Unfolding Indigenous-Settler Relations in Contemporary Australian Fiction

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K02569
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Ritsumeikan University
• Principal Investigator: Sato Wataru 立命館大学, 法学部, 教授 (30411143)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: オーストラリア文学 / アボリジナル / 植民地主義 / 歴史とフィクション / 和解の文学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The present study proved that contemporary Australian fiction that dealt with interracial relations between white Australians and Indigenous Australians has foregrounded competing historical conceptions. The works of white Australian writers tend to incorporate their sense of guilt toward Indigenous people and highlight the rivalry between history and fiction. On the other hand, in recent years, Indigenous writers have been depicting multi-faceted interracial relations rather than simply depicting a linear power relation between the colonizer and the colonized. There is even a writer who imagines a post-racial society against a backdrop of the climate change crisis. These works of fiction by Indigenous Australian writers will enrich the way the past is imagined and contribute to furthering future-oriented discussion on interracial relations in Australian society.

Free Research Field

オーストラリア文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、ヨーロッパ系オーストラリア人とオーストラリア先住民の人種間関係を双方の文学作品から解明しようと試みている点に独自性がある。また、文学作品を対象とすることにより、歴史学や社会学的なアプローチでは見えにくかった心理的要因に光をあてることが可能となった。さらに、歴史とフィクションのあいだに緊張関係が生じる背景を考察することにより、分野を横断した建設的な議論の可能性を示唆している。