ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses various forms of canonical counter-discourse in post-colonial theatre and outlines the ways in which performance itself can be counter-discursive. In New Zealand, canonical counter-discourse seems to take yet another form: examining the icon of Katherine Mansfield. Put simply, canonical counter-discourse destabilises the power/ knowledge axis of imperialism. Canonical counter-discourse is one method by which colonised cultures can refuse the seamless contiguity between a classical past and a postcolonial present that the empire strives to preserve. The canonical form and usage of the masque is further subverted by the Ogunian requirement of a sacrifice: the tyrannical ruler must die to restore the critical balance. A more pointed violation of canonical authority occurs in the Apotheosis scene of Derek Walcott's Dream on Monkey Mountain where William Shakespeare, along with other chief promulgators of white western culture, is tried and hanged for crimes against humanity.
