Indigenous Voice in Literature

This book is a comparative study of a modern Chinese writer, SHEN Congwen (1902-1988), and a modern New Zealand writer, Witi Ihimaera (1944- ), in terms of their indigenous status. While Ihimaera’s role as an indigenous Maori writer – indeed, the first Maori to have a novel published - has never been in doubt, discussion of Shen’s work rarely mentions his indigenous status. In this study, it will be argued that, in his writing, he regularly identified with the Miao tribal people of Southwest China and, implicitly rather than explicitly, came to serve as their literary voice.