The Journal of New Zealand Studies

Editor's Introduction

Peter Whiteford — 2022-07-11

In the 2021 June issue of the Journal (NS 33), Anna Green announced that it was to be her final issue as editor, a role she took up in 2013. The December issue last year was a Special Issue with a particular focus on Pacific Research in Aotearoa, so it is appropriate to begin this open issue with an acknowledgement of Anna’s exceptional work as editor of what is the most significant journal of New Zealand studies. Only those who have themselves edited a journal over any length of time fully appreciate the challenges of the task—the more so when it evolves from a print journal to one that is wholly online. Anna’s stewardship of the Journal through that time has been exemplary, and that it remains a strong and vibrant home for the publication of research in New Zealand studies is its own tribute to her energy and her scholarly care for the field. Readers of the Journal are very much in her debt.

Cultural Traffic and the Making of New Zealand's Veterinary Profession, 1880s-1960s

Edgar Burns — 2022-07-11

The idea of cultural traffic is used here to deconstruct the story of veterinary professional development in one country: New Zealand. Such analysis elucidates less obvious, less foregrounded elements that have not been integrated into the main narrative of veterinary occupational change. The present assessment reconsiders previously documented instances of cultural traffic across national borders. Although the focus is primarily on veterinary traffic between New Zealand and Australia, this analysis points to broader mobilities of people, practices, and ideas. The study adds to contemporary critique of nation-centric “nation-building” modernisation narratives.

Francophobia in the Antipodes: France’s Grab for the New Hebrides and the Dreyfus Affair in New Zealand Newspapers

Barbara M Stone — 2022-07-11

This article explores the Francophobia which characterised the coverage in late nineteenth-century New Zealand newspapers of, firstly, France’s attempt to annex the New Hebrides and, secondly, the Dreyfus Affair. The intensity of the Francophobia suggests a French influence in the shaping of New Zealand’s national identity and further illuminates the dual national identity (British and New Zealand) pertaining in New Zealand at the time. The New Hebrides incident provides an example of how this double allegiance played out.

Dismissing the Staff: Domestic Servants and a Historic House in Dunedin, New Zealand

Alex Trapeznik — 2022-07-11

Whilst house museums are a relatively recent phenomenon in New Zealand, they nevertheless form an integral part not only of the history of New Zealand museums but also of New Zealand culture. As such, their present organisation reflects public historical consciousness in terms of perceptions and values that we have held and continue to hold. This article focuses on Olveston, a historic house in Dunedin,[i] as a case study of popular engagement with the past, and argues that a broader analysis of early twentieth-century social structure is required—one that includes the role of domestic servants in the household. It complements and supplements recent historical scholarship on house museums which argues that a more authentic and inclusive interpretation of the social relationship between employers and their servants—including class and racial antagonism—would lead to a greater connection with visitors.[ii] Initially, I will examine the pertinent literature on house museums in general and their servants in particular, as well as questions facing historic houses, moving finally to a detailed descriptive analysis of servants in Olveston.

Mixed Messages: Māori/Pasifika Masculinities and Aotearoa/New Zealand Identity in Television Advertising, 2000–2019

Matthew Bannister — 2022-07-11

There is an ongoing association between masculinity and New Zealand identity which can be traced in popular culture and television advertising. Until the early 2000s, white (Pākehā) men/homosocial “Kiwi blokes” predominated but television advertising has since featured a steady increase in Māori/Pasifika men and boys, which also reflects their greater prominence in local popular culture (in comedy, for example). Similar to representations of African American men, Māori/Pasifika masculinities are subject to binary stereotyping: generally more positive in advertisements for commercial products and more negative in anti-drug public service advertisements. These categories relate to the incorporation of non-white subjects into colonial, patriarchal discourse (and shift according to its imperatives). One important shift internationally is the emergence of non-white fatherhood as a way of signalling ethnic diversity while also reaffirming colonial and neoliberal values. There is a related shift from the male “hard bodies” of the 1980s and 1990s towards a more relational, “softer” masculinity; locally, there is a shift away from the “hard” Kiwi bloke (or non-white sporting “warrior”) towards “postfeminist fatherhood.” This features kindly, often humorous paternalism and “magical” scenarios, including literal and metaphorical father/son relations, which may, in the local context, take on connotations of tāngata whenua welcoming manuhiri (Pākehā) into “their land.” A “progressive” discourse of positively imaging Māori/Pasifika men as implicit “fathers of the nation” (and clearly there is a slippage here between Māori and Pasifika through the use of ethnically ambiguous actors) justifies heteronormativity and reconfirms the homosocial emphasis in New Zealand identity as well as neoliberal values.

The Fostering of “All-Round Gardens”: Suburban Horticultural Societies in Wellington, 1910–40

Clare Gleeson — 2022-07-11

Between 1910 and 1940, horticultural societies flourished in Wellington’s suburbs. This case study looks at the reasons for their establishment, profiles their membership, outlines the scope and growth of their operations, and examines the causes of their eventual demise. The importance of gender, class, and race in the societies’ membership is explored and the societies’ contribution to the development of a suburban gardening culture in New Zealand considered.

The Economy Really Does Matter

Peter Whiteford — 2022-07-11

Brian Easton’s book Not in Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand was published by Victoria University Press in 2020. Rightly described as a magnum opus, the book attracted considerable attention for its extraordinary historical breadth and vision. Part of that attention was a panel discussion of the book hosted by the Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, on 21 April 2021, as one of its continuing series of research seminars.

Introduction - Not In Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand

Brian Easton — 2022-07-11

The most important thing I want to say today is to thank the Stout Centre for its contribution to Not In Narrow Seas. I had the privilege of a Stout Fellowship for a year which was crucial in the writing of the nineteenth-century chapters of the book. I can also thank the “Stouties” who contributed to the book and are gratefully mentioned individually in the book’s acknowledgments.

Reflections on Not In Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand 1

Margaret Galt — 2022-07-11

It is a pleasure to be asked to speak on Brian Easton’s new economic history of New Zealand. I have long admired the breadth and depth of the work Brian has done on New Zealand’s economic history and, as always with his work, the joy of reading the analysis was greatly enhanced by the book’s readability.

Reflections on Not In Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand 2

Geoff Betram — 2022-07-11

Studying history helps us to understand the present—how did we get to where we are today? In this sense, Brian’s book reads to me as an attempt to answer the question: where on earth did Rogernomics come from? Was it an organic, logical product of the past course of New Zealand society and economy or was it a temporary and ultimately unsustainable ideological capture of the state in what Bruce Jesson (cited by Brian on p. 99 of his book) called a “hollow society” lacking checks and balances?

Reflections on Not In Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand 3

Alan Bollard — 2022-07-11

This book by Brian Easton is a true magnum opus. It takes an extremely long-term view, moving from the geological formation of the land millions of years ago, forward to its social and economic transformation today. What holds the narrative together is the economic lens applied by the author, as he takes us through social change, economic development, cultural diversification, revealing trends, shocks, stability, and uncertainty.

An Exquisite Legacy - The Life and Work of New Zealand Naturalist G.V. Hudson

Kasper Julia — 2022-07-11

This book is about one of New Zealand’s greatest pioneering entomologists, George Vernon Hudson, whose story and legacy has an impact on everyone who is interested in the insects of Aotearoa. Beyond this, it will also doubtlessly fascinate anyone, even those not particularly fond of bugs, since Gibbs paints a powerful picture of his grandfather in his usual eloquent style. (Readers may also like Ghosts of Gondwana).

Worlding the South: Nineteenth-century literary culture and the southern settler colonies.

Kacie Wills — 2022-07-11

In 1847, Pacific Islander Kiro arrived in London to help the London Missionary Society with a translation of the Bible into Cook Islands Māori. As Kiro disembarked from the missionary ship onto the West India Docks, his status suddenly changed from a fellow Christian and facilitator of the missionary efforts in the South Pacific to a potential thief, an object of surveillance and suspicion. Michelle Elleray’s chapter on Kiro’s experiences in Worlding the south: Nineteenth-century literary culture and the southern settler colonies challenges our orientation toward colonial and Indigenous identity. Kiro exposes the challenges in reading not only Christian Pacific Islander experience, but in the problem of framing and accessing such experiences through British sites and archives.

Contributors

Peter Whiteford — 2022-07-11

Bios of contributors.