Emblematic Spaces

Abstract

The use of the term ‘Australian Literature’ in reference to English language literature produced by Australian writers remains, arguably, problematic, not least in terms of its overwriting of a longer and more diverse cultural heritage of First Peoples. Since colonisation, many writers in Australia have contributed significantly to literature, offering regional perspectives on the harsh legacies of British occupation and demonstrating a strong geo-cultural diversity which includes ‘a vigorous renewal’ in Aboriginal culture (Heiss and Minter 2009 13). A selection of literary engagements with the assumptions of colonial occupation are addressed, here. Among the concerns shared by these works is a prevailing sense of anxiety leading to horror, linked with the broader cultural tradition of the Gothic. In some instances, this operates partly in terms of an uncanny confrontation between human and non-human elements, within an overwhelming, indeed sublime, sense of the destructive power of invasive alienation, while, in others, the prevailing sense of threat is more tangibly realised in terms of identity or embodiment. The works referenced here include Elizabeth Jolley’s The Well (1986), Andrew McGahan’s The White Earth (2004), and Julia Leigh The Hunter (1999). The discussion concludes with a reflection on the perspectival shifts offered by Kim Scott ( Benang 1999) and Alexis Wright ( Carpentaria 2006) which foreground the critique of a unified Australian national identity as a shaping literary force.