A literary and linguistic critique of a Māori lullaby

Abstract

Māori song poems surviving from pre-colonial times can provide a valuable source of information about the artistic and cultural heritage of Māoridom. However, they present a number of challenges for the contemporary analyst. On the basis of a stylistic analysis of a Māori lullaby, a number of hypotheses about Māori song poems in general, and the lullaby in particular, are put forward and it is suggested that these hypotheses could be tested in relation to a corpus of song poems. It is hoped that the approach to stylistic analysis adopted here will be of use to scholars of Māori song poems and, perhaps, also to others who are interested in indigenous art forms more generally.