatures — particularly on nationalism, postcolonialism and music — to provide critical perspectives on historic social, political and cultural issues regarding New Zealand national identity and its relationship to music.</p>

scholarly journals Pākehā Practice: Music and National Identity in Postcolonial Aotearoa/New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Liam Prince
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Musical Traditions ◽  
American Popular Music

<p>National discourses specific to Aotearoa/New Zealand — for example, biculturalism, which reimagines Māori-Pākehā relations as a partnership based on the Treaty of Waitangi — help to construct, express, and articulate connections between music and New Zealand identity. Yet unquestioned nationalisms — however benign or ‘official’ they seem — can marginalize some ways of being, knowing, organizing, and music-making, through their capacity to advance and reinforce undisclosed social values and political agendas. In this way, nationalism often disguises the consequences of those values and agendas. This thesis demonstrates how, by unproblematically invoking nationalisms for various purposes, significant New Zealand music-related institutions inadvertently reproduce Eurocentric national identity narratives which overlook the social, cultural, economic and political inequities of Aotearoa/NZ’s postcolonial present. Such narratives normalize conceptions of ‘New Zealand music’ dominated by historic and evolving cultural and economic connections between New Zealand society and the broader postcolonial Anglosphere. Consequently, identifications of ‘New Zealand’ culture and music often reflect dominant Pākehā norms, against which other musical traditions are contrasted.  Several prominent ‘national’ institutions involved with music are examined through three cases studies. The first considers how state-supported music policies and agencies construct and legitimize economic, artistic and democratic ideologies as national values, and explores the consequences of a frequent failure to distinguish between a cultural identity, based on dominant Pākehā norms and values, and a culturally plural civic-based national identity. The second case study examines events during and surrounding two major music awards ceremonies, the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards and the Silver Scroll Awards, showing how these ceremonies construct and reinforce a prestige hierarchy of ‘New Zealand music’ in which Anglo-American popular music styles are privileged over other musical expressions. The consequences for cultural representation in relation to New Zealand identity are considered. The final case study analyses the New Zealand popular music heritage presented at Auckland Museum’s exhibition, Volume: Making Music in Aotearoa. Volume’s displays and stories, contextualized and informed by Auckland Museum and prominent entities in New Zealand’s music industry, are shown to reinforce a dominant New Zealand music ‘Kiwiana’, neglecting divergent cultural perspectives and political positions.  The thesis draws on comparative analyses of qualitative interviews conducted by the author, documents and reports, press media and journalism, audiovisual broadcasts and recordings, promotional material and museum visits. These primary materials are contextualized in wider literatures — particularly on nationalism, postcolonialism and music — to provide critical perspectives on historic social, political and cultural issues regarding New Zealand national identity and its relationship to music.</p>

scholarly journals Another elderly lady to be knocked down: Heritage discourse and the protest to save the Missions to Seamen building, 1986

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Alexander Gordon
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
City Council ◽  
Historical Case Study ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Considerable Difficulty ◽  
Documentary Sources ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
History Of ◽  
Heritage Discourse

<p>Through a specific historical case study, Another Elderly Lady to be Knocked Down applies discourse theory and the Authorised Heritage Discourse (AHD) to the context of urban built heritage in Aotearoa New Zealand. Previously, only limited work had been done in this area. By examining an underexplored event this dissertation fills two gaps in present literature: the history of the event itself and identification of the heritage discourses in the country at the time. Examination of these discourses in context also allows conclusions about the use of the AHD in similar studies to be critically examined.  In 1986 the Missions to Seamen building in Wellington, New Zealand, was threatened with demolition by its government owners. In a remarkable display of popular sentiment, individuals, organisations, the Wellington City Council (WCC) and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT) worked together to oppose this unpopular decision. This protest was a seminal event in the history of heritage in New Zealand.  This study relies upon documentary sources, especially the archival records of the Historic Places Trust and the State Services Commission, who owned the building, to provide the history of this watershed moment in New Zealand’s preservation movement. The prevalent attitudes of different groups in Wellington are examined through the letters of protest they wrote at the time. When analysed in context, these discourses reveal the ways in which heritage was articulated and constructed.  The course of this dissertation has revealed the difficulty of identifying an AHD in this context. The level of collaboration between ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ heritage perspectives, and the extent to which they shaped each other’s language, creates considerable difficulty in distinguishing between discreet discourses. To better explore the ways that heritage meaning is constructed and articulated, heritage must be recognised as a complex dynamic process.</p>

scholarly journals Excluding indigenous bioethical concerns when regulating frozen embryo storage: An Aotearoa New Zealand case study

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 10-22
Author(s):  
Ruth P. Fitzgerald ◽  
Michael Legge ◽  
Poia Rewi ◽  
Ella J. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand

Intelligent Careers of Pacific Island Leaders

2005 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Polly Parker
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Leadership Development ◽  
Minority Population ◽  
Pacific Island ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Dominant Culture ◽  
The Public ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Leadership Behaviour

AbstractPacific peoples hold a unique place as an ethnic community within Aotearoa-New Zealand. The largest immigrant minority population in New Zealand brings a different culture to that of the dominant Pakeha (European). One implication is the need for acculturation into New Zealand society. Leadership, when characterised here as a process through which Pacific elders model the “Pacific way” to guide their youth, is critical to manage the tension between maintaining traditional ways and integrating into a dominant culture different from the people's own. This paper reports an empirical study conducted with Pacific professionals working in the public sector of New Zealand. Recognised for their potential to influence Pacific peoples, the participants were sponsored by the ministries of Health and Pacific Island Affairs to attend a three-day leadership development course that included a careers component. The scarcely researched links among leadership, careers and social cultural issues are explored. Intelligent career theory is introduced and the processes associated with eliciting subjective and inter-subjective career data are explained The results reflect the interdependence of motivation, skills and knowledge, and relationships, which together strongly influence the career and leadership behaviour of Pacific peoples to enhance the outcomes for Pacific peoples in New Zealand. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Beyond Legitimation: A Tribal Response to Māori Education in Aotearoa New Zealand

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huia Tomlins Jahnke
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
The Core ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Overwhelming Evidence ◽  
Cultural Standards ◽  
Tribal Region

This article describes an intervention strategy, initiated under the New Zealand Government's tribal partnership scheme, which promotes a culture-based/place-based approach to education in mainstream schools and early childhood centres in one tribal region. Through place-based education children are immersed in local heritage, including language and culture, landscapes, opportunities and experiences. The strategy is a tribal response to the overwhelming evidence of Māori underachievement in education in the tribal catchment. A case study is presented of a place-based/culture-based initiative called the Ngāti Kahungunu Cultural Standards Project (NKCSP). It is argued that the development of cultural standards offers an opportunity by which teachers and others within the education sector can develop and incorporate practice that reflects, promotes and values the student's culture. The core assumption underpinning the project is that cultural knowledge contributes to Māori student success in education.

scholarly journals Signifier of Kiwi Identity

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 38-64
Author(s):  
Lindsay Neill ◽  
Marilyn Waring
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Important Link ◽  
New Information ◽  
Origin Myths

Contested myths of origin surround one of New Zealand’s best-loved cultural icons, or ‘kiwiana’: a pull-along children’s toy called the Buzzy Bee. This paper clarifies those domains by presenting new information gleaned from Betty Schlesinger, widow of the bee’s inventor. Clarification is important because the Buzzy Bee is, as kiwiana, a material item strongly associated with Kiwi identity. As a Māori word, ‘Kiwi’ is a common, often self-ascribed, term identifying people from Aotearoa New Zealand. In clarifying the Buzzy Bee’s history, this paper adds new information to the knowledge base of what it means to be Kiwi. That knowledge base is enhanced, because this paper notes that the Buzzy Bee was invented and first manufactured here in New Zealand by Betty Schlesinger’s husband Maurice Schlesinger. Betty Schlesinger’s account contrasts more popular and well-known origin myths that have served to cloud the Bee’s definitive history. In clarifying the Buzzy Bee’s genesis using Betty Schlesinger’s narrative, this paper also emphasises the important link between identity, materiality and national identity.

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