'Sweetness and light belong to us’: The Maoriland Worker and Proletarian Poetics

Dougal McNeill; Alistair Murray

doi:10.26686/knznq.v0i0.3967

Authors

Dougal McNeill Schoool of English, Film, Theatre and Media Studies. Victoria University of Wellington https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5828-2705
Alistair Murray Victoria University of Wellington

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26686/knznq.v0i0.3967

Abstract

Documenting the publication of poetry in The Maoriland Worker, this essay considers the place of poetry and poetics in the Worker’s history and its political project. What was the place of literature in the early years of the New Zealand labour movement? What sorts of texts circulated, and how were they received and interpreted by socialist journalists and critics? Combining quantitative analysis with close reading, this essay offers the Worker as a case study in early New Zealand labour movement literary culture.

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Author Biography

Dougal McNeill, Schoool of English, Film, Theatre and Media Studies. Victoria University of Wellington

Correspondence about this article may be directed to Dougal McNeill at Dougal.McNeill@vuw.ac.nz

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