James Cowan and the Frontiers of New Zealand History

JAMES COWAN was perhaps the most ambiguous  writer in what may be  called  the Frederick Maning tradition  of  'representing'  Maori to Pakeha. Like  Maning  and  his  epigones,  Cowan  made  much  of  his  privileged  knowledge  of  Maori  culture  and  history;  unlike  them,  however,  he combined  this position  with  the  devices  of  'pioneer'  literature.  Cowan's  combination  of  these  and  other  tradi-tions problematized  the writing  of New  Zealand  history. His favoured  subjects  were  the  geographical  and  racial  'frontiers'  of  New  Zealand  in  the  nineteenth  century;  his  use  of  various  and  not  entirely  compatible  traditions  of  Pakeha  writing placed him on a discursive  'frontier' as well. The histories Cowan  wrote  on this discursive frontier in the first four decades of this century  are the subject of   this  article.
http://www.nzjh.auckland.ac.nz/docs/1997/NZJH_31_2_02.pdf

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