Lesbian Studies in Aotearoa/New Zealand [Paperback]

Alison Laurie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 21, 2001 | ISBN-10: 1560232536 | ISBN-13: 978-1560232537 | Edition: 1

Share the joys and struggles of lesbians in this bicultural nation!

This powerful collection presents landmark original research into the history, literature, and sociology of lesbians in Aotearoa/New Zealand from that nation's best-known scholars and writers. A nation with two names, two distinct cultural traditions, two large islands, and two official languages, Aotearoa/New Zealand brings together the colonized and the descendants of the colonizers. In the ongoing cultural dialogue that results, fresh and exciting ideas are being introduced by a multiplicity of voices. Lesbian Studies in Aotearoa/New Zealand is the first internationally published collection of academic articles on lesbian studies from this nation.

Lesbian Studies in Aotearoa/New Zealand begins with a major paradigm shift in the islands’mythic love story. Ngahuia Te Awekotuku retells the legend of an aristocratic Maori woman who, against all custom, chose her own husband. The author, a descendant of the famous couple, through historical research unearthed the homoerotic subtext censored by the white nineteenth-century writer who sentimentalized it into a European romance. This revisioning anticipates the historical, literary, and social research that follows.

Ranging from literature to law, the essays demonstrate the breadth of erudition of scholars from both Maori and Pakeha (European) traditions, including essays discussing:

• the re-telling of a traditional Maori story
• several historical studies of women who passed as men in order to marry and work as they pleased
• reclaiming the work and lives of ”lost lesbians” in the arts, including Ngaio Marsh and Frances Mary Hodgkins
• the effects of globalization and economic change on lesbians
• the implications of legal discrimination
• the psychological and social implications of lesbian mothers having sons
• an empirical study of the effects of coming out on women's health
• a philosophical look at ways to reconcile lesbian sexuality and Christianity
  
  The historical and contemporary research gathered in Lesbian Studies in Aotearoa/New Zealand provides a new perspective from which to view both lesbian cultures and local prescriptive ideologies about sexualities.

Product Details

• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (July 21, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560232536
• ISBN-13: 978-1560232537
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,430,593 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Aotearoa lesbian anthology, August 9, 2004

By 

Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lesbian Studies in Aotearoa/New Zealand (Hardcover)

This anthology covers lesbians and lesbian issues in New Zealand. The chapters are precise, well-written, and wel-edited.

This book reminds me of Trevisan's "Perverts in Paradise" (Brazil) and Gevisser's "Defiant Desire" (South Africa). Like many books that try to define sexual orientation issues for a country, it brings up deceased gay writers, living gay writers, current gay rights battles, and essays from current gay community activists.

Unlike its American couterparts, this book says little about straight female homophobia or gay male sexism. In fact, gay men are rarely mentioned at all, neither as allies nor oppressors. I think this may be an attempt to focus on lesbians and not take any swipes at any other groups. Then too, this book mentions very little actual lesbophobia. Never is it mentioned that New Zealand has a "Bowers v. Hardwick" like the United States or a Clause 28 like Great Britain. Many of the studies analyzed seemed like they were conducted using government funds. This book makes lesbian life in New Zealand look nice, though the contributors never clearly state this.

Because New Zealand is a multicultural society, I was concerned whether this book would reflect that diversity. Though the only explicit Maori chapter was fluff, other contributors make sure not to portray lesbianism as only white. The editor comes out as biracial. One contributor analyzes the work of an Indo-European, lesbian author. Others bring up Maori matters often. I am impressed by this effort.

This book does do a lot of gleaning. American lesbian academics like Robson, Faderman, and Lorde are quoted often. I think they'd be proud to discover that their writings have an international audience. Still, in this book, New Zealand lesbians have to appropriate much from straight women's studies and American and British lesbians' texts in order to define themselves. This fleshing out illustrates that New Zealand lesbians must see themselves as having a lot in common with all women in their nation and with English-speaking lesbians around the globe.