Indigenous Australia in Literature: Listenin' Up
Indigenality and Indigenous issues in Australia have been constructed and represented through different literary genres and for different political purposes. This course uses both Indigenous and non-Indigenous texts to examine the ways in which "Indigenality" and "whiteness" have been perpetuated and included in mainstream Australian culture using both fictional and non-fictional texts.
Course Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Describe how representations of identity are constructed and used in literature.
2. Discuss issues related to "race" relations today.
3. Critically evaluate the construction of "whiteness" in Indigenous and non-Indigenous representations.
4. Identify responses to change and difference.
5. Respond to and engage in local, national and global cultural communities.
6. Communicate a scholarly attitude towards representation of Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledges.
Course Content:
The course covers:
* Different cultural and political uses of literary texts
* Representations of colonisation and post-colonial discourses
* Theoretical and practical examples of Indigenous knowledges, pedagogies and communication tools
* Exploration of Indigenous and non-Indigenous constructions of Australian identity
Essay worth 20%
8 Journal entries, Journal worth 40%
Research project worth 40%
