230269 Australia: Literature, Culture, History (S) (SoSe 2024)

In this seminar, we will explore the complex race and power relations between aboriginal peoples and British settlers from the early days of colonisation to the present day by studying colonial non-fiction and postcolonial fiction. Our historical survey will begin with a critical discussion of terms such ‘terra nullis’ and ‘down under’ and of selected historical documents, esp. the accounts of William Dampier’s and James Cook’s voyages in the Pacific in the 17th and 18th centuries. Turning to the core reading programme of this seminar, we will then analyse the postcolonial historical novel The Secret River (2005) by Kate Grenville and excerpts from Mudrooroo/ Colin Johnson’s Dr Wooreddy’s Prescription of Enduring the Ending of the World (1983), which depicts the British colonisation – or rather invasion – of Tasmania from an Aboriginal perspective. We will then move on to study constructions of 'wilderness' in Julia Leigh’s novel The Hunter (1999) and, if time allows, the film adaptation (dir. Daniel Nettheim, Australia 2011). Throughout the seminar we will engage in close readings and put to practice theoretical concepts, especially Gender Studies and Postcolonial Criticism.

Bibliography

Please purchase the following novels: Kate Grenville, The Secret River (2011) and Julia Leigh, The Hunter (1999). The other texts will be made available.