Writing resistance: Understanding the power of Indigenous story-telling through literature

In this unit you will explore and examine the critical importance of literature in developing an understanding of Indigenous story-telling and Indigeneity across the world. You will gain an appreciation of the ways in which Indigenous literatures tell the stories of Indigenous peoples in their own voices and on their own terms, instead of being represented by mainstream assumptions. You will learn how Indigenous literatures negotiate issues of aesthetics and ethics, authenticity and identity, voice and representation, individual authorship and community accountability. Studying a diverse range of prose (fiction and non-fiction) and poetry from across the world, including from Australia, Canada, India and the US, you will learn how to understand these powerful narrative traditions in a comparative framework. You will build upon critical analytical skills in literary studies that will help in evaluating how Indigenous sovereignty is determined through story-telling in the face of hegemonic discursive and representational practices.