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AustLit

Indigenous Literacies (AEK3102)
Semester 1 / 2015

Texts

Course reader
y separately published work icon Don't Take Your Love to Town Ruby Langford Ginibi , Ringwood : Penguin , 1988 Z496435 1988 single work autobiography (taught in 10 units)

'Don’t Take Your Love to Town is a story of courage in the face of poverty and tragedy. Ruby recounts losing her mother when she was six, growing up in a mission in northern New South Wales and leaving home when she was fifteen. She lived in tin huts and tents in the bush and picked up work on the land while raising nine children virtually single-handedly. Later she struggled to make ends meet in the Koori areas of Sydney. Ruby is an amazing woman whose sense of humour has endured through all the hardships she has experienced.' (Source UQP website: www.uqp.uq.edu.au)

Description

This unit of study will explore the historical and contemporary contributions of Indigenous writers in Australia. Through examining the historical and contemporary forces placed upon Indigenous writers, students will appreciate how Colonialism and Resistance shape the context of Indigenous works of literature. This Unit aims to introduce the student to the following aims and concepts:

  • an introduction to Australian Indigenous literature and writers
  • an overview of historic and contemporary issues in Australian Indigenous literature.
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