ENGL3045Indigenous Australia in Literature: Listenin' Up

Course handbook

Description

This course centres stories written, told and shared by Aboriginal Australians for the benefit of all readers. Through "listening"/reading to these stories that come from Country, the course employs Marcia Langton's notion of "intersubjectivity" so that students, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, can engage with Aboriginal ways of knowing through stories that share public knowledge about this land. This course uses both Indigenous and non-Indigenous texts to examine the ways in which "Aboriginality" and "whiteness" interact in fictional and non-fictional texts.

Availability2017 Course Timetables

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of the course students will be able to:

1. Describe how representations of identity are constructed and used in literature.

2. Discuss issues related to "race" relations today.

3. Critically evaluate the construction of "whiteness" in Indigenous and non-Indigenous representations.

4. Identify responses to change and difference.

5. Respond to and engage in local, national and global cultural communities.

6. Communicate a scholarly attitude towards representation of Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledges.

Content

The course covers:

• Different cultural and political uses of literary texts
• Representations of colonisation and post-colonial discourses
• Theoretical and practical examples of Indigenous knowledges, pedagogies and communication tools
• Exploration of Indigenous and non-Indigenous constructions of Australian identity
• Engaging with Aboriginal knowledge about Country in the form of stories and literature

Assessment items

Essay: Essay *

Journal: Journal entries *

Essay: Final essay *

* This assessment has a compulsory requirement.

Compulsory Requirements

In order to pass this course, each student must complete ALL of the following compulsory requirements:

General Course Requirements:

• Seminar: Attendance Requirement - Students must attend a minimum number of these sessions. - Due to the practical nature of this course students are expected to attend a minimum of 80% of classes.

Course Assessment Requirements:

• Essay: Attempt / Submission Requirement - Students must attempt/submit this assessment item to pass the course.
• Journal: Attempt / Submission Requirement - Students must attempt/submit this assessment item to pass the course.
• Essay: Attempt / Submission Requirement - Students must attempt/submit this assessment item to pass the course.

Contact hours

Callaghan and Ourimbah