A Poetics of De-colonial Resistance: A Study in Selected Poems by Evelyn Araluen Cor

Abstract

First Nations peoples in Australia, as in many other colonized countries, were forced to acquired English soon after the arrival of the colonists in their country during the second half of the 18th century. In response to their land dispossession, Indigenous Australian poets adopted and adapted the language and literary forms of colonists to write a politicized literature that tackles fundamental subjects such as land rights, civil, and human rights, to name but a few. Their literary response can be traced back to the early 1800s, and it had continued through the 20th century. One example is the poem “The Stolen Generation” (1985) by Justin Leiber, which has since been considered a motto for the struggle of Aboriginal peoples against obligatory removal of children from Aboriginal families.This paper aims at examining 21th century politicized literary response of Aboriginal poets. It sheds lights on the poetry of Evelyn Araluen as a telling paradigm of decolonial poetics, demonstrating her role in the political struggle of her peoples. Analysing representative poems by the poet, including “decolonial poetics (avant gubba)” and “Runner-up: Learning Bundjalung on Tharawal,” the paper examines the interdisciplinary nature of her poetry, and demonstrates how the poet transgresses the boundaries between poetry and politics, so as to be utilized as an effective tool of political resistance.