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Although we all use the term "national identity" confidently, defining what constitutes an individual's or group's sense of how they belong to a place and a citizenship is not easy. Jeffries defines national identity as "a shared sense of belonging of a group of people that depends on a common area of named place, a common set of beliefs and values, and positive feelings for a specific named geographical area" (4). Fox defines it as the "characteristics a society (or nation) feels its members share that distinguish it from others" (44). Meeks describes national identity as a way of differentiating between "us" and "others," and explains "the role that children's literature plays in the development of children's understandings of both belonging...and differentiation" (x). What all these definitions share is a rejection of a static, essentialist view of identity (not only of national identity, but also of gender and ethnic identity) and an acceptance that national identity is forged through interactions between individuals and their environment. "People are seen as being involved in continuous negotiation of different aspects of their identity...based on the new norms, practices and situations which they encounter in their everyday interactions" (Jamarani 2). This letter examines a collection of picture books from New Zealand in terms of how they reflect and thus contribute to the negotiation of the national identity of children.
To date, several researchers have indicated a strong link between New Zealand national identity and its children's literature (Hebley et al). The recent A Made Up Place explores the reflection of New Zealand identity in young adult fiction through a series of topics including sport, money, religion, history and Maori Gothic (see the Reviews section of this issue of Bookbird for a fuller discussion). Hebley's doctoral dissertation draws attention to the frequency with which two landscapes feature in New Zealand children's fiction published between 1970 and 1989: seascapes (no New Zealander lives more that 130km from the sea), and volcanoes (tectonic activity is a part of the national conscious as New Zealand lies on a fault line).
Moore explores national identity through the visual imagery used in The New Zealand School Journal, a magazine produced for use in New Zealand schools. She argues that, while the role of art in...