Between Anzac Day and Waitangi Day
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Date
2018-03
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Adam Mickiewicz University
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Abstract
This paper discusses the historical background and significance of the two most important
national holidays in New Zealand: Waitangi Day and Anzac Day. Waitangi Day is celebrated
on the 6th February and it commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between British
representatives and a number of Māori chiefs in 1840. Following the signing of the treaty New
Zealand became effectively a British colony. Anzac Day is celebrated on 25th April, i.e., on the
anniversary of the landing of soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
(ANZAC) on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey in 1915, during World War One. There are
three major differences between these two holidays: the process of those days becoming
national holidays, the level of contestation, and the changing messages they have carried. The
present study analyzes the national discourse around Anzac Day and Waitangi Day in New
Zealand, and attempts to reveal how the official New Zealand government rhetoric about
national unity becomes deconstructed. The following analysis is based on a selection of online
articles from the New Zealand Herald and Stuff published in Auckland and Wellington,
respectively. Both cities are populated by multi-ethnic groups, with Auckland featuring the
largest Māori population.
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Anzac Day, Waitangi Day, New Zealand, national holidays, identity
Citation
Studia Anglica Posnaniensia, vol. 52.4(2017), pp. 427-438
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0081-6272