In the last thirty years appropriation has been studied as the practice of reworking earlier works of art or literature by presenting them in new contexts, or to challenge notions of individual creativity or authenticity in art. However, the term "appropriation" is hotly debated in the fields of Indigenous and Post-colonial studies for technologies such as the English language, writing and visual art have for a long time assumed the connotation of 'colonial property'. The object of this enquiry is to explore the extent to which Indigenous Australian appropriations of the English language, writing and visual art, provide -- though they differ widely in terms of themes, strategies and styles -- a terrain for discussing unexplored issues of intercultural representation, epistemology and interpretation. The dissertation offers a close reading of literary and visual "practices of proximity", such as interlanguages, editorial relations and cross-cultural exhibitions, in order to demonstrate that Indigenous Australian appropriations variously disrupt neo/colonial claims of property. This dissertation is organized thematically, and consists of three parts entitled "Interlanguages", "Intertextual Performances" and "Contested Sights". Each part consists of three chapters, which move from an initial questioning of technology as colonial property, to the close analysis of some Indigenous appropriations and non-Indigenous counterappropriations. Situated at the crossroads between Indigenous and Postcolonial studies, the dissertation offers insights into the timely debates on sovereignty, difference and subject positioning. The combination of theories of "appropriation" and "intersubjectivity" illuminates a new path in theorizing Australian intercultural relations. The Australian contact zone is unveiled as a place of Indigenous sovereignty where the colonial subject is ontologically and epistemologically constituted in correlation with Indigenous peoples. Thereby, the Indigenous/non-Indigenous intersubjective relation is recognised as the ground from which notions of the colonial self and other derive and which colonial reifying selfreflection has misconceived as separate.

In the last thirty years appropriation has been studied as the practice of reworking earlier works of art or literature by presenting them in new contexts, or to challenge notions of individual creativity or authenticity in art. However, the term "appropriation" is hotly debated in the fields of Indigenous and Post-colonial studies for technologies such as the English language, writing and visual art have for a long time assumed the connotation of 'colonial property'. The object of this enquiry is to explore the extent to which Indigenous Australian appropriations of the English language, writing and visual art, provide -- though they differ widely in terms of themes, strategies and styles -- a terrain for discussing unexplored issues of intercultural representation, epistemology and interpretation. The dissertation offers a close reading of literary and visual "practices of proximity", such as interlanguages, editorial relations and cross-cultural exhibitions, in order to demonstrate that Indigenous Australian appropriations variously disrupt neo/colonial claims of property. This dissertation is organized thematically, and consists of three parts entitled "Interlanguages", "Intertextual Performances" and "Contested Sights". Each part consists of three chapters, which move from an initial questioning of technology as colonial property, to the close analysis of some Indigenous appropriations and non-Indigenous counterappropriations. Situated at the crossroads between Indigenous and Postcolonial studies, the dissertation offers insights into the timely debates on sovereignty, difference and subject positioning. The combination of theories of "appropriation" and "intersubjectivity" illuminates a new path in theorizing Australian intercultural relations. The Australian contact zone is unveiled as a place of Indigenous sovereignty where the colonial subject is ontologically and epistemologically constituted in correlation with Indigenous peoples. Thereby, the Indigenous/non-Indigenous intersubjective relation is recognised as the ground from which notions of the colonial self and other derive and which colonial reifying selfreflection has misconceived as separate.

"December 2003" / Bibliography: leaves 181-201. / 201 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / "In current Australian cross-cultural scholarship, difference remains a problematic theme. Tensions between the recognition of universal features that all people share, and the acknowledgment of incommensurable differences between cultures, are unresolved. This thesis provides a snapshot of the various ways in which these tensions are being negotiated in ethical, affective work across the disciplines of history, anthropology, cultural studies, literary studies and performance. All of the work discussed enters into intersubjective scholarship, and offers various models that raise the ethical dimension of engaging with cultural difference. Rather than a genealogy of theoretical movements, this thesis is a partial exploration of the ethical and historiographical questions being raised." -- ABSTRACT / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, Discipline of English, 2004