Abstract:
This thesis uses a discourse analytic approach to the language used by Pakeha
in talk about Maori in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The research begins with an
assay of a large body of public submissions and, using the finding of common
themes and patterns of ideas, images and usages running though the data,
proceeds to examine texts arising from other contexts in order to comment on the
generality of the original results. It is suggested that the commonalities
described amount to an ideological and linguistic resource base for the
construction of a powerful "standard story" of Maori/Pakeha relations, which
underpins and legitimates the oppressive status quo. Further extensions of the
investigation examine changes in the discourse in the contemporary setting and
pursue origins of the themes in historical texts arising from the period of contact
between Maori and Pakeha prior to the colonisation of the country.