Telling the Real Story

"Telling the Real Story interrogates the relationships between genre and New Zealand literature. What modes of writing have been deemed more appropriate than others at particular times, and why? Why have some narratives been interpreted as realist when significant aspects of them relate to genres such as romance, science fiction and Gothic? What meanings are generated by the meeting points in a text where one mode meets another? What is at stake in writing, for example, a New Zealand vampire novel or an art world thriller? By rereading canonical texts and exploring writers who have been sidelined for their use of non-realist elements, Telling the Real Story exposes the interplay of realism, Gothic, fantasy, romance and melodrama within New Zealand narratives and demonstrates that the apparently realist monolith of the national literature is infinitely more diverse and exciting than it may seem. Frank Sargeson, Sylvia Ashton-Warner, Keri Hulme, Elizabeth Knox and Eleanor Catton are among the major New Zealand writers whose work is seen in fresh and exciting ways"--Back cover.