Contesting the Culture Order: Contrastive Pragmatics in Action

Abstract

Contrastive pragmatics encourages a focus on variation in the ways that different groups enact their distinctive cultural values and norms. In New Zealand, Pākehā (European-based) ways of doing things are the norm, taken-for-granted and rarely questioned or even noted unless someone “breaks the rules”. For minority group members, however, including the indigenous Māori people, Pākehā norms are ever-present reminders of their non-dominant position. In the Māori workplace contexts that we have researched, awareness of these norms is particularly apparent and often attracts explicit comment. This paper explores the insights provided by comments from both Pākehā and Māori about workplace norms in New Zealand and the attitudes of some Māori employees to the hegemonic influence of Pākehā in workplace interaction, as well as providing some indications of seeds of change.