„These are the words of survival”: Contemporary Indigenous Australian Poetry
Oder: In the postcolonial field, poetry is rarely placed centre-stage, but it has long been a popular genre, especially among Indigenous Australian writers. Adam Shoemaker, for example, explains that poetry “clearly illustrates the wide spectrum of Black Australian attitudes to the practice of writing and to the social purpose and utility of literature” (Black Words, White Page 179). Kevin Gilbert and Anita Heiss, among others, comment likewise on the political function and unique poetics of Indigenous verse. Indigenous Australian poetry thus lends itself not only to study predominant topics in Indigenous literature but also to reassess the genre poetry, specifically within the context of postcolonial studies.
We will meet five times for this block seminar, beginning with an introduction to the broader context out of which Indigenous Australian poetry emerges. We will then focus on the work of three contemporary poets: Charmaine Papertalk-Green’s Just Like That (2007) tells of the impact environmental destruction has on Australia and Indigenous peoples; in Elizabeth Hodgson’s skin painting (2012) the speaker is confronted with memories of forced removal and violence; and Samuel Wagan Watson’s itenerant blues (2001, republished in smoke encrypted whispers, 2004) presents the city Brisbane through a Gothic lens. The final day will be used to prepare term papers (due by the end of May) and – if requested – discuss other examples of Indigenous Australian poetry.
- Lehrende/r: Lioba Gertrud Schreyer