@phdthesis{Schaub2012,
  author    = {Schaub, Kerstin},
  title     = {As Written in the Flesh. The Human Body as Medium of Cultural Identity and Memory in Fiction from New Zealand},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-78336},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {This dissertation focuses on selected novels written by contemporary indigenous authors from Aotearoa/New Zealand and examines the fictional imagination of the human body as a medium of cultural identity and memory. The novels discussed are Keri Hulme's »The Bone People« (1984), »Nights in the Gardens of Spain« (1995) and »The Uncle's Story« (2000) by Witi Ihimaera as well as James George's »Hummingbird« (2003). In order to further decolonisation processes and to come to terms with the colonial past and the complexity of present realities, the fictional works position the human body as an active entity in the negotiation of specific cultural epistemologies. This project explores the narrative translation of corporeality that is used to locate alternative concepts of identity and cultural memory. Taking into account indigenous perspectives, this thesis makes use of the current theoretical approaches presented by pragmatism and affect theory in order to analyse the investment of the novels in feeling and the reciprocal relationship between text and corporeality depicted by the narratives. On the one hand, the novels aim to undermine oppressive and marginalising categories by placing particular emphasis on »sensuous gaps« in the text. On the other hand, the narratives intend to construct alternative identities and evoke specific aspects of indigenous histories and knowledge by imagining the human body in terms of »sensuous inscription«. The novels portray individuals who act from a place in-between different cultures, and articulate a desire to dissolve polarities and emphasise individual and cultural transformation as a formative element in the creation of complex identities and new perspectives.},
  subject      = {Postkoloniale Literatur},
  language  = {en}
}