The thematic development of the magical child in fifteen recent New Zealand novels

Transcription

1 University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2004 The thematic development of the magical child in fifteen recent New Zealand novels Jennifer M. Crawford University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Crawford, Jennifer M, The thematic development of the magical child in fifteen recent New Zealand novels, PhD thesis, Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong, Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library:

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3 THE THEMATIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE MAGICAL CHILD IN FIFTEEN RECENT NEW ZEALAND NOVELS A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY from UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG by JENNIFER M.CRAWFORD BCA (Hons) Faculty of Creative Arts 2004

4 Crawford 2 CERTIFICATION I, Jennifer M. Crawford, declare that this thesis, submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. Jennifer M. Crawford 16 April 2004

5 Crawford 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Abbreviations and Maori Words 6 Abstract 8 Acknowledgements Introduction Argument Context 14 i. Critical 15 ii. Historical Definitions 19 i. The Child 19 ii. Magic Scope and Limitations Thesis Structure 27 i. Chapter Summary The Child in Literature: Theory and History Overview Early Literature The Romantic Child The Deconstruction of the Romantic Child The Romantic Child, Maternal Absence and the Menacing Child Psychoanalysis and the Post-Romantic Child 59

6 Crawford The New Zealand Child Representations of the Child in New Zealand Literature, Mansfield to Frame Katherine Mansfield Robin Hyde John A. Lee James Courage Ian Cross Sylvia Ashton-Warner David Ballantyne Janet Frame The Saviour Child and the Sea Overview The Children, Magic and Christ The Children, Maui and the Sea The Children and their Parents Community, Identity and Environment Child Sacrifice The Child and the Author Conclusion Saving it for Later: Postponed Redemptions Overview The Child and Magic The Nature of Childhood 184

7 Crawford Parentage, Opposition and the Void Adulthood, Sacrifice and Social Detachment Te Kore and the Wheiao: The Child Under Threat Overview Construction of Child Characters Construction of the Void Te Kore and the Mother Conclusion The Endangering Child Overview Conceptions Gestation and Birth The Child and Language The Child in Society Conclusion Conclusion 302 Works Cited 316

8 Crawford 6 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND MAORI WORDS Abbreviations: DS M RPL The Dream Swimmer The Matriarch Revolution in Poetic Language Maori Words: (Compiled in consultation with The Reed Dictionary of Modern Maori and Cleve Barlow s Tikanga Whakaaro: Key Concepts in Maori Culture.) iwi: tribe, people kaitiakitanga: guardianship kehua: ghost kihikihi: cicada mana: integrity, charisma, esteem marae: meeting area of whanau or iwi mauriora/mauri: consciousness, life spirit or principle Maoritanga: Maori culture mokopuna: grandchild taniwha: water monster, powerful person tapu: sacred, forbidden taumau: arranged (marriage) Te Ao Maori: the Maori world Te Kore: the Void potiki: last born, youngest

9 Crawford 7 poupou: carved posts whangai: adopt child wharekai: dining room, eating area wheiao: a liminal state between the worlds of darkness and light whenua: ground, country, afterbirth, placenta

10 Crawford 8 ABSTRACT Fifteen New Zealand novels, published between 1983 and 2000, are considered with regard to their representation of the magical child figure. The child is a benign and regenerative figure in the earlier works in this period, with its magical qualities used to heighten its role in a redemptive progression towards the reform of social structures depicted as damaging of cultural and environmental heritage. Later in the period the regenerative possibilities offered by the child diminish, as the relationship between the individual child and adult society diversifies. Where a clear adult/child dichotomy in the early works renders the child as essentially positive and life-giving, the later, more complex field renders the child as less symbolically powerful, more individually threatening and less physically and characteristically distinct from the adult. The novels examined are Keri Hulme s the bone people, Patricia Grace s Potiki, Cousins and Baby No Eyes, Witi Ihimaera s The Whale Rider, The Matriarch and The Dream Swimmer, Rachel McAlpine s The Limits of Green, Fiona Farrell s The Skinny Louie Book, Elizabeth Knox s Treasure, Sue Reidy s The Visitation, John Cranna s Arena, Anne Kennedy s A Boy and His Uncle, Anthony McCarten s Spinners and Peter Hawes s A Dream of Nikau Jam. The novels are considered within the context of the history of the child character in literature, and particularly of the thematic traditions surrounding child characters throughout twentieth century New Zealand literature. The simultaneous vitality and vulnerability of the child figure, and the transcendent qualities of the magical child, are found to be critical to its construction. These qualities are examined through the

11 Crawford 9 novels representations of filiation, nationhood and in the persistent construction of a symbolic relationship between the magical child and various manifestations of a metaphysical void.

12 Crawford 10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many family members and friends have supported me during the creation of this work and I offer each of them my deepest thanks. In particular I would like to thank those who have offered in-house support: my parents, as well as Lisa Oxman, Lucy Alexander, Bill Pitt and Nic Brown. Special thanks are also due to Dr John Hawke for his patience, good humour and critical intelligence. I am very grateful to the University of Wollongong for the financial support of a University Postgraduate Award, without which this work would not have been possible.