“I have to work right through this white way of thinking” – the Deconstruction of Discourses of Whiteness in Kim Scott’s Benang

Abstract

The paper looks at some of the narrative strategies used by Aboriginal novelist Kim Scott in Benang, grounded in the point of view and the concerns of his indigenous protagonists, who are struggling to recapture their Aboriginal identity in spite of white attempts to erase it. These strategies range from hyperrealism to allegory and the latter is the paper’s main focus. His use of allegory – in respect of the colour white, of trees, mirrors, smells, etc. - allows Scott to deconstruct white discourses and expose their hypocrisy while constructing a chain of symbols that give strength and substance to Aboriginality.