The Adolescent Exotic
Reading New Zealand in David Hair's 'Aotearoa series' (2009-2014)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2179337 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Claudia Marquis |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 173-187 |
| Publication date | 2020-03-03 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Postcolonial Writing (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1744-9855 • E-ISSN: 1744-9863 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17449855.2020.1728918 |
| OpenAlex | W3012516367 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 14 |
New Zealand adolescent fiction faces problems when it enters the global literary market, but not just predictable problems of uncertain comprehension when national borders are crossed. Cultural difference attracts the attention of the international reader, but raises anxieties about commodification of the text and its culture. David Hair's "Aotearoa series" is anchored in a New Zealand past, largely revising history in line with Māori myths. In this modified fantasy, Aotearoa becomes an imaginary, secondary world to which the protagonist switches to discover something of himself, his Māori heritage, and the colonial enterprise in New Zealand. Hair's novels display the glamour of their cultural difference, offering an international reader the lure of the foreign – an instance of the postcolonial exotic – which may improve their chances of selling in the overcrowded, global market for adolescent fiction, but perhaps at the cost of damaging, ideological confusion
Aesthetics · Aotearoa · Archaeology · Art · Colonialism · Commodification · Fantasy · Ideology · Literature · Media studies · Mythology · Political science · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · The Imaginary · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · Gothic Literature and Media Analysis · Psychology · Themes in Literature Analysis · Gender Studies · History · Law
| Highly cited | No |
|---|