Ricostruire il passato per legittimare il presente: il mana wahine e le herstories fra le donne maori

Abstract

This paper explores the conceptual and epistemological framework of mana wahine, a field of investigation analyzed and enriched by the contributions of indigenous M?ori intellectuals in New Zealand. The mana wahine scholars explore the constructions of the gender translated and embodied by European colonialism, and by intellectual actions, they rehab the relationship between women, social prestige and colonial relationship.

The reconstruction of their gender roles takes place with the re-narration of the cosmogonical and mythological stories, through a self-representation strategy that facilitates the self-determination process of the M?ori intellectual women.

Reconstructing a past full of stories in which women act as protagonists and play leadership roles, the women’s ‘herstories’ become cultural objects, tools of legitimization of the present, characterized by the rise of the intellectual practices of M?ori women in the New Zealand and in the international public sphere.

Keywords: Mana Wahine, Decolonizing Politics, Gender roles, M?ori women, intellectual practices.