Journal article

The politics of indigeneity, identity and representation in literature from north Australia's Gulf Country

Richard Martin, Philip Mead, David Trigger

SOCIAL IDENTITIES | ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD | Published : 2014

Abstract

The Aboriginal author Alexis Wright’s novels Plains of Promise, Carpentaria and The Swan Book have prompted scholars and critics towards enthusiastic comparisons with the ground-breaking work of a range of international writers. With her novels all set partly in the remote Gulf Country of north Australia, Wright’s work arises from intellectual and political commitment to Indigenous people, and aspires to the idea of a distinctive ‘Aboriginal sovereignty of the mind’. Much less known yet, we argue, of complementary significance, are a broader suite of writings about this region, and we address representations of cultural identity and connections to place by authors with both Aboriginal and Eu..

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Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council Discovery


Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project Number 120100662. The University of Queensland and The University of Western Australia also provided funding to assist with fieldwork expenses in 2013.