Fictocritical writing is explored through a curated collection of essays by Stephen Muecke, a pioneer of the genre. This selection showcases his unique approach, blending fiction and critical theory, and highlights his distinctive voice and insights. Readers can expect an engaging exploration of ideas that challenge traditional boundaries between narrative and analysis.
In this notebook, Australian writer Stephen Muecke describes the works of the Aboriginal artist Butcher Joe (1902-1989), who depicted the key ideas of his culture in the drawings reproduced here. These drawings show places where the dead visit the living, events at the threshold between waking and sleeping--legends of dreamtime that explain how the universe came into existence and the laws according to which people live. As a portrait of the indigenous Australian aesthetic, these drawings and the descriptive essay in the notebook allow the reader insight into the world and life of the people and their mythical principles, according to which all things-be they animal, human, or plant-is viewed in terms of its potential to transform.
There is a quarrel about whose antiquity is at the foundation of Australian culture, and why contemporary forms of Aboriginality are marginal to Australia's modernity. These are the starting points for the essays contained in Stephen Muecke's book.
This profusely illustrated book offers a comprehensive look at the social and cultural history of Aborigines from the origins to the present.