AustLit
Texts
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y
The White Earth
Crows Nest
:
Allen and Unwin
,
2004
Z1113518
2004
single work
novel
(taught in 14 units)
'His father dead by fire and his mother plagued by demons of her own, William is cast upon the charity of his unknown uncle - an embittered old man encamped in the ruins of a once great station homestead, Kuran House. It's a baffling and sinister new world for the boy, a place of decay and secret histories. His uncle is obsessed by a long life of decline and by a dark quest for revival, his mother is desperate for a wealth and security she has never known, and all their hopes it seems come to rest upon William's young shoulders. But as the past and present of Kuran Station unravel and merge together, the price of that inheritance may prove to be the downfall of them all. The White Earth is a haunting, disturbing and cautionary tale.' (publisher's website)
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y
True Country
Fremantle
:
Fremantle Press
,
1993
Z165486
1993
single work
novel
(taught in 30 units)
'Billy is drifting, looking for a place to land. A young school teacher, he arrives in Australia's remote far north in search of his own history, his Aboriginality, and his future. He finds himself in a region of abundance and beauty but also of conflict, dispossession and dislocation. On the desperate frontier between cultures, Billy must find his place of belonging.' (Source: Fremantle Press website)
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Jones, Lloyd. 2008. Mister Pip. New Zealand: Penguin
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Hau’ofa, Epeli. 1994. Tales of the Tikongs. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press
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Jaswal, Balli Kaur. 2013. Inheritance. Mebourne: Sleepers Publishing
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y
Blood
St Lucia
:
University of Queensland Press
,
2011
Z1821176
2011
single work
novel
(taught in 5 units)
'Jesse has sworn to protect his sister, Rachel, no matter what. It's a promise that cannot be broken. A promise made in blood. But, when it comes down to life or death, how can he find the courage to keep it? Set on the back roads of Australia, Blood is a boy's odyssey through a broken-down adult world.
'Many of us have known for a long time what a wonderful storyteller Tony Birch is. Blood confirms it - and how. The terrain is hard, unflinching but also imbued with a deeply resonant humanism. For at its heart there is Jesse, the young narrator whose voice is urgent and compelling, sweet and direct.' Christos Tsiolkas (Source: Publisher website)
Description
This course is an introduction to the literatures of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region, with a focus on indigenous, migrant and diasporic writing. In addition to major texts from Australia and New Zealand, we will also encounter a range of works from Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and the Pacific islands. Some questions we will tackle include: How have the cultural, historical, and economic processes of colonialism, diaspora and migration connected and shaped this diverse region? How have issues of race and indigeneity been central to various discourses of nationalism? What particular roles have Australia and New Zealand, as sub-imperial powers, played in the region? Finally, what can the latest generation of migrant writing in Australia show us about new forms of interconnections across the globalizing Asia-Pacific? Students in this course will examine novels, poetry, films and theoretical texts to develop critical thinking, reading and writing skills. Along the way, they will gain a solid grounding in the problematics of postcolonialism, race, diaspora, indigeneity, nationalism and multiculturalism.
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