‘Warring factions and community disputes’: Aboriginal Politics in Carpentaria
Alexis Wright’s Carpentaria is a political novel in the sense that it addresses Aboriginal dispossession in the Gulf region. It describes quite graphically the violence the white colonists used to establish control over the land and its indigenous inhabitants, and which was facilitated by conflicts...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Miranda: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/44684 |
| _version_ | 1818539797701984256 |
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| author | Xavier Pons |
| author_facet | Xavier Pons |
| author_sort | Xavier Pons |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Alexis Wright’s Carpentaria is a political novel in the sense that it addresses Aboriginal dispossession in the Gulf region. It describes quite graphically the violence the white colonists used to establish control over the land and its indigenous inhabitants, and which was facilitated by conflicts within communities. At the same time, it suggests strategies of resistance in order to assert Aboriginal sovereignty. This sovereignty is embodied by the mytho-poetic stories of creation which are at the core of Aboriginal culture and assert its legitimacy. More than any other strategy, it is narration which underpins the political struggles of indigenous Australians. One aspect of narration in Carpentaria serves to present in realistic terms an Australia which will be quite familiar to the white reader. But this Australia is subverted and defamiliarised by Wright’s use of satire and caricature which emphasises how tenuous the whites’ authority really is. Finally, the recourse to magical realist narration proclaims the continuing sovereignty of indigenous people over country. It is in her own culture, rather than in white beliefs and practices, that Wright finds the political weapons to challenge the colonists’ designs on indigenous sovereignty. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T21:46:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-69bbf0493011454e92322bafc42528dd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2108-6559 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T21:46:51Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Miranda: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone |
| spelling | doaj.art-69bbf0493011454e92322bafc42528dd2022-12-22T00:49:35ZengUniversité Toulouse - Jean JaurèsMiranda: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone2108-65592022-04-012510.4000/miranda.44684‘Warring factions and community disputes’: Aboriginal Politics in CarpentariaXavier PonsAlexis Wright’s Carpentaria is a political novel in the sense that it addresses Aboriginal dispossession in the Gulf region. It describes quite graphically the violence the white colonists used to establish control over the land and its indigenous inhabitants, and which was facilitated by conflicts within communities. At the same time, it suggests strategies of resistance in order to assert Aboriginal sovereignty. This sovereignty is embodied by the mytho-poetic stories of creation which are at the core of Aboriginal culture and assert its legitimacy. More than any other strategy, it is narration which underpins the political struggles of indigenous Australians. One aspect of narration in Carpentaria serves to present in realistic terms an Australia which will be quite familiar to the white reader. But this Australia is subverted and defamiliarised by Wright’s use of satire and caricature which emphasises how tenuous the whites’ authority really is. Finally, the recourse to magical realist narration proclaims the continuing sovereignty of indigenous people over country. It is in her own culture, rather than in white beliefs and practices, that Wright finds the political weapons to challenge the colonists’ designs on indigenous sovereignty.http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/44684colonisationracismviolencenarrationsovereigntyrealism |
| spellingShingle | Xavier Pons ‘Warring factions and community disputes’: Aboriginal Politics in Carpentaria Miranda: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone colonisation racism violence narration sovereignty realism |
| title | ‘Warring factions and community disputes’: Aboriginal Politics in Carpentaria |
| title_full | ‘Warring factions and community disputes’: Aboriginal Politics in Carpentaria |
| title_fullStr | ‘Warring factions and community disputes’: Aboriginal Politics in Carpentaria |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘Warring factions and community disputes’: Aboriginal Politics in Carpentaria |
| title_short | ‘Warring factions and community disputes’: Aboriginal Politics in Carpentaria |
| title_sort | warring factions and community disputes aboriginal politics in carpentaria |
| topic | colonisation racism violence narration sovereignty realism |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/44684 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT xavierpons warringfactionsandcommunitydisputesaboriginalpoliticsincarpentaria |