Pedagogic possibilities of diasporic texts in a contemporary literature classroom: a postcolonial analysis

Abstract

Over recent decades, the demography of Australian classrooms has changed considerably. This is evident in the increased mobility, cultural diversity and transnational connectivity that students live and experience. However, the literature curriculum continues to maintain a focus on the English canon. It tends to ignore the diverse knowledges and literatures within the students’ cultural repertoire. This project, therefore, seeks to respond to this anomaly by examining the ways in which a text produced by an Australian-Asian diasporic writer has the potential to contribute to the development in students of ‘transnational literacy’ (Spivak, 1992). It investigates how diasporic texts might help..