Academic literature on the topic 'Mythology, Maori'

The study focuses on how the poet Khaz’al Al-Majidi invokes history and represents it in his poetic texts. Mythology was one of the most important topics that took up a large space in his poetry, using it to indicate present-day events. He used it in the form of symbols that the poet employed appropriately. Other representations include his invocation of Arab and Western literary figures (Abu Al-Ala Al-Maari and Al-Mutanabbi), (Arthur Rimbaud and Eliot). Through these poets, the poet draws inspiration from the similarities between the past and the reality of the age and its circumstances, whether negative or positive. Their inclusion also helped to enrich the text and illuminate its dark corners.

The aim of this thesis is to undertake a theoretical analysis of the dynamics of change in pre-Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Māmoe oral traditions of Te Waipounamu to gain a deeper understanding of their nature, function, evolution and meaning. For the purposes of this thesis a framework will be established to classify changes to encompass different types of alterations made pre-contact and post-contact to authentic and un-authentic oral traditions. This model will analyse the continuum of change and will be applied in later chapters to pre-Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Māmoe traditions to gain an understanding of the dynamics, evolution and construction of the oral traditions of Te Waipounamu. This study of the morphology of tradition will demonstrate they were never fixed but evolved alongside their communities as they adapted to ensure tribal identity and mana was firmly entrenched in their local landscape. A major component of this thesis will be analysis of Waitaha traditions centring upon three key questions; firstly who were Waitaha peoples, secondly, where were they from, and thirdly, were they, and do they continue to be separate social units? This thesis will contribute to this discussion by analysing literature concerning pre-Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Māmoe tribal identities to ascertain not just who they were and where they were from but how their identities have been constructed and modified over time. Analysis will examine the role of oral tradition in establishing tribal identity and how Waitaha traditions were changed both pre and post-contact to suit the cultural, political and ideological imperatives of the time, providing an insight into how our ancestors perceived, recollected and constructed the past to suit the needs of the present.

The 'Romanization' of the African provinces of Mauretania Tingitana and Mauretania Caesariensis was in fact a two-way process of exchange between Roman and African elements which resulted in a uniquely Romano-African civilization. The imperial cult highlights issues common to all Romanization processes, such as ruler-subject interaction and the role of local initiative in bringing about change, as well as unique issues such as the impact of politics on emperor-worship. The success of the imperial cult was hampered by the fact that only a select few - notably the wealthy local elite - derived direct benefit from the process, and by the fact that, because the pre-Roman Mauretaniae had no established ruler-cults, the imperial cult failed to assimilate with local tradition. As a result, the cult was unable either to make a decisive impact on the Romanization of the Mauretanians, or to achieve any real religious unity among them.
History
M.A. (Ancient History)