Framing marginality: multicultural literary studies

Abstract

Outside the mainstream of literary production, writings can be perceived either as framing it or as constituting (in Jacques Derrida's phrase) a dangerous supplement. What happens to Australian literature when it is supplemented dangerously by a heterogeneous collection of writings variously described as migrant, ethnic minority or multicultural? Is difference as significant a factor in the critical interpretation of texts as gender and social class are now recognized to be? Might the discourses of multiculturalism be deployed strategically to construct a counter-public sphere? In trying to answer these questions, Professor Gunew draws not only on feminist, post-structural and post-colonial criticism but also on comparative multicultural studies (as developed in Canada, the USA and the UK), recent critiques of English studies as an imperial apparatus, and the deconstruction (by such scholars as Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak and Trinh Minh-ha) of universal notions of culture.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 130 citations exist upstream.