Contemporary Writing/ Indigenous
Book Details

Blacklines

Contemporary Critical Writing by Indigenous Australians

Coordinating editor Michele Grossman

This is a ground-breaking volume--the first collection of critical writing by Indigenous Australian intellectuals addressing contemporary cultural issues.

Opinion

'This book demonstrates the value of good, thoughtful criticism by indigenous scholars. Mercifully, it is relatively free of jargon and daunting terminology. It needs careful reading, but that reading is amply rewarded.' (Australian Book Review, October 2003)

'The collection does suggest that Australian indigenous intellectualism was alive and well during the final decade of the twentieth century, but it also reminds us just how muted these voices have become in Australian public debate during the opening years of the twenty-first.' (Times Literary Supplement, 10/10/2003)

About this Title

'This is a ground-breaking volume. It brings together for the first time a range of Australia's leading Indigenous intellectuals in a book that sets up a dialogue dealing with issues of identity, history and representation, issues at the heart of the image of the nation. In Australia's history of national growth, its Indigenous peoples have always played a role at the defining moments. However whitefella narratives have tried to erase that role. This book works to restore that Indigenous agency.'

Stephen Muecke, University of Technology, Sydney

Written by established and emerging Indigenous intellectuals from a variety of positions, perspectives and places, these essays generate new ways of seeing and understanding Indigenous Australian history, culture, identity and knowledge in both national and global contexts. From museums to Mabo, anthropology to art, feminism to film, land rights to literature, the essays collected here offer provocative insights and compelling arguments around the historical and contemporary issues confronting Indigenous Australians today.

About the Author

Contributors:
Ian Anderson * Fabienne Bayet-Charlton * Jeanie Bell * Tony Birch * Mick Dodson * Jackie Huggins * Sonja Kurtzer * Marcia Langton * Aileen Moreton-Robinson * Philip Morrissey * Martin Nakata * Margo Neale * Lin Onus * Hetti Perkins

978-0-522-85069-7