Abstract
This is the sequel to the paper titled "A Feature of Maori Literature -Witi Ihimaera's Novel(1), " -which mainly aimed to investigate the literary forms and messages of The Matriarch (1986). My main interest was to make clear if there was a big difference in thought and mode between his earlier works and this novel After some inspection, I reached the conclusion that The Matriarch is imbued with Ihimaera's densely political awareness of the present situation of Maori. And also I emphasized this novel can safely be said to be an epic in mode and structure. In this paper, I tried first to examine what Ihimaera thought of the difference of history and myth (and legend). It can be argued that Ihimaera has a view that history is subsumed in a wide sense of myth. Next, I discussed Ihimaera's way of narration in The Matriarch, which is literally called 'magic realism.' He used traditional Maori myth as fantastic tool against the realistic descriptions to make corrupt colonial landscape more explicit. My final discussion dealt with the concept of 'centrality' and 'marginality' expressed in this novel from the post-colonial viewpoint. In conclusion, Witi Ihimaera, I think, can be conceived as one of the greatest writers in post-colonial times.
