Bringing the New Philology to Pacific Legal History

(2011) 40(2) Victoria University of Wellington Law Review pp 399-416

18 Pages Posted: 12 Mar 2015

See all articles by Richard Boast

Richard Boast

Victoria University of Wellington, Te Herenga Waka - Faculty of Law

Date Written: 2011

Abstract

This article is a study of the main features of the so-called new philology, a school of historians based mainly in the United States who have pioneered a novel approach to the history of indigenous societies under colonial rule by focusing on day-to-day "mundane" texts, typically legal documents or documents preserved in legal records,written in indigenous languages. It is suggested that New Zealand provides a unique opportunity to experiment with the approaches of the new philology outside Latin America as it meets the basic requirement of having preserved a significant amount of written documentation recorded in an indigenous language. What such a study might reveal is unclear, but the overall conclusion is that it should certainly be attempted. One weakness of the new philology, however, is that while it is based strongly on legal documents, it does not engage with law or with legal processes as such.

Keywords: philology, indigenous, colonial, mundane,

JEL Classification: K10, K40

Suggested Citation

Boast, Richard, Bringing the New Philology to Pacific Legal History (2011). (2011) 40(2) Victoria University of Wellington Law Review pp 399-416, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2576560

Richard Boast (Contact Author)

Victoria University of Wellington, Te Herenga Waka - Faculty of Law ( email )

PO Box 600
Wellington, 6140
New Zealand

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