Missionaries,
Māori and the Question of the Body
Tony Ballantyne
Auckland University Press
Paperback, 228 x 152mm,
376 pages
9 b&w images running through the book
978 1 86940 826 8
16 March 2015, $39.99
The first
Protestant mission to New Zealand, established in 1814, saw the beginning of
complex political, cultural, and economic entanglements with Māori. Entanglements of Empire is a deft reconstruction of the
cross-cultural translations of this early period. Misunderstanding was rife,
and the physical body itself became the most contentious site of cultural
engagement. Māori and missionaries struggled over issues of hygiene, tattooing,
clothing, and sexual morality and missionaries found it was difficult to
maintain their own practices because of their dependence on Māori chiefly
patrons as well as the material constraints and social conflicts.
In this
fascinating study, historian Tony Ballantyne explores the varying
understandings of such concepts as civilization, work, time and space, and
gender – and the practical consequences of the struggles over these ideas. The
encounters in the classroom, chapel, kitchen, and farmyard worked mutually to
affect both Māori and English worldviews.
Ultimately, the
interest in missionary Christianity among influential Māori chiefs had
far-reaching consequences for both groups. Concluding in 1840 with the signing
of the Treaty of Waitangi and the new age it ushered in, Entanglements of Empire offers important insights into this crucial
period of New Zealand history.
About the Author
Tony Ballantyne was born and raised in Dunedin, graduated with a BA (Hons)
from the University of Otago and obtained a PhD at the University of Cambridge.
He then taught at Washington University in St Louis, the University of Illinois
and the National University of Ireland, before returning home to New Zealand.
He is currently Chair of the History Department at the University of Otago and
Director of the university’s Centre for Research on Colonial Culture.
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