| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺中教育大學 === 語文教育學系碩博士班 === 100 === This thesis is a comparison and contrast of two pieces of young adult fiction, The Whale Rider and Black Wings. The Whale Rider is a story based on a Maori myth ---Paikea, the whale rider. The main character is a teenage girl, Kahu, who (just like Paikea) has the ability to talk to whales. Unfortunately, being a girl makes her grandfather reject her because of her inability to assume traditional male leadership roles.
Black Wings is a story about four Tao boys who live close to Taiwan on Orchid Island. They start building dreams about their futures and each of them has different achievements that build towards fulfilling their dreams. The fly fish myth is also applied at the beginning of the story.
Both The Whale Rider and Black Wings show indigenous literature elements, such as mythology, cultural conflicts and the relationship with nature/ocean. The first chapter of this study serves as a general introduction of the cultural and literature background of Maori in New Zealand and Tao on Orchid Island, Taiwan. The second chapter reviews previous studies of the two writers, Witi Ihimaera and Syaman Rapongan, and their work. Chapter Three analyses the conflicts in the stories. Chapter Four illustrates how the writers try to inspire young readers’ towards self-recognition. The fifth chapter analyses the images and symbolism of the ocean in both texts. Chapter Six is a conclusion which compares and contrasts the writers’ ideas of culture, self-recognition and nature.
The two stories share many similarities but also many differences. How the writers view their own culture and the purpose of their writing is also different.
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