Unpunishable Crimes in Claire G. Coleman’s Futuristic Novel <i>Terra Nullius</i>
Aside from being part of a vibrant corpus of Indigenous futurism, Claire G. Coleman’s novel <i>Terra Nullius</i> (2017) can also be analysed as an eco-crime novel. Indigenous Australian authors of this genre (e.g., Philip McLaren, Steven McCarthy, Nicole Watson) often anchor the source o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Humanities |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/11/2/47 |
| _version_ | 1797446086471712768 |
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| author | Iva Polak |
| author_facet | Iva Polak |
| author_sort | Iva Polak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aside from being part of a vibrant corpus of Indigenous futurism, Claire G. Coleman’s novel <i>Terra Nullius</i> (2017) can also be analysed as an eco-crime novel. Indigenous Australian authors of this genre (e.g., Philip McLaren, Steven McCarthy, Nicole Watson) often anchor the source of criminal acts in the theft, loss and devastation of traditional lands, which provides their crime novels with a heightened awareness of environmental issues. The same applies to <i>Terra Nullius</i>. This is, however, a novel that successfully conceals its futuristic framework until halfway through. Equally, this successfully disrupts the usual postulates of crime fiction by shifting the reader’s attention from the usual “whodunnit” to the more elusive “whoizzit” mode of crime fiction. This, as the discussion reveals, means that the criminal acts in <i>Terra Nullius</i> are rendered unpunishable. This paradox, as it is argued, is strengthened by introducing the so-called “noir detective” (Timothy Morton) in the character of Father Grark, who cannot investigate that which constitutes the crime and the alibi shaping the world of Coleman’s futuristic novel. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T13:36:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9519f6a05ab042dbb1b46905f6597e51 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0787 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T13:36:11Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities |
| spelling | doaj.art-9519f6a05ab042dbb1b46905f6597e512023-11-30T21:12:33ZengMDPI AGHumanities2076-07872022-03-011124710.3390/h11020047Unpunishable Crimes in Claire G. Coleman’s Futuristic Novel <i>Terra Nullius</i>Iva Polak0Department of English, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, CroatiaAside from being part of a vibrant corpus of Indigenous futurism, Claire G. Coleman’s novel <i>Terra Nullius</i> (2017) can also be analysed as an eco-crime novel. Indigenous Australian authors of this genre (e.g., Philip McLaren, Steven McCarthy, Nicole Watson) often anchor the source of criminal acts in the theft, loss and devastation of traditional lands, which provides their crime novels with a heightened awareness of environmental issues. The same applies to <i>Terra Nullius</i>. This is, however, a novel that successfully conceals its futuristic framework until halfway through. Equally, this successfully disrupts the usual postulates of crime fiction by shifting the reader’s attention from the usual “whodunnit” to the more elusive “whoizzit” mode of crime fiction. This, as the discussion reveals, means that the criminal acts in <i>Terra Nullius</i> are rendered unpunishable. This paradox, as it is argued, is strengthened by introducing the so-called “noir detective” (Timothy Morton) in the character of Father Grark, who cannot investigate that which constitutes the crime and the alibi shaping the world of Coleman’s futuristic novel.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/11/2/47<i>Terra Nullius</i>Claire G. Colemaneco-crime fiction“whoizzit” modenoir detectiveIndigenous futurism |
| spellingShingle | Iva Polak Unpunishable Crimes in Claire G. Coleman’s Futuristic Novel <i>Terra Nullius</i> Humanities <i>Terra Nullius</i> Claire G. Coleman eco-crime fiction “whoizzit” mode noir detective Indigenous futurism |
| title | Unpunishable Crimes in Claire G. Coleman’s Futuristic Novel <i>Terra Nullius</i> |
| title_full | Unpunishable Crimes in Claire G. Coleman’s Futuristic Novel <i>Terra Nullius</i> |
| title_fullStr | Unpunishable Crimes in Claire G. Coleman’s Futuristic Novel <i>Terra Nullius</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unpunishable Crimes in Claire G. Coleman’s Futuristic Novel <i>Terra Nullius</i> |
| title_short | Unpunishable Crimes in Claire G. Coleman’s Futuristic Novel <i>Terra Nullius</i> |
| title_sort | unpunishable crimes in claire g coleman s futuristic novel i terra nullius i |
| topic | <i>Terra Nullius</i> Claire G. Coleman eco-crime fiction “whoizzit” mode noir detective Indigenous futurism |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/11/2/47 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ivapolak unpunishablecrimesinclairegcolemansfuturisticnoveliterranulliusi |