Abstract
[Truncated] The instability of colonial economies, identities and discourses is the subject of analysis in this thesis. I take as my starting point the anxieties that were generated during the late nineteenth century in relation to what I nominate the fictitiousness of settler subjects in colonial Australia. In order to examine these historical concerns and their cultural representations, I consider in detail a selection of popular settler fictions that feature the trope of the Australian Girl, and which also engage in varying degrees with the discursive economies of colonial ethnography.
I am interested in popular settler fictions because the wide reach of these texts meant that they were an effective means by which the often contradictory subject positions that were necessary for the achievement of a hegemonic colonial order in Australia could be represented to settler audiences. Further, they could also explain and authorise the epistemic and material violence that was directed against colonised Aborigines. However, I argue that these operations did not achieve complete success.
I am interested in popular settler fictions because the wide reach of these texts meant that they were an effective means by which the often contradictory subject positions that were necessary for the achievement of a hegemonic colonial order in Australia could be represented to settler audiences. Further, they could also explain and authorise the epistemic and material violence that was directed against colonised Aborigines. However, I argue that these operations did not achieve complete success.
| Original language | English |
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| Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Awarding Institution |
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| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Unpublished - 1999 |
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- Dalziell_Tanya_Marie_1999
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