While postcolonial theory enjoys sustained popularity in literary studies, several Indigenous scholars remain skeptical of this framework. Yet proposed alternative approaches such as Kaupapa Māori are also linked to some difficulties, especially for Western scholars looking at Indigenous literary output. As this article demonstrates, it is important to acknowledge drawbacks on both sides, although doing so does not mean that either framework should be neglected. Instead, I argue that both provide valuable lenses and that their tensions generate possibilities of cross-fertilization. By applying Indigenous theories to and pitting them against postcolonial studies, a new critical perspective emerges that allows the reader/researcher to move beyond binary schemata while at the same time valuing the particularity of the respective Indigenous context. Drawing on the specific case of Aotearoa (New Zealand), this article contends that positioning oneself as a manuhiri (visitor) to Māori literature enables a foreign researcher to adopt an ethically sustainable, culturally viable, and credible position. The article thus opens up new possibilities for literary analysis in Indigenous contexts, particularly in relation to creative works from Aotearoa.
