Print Culture and the Collective Māori Consciousness
Paterson, Lachy
Cite this item:
Paterson, L. (2010). Print Culture and the Collective Māori Consciousness. Journal of New Zealand Literature, 28(2), 103–129.
Permanent link to OUR Archive version:
http://hdl.handle.net/10523/5192
Abstract:
Although literacy and print were essential tools of the colonial project ultimately designed to ‘amalgamate’ Māori into the modern Pākehā-dominated world, ironically they also helped in the evolution of a collective Māori consciousness. This collective sense of being manifested itself in such pan-Māori movements as the Kīngitanga, Kotahitanga and Te Aute College Students Association. Māori were not passive recipients of print culture, and each of these movements utilized newspapers as a means of disseminating their discourses. Informed by Benedict Anderson’s theory on the role of print in the formation of national consciousness through print capitalism, this essay looks at how Pākehā-run newspapers assisted in the development of a collective Māori consciousness, and how Māori movements projected this identity in their own publications. The essay argues that, although capitalism was a pre-condition for colonization, it was colonialism itself, rather than capitalism, that was fueled an Māori "national" consciousness in the nineteenth century.
Date:
2010
Pages:
103-129
Keywords:
Maori; New Zealand; literacy; propaganda; Benedict Anderson; print culture; nationalism; Kingitanga; Kotahitanga; Young Maori Party
Research Type:
Journal Article
Notes:
This article can also be accessed by going to the following link: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41245590