A MĀORI LIT READING LIST?

Just chucking out some ideas?

I’m an English teacher, and maybe one of the biggest misconceptions I encounter about English teaching in Aotearoa is that we have some sort of prescription/guidance around what texts we teach. We don’t. So when someone asks me ‘Is Shakespeare still on the curriculum?’ the answer is: ‘No. Nothing is on the curriculum.’

I sometimes see comments online celebrating the fact that certain things are being taught in schools. For example, I see excitement about How to Loiter in a Turf War ‘being taught in schools’ (and this is exciting), but I always worry that non-teachers imagine that this is some sort of far-reaching movement across the country – rather than individual departments (but more likely individual teachers) choosing to buy a set of How to Loiter in a Turf War.

Because under the current system, a student can be studying a vibrant range of Māori authors. But they can also be studying zero. And perhaps the most worrying part is that we really have no way of knowing for sure.

Something I often think about is the potential for a far-reaching ‘reading list’ of significant works of Māori literature: a list that would come with quality resources for teachers, and that would be arranged into something resembling a levelled curriculum. I think about the new history curriculum, where topics/resources are mapped out across year levels.

Basically, this post is me answering a question I often ask myself: What works could feature on a country-wide Māori lit reading list for schools?

Just to be clear, this isn’t an exhaustive list (obviously). I also haven’t bothered to include things that I think would be obvious choices. In terms of classics, this would include stuff like Potiki, the bone people, The Whale Rider etc. In terms of more modern stuff, this could include the likes of Auē, The Bone Tree, Kurangaituku etc. Instead I wanted to highlight some stuff that I think would be great to see in classrooms.

I also want to make clear that the idea of any sort of prescribed reading list is deeply unfashionable in modern education, particularly in this country, and so this is all theoretical!

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‘FOR ALL THE SAINTS’ / J.C. STURM / arguably Te Ao Hou’s first significant piece of short fiction

So, ‘For All the Saints’ isn’t quite Sturm’s first published story, but it’s close – and it also appeared in the landmark publication Te Ao Hou. For these reasons, this story feels like a reasonable place to start a student’s understanding of modern Māori literature. Sturm has better work that’d no doubt be featured in this theoretical reading list, but this story of an unlikely friendship between medical workers from different worlds is foundational, and it deserves to be taught as such.

BROKEN ARSE / BRUCE STEWART / an uncompromising story of how prison destroys people

‘Broken Arse’ was a very good short story first, but I think the play version would actually be a better pick. There’s a bit more going on, and the tone is more interesting – there’s some black comedy and surreal elements here that complicate the original’s more straightforwardly bleak tone. The less present narrative voice (because it’s a play, with limited directions) also leaves more up to reader interpretation. And perhaps most importantly, Broken Arse has that hard edge that Stewart’s stuff tends to have – and that English teachers love.

There also needs to be more theatre in English classrooms!

‘JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM’ / J.C. STURM / perhaps Sturm’s finest work

I think this would pair nicely with ‘For All the Saints’, and I love the idea of doing more contrasts between works by the same author. Both stories are similar in premise – stories of surprising connection between women – but whereas ‘Saints’ is fairly conservative in style, ‘Jerusalem’ has a more interesting, more fluid style of prose.

I like the idea that Māori literature isn’t this static thing with set themes/style, but something that is constantly evolving.

PASS IT ON / RENEE / a classic socialist, feminist play by a celebrated writer

More theatre! You could make a strong case for Wednesday to Come as the more iconic Renee play, but I’d go for Pass It On. For a start, I think the historical context – the 1951 waterside workers strike – is more interesting, and certainly more central to an understanding of this play. And I mean, English teachers love a good period piece set in a period of political unrest. Pass It On could even offer some nice opportunities for ‘cross subject’ learning, which I understand to be all the rage right now. And the play honestly cooks: it’s fast-paced, clever, politically and psychologically complex. It deserves more of a look by teachers.

‘THE WHALE’ / WITI IHIMAERA / a thoughtful, moving early piece of Māori short fiction

It’s pretty obvious that Ihimaera’s early short fiction would be included on such a list, but this is one that I don’t see being taught much. ‘The Whale’ is basically the prototype for The Whale Rider, and embodies many of the key themes that permeate the following half century of Māori writing. This is the most elegant of Ihimaera’s early short stories, and an affecting, accessible entry point to the possibilities of a uniquely Māori approach to literature.

DEATH OF THE LAND / ROWLEY HABIB / a sharp, satirical courtroom drama

Like with Sturm, I love the idea of including Rowley Habib’s classic play as a representation of an earlier, often neglected, generation of writers. Writers like Patricia Grace talk about standing on the shoulders of these writers, so students should be aware of them!

Death of the Land could be a nice swap for something like The Crucible – it’s basically a tense court drama, but there are some inventive spiritual touches to how the narrative unfolds. And the core issues – the means by which Te Tiriti is subverted and undermined – are as relevant as ever.

AWHI TAPU / ALBERT BELZ / a bleakly-funny story of a devastated former-forestry town

When English texts deal with political context, they tend to be contexts that feel historical – things we can look back on and think ‘this is of the past’ (even if it really really isn’t). One thing I like about Belz’s play is that its politics are rooted in issues that are extremely contemporary: cruel neoliberal reforms, the gutting of local industry etc. It’s also tonally complex, opening with some moments that border on outright slapstick before shifting into dark territory.

‘A TALLY OF THE SOULS OF SHEEP’ / KERI HULME / an unusual metafictional sort-of-play, sort-of-not

The blackly-comedic ‘A Tally of the Souls of Sheep’ is this weird, dense, metafictional piece of rural gothic, with Hulme peppering each page edge with elusive annotations and notes. If there’s something missing from the current list of most commonly taught Māori literature, it’s stuff that can be classified as just downright odd.

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As I said, this list is hardly exhaustive – just a few works that I’d love to see studied more widely in schools. I’d love to know what would be on your list; feel free to add your thoughts in the comments!