Crucially, however, her notion of an ideal New Zealand society is oneįundamentally shaped by Maori spirituality and community, appointing a predominant role to Maori culture for the whole of society. In accordance with her mission statement, in her novel Hulme carefullyĬonstructs a vision of a New Zealand society which can only fully function with Pakeha and Maori living together in unison, her three protagonists servingĪs metaphorical stand-ins signifying the mixture of cultures present in New Zealand. Without neglecting to honour her European heritage where due (Fee 53 Peek 3).

Despite biologically being only an eighth Maori, she consciously chooses to identify with this part of her heritage – Hulme herself embodies this approach to identity, as she is Maori as well as the European-descendant Pakeha ( Contemporary Literary Criticism 158). She has stated that she wanted the novel to harmonise her country’s two major cultural influences, New Zealand being home to the indigenous In the bone people, Hulme set out to create her very own New Only in 2013, Hulme was succeeded by her fellow New Zealander,Įleanor Catton, for her historical mystery novel The Luminaries (Lyall). She won it in 1985 for her novel the bone people. Highest honours to be awarded in the world of literature on an international scale. Until recently, Maori writer Keri Hulme was the only New Zealand writer to have ever won the renowned Man Booker Prize. the bone people and Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries. the bone people and Alan Duff’s Once Were Warriors. the bone people and Patricia Grace’s Potiki. the bone people and Witi Ihimaera’s Whanau and Whanau II. Thirty Years Later – Placement within the New Zealand Literary Canon. Construction of National Identity in the bone people. Expressing Concepts of Identity and National Identity in Postcolonial Discourse.

The bone people review