The Secular Visionaries: Aestheticism and New Zealand Short Fiction in the Twentieth Century.

This retrospective study examines short fiction in the context of stylistic tradition in New Zealand's literary history. By exploring the extent to which the major exponents of twentieth-century short fiction extend the traditions of realism and impressionism as initiated by Katherine Mansfield and Frank Sargeson, this study embraces the stylistic diversity of twentieth-century New Zealand short fiction in both Pakeha and Maori traditions.