Дисертації з теми "Aboriginal Australian_History and criticism"

A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy - Flinders University of South Australia, Faculty of Education Humanities, Law and Theology, June 2003.
Title from electronic thesis (viewed 27/7/10)

The aim of this thesis is to arrive at a characterisation of twentieth century poetry and science by means of a detailed study of the work of four poets who engaged extensively with science and whose writing lives spanned the greater part of the period. The study of science in the work of the four chosen poets, Hugh MacDiarmid (1892 – 1978), Judith Wright (1915 – 2000), Edwin Morgan (1920 – 2010), and Miroslav Holub (1923 – 1998), is preceded by a literature survey and an initial theoretical chapter. This initial part of the thesis outlines the interdisciplinary history of the academic subject of poetry and science, addressing, amongst other things, the challenges presented by the episodes known as the ‘two cultures' and the ‘science wars'. Seeking to offer a perspective on poetry and science more aligned to scientific materialism than is typical in the interdiscipline, a systemic challenge to Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962) is put forward in the first chapter. Additionally, the founding work of poetry and science, I. A. Richards's Science and Poetry (1926), is assessed both in the context in which it was written, and from a contemporary viewpoint; and, as one way to understand science in poetry, a theory of the creative misreading of science is developed, loosely based on Harold Bloom's The Anxiety of Influence (1973). The detailed study of science in poetry commences in Chapter II with Hugh MacDiarmid's late work in English, dating from his period on the Shetland Island of Whalsay (1933 – 1941). The thesis in this chapter is that this work can be seen as a radical integration of poetry and science; this concept is considered in a variety of ways including through a computational model, originally suggested by Robert Crawford. The Australian poet Judith Wright, the subject of Chapter III, is less well known to poetry and science, but a detailed engagement with physics can be identified, including her use of four-dimensional imagery, which has considerable support from background evidence. Biology in her poetry is also studied in the light of recent work by John Holmes. In Chapter IV, science in the poetry of Edwin Morgan is discussed in terms of its origin and development, from the perspective of the mythologised science in his science fiction poetry, and from the ‘hard' technological perspective of his computer poems. Morgan's work is cast in relief by readings which are against the grain of some but not all of his published comments. The thesis rounds on its theme of materialism with the fifth and final chapter which studies the work of Miroslav Holub, a poet and practising scientist in communist-era Prague. Holub's work, it is argued, represents a rare and important literary expression of scientific materialism. The focus on materialism in the thesis is not mechanistic, nor exclusive of the domain of the imagination; instead it frames the contrast between the original science and the transformed poetic version. The thesis is drawn together in a short conclusion.

Essa dissertação tem como objetivo analisar as autobiografias de Maria Campbell, Halfbreed, e Sally Morgan, My Place, levando em consideração aspectos de cunho histórico, político, étnico e social do Canadá e da Austrália. Além disso, a dissertação aborda a busca das escritoras por suas identidades indígena canadense e aborígine australiana, respectivamente. Para investigação do tema escolhido realizo um estudo sobre autobiografia destacando seu contexto histórico, sua relação com o sujeito autobiográfico com base em questões de gênero e etnia. Para análise das questões de gênero uso a teoria e crítica feminista, enquanto que as questões étnicas busco fundamentar na teoria e crítica pós-colonial. Para o estudo da obra de Maria Campbell entrelaço questões de cunho autobiográfico, fatores históricos canadenses e a questão da mulher indígena no Canadá. A análise de Halfbreed também busca tratar do sujeito feminino de origem métis em busca de sua identidade, igualdade e dignidade. Quanto à My Place, o processo de análise também envolveu um estudo de autobiografia a partir de uma perspectiva aborígine feminina australiana, o que trouxe à tona questões identitárias do sujeito feminino pós-colonial e questões históricas referentes à Austrália. A análise de My Place enfatiza a busca de Sally Morgan por sua identidade e pelo passado de sua família, marcado por lembranças, estórias, dor, perda e esperança.
This dissertation aims at analyzing the autobiographies by Maria Campbell, Halfbreed, and Sally Morgan, My Place taking into consideration historical, political, ethnic and social aspects of Canada and Australia. Besides, this dissertation refers to the writers search for their Indigenous Canadian and Aboriginal Australian identities, respectively. To investigate the chosen theme, I approach the autobiographical genre emphasizing its historical context, its relationship to the autobiographical subject based on gender and ethnic issues. Concerning the analysis of gender issues it was necessary to refer to Feminist theories and criticism, whereas discussions regarding ethnic issues were based on Post-Colonial theory and criticism. In the analysis of Maria Campbells work I discuss issues related to autobiography, Canadian history and to Indigenous Canadian women. Halfbreeds analysis also considers the condition of the female Métis Canadian subject in search of identity, equality and dignity. As far as My Place is concerned, the analysis was a process which involved a study of the autobiographical genre from a female Aboriginal Australian perspective. The analysis raises questions related to the identity of the postcolonial subject and Australias historical context. My Places analysis also emphasizes Morgans search for identity and for her familys past, which is marked by memories, stories, pain, loss and hope.

In this study I investigate the spectrum of authoring, publishing and everyday reading of three texts - My Place (Morgan 1987), Jandamarra and the Bunuba Resistance (Pedersen and Woorunmurra 1995) and Carpentaria (Wright 2006). I have addressed this study within the field of production and consumption, utilising amongst others the work of Edward Said (1978, 1983) and Stanley Fish (1980). I locate this work within the holism of Kombu-merri philosopher, Mary Graham's 'Aboriginal Inquiry' (2008), which promotes self-reflexivity and a concern for others as central tenets of such inquiry. I also locate this work within a postcolonial framework and in recognition of the dynamic nature of that phenomenon I use Aileen MoretonRobinson's (2003) adoption of the active verb, "postcolonising"(38). In apprehending selected texts through the people who make them and who make meaning from them - authors, publishers and everyday readers, I interviewed members of each cohort within a framework that recognises the exercise of agency in their respective practices as well as the socio-historical contexts to such textual practices. Although my research design can be applied to other critical arrangements of texts, my interest here lies principally in texts that incorporate the subjects of Indigenous worldview and Indigenous experience; and in texts that are Indigenous authored or Indigenous co-authored.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in English in the Division of Humanities, Dept. of English, 2006.
Thesis (MA)--Macquarie University (Division of Humanities, Department of English), 2006.
Bibliography: p. 199-210.
Introduction -- Defiance and servility in Andrew Bovell's Holy day -- Writing a reconciled nation: Katherine Thomson's Wonderlands -- Transformation of trauma: Tammy Anderson's I don't wanna play house -- The rage inside the pain: Richard J. Frankland's Conversations with the dead -- Conclusion: towards an understanding of witness to the trauma of invasion.
In an Australia shaped by neo-conservative government and by searing contention, national and global, over what the past is, how it should be allowed to affect the present and who are authentic bearers of witness, this thesis compares testimony to Australia's black/white relations in two plays by white writers, Andrew Bovell's 'Holy day' (2001) and Katherne Thomson's 'Wonderlands' (2003), and two black writers, Tammy Anderson's 'I don't wanna play house' (2001) and Richard J. Frankland's 'Conversations witht the dead' (2002).
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
210 p. ill. 30 cm

The portrayal of identity in contemporary Aboriginal writing is as varied and multifaceted as the notion of ' Aboriginality' itself. This thesis explores some of the issues and aspects of identity arising from Indigenous literature, particularly focusing on four recent texts that each, at times loosely, falls into the category of fiction. Postcolonial theory is considered in relation to the aims of Aboriginal writing, especially as to how such theory may, or may not, contribute to the project of decolonisation.

In the final two decades of the twentieth century Australian society was preoccupied with its own history. So ubiquitous was this interest, that bookshops were crammed with popular histories and historical fictions, TV networks aired historical re-enactments and devoted whole series to its exploration and re-creation. In part, this increased awareness of history was stimulated by the 200-year anniversary of white settlement simultaneously celebrated by many non-Indigenous Australians and condemned by Indigenous protestors. Throughout the 1990s the debate over historical fact and its place within society- or the 'history wars' - took centre stage moving beyond academic circles and into political and public discourse. At the heart of this debate was what Bain Attwood called the 'new history', which incorporated the hitherto absent perspectives of Indigenous Australians. This new version of history examined discrepancies between dominant settler accounts of historical events and those provided by Indigenous people, often in the form of oral testimony. A more vocal Indigenous population also forced these new perspectives on Australian history into being, as increased calls for land rights recognition and social justice became prominent. The debate was so prominent that it permeated many areas of Australian society, the visual arts provides one such example. This thesis is concerned with how the popularisation of history was contended in the visual arts. I argue that Australian artists have used appropriation as an effective means of engaging in a discourse on colonialism; of communicating with the past, and of ensuring that that past remained a highly visible concern of the present Through its reliance on existing images, appropriation enables artists to condense the space between the quoted image and their new work. It therefore demands that the quoted image be seen as a concern of the present. This strategy was implemented by a significant number of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian practitioners during the last two decades of the twentieth century. Moreover, it provides an important point of intersection between the artistic practice of Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists. Rather than seeking to document the history of appropriation in Australia, this thesis is concerned with highlighting how appropriation has become the basis of a critical commentary on historical narratives of colonialism.

Representations of Dutch contacts with coastal inhabitants of Africa, 1475-1652. Prior to 1996, South African Dutch studies had largely been determined by traditional rigid historical and geographic boundaries set in 1933. The framework exclusively focused on the period after the arrival of Van Riebeeck in 1652 to 1925 (when Afrikaans replaced Dutch as an official language) and on topics regarded as typically South African. Siegfried Huigen in 'De Weg naar Monomotapa' (1996) not only questioned these limitations but introduced a revised time frame including the period “about 1596 to 1652”. The revised framework has provided an opportunity to study texts prior to 1652 including both the earliest recorded Dutch contacts with the coastal inhabitants of Africa as well as the significant 1595 record of the initial Dutch cross-cultural encounters on the coast of Southern Africa. Where the role of the Dutch East India Company after 1602 had previously been considered foremost, the maritime forces of the Dutch States General and independent Dutch traders before 1602 and the activities of the Dutch West Indies Company after 1621 on the entire African coast had attracted little attention. Contact between the Dutch and coastal inhabitants of Africa and the textual representations of such contacts had contributed to a more extensive Dutch frame of reference than had previously been presumed. Previous assumptions attributing the nature of representations to the frequency and length of contacts had somehow not accounted for similar factors not influencing representations of coastal inhabitants elsewhere in Africa nor had the actual extent of the Dutch frame of reference been fully considered. Since the initial 1595 textual representation of Willem Lodewycksz describing the contact between the Dutch and Khoikhoi in Mossel Bay, the texts have had a profound influence on the South African discourse. Comparative studies of the initial representations and early 20th century compilations of the primary texts indicate that the elucidation prevalent in the more recent works has been the source of questionable interpretations and conclusions that have erroneously been attributed to the late sixteenth century seafaring scribes.
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

Ma thèse de doctorat, intitulée Inventing Interventions: Strategies of Reappropriation in Native and First Nations Literatures traite du sujet de la réappropriation de la langue anglaise et de la langue française dans les littératures autochtones du Canada et des États-Unis, en tant que stratégie d’intervention de re-narration et de récupération. De fait, mon projet fait abstraction, autant que possible, des frontières nationales et linguistiques, vu que celles-ci sont essentiellement des constructions culturelles et coloniales. Ainsi, l’acte de réappropriation de la langue coloniale implique non seulement la maîtrise de base de cette dernière à des fins de communication, cela devient un moyen envers une fin : au lieu d’être possédés par la langue, les auteurs sur lesquels je me penche ici possèdent à présent cette dernière, et n’y sont plus soumis. Les tensions qui résultent d’un tel processus sont le produit d’une transition violente imposée et expérimentale d’une réalité culturelle à une autre, qui, pour plusieurs, n’a pas réussie et s’est, au contraire, effritée sur elle-même. Je soutiens donc que les auteurs autochtones ont créé un moyen à travers l’expression artistique et politique de répondre (dans le sens de « write back ») à l’oppression et l’injustice. À travers l’analyse d’oeuvres contemporaines écrites en anglais ou en français, que ce soit de la fiction, de l’autobiographie, de la poésie, du théâtre, de l’histoire ou du politique, ma recherche se structure autour de quatre concepts spécifiques : la langue, la résistance, la mémoire, et le lieu. J’examine comment ces concepts sont mis en voix, et comment ils sont interdépendants et s’affectent à l’intérieur du discours particulier issu des littératures autochtones et des différentes stratégies d’intervention (telles la redéfinition ou l’invention) et du mélange de différentes formules littéraires.
My doctoral thesis, entitled Inventing Interventions: Strategies of Reappropriation in Native and First Nations Literatures, explores the reappropriation of the English and French languages, as a strategy for retelling and reclaiming hi/stories of the Aboriginal people of Canada and the United States. In effect, my project disregards national and linguistic borders since these are, in essence, cultural and colonial constructs. To reappropriate the colonial language, then, entails not only its mastery as a means for basic communication, but claims it as a means to an end: instead of being owned by and subject to the language, it is now these authors who own the language. The resulting tensions of this process are the product of the imposed and tentative violent transition from one cultural realm to another, which, for many, never succeeded to its fullest, but rather crumbled back upon itself: for First Nations and Native American authors, I argue, creating means through art and politics to “write back” against oppression and injustice. My thesis, an examination of contemporary fictional, autobiographical, historical and political, prosaic and poetic works written in French and English, is structured along the analysis of specific keywords – language, resistance, memory and place. I explore how these concepts are voiced, and how they are not only inter-related but affect each other within the particular discursive framework of Indigenous writing, set in motion by different strategies of intervention (redefinition, invention) and the mixing of different literary devices.