A state of transition. Shipboard diaries as narratives of transformation

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject History - Australia, Oceania, grade: 1,3 (A), Victoria University of Wellington (Department of History), course: New Zealand Social History, language: English, abstract: New Zealand today is a settler society. Until far into the 20th century all immigrants had to travel to their new home by ship. Until steamers were used, a journey would take more than three months. Immigration was often irreversible, a step that determined the rest the rest of the migrants' lives. The settlers left their home, went on a journey and sail to a place they had only heard of from an immigration agent, who would praise the destination as a promised land. The immigration entailed many steps and bore the weight of many expectations. This essay asks what is told through migrants' diaries which they kept aboard their ships. To what extent did the migrants perceive the farewell, the journey and the arrival as a transformation?