Journal of the association for the study of Australian literature, 2016
The geographical entities of Australia and Canada house multifarious localities, regions and nati... more The geographical entities of Australia and Canada house multifarious localities, regions and nations. Juxtaposing literary work emerging from them can open up invaluable new angles of critical inquiry at a moment when literary scholars in both countries seek insight into the relationship between national literatures and transnational forces. Upholding the value of comparing Australian and Canadian literatures is an urgent task at present given that interest in this juxtaposition seems to be diminishing.
After Oil explores the social, cultural and political changes needed to make possible a full-scal... more After Oil explores the social, cultural and political changes needed to make possible a full-scale transition from fossil fuels to new forms of energy. Written collectively by participants in the first After Oil School, After Oil explains why the adoption of renewable, ecologically sustainable energy sources is only the first step of energy transition. Energy plays a critical role in determining the shape, form and character of our daily existence, which is why a genuine shift in our energy usage demands a wholesale transformation of the petrocultures in which we live. After Oil provides readers with the resources to make this happen
In the final months of her life, the Beothuk woman Shanawdithit, or Nancy April as Newfoundland’s... more In the final months of her life, the Beothuk woman Shanawdithit, or Nancy April as Newfoundland’s white settlers designated her, made a number of drawings at the request of the amateur ethnologist and colonial adventurer William Epps Cormack. The surviving annotated drawings arguably remain some of the most extraordinary artifacts of the North American colonial era, and deserve far closer scrutiny than they have yet received. Shanawdithit and Cormack’s encounter, as recorded through their respective holographic inscriptions in these documents, was clearly full of awkwardness, misunderstanding, flashes of comprehension and unmitigated confusion. It is arguably actually in their very preservation of this that the original annotated drawings are most valuable.
Considers the creation of art intended to prompt conciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigeno... more Considers the creation of art intended to prompt conciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in British colonies in the early 19th century.
This paper considers existing and potential frames for juxtaposing Australian and Canadian writin... more This paper considers existing and potential frames for juxtaposing Australian and Canadian writing, in the context of new models for reading across cultures.
The supposed extinction of the Indigenous Beothuk people of Newfoundland in the early nineteenth ... more The supposed extinction of the Indigenous Beothuk people of Newfoundland in the early nineteenth century is a foundational moment in Canadian history. Increasingly under scrutiny, non-Indigenous perceptions of the Beothuk have had especially dire and far-reaching ramifications for contemporary Indigenous people in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Tracing Ochre reassesses popular beliefs about the Beothuk. Placing the group in global context, Fiona Polack and a diverse collection of contributors juxtapose the history of the Beothuk with the experiences of other Indigenous peoples outside of Canada, including those living in former British colonies as diverse as Tasmania, South Africa, and the islands of the Caribbean. Featuring contributions of Indigenous and non-Indigenous thinkers from a wide range of scholarly and community backgrounds, Tracing Ochre aims to definitively shift established perceptions of a people who were among the first to confront European colonialism in North America.
After Oil is the product of a collaborative, interdisciplinary research partnership designed to e... more After Oil is the product of a collaborative, interdisciplinary research partnership designed to explore, critically and creatively, the social, cultural and political changes necessary to facilitate a full-scale transition from fossil fuels to new forms of energy. The energy forms in any one era fundamentally shape the attributes and capabilities of societies in that era.
Journal of the association for the study of Australian literature, 2016
The geographical entities of Australia and Canada house multifarious localities, regions and nati... more The geographical entities of Australia and Canada house multifarious localities, regions and nations. Juxtaposing literary work emerging from them can open up invaluable new angles of critical inquiry at a moment when literary scholars in both countries seek insight into the relationship between national literatures and transnational forces. Upholding the value of comparing Australian and Canadian literatures is an urgent task at present given that interest in this juxtaposition seems to be diminishing.
After Oil explores the social, cultural and political changes needed to make possible a full-scal... more After Oil explores the social, cultural and political changes needed to make possible a full-scale transition from fossil fuels to new forms of energy. Written collectively by participants in the first After Oil School, After Oil explains why the adoption of renewable, ecologically sustainable energy sources is only the first step of energy transition. Energy plays a critical role in determining the shape, form and character of our daily existence, which is why a genuine shift in our energy usage demands a wholesale transformation of the petrocultures in which we live. After Oil provides readers with the resources to make this happen
In the final months of her life, the Beothuk woman Shanawdithit, or Nancy April as Newfoundland’s... more In the final months of her life, the Beothuk woman Shanawdithit, or Nancy April as Newfoundland’s white settlers designated her, made a number of drawings at the request of the amateur ethnologist and colonial adventurer William Epps Cormack. The surviving annotated drawings arguably remain some of the most extraordinary artifacts of the North American colonial era, and deserve far closer scrutiny than they have yet received. Shanawdithit and Cormack’s encounter, as recorded through their respective holographic inscriptions in these documents, was clearly full of awkwardness, misunderstanding, flashes of comprehension and unmitigated confusion. It is arguably actually in their very preservation of this that the original annotated drawings are most valuable.
Considers the creation of art intended to prompt conciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigeno... more Considers the creation of art intended to prompt conciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in British colonies in the early 19th century.
This paper considers existing and potential frames for juxtaposing Australian and Canadian writin... more This paper considers existing and potential frames for juxtaposing Australian and Canadian writing, in the context of new models for reading across cultures.
The supposed extinction of the Indigenous Beothuk people of Newfoundland in the early nineteenth ... more The supposed extinction of the Indigenous Beothuk people of Newfoundland in the early nineteenth century is a foundational moment in Canadian history. Increasingly under scrutiny, non-Indigenous perceptions of the Beothuk have had especially dire and far-reaching ramifications for contemporary Indigenous people in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Tracing Ochre reassesses popular beliefs about the Beothuk. Placing the group in global context, Fiona Polack and a diverse collection of contributors juxtapose the history of the Beothuk with the experiences of other Indigenous peoples outside of Canada, including those living in former British colonies as diverse as Tasmania, South Africa, and the islands of the Caribbean. Featuring contributions of Indigenous and non-Indigenous thinkers from a wide range of scholarly and community backgrounds, Tracing Ochre aims to definitively shift established perceptions of a people who were among the first to confront European colonialism in North America.
After Oil is the product of a collaborative, interdisciplinary research partnership designed to e... more After Oil is the product of a collaborative, interdisciplinary research partnership designed to explore, critically and creatively, the social, cultural and political changes necessary to facilitate a full-scale transition from fossil fuels to new forms of energy. The energy forms in any one era fundamentally shape the attributes and capabilities of societies in that era.
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Tracing Ochre reassesses popular beliefs about the Beothuk. Placing the group in global context, Fiona Polack and a diverse collection of contributors juxtapose the history of the Beothuk with the experiences of other Indigenous peoples outside of Canada, including those living in former British colonies as diverse as Tasmania, South Africa, and the islands of the Caribbean. Featuring contributions of Indigenous and non-Indigenous thinkers from a wide range of scholarly and community backgrounds, Tracing Ochre aims to definitively shift established perceptions of a people who were among the first to confront European colonialism in North America.
Tracing Ochre reassesses popular beliefs about the Beothuk. Placing the group in global context, Fiona Polack and a diverse collection of contributors juxtapose the history of the Beothuk with the experiences of other Indigenous peoples outside of Canada, including those living in former British colonies as diverse as Tasmania, South Africa, and the islands of the Caribbean. Featuring contributions of Indigenous and non-Indigenous thinkers from a wide range of scholarly and community backgrounds, Tracing Ochre aims to definitively shift established perceptions of a people who were among the first to confront European colonialism in North America.