Racism and Empire: discourses of race and Empire in the formation of New Zealand's national identity 1894-1907
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Date
2006
Authors
Murphy, Nigel
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington
Abstract
National identity is extremely difficult to define. Stephanie Taylor states that 'academic theorists and politicians have variously defined a nation as a distinctive group of people linked by kinship; or by shared culture, including language and religion; or by common history and occupation of the same piece of territory or by shared interests.'Taylor, 1996, p.47. Keith Sinclair notes that 'what a nation actually is has always been a puzzle. It is not a race, with identifiable physical characteristics, such as skin colour, though many people have thought so. In a very low-powered definition it is a group of people many or most of whom think that they are a nation.' Sinclair, 1986, p.3. Yet, like national identity itself, defining a nation is a tricky business. As Sinclair points out 'Holding up a nation for scrutiny is like picking up a jelly-fish.' ibid. Identity, especially as it attaches to such a nebulous term as 'nation', is also extremely difficult to define. Sinclair attempts a definition, saying that:
Description
Keywords
Racism in New Zealand, Imperialism, National characteristics