Bücher der Reihe Studies in Asia-Pacific "Mixed Race"

By the mid-twentieth century the various Australian states began changing their approaches to Aboriginal peoples from one of exclusion to assimilation. These policy changes meant that Aboriginal people, particularly those identified as being of mixed heritage, were to be encouraged to become part of the dominant non-Aboriginal community ¿ the Australian nation. This book explores this significant policy change from a cultural perspective, considering the ways in which assimilation was imagined in literary fiction of the 1950s and 1960s. Drawing on novels from a range of genres ¿ the Gothic, historical romance, the western and family melodrama ¿ it analyses how these texts tell their assimilation stories. Taking insights from critical whiteness studies the author highlights both the pleasures and anxieties that the idea of Aboriginal assimilation raised in the non-Aboriginal community. There are elements of these assimilation stories ¿ maternal love, stolen children, violence and land ownership ¿ that still have an impact in the unsettled present of many post-colonial nations. By exploring the history of assimilation the author suggests ideas for a different future.

What does an Australian look like? Many Australians assume that there is such a thing as an ¿ethnic¿ face, and that it indicates recent arrival or refugee status. This volume contains nine life narratives by Australians who reflect on the experience of being categorised on the basis of their facial appearance. The problem of who is ¿us¿ and who is ¿them¿ is at the heart of some of the most important challenges facing the contemporary world. Assuming that facial appearance and identity are inextricably linked makes this challenge even harder. The introduction by the editor provides the theoretical framework to these narratives. It discusses the relevance to notions of belonging and identity of the term ¿mixed race¿, and concludes that we are all mixed race, whether we look white, black or ¿ethnic¿.