A Postcolonial Psychoanalytic Study of Indigenous Futurism in Ambelin Kwaymullina’s The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf and Marianne De Pierres’ Nylon Angel

Abstract

This article aims to critically assess the projection of ‘Indigenous Futurism’ by examining the select Australian young adult novels using Jaques Lacan’s Anamorphosis from a postcolonial perspective. Ambelin Kwaymullina’s speculative fiction The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf (2012) projects a futuristic Australia where the tribal people are seeking independence from a colonial authority. Similarly, the plot of Marianne de Pierres’ Nylon Angel (2004) revolves around the issues of the marginalized people in Australia in a techno-dystopian world. The objective of this article is to critically examine these two speculative novels using Lacan’s anamorphosis concept to correlate how these authors have connected the contemporary issues in Australia and also how they have speculated the issues of the Aboriginal people in Australia in the future. Additionally, this article also aims to highlight how they have projected the ‘Indigenous Futurism’ from an Aboriginal man’s perspective using anamorphosis.