Inventing New Zealand everyday myths of Pakeha identity
Claudia Bell. Inventing New Zealand everyday myths of Pakeha identity. 1st edition, Penguin Books, 1996.
This book has taken me the whole week to get through and has been hugely helpful to my project and my mind set.
Chapter 1 Where am I? Invention and myth making
The Colony
“Pakeha’s growing relationship with the land quickly became a component of national identity constructs. Settlers did not have the kinship networks and family relationships, or long-term family associations with place, that they had in Britain, or that the Maori had here.” 5
“As the Pakeha population grew and new settlements sprouted up, the state engendered loyalty in its citizens by encouraging a sense of something in common, a national identity. ‘A nation’ needed an integrated population. Gradually the state became a large employer of the colonial population, further cementing its position as a primary influence on national identity.” 5
British Heritage
“The new residents had a clear national identity where they had come from. They arrived here, still referring to their place of origin ‘home’. They had brought with them many components of British identity: their allegiance to the British crown, language, customs, social rituals, food traditions, and so on.” 6
Page 6 and 7 have good info on ‘symbols’
New Heritages
“While New Zealand is a nation of immigrants, across the span of history immigration has further complicated clear definitions of national identity.” 7
What is a Nation?
“The building of a nation is nothing to do with nature at all, but with the politics that enables one culture to obliterate or assimilate another, through such processes as colonisation, genocide and immigration policies.” 8
“National identity values are therefore read as ‘natural’. This poses an implicit connection between nation and nature…” 8
“we can see that ‘national identity’ is plainly a politically motivated intention, fostering a fake unity expressed in terms like, ‘in the nation’s interests.’” 8
“The invention of the modern nation obliterates or rendes powerless pre-existing cultures, such as Maori.” 9
“’nation’ is a way of ascribing group membership to a diverse population.” 9
“A dilemma in the idea of nation is the assumption that those comprising ‘nation’ are a united entity, with similar beliefs and views, and with heritage, language, history and culture in common.” 9
Benedict Anderson – ‘imagined communities’
“national identity is comprised only of what is in the best interests of certain social groups, and consists of mainly positive messages. It does not take into account that people are different, from different backgrounds, and with different experiences.” 10
Collective egotism: national pride
“Most of us think of our nationality as a central part of our identity” 17
“Throughout Pakeha history, the political and economic links with other countries have been used to manipulate versions of national identity.” 18
Chapter 2: Clean, green and beautiful – the nature myth
This is a great chapter for the nature side of things such as changes in natural grounds and symbols (kiwi bird/fern) which is an interesting read but not the main focus of my project at this time – I will hold onto it for further reading! A lot of good info on tourism as well which might come in handy later on.
Sublime landscapes
“Early European depictions of New Zealand nature emphasised the majesty of the sublime landscapes.” 30
Why do tourists like mountains?
“Early settlers wanted to discover potentially productive land. For this purpose some sorts of topography were more promising than others. Internal explorers also located objects of cultural significance such as rivers and mountains. They already had often lyrically descriptive Maori names; but part of claiming territory was name replacement. This process put places on a new map, an English one.” 33
“New Zealand’s natural resources are a vehicle through which local, regional and national distinction is daily claimed and validated.” 33
Note: reference to land wars.
Colonisation
“The Maori people already living here were trampled in the mission to develop a distinct new white identity in New Zealand.” 36
It basically says that the scenery in New Zealand is the reason tourists come and it enforces national identity because it is what the tourists associate with New Zealand. So the national identity is very much based in the natural. The sites are described as national identity imagery. The protection of this land brings in biotourism which are the Green Peace sort of people.
Chapter 3: My Grandmother had one of those! – at the museum
Showcasing identity
This chapter begins by describing how museums were a way of show casing objects from foreign countries and was originally done by Pakeha as a show of wealth.
“Museums show us the past in the present, and tell us a version of national identity.” 55
“The past becomes a resource to underpin present-day identity: valorisation of the past conveys pride in the present.” 55
“Visitors are not only invited to remember. At these sites they are instructed on what and how to remember. The more picturesque, charming and novel features of the past are chosen, with any unpleasantness eliminated.” 57
It describes how the museums placement and interior represent the Pakeha who lived there.
Go to the Rangariri Battle site Heritage Centre
Pakeha Past
“Maori cultural displays such as haka, poi dances and wood carvings are popular with the tourists for their aesthetic content, not their political significance,” 68
The chapter brings up souvenirs “These objects are un contentious, aesthetic, and portable: representations of nation that function as takeaways for itinerant shoppers.” 72-73
Chapter 6: All we need to know, because TV tells us so
“how can any country of many diverse groups seem to have a national identity in common?” 132
“Identity and culture are actively promoted and reworked into nationalism” 157
The author makes the claim that TV condenses culture and portray it on TV in news and programming such as Shortland Street and advertising such as weetbix.
“Our own sense of national identity is inevitably informed by experiencing consistent imagery.”158
“Advertising is a potent site for national identity explication.” 158
“This imagined community created by television is hard to ignore. It has become an intrinsic part of modern society.” 162
Chapter 7: Nostalgia and Kiwiana
“Through its (imagery and nostalgia) constant presence we receive daily reiteration of shallow mythologies that give us a collective past, as Pakeha living in New Zealand. Individuals needto make no great effort to dig up local or national history: this populist version surrounds us, eliminating any need for closer investigation.” 174
“The advantage of having nostalgia in the construction of national identity ideas and values is that it is totally free of social analysis or any conflict.” 177
That was what I was presented with when I first arrived in the country.
Chapter 8: But we are all New Zelanders!
“’National identity’: the very idea assumes a unity, over-riding differences relating to gender, ethnicity, class or religion. The term encourages individuals (the public) to identify with interests which have been presented to them as their own.” 185
“National identity is an ‘assumption’ of values in common enables the most powerful groups to maintain power.” 185
“National identity is easy to affirm as a blanket to conceal differences, when those differences are inconvenient.” 186
“Over 80% of New Zealand’s population is still of European origin.” 187
“The concept of national identity is a handy one: by insisting we are all ‘one’, any notions such as a class consciousness, or priority of other problematic identities, is suppressed.” 189
“In New Zealand the juxtaposition of Pakeha against Maori, (…), is a way of affirming boundaries and differences.” 194
“The idea of nation supposedly engenders a sense of community across a large number of people. But the representations and symbols of national identity counter this sense of ‘one big happy family’ by omitting so many sectors.” 195
