A Post-Colonial Study On The "Hybridity" Of Indigenous Identity In Alexis Wright’s Carpentaria

Indigenous literature of Australia now has gained wide attention and recognition.One of the most recurrent themes is its cogent articulation of Indigenous identity.As a result of Australia’s history as a former British penal colony and its legacy to the contemporary era,Indigenous identity is characterized with “hybridity”,a term which has become a buzzword in post-colonial literary and cultural studies.Alexis Wright’s epic novel Carpentaria has achieved prominence,given that it was the first time that a novel by an Indigenous Australian had won Australia’s most prestigious literary prize-the Miles Franklin Award.This novel narrates several interconnected stories in the fictional town of Desperance in the region of Carpentaria which involves conflicts inside the Indigenous community,between the Indigenous and white communities,especially with the operation of an international mine company.Through Carpentaria,Alexis Wright addresses the contemporary Indigenous identity issues,discloses the actualities of the Indigenous and white communities and unfolds a scenario of a multicultural Australian society.Both the work of literature and the author herself epitomize the theme of “‘hybridity’ of Indigenous identity” and this “hybridity” differs from the stereotyped concept in that Wright highlights the interconnection and interdependence of the Indigenous and white communities rather than the binary opposition.Therefore,this thesis centers on this widely acclaimed literature work to study the “hybridity” of the contemporary Indigenous cultural identity from the post-colonial perspective,in which the backgrounds,the manifestations,the quandaries and multiple influence of such “hybridity” will be explored.This research is underpinned by the methodology which involves literature review and theoretical reading,textual analysis and qualitative research.The post-colonial perspective in this research includes two aspects.Firstly,it refers to the post-colonial period in a temporal sense within which the “hybridity” of Indigenous identity is examined.Secondly,as most of the previous researches have been carried out from the post-colonial perspective,this research will refer to the post-colonial theories and previous paradigms of interpretation as academic references.This thesis consists of six chapters.Chapter One gives a general introduction of the author Alexis Wright,the literature work Carpentaria,the academic and theoretical bases as well as the objectives and implications of this research.Chapter Two serves as a research basis with academic conceptualization of the key word “identity” and a background study on Indigenous history in Australia.The research kernel-“‘hybridity’ of Indigenous identity” is fully explored from the third chapter.Chapter Three and Four delve into the theme from the textual and authorial aspects respectively with detailed examination on the thematic and stylistic parts of the novel,following which in Chapter Five there is an analysis of multiple influence of “hybridity” of Indigenous identity.Chapter Six as a conclusion gives an overall review of the theme of both the novel and this research-“hybridity” of Indigenous identity,the novel Carpentaria and its significance as a representative of post-colonial Indigenous literature.