Once Were Warriors: The Aftermath

Description: Once Were Warriors: The Aftermath - The Controversy of OWW in Aotearoa/New ZealandISBN 978-90-5260-236-3 | Amsterdam University Press | 184 pages | Worldwide shipping In 1990 unknown Māori author Alan Duff suddenly became both famous and notorious in New Zealand for his first novel Once Were Warriors. The violent story of a poor urban Māori family aroused much controversy in New Zealand society and the Māori community in particular. Many critics condemned the novel for its negative and allegedly racist portrayal of the indigenous Māori people, accusing Duff for ‘hanging out the dirty linen’ and ‘blaming the victim’. Four years later, the homonymous film by Māori director Lee Tamahori led to similar fame and controversy. On the one hand, critics strongly disapproved of the commercial indigenous film on social, political and aesthetic grounds. On the other hand however, Once Were Warriors became the most successful motion picture in the history of New Zealand cinema, grossing over 6.7 million NZ dollars in the national box office and reaching a large international audience. Once Were Warriors was not just a novel or film, but a powerful cultural phenomenon which had a significant impact on New Zealand society. In the book Once Were Warriors: The Aftermath, media scholar Emiel Martens examines the impact of Once Were Warriors in New Zealand by exploring both the novel and the film (with an emphasis on the film) and their aftermath in New Zealand society: Why did Once Were Warriors cause such a controversy within the Māori community? Which were the underlying metaphors of the public debate on both the novel and the film in New Zealand society? And what did the heated reception of Once Were Warriors say about the position of the indigenous Māori people within modern New Zealand? Bringing together a wide variety of popular and academic texts, the author discusses these urgent questions in relation to timely New Zealand and wider postcolonial issues such as racial stereotypes, cultural politics, ethnic relations, indigenous media and Māori identity. As an interdisciplinary Cultural Studies endeavour, this book is surprisingly accessible and will prove interesting reading for anyone who wishes to know more about indigenous filmmaking in postcolonial New Zealand.

Price: 16.49 USD

Location: Amsterdam

End Time: 2025-01-21T08:04:08.000Z

Shipping Cost: 3.99 USD