‘Ongoing loss, a wounding dislocation’ displacement and trauma in New Zealand literature : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Creative Writing at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis comprises two sections: a critical section in which the concepts of trauma and displacement are examined and analysed in the ways in which they are depicted in New Zealand literature, and a creative section which consists of a novella entitled 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘖𝘯𝘦𝘴 written with those same themes in mind. In the critical section, the notion that there are types of displacement, ranging from the large-scale to the small, that cause subsequent forms of trauma to emerge as a consequence is explored, and this notion is given creative expression in the following section. The critical section utilises three key literary texts with which to further study this link between displacement and trauma in New Zealand literature. Those texts are 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘈𝘶𝘦̄, and 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬. I read each of these texts with the Developmental-Ecological model of Urie Bronfenbrenner in mind, the better to have some manner of gauging specific societal levels of disruption and pathology. I incorporate theorists such as Peter Adey with his work on 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, Anna Westin’s 𝘌𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨: 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩, and Susie O’Brien’s 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦: 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘭, among others to help frame the discussion. These theorists concur that trauma tends to go on far beyond the initial causative event. I argue that most if not all trauma in the key texts I have selected eventuates as a result of Bronfenbrenner’s macro level of disruption. In other words, that wider, larger contexts for displacement historically and observably tend to trickle down to the small, narrower contexts and the people who live within them. The creative portion of my thesis consists of the novella entitled 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘖𝘯𝘦𝘴. This novella follows the life of one-character nicknamed Hapuka, a twenty something Pasifika who is employed by the local abattoir, and his struggle to regain some semblance of forward momentum following a defining, traumatic event in his past. The themes of displacement and a kind of ongoing, reverberating suffering are fleshed out in various ways, alongside a cast of characters representing different aspects of the New Zealand/South Island working-class.