I was informed of the above circumstances and found the quarterdeck crowdedwith the Natives.I now saw the mangled head or rather the remains of it for theunder jaw,lip etc.,were wanting,the scul was broke on his left side just abovethe temple,the face had all the appearance of a youth about fourteen or fifteen.(qtd.in Beaglehole 293)
2.2 Image of“Noble Savages”in Mansfield’s Writings
Mansfield has long been considered a major writer in New Zealand by both thePakeha and Maori writers.Many Maori writers have“traced significant parts of theirlegacies from Mansfield,consequently casting her in the light of“Maoritanga”or“Maori-ness”(Majumdar 125).With the Maori renaissance of the 1970s,Mansfield’srelationship with the Maori world“has been partly motivated by Maori writers’focuson her legacy and partly by the renewed critical interest in the more personal,non-fictional writings left behind by Mansfield”(126).Unlike many New Zealandwriters in the colonial period,Mansfield has natural sympathy for the Maori and findsthe noble qualities of the“savage”Maori.
Mansfield’s close encounters with the Maori are most directly demonstrated inher notebooks chronicling her travels through the Urewera district.The UreweraNotebook records her vision of the indigenous tribes and landscapes in the Maoriland.Mansfield enjoys her journey and is glad to have the chance to meet the native peopleand landscape.In her notebooks,she describes:“our journey was charming.A greatmany Maoris in the train—in fact I lunched next to a great brown fellow at Woodville.That was a memorable meal”(Notebook 38).
Chapter Three Mansfield’s Celebration of Maoritanga......................34
3.1 Oral Tradition of the Maori...............................35
3.2 Courting Tradition of the Maori............................38
3.3 Family Life of the Maori........................41
Conclusion...................................45
Chapter ThreeMansfield’s Celebration of Maoritanga
3.1 Oral Tradition of the Maori
Prior to the arrival of Europeans in New Zealand,Maori tribal culture wasusually transmitted orally or in the form of drawings carved into objects such as stone,bone or pounamu(jade).This way was only suitable for recording their culture withinthe tribe but was difficult to spread and form a systematic system.The Maori did notrecord their tribal legends and myths in written form until the early 19th century whenthe British immigrated to New Zealand and the arrival of British missionaries broughtpaper to Maori society.Under the influence of those missionaries,some Maoris beganto use their own language to record oral stories,poems,myths as well as legends inwritten form.But the long-standing practice of oral transmission of culture continuedto have a profound impact on its tribes.And many critics believe that it is reasonable“to designate Maori culture as‘oral’in reality”(Ballantyne 134).
The critic Jane McRae defines Maori oral tradition as“what Maori in te aotawhito(the old world)composed,remembered,told and retold over generations”(11).Maori’s oral tradition,which includes their traditional legends,myths,songs,andstories,has been preserved over generations and has also been disseminated to the white settlers’community.When Mansfield was a child,she learned many storiesabout Maori legends.According to Mansfield’s aunt,Ethel Beauchamp,Mansfieldwas enthusiastic about those Maori stories:
She was different from the rest of the family and looked different.[...]She lovedto hear about Maori legends,told by Cradock Beauchamp’s old maid Armena,who apparently had five husbands buried in the old Maori burial ground on thehill near the homestead.(Kimber 50)
Conclusion
Katherine Mansfield’s writings have invited postcolonial readings to
