(re)Imaging Māori tourism: Representation and cultural hybridity in postcolonial New Zealand

Abstract

This paper is concerned with issues of cultural representation and postcolonialism. It argues that in countries with a history of colonization ‘indigenous culture’ has often been (mis)represented in the media associated with tourism promotion. The impact of such marketing is reflected in the call by indigenous tourism stakeholders to control the representation and meanings of their image, tribal identities and cultural difference. This study seeks to advance academic discussion on Bhabha’s concept of hybridity as a means to understand the transformative and dynamic interplay of cultural change and cultural production within a tourism context. A qualitative approach using in-depth case studies of Māori tourism businesses and stakeholders in New Zealand reveals the hybridized nature of Māori identity.This contests established categorizations of culture and identity through creative ‘ third spaces’ that re-inscribe notions of the Other. In turn, hybridity promotes counter-representations that present new strategies of self-determination and resistance for indigenous peoples.