Dollannan vs the lord of the rings: The battle of nature and progress

Abstract

In New Zealand, the dominant paradigm of land use has been ecological imperialism: breaking in the land in the name of progress. This essay proposes that—in order to defend nature ‐ some new definitions of ‘progress’ are necessary. Section one analyses the response of writers (such as John Mulgan) to the colonial dream of a pastoral paradise. Section two demonstrates the impact of different farming methods and the development (particularly in Frank Sargeson's work) of a dichotomy between indigenous Maori nature and European Pakeha progress. Section three reveals that Maori writing amplifies this dichotomy, but also postulates (in Patricia Grace's Potilki) a new and ‘other’ concept of progress. Section four shows how the nature‐progress dichotomy can be beneficially used to suggest an ecological third way, mainly through recent developments in the film and tourism industries. This proposal enacts Laurence Coupe's dictum that “green studies debates ‘Nature’ in order to defend nature” (5).