From Galileo to Aldo Moro: Italian Imagery in Contemporary New Zealand Literature

Italian images and symbols are numerous in New Zealand contemporary literature. Being the birthplace of an ancient civilization and the cradle of Western culture and art, Italy has always left a mark on those New Zealanders who came, one way or another, in touch with it. A basic distinction must be however drawn between Pakeha writers, that is, New Zealanders of European origin and writers belonging to the indigenous minority: the Maori. Our country has aroused a different emotional response and its imagery has served (or not) a political purpose according to the author’s affiliation to the group of the European colonizers or that of the indigenous colonised. In this paper I will analyse how Italian images are employed by two living Maori writers, Witi Ihimaera and Patricia Grace, and by celebrated Pakeha poet Allen Curnow, passed away in 2001. Since I have already explored this theme in publications on Ihimaera ‘s and Grace’s novels, I will just briefly outline some of the points previously treated and focus on new works and images I still haven’t dealt with so far, namely Ihimaera’s libretto Galileo and Curnow’s poem An Incorrigible Music.