The question I want to raise for discussion in this posting is whether we can blame the Scots for the predominant characteristics of Kiwi gothic. I’ll start with a small rant about the art of miserableness in these parts . . . We seem to suffer more than the usual quantum of miserableness in these southern climes .  Perhaps it’s just all the rain we've had lately.  (To give you some idea, in July this year Auckland had 24.9 cm of rain. Edinburgh in its rainiest month averages only 10.2 cm).  But others seem to share the mood too.  Kiwi actor Sam Neill

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Jaromil Kires 1970)

Maastricht University, the Netherlands. 19-20 March 2009

The issue I want to raise in this entry is whether nations can be described as haunted -- or at least, what the political implications might be of applying gothic in this particular context.  Let me start with a bit of information about New Zealand race relations, which might not seem very gothic, but bear with me! A small milestone passed recently.  The 2nd of September was the last day for Maori tribes to lodge claims for compensation for breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi.  This Treaty was signed in 1840, and it guaranteed Maori the rights of British citizens in exchange for

It’s nice to have the opportunity to “chat” with you in this virtual space.  Your programme of study looks fantastic, and I hope you’re enjoying it.      Still from Kitchen Sink (1989), dir. Alison Maclean (just to get you into the Kiwi gothic mood)     When I wrote the introduction for the multidisciplinary anthology Gothic NZ (University of Otago Press, 2006), I found myself in hot water with some reviewers.  I emphasised the mobility of gothic by approaching it as a mode, not a genre; as a way of seeing, feeling, and ex