|
|
Tarara
The cultural politics of Croat and Maori identity in New Zealand
Key Points
• Maori and Croatians worked and lived together from the late 19th century
• Their histories are intertwined in New Zealand’s Far North
• Significant study on indigenous and migrant identity and memory
• Well illustrated with historical photographs
At the turn of the twentieth century, Croatians were migrating from Dalmatia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Maori, having become part of the British Empire, were losing much of their land. All were looking for work. They came together on the gumfields of the far north, digging up kauri gum resin for export.
Many of the Croatians settled and married – some to mail-order brides from home, others to local Maori women – and a unique community was born. Drawing on a range of sources, from official historical narratives on the kauri gum industry, to oral histories, novels, letters, newspaper articles, marriage certificates, and much more, Bozic-Vrbancic examines Maori-Croatian relationships on the gumfields and beyond. This is a significant contribution to ideas about migration and displacement and an important discussion of the impact of different social models – colonialism, assimilation, biculturalism, and multiculturalism – on Maori and Croatian identity and memory. The book is illustrated with historical photographs.
Review Quotes
'The application of theory to historical evidence is exemplary. Moreover, the sheer depth and intensity of the author’s analysis deserves the highest praise. ...Tarara is a very rewarding read. It shows what can be achieved when historical enquiry and ethnographic fieldwork are combined in innovative and exciting ways.'
– NZ Journal of History, Vol. 44, No. 1. April 2010 (reviewed by Lyndon Fraser.
'Dalmatia and the less than romantic experiences of life in the gum fields, including contact and intermarriage with local Maori, are painstakingly described ... the later recollections and descriptions of Far North museums are fascinating as are the reflections of embittered young inheritors of the Tarara identity. Difficult reading but worth the effort.'
– Wairarapa Times-Age
'As a full-length study of the Maori–Dalmatian relationship, this book makes a notable contribution to the study of New Zealand. Bozic-Vrbancic...supplements her oral histories with a significant array of historical material, drawing on the work of Hans-Peter Stoffel, newspaper stories, government reports, personal letters, poetry, fiction, photographs, and other ephemera... As a record of experiences in danger of being forgotten, this work is a great success.'
– New Zealand Slavonic Journal, Vol. 42
Contents
1 Introduction
2 ‘Teach the Body’ – constructions of ‘the Maori’ in colonial New Zealand
3 ‘Teach the Body’ – constructions of ‘the Austrians (Croatians)’ in colonial New Zealand
4 Narratives of the gumfields as home
5 Maori and Tarara on the gumfields
6 ‘After all, I am partly Maori, partly Dalmatian, but first of all I am a New Zealander’
7 Visiting the past: Kauri gum stories
8 Welcome to ‘Our Place’: biculturalism in New Zealand Bibliography Notes Index
About the Author
Senka Bozic-Vrbancic is McArthur Research Fellow in the School of Social and Environmental Enquiry at the University of Melbourne. During the last decade she has worked in New Zealand, Ukraine, Croatia and Australia, completing her doctoral thesis on Maori-Croatian relationships at the University of Auckland in 2004. Her scholarly interests range widely, from indigenous and migrant identity formation, the politics of representation, visual culture and diaspora issues, to nationalisms and multiculturalisms. Her research addresses questions of globalisation, home, belonging, community and transnational connections.
Book details
Anthropology, Cultural Studies, History
ISBN 978 1 877372 09 4, paperback, 235 x 155 mm, 272 pp, illustrated, $49.95
Published: 2008
^ Top of page
|
