Gothic New Zealand: The Darker Side of Kiwi Culture

by Mary Paul

Contemporary creative writers, intellectuals, photographers, painters and other artists have all contributed to this volume exploring the idea of "gothic" in New Zealand culture. From Martin Edmond's abandoned houses, to Ian Lochhead's Victorian corrugated iron structures, to Otis Frizzell's tattoos, from Peter Jackson's movie-making to ghost paintings - there's plenty of it. As the editors suggest, gothic is "endemic to New Zealand's self-representation."

176 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2006

Reviews

[JJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Skipped the Misery essay, that is lame. I think this book is actually quite good evidence that NZ Gothic doesn't exist at all.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

More a collection of opinions than a single cogent discussion - there were some interesting ideas in here, but each writer only got 7 or 8 pages to present their theory, so not enough room to explore them as I would have liked. Also, very preoccupied with the Lord of the Rings movies filmed in New Zealand by Peter Jackson.

[Billy Wallis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slippery like its titular topic, it trips between academic and creative expositions of antipodean gothic. Leaving readers to ponder their own lived experiences on this specific heat-map of kiwi culture.

The book is presented as a collection of gothic examples attached to the land. And like Aotearoa itself, reads as a loose archipelago of islands in a cloud of collective theory. The motu.