ATS2551 Writing resistance: Understanding the power of Indigenous story-telling through literature

The unit will explore and examine the critical importance of Literature in developing an understanding of Indigenous story-telling and Indigeneity across the world. Students 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 narratives. You will learn how Indigenous literatures negotiate issues of aesthetics and ethics, authenticity and identity, voice and representation, individual authorship and community narrative. 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 literatures in a comparative framework. You will build upon critical analytical skills in literary studies that will help in understanding how Indigenous sovereignty is determined through Literature in the face of hegemonic discursive and representational practices.