Stories in books and stories of life: Helen Shaw, New Zealand writer, c.1937-1985

Abstract

This thesis examines the life and works of the New Zealand short story writer, poet, editor, and critic, Helen Shaw, from the time of her first publication in 1937 until her death in 1985, seeking to situate Shaw as a historical figure in the context of twentieth-century New Zealand cultural life. It explores Shaw's intellectual engagement with the 'literary scene' during this period. It particularly questions the ways and the extent to which Shaw defined her hopes and ambitions for her own career by and against the prevailing ideas debated by participants in this creative circle. The study focusses on Shaw's life as a writer, exploring the texts and contexts of her life and work, rather than focussing upon her writing from the perspective of literary criticism. At the heart of this inquiry is an exploration of the complex and inter-related series of ideas and structures which influenced Shaw's motivations and decision-making as a writer, and which shaped the reception to her work. Her ambitions as to where and how she wished her work to be published, her interests and preoccupations as a writer, and her choices of style and theme for her work, are explored. The impact of intellectual trends, and the pressures of wider structural factors (such as the availability of outlets of publication) are also considered. The study concludes that while dominant ideologies and structural elements inhibited Shaw's ambitions and hopes for her career, her declining reputation after the early 1960s was due primarily to her own increasingly introspective inclinations in her writing and hopes for publication. As her interests shifted towards mysticism, she increasingly sought to distance herself from the mainstream of the New Zealand literary scene, and her writing became very unconventional and individualistic. Writing as a woman during this period, Shaw was disadvantaged to some degree by a prevailing disinterest in 'feminine' writing, but she was able to dedicate more of her time and energy to writing than many of her male contemporaries. The relationship between the "stories in books' (the western literary tradition) and 'stories of life' (the lived New Zealand experience) was increasingly one of tension in Shaw's creative life as she worked to reconcile her desire to help define native cultural traditions with her desire to create work that reflected her internal spiritual journey. The decline of her critical reputation from the late 1950s can be attributed to a complex interplay of factors involving her shifting towards more self-referential work, and the retrenchment of her attempts to seek publication.