Patricia Grace’s “Potiki”: Indigenous Māori Narrative Through the Lens of the Transculturalism Theory

Abstract

The article examines the identity and work of Patricia Grace, a New Zealand writer of the Māori Renaissance period. Her fate echoes the life stories of many indigenous Māori people with mixed origins, and in regards to that it is interesting to see how this aspect of her existence was reflected in the works she created. Within the framework of this study, Grace’s identity and her literary style are analyzed from the standpoint of theory of translingualism and transculturalism. Particular attention is paid to the criticism and reception of Grace’s work in the literary community and to the development of the most suitable approach to studying her texts. This approach is developed on the basis of the concept of transculturation by F. Ortiz, research by Z.G. Proshina in the field of translingual literature, post-colonial research by H.-K. Trask and the works of M.V. Tlostanova on gender philosophy. Grace’s most famous novel “Potiki” was chosen as an example that confirms the transcultural and translingual nature of her literature. The analysis of the novel allows one to read it as not just a story-driven novel, but as a complex text that contains many elements of Māori culture hidden from a non-indigenous reader.