AustLit

'This book examines life history writing by Australian Aboriginal women in the context of Dreaming and ongoing negotiations about one's status and claims to country. It argues that the (auto)biographical narrative is the binding connection between people, Dreaming and Country. It used a methodological combination of literary analysis, history and anthropology to draw out the distinctive cultural heritages held in palimpsest within texts. Indigenous perspectives are preferred. A central theme of the text is the central place of the autobiographical narrative in Indigenous learning systems. It explores the epistemological, theological/​philosophical bases of Indigenous ontology, as well as the impacts of enforced child removal, policies of assimilation and the implications for Indigenous children at present. The book concludes by outlining the important role of Indigenous life-history as part of Australian historical discourse, where Alice Nannup and Ruby Langford Ginibi are both actors in and engaged with the production of discourses about the past.' (Source: TROVE)