Dr Moira Fortin Cornejo, Our people, Languages and Cultures, University of Otago, New Zealand

Moira Fortin

PhD (Victoria University of Wellington, 2016)
MA (University of Otago, 2010)
BA with Honours, Theatre Studies (Universidad Católica de Chile, 2003)

Tel +64 3 479 7434
Office Arts 3C14
Email moira.fortincornejo@otago.ac.nz

I tutored for the Spanish Programme at Otago University in 2003, while I was an undergrad student on an exchange programme here in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Before returning to Otago University, I tutored at the Theatre programme at Victoria University of Wellington (2013), and at the Creative Arts School at Massey University in Wellington (2015) a variety of papers including Cultural Encounters and Creative Communication respectively.

Although my background is in performing arts, my relationship with language and theatre comes from my childhood, as I studied in a bilingual German-Spanish school in Chile, where we had the chance to explore the use of the German language through the staging of different well-known German poems and plays, as well as our own literary creations.

After I finished my Master Degree in Pacific Island Studies at Otago University (2010), I moved to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) where I developed theatre workshops to facilitate the learning of the Rapanui language to high-school students, creating a play (2011) that the students devised and performed using the indigenous language from the island. My relationship with languages is clearly illustrated in the title of my PhD (2016) trilingually entitled "Tensions and Possibilities: The Interplay of 'Traditional' Cultural Elements and the Creation of 'Contemporary' Māori, Samoan diasporic and Rapanui Theatre [He Moto, He Koa: Te Hakapiri o te Haka Ara e te Api ki te Aŋa o te A‘amu Api ki Māori, Sāmoa e ko Rapa Nui; Tensiones y Posibilidades: La Integración de Elementos Culturales ‘Tradicionales’ en la Creación ‘Contemporánea’ de Teatro Māori, diasporico Samoano y Rapanui]. The intension of using three different languages responds to my desire to acknowledge the different cultural sensibilities involved in my research and to engage with audiences from different cultural backgrounds, enabling them to resonate with the research from different perspectives.

Throughout my career as an actor I have been involved in theatre that was produced in one language only, either German, Spanish, Rapanui or English. However, recently I have become interested in the inclusion of different languages in one theatre production. I am interested in the interplay of the different languages to create meaning, and how the audience that does not speak one of those languages relates to what is being presented to them. In 2017, I worked with the short story La Autopista del Sur by Argentinian author Julio Cortázar, and created a bilingual solo performance. At the moment, I am working on a series of short stories included in the book Sub-Terra by Chilean author Baldomero Lillo to create another bilingual theatre piece.

Research

Theatre as a Tool to Learn Another Language
Latin-American Theatre
Intercultural Communication
Creative Communication
Bilingual Theatre
Interdisciplinary Storytelling
Hispano-American Cultural Studies

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Publications

Fortin, M. (2022, November). Artes Escénicas en Aotearoa/Nueva Zelanda: Saberes tradicionales en la práctica contemporánea del teatro indígena. Keynote presentation at the XI Reunião Científica da ABRACE: Artes Cênicas na Amazônia: saberes tradicionais, fazeres contemporâneos, [Hybrid].

Fortin Cornejo, M. S. (2022). Rapa Nui theatre: Staging indigenous identities in Easter Island. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 226p. doi: 10.4324/ 9781003293866

Fortin, M. (2022). A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush: Proverbs for language teaching. Proceedings of the New Zealand Association of Language Teachers (NZALT) Conference. (pp. 67). Retrieved from https://nzalt.org.nz/conference

Fortin Cornejo, M. (2022). Involucrando al público general en temas de justicia social y de género a través de Un Violador en tu Camino de Colectivo LASTESIS. Proceedings of the Association of Iberian & Latin American Studies of Australasia (AILASA) Conference: Just Futures: Exploring Pathways of Futurity and Justice. (pp. 19). Retrieved from https://www.ailasaconference.com

Fortin, M. (2022, June). Going glocal: Rapa Nui storytelling through Tapati Rapa Nui. Verbal presentation at the 10th International Conference on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and the Pacific: Change and Resilience, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Fortin Cornejo, M. S. (2022). Rapa Nui theatre: Staging indigenous identities in Easter Island. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 226p. doi: 10.4324/ 9781003293866

Authored Book - Research

Fortin, M. (Ed.). (2017). Moai: Una nueva mirada a rostros antiguos by B. L. Shepardson (Moai: A new look at old faces) [Translated by Moira Fortin]. Rapanui Press.

Edited Book - Research

Fortin, M., Metcalfe, R., & Clery, T. N. (2022). Embodied feminist resistance in Chile: Colectivo LASTESIS create resonance with un violador en tu Camino: A rapist in your path. In E. Tilley (Ed.), Creative activism research, pedagogy and practice. (pp. 433-462). Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Chapter in Book - Research

Fortin Cornejo, M. S. (2021). Permeating the boundaries of 'tradition' in the creation of contemporary rapanui, Māori, and diasporic samoan theatre. In R. E. Rinehart, J. Kidd & K. N. Barbour (Eds.), Ethnographic borders and boundaries: Permeability, plasticity, and possibilities. (pp. 47-73). Oxford, UK: Peter Lang.

Chapter in Book - Research

Fortin, M. (2017). Teatro y narraciones orales, música, danza, takona y kaikai. In V. Fajreldin (Ed.), Lengua, arte y artesanía en Rapa Nui: Una perspectiva critica (Colección cultura y patrimonio inmaterial de Rapa Nui Vol. 2). (pp. 117-139). Santiago, Chile: Ocho Libros.

Chapter in Book - Research

Fortin, M. (2021). Creating a graphic transposition of Ibsen's A Doll's House: An interdisciplinary and experimental collaboration between a performer and an illustrator. ArtsPraxis, 8(1), 153-184.

Journal - Research Article

Fortin, M. (2020). La re-creación de la 'tradición' en el teatro contemporáneo Māori y diaspórico Samoano en Aotearoa. ¿Una feunte de inspiración para la producción del teatro contemporáneo Rapanui? [The re-creation of 'tradition' in contemporary Māori and diasporic Samoan theatre in Aotearoa: A source of inspiration for the production of contemporary Rapanui theatre?]. Antropologías del Sur, 7(14), 235-260.

Journal - Research Article

Fortin, M. (2018). The performance of memory in Rapanui theatre. Pacific Dynamics, 2(2), 105-119. Retrieved from http://pacificdynamics.nz

Journal - Research Article

Fortin, M. (2014). [Review of the book Rapa Nui y la Compañía Explotadora 1895-1953]. Rapa Nui Journal, 28(1), 89-91. [Book Review].

Journal - Research Other

Shepardson, B., Shepardson, D., Astete, K., Cifuentes, N., Fortin, M., Hey, M., … Tuki, H. (2012). Terevaka.net Archaeological Outreach 2012 field report: Community-based archaeology. Rapa Nui Journal, 26(2), 82-84.

Journal - Research Other

Fortin, M., Metcalfe, R., & Clery, T. N. (2021). Representando Resistencia Feminista en Chile: Colectivo LASTESIS Crea Resonancia Global con Un Violador en tu Camino [Embodied feminist resistance in Chile: Colectivo LASTESIS create resonance with un violador en tu Camino: A rapist in your path]. Acotaciones, 46, 15-36.

Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Fortin, M., Metcalfe, R., Clery, T., & Troc, R. (2021). From academic journal to graphic novel: Performing feminist resistance in Chile: Colectivo LASTESIS create global resonance with Un Violador en tu Camino [A rapist in your path]. Proceedings of the Contemporary Ethnography Across Disciplines (CEAD) Virtual Hui: Research That Matters. Retrieved from https://cead2021.org

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Fortin, M. (2008). TAKONA: A Rapa Nui sense of place through body painting. Proceedings of the Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies (ADSA) Annual Conference. Retrieved from http://www.adsa.edu.au/conferences/past-conferences/2008/pdf2ADSA-Prog-v6.pdf/view

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Fortin, M. (2018, November). Tensiones y Posibilidades: Cómo la interacción de elementos culturales ‘tradicionales’ ha influido en la producción del teatro contemporáneo rapanui, māori, y diaspórico samoano. Poster session presented at the Rapa Nui: Patrimonio, Sociedad, y Cultura desde una Perspectiva Contemporánea [Rapa Nui: Heritage, Culture, and Society from a Contemporary Perspective], Rapa Nui.

Conference Contribution - Poster Presentation (not in published proceedings)