Patriarchy and Illegitimate Subtext: a Gender Difference in Eutopian Aspects of New Zealand Fiction

Abstract

This thesis focuses primarily on the subtexts in New Zealand fiction, and shows how whenever the writing is motivated by the eutopian impulse (the urge to change society for the better) women’s writing differs from men's in one very fundamental way. Regardless of racial political or socioeconomic considerations, wherever New Zealand fiction finds itself in the service of social issues (and it does so very frequently) it is very likely, if the writer is female, to have an anti-patriarchal subtext; whereas, if the writer is male, the writing will be demonstrably pro-patriarchal. Patriarchy is the unconscious force which, within any society, legitimises some people and some cultural practises, and relegates others to a state of illegitimacy which, in New Zealand, has for some time had little or nothing to do with their actual legal status. Patriarchy - the law of the Father - cannot be confused with statute. Nor should it be confused with maleness. Patriarchy gives power to Fathers, not men, but men tend to unconsciously assume that such power is rightfully theirs, and mare writers are no exception. Their characters remain loyal to patriarchy even when it serves them badly. John Mulgan, Maurice Shadbolt, and Alan Duff all make the assumption that certain kinds of men deserve a higher status in the symbolic order than they currently have, that real men (though the definition of such men would vary from one writer to the next) should be looked up to as legitimate Fathers, while weak or cowardly men and selfish, lazy, inappreciative and disloyal women should see the error of their ways. Women’s writing tells a different story. Jane Mander, Robin Hyde, Jean Devanny, Janet Frame, Fiona Kidman, Patricia Grace, Shonagh Koea and Barbara Else all show how patriarchy damages people whether they allow themselves to be enthralled by it or whether they try to break out of it. But women's writing is also marked by a common subtext which secretly celebrates subversion, illegitimacy and vandalism. If women worry that they might not survive the overthrow of patriarchy, they are nevertheless prepared to take that risk, and this is as true for Patricia Grace, whose anti-patriarchal agenda overrules any consideration of Maori tradition.