Abstract
In this thesis, I engage in a series of close readings of poetic texts by kaituhi takatāpui (queer Māori writers), in what is the first comparative study of poetry by kaituhi takatāpui focusing on themes of takatāpuitanga in a literary studies context. These readings are centred around four atua/mana tūpuna (gods/ancient ancestors): Hinenuitepō, The Great Lady of the Dark, who is associated with death and dying and looks after our spirits in the afterlife; Papatūānuku, The Wide Expanse, our mother earth from which we all come; Māui, an ancestral trickster and shapeshifter whose many feats resulted in more comfortable lives for their descendants; and Hinemoana, the atua of the sea who governs over our waters. Through close readings of these poems, themes are revealed that are crucial for empowering our takatāpui community. In other words, these readings are deployed with a goal of realising Mana Takatāpui. The focus of each chapter is dictated by the atua these readings are structured around. The chapter focused on Hinenuitepō foregrounds poems by Kahu Kutia, Jessica Hinerangi, Stacey Teague, Keri Hulme, and Tayi Tibble, coming to a deeper understanding of the importance of a space of darkness for the health of our takatāpui community. The chapter focused on Papatūānuku foregrounds poems by Hulme, Hinemoana Baker, Hinerangi, and Cassandra Barnett, where these works make clear the connection of Mana Takatāpui to climate justice. The chapter focused on Māui foregrounds poems by Robert Sullivan, Hulme, Dr Tāwhanga Nopera, and Barnett, which tell a story of an ancestor that is enabled to do great feats through their ability to move between the energies and power of tāne and wahine, providing an aspirational model for our tangata takatāpui (queer and Māori people). The fourth chapter, which focuses on Hinemoana, foregrounds poetry by Elizabeth Kerekere, Baker, Midden Rahurahu, Sinead Overbye, and Teague. The concerns presented by the works on other atua are all reiterated here, from the importance of a dark space or a hidden place for our health, to the concerns around being in right relationship to the earth, in terms of climate justice, to the ways in which the concept of fluid identity are present in Māui as well as with Hinemoana. Accompanying this critical engagement is a creative response, titled “Puke”, which focuses on a takatāpui relationship between Hinenuitepō and Hinemoana. This creative work continues the conversations with text that my critical component started, drawing on their forms and ideas. My creative exploration of this relationship meditates on the complexities of identity, community, and justice for a Mana Takatāpui future. This work draws on readings of atua in texts by takatāpui writers to empower our community. This goal of Mana Takatāpui is urgent for a community often alienated and marginalised in both the colonial world and that of the wider Māori community.