New Zealand and Europe. Connections and Comparisons (European Studies 21)

This book is one of first comparative studies of the cultural, political and economic interactions between New Zealand and Europe. The chapters that comprise this book are a deliberate exercise in variety inside the theme of New Zealand and Europe: Connections and Comparisons. They derive from the first conference of the New Zealand European Studies Association and give a flavour of the active and far-reaching nature of studies relating to Europe currently taking place in New Zealand. The cultural and historical chapters, while often quite specific in focus, touch on themes of universal cross-cultural relevance: the fate of imported languages and cultures; the tendencies to familiarise or exoticise unknown lands; the problematic representation of women in politics; the ambivalences and tensions between dominant and subordinate cultures; and the responsibility of the intellectual in the face of authority.