This thesis is a seminal in-depth study of how non-indigenous writers and illustrators construct Aboriginal childhood in children's fiction from 1841-1998 and focuses not only on what these say about Aboriginal childhood but also what they neglect to say, what they gloss over and what they elide. This study probes not only the construction of aboriginal childhood in children's fiction, but explores the slippage between the lived and imagined experiences which inform the textual and illustrative images of non-Aboriginal writers. This study further contends that neo-colonial variations on the themes informing these images remain part of Australian children's fiction. Aboriginal childhood has played a limited but telling role in Australian children's literature. The very lack of attention to Aboriginal children in Australian children's fiction - white silence - is resonant with denial and self-justification. Although it concentrates on constructions of aboriginal childhood in white Australian children's fiction, this study highlights the role that racial imagery can play in any society, past or present by securing the unwitting allegiance of the young to values and institutions threatened by the forces of change. By examining the image of the Other through four broad thematic bands or myths - the Aboriginal child as the primitive; the identification of the marginalised and as the assimilated and noting the essential similarities that circulate among the chosen texts, this study attempts to reveal how pervasive and controlling the logic of racial and national superiority continues to be. By exploring the dissemination of images of Aboriginal childhood in this way, this study argues that long-lived distortions and misconceptions will become clearer / Doctor of Philosophy (Literature)

In this thesis, Taiwanese Aboriginal Literature from the mid 1980s is the focus of discussion. The material I will cover includes literature in the genre of poetry, prose, fiction and song lyrics. I situate my thesis in the field of literary and cultural studies based on contemporary aboriginal writing. Application of postcolonial-colonial discourse, such as diaspora and articulation, explicates the close relationship between the socio-political context and Taiwanese Aboriginal Literature, in particular, the process of re-construction of aboriginal identity. My thesis develops from the following hypothesis: firstly, the concerns expressed in aboriginal writing are closely tied to social and cultural issues, such as the disruption, or construction of aboriginal heritages, under or after the rule of colonial governments. Secondly, as a result of broader changes in Taiwanese society, writers’ focus and strategies change with their specific social environments. To compare the shared and different characteristics of aboriginal writing and to summarize its development, I examine two periods of Aboriginal Literature and relate them to the internal and external factors pertinent to the writing. Chapter Two and Three contain textual analysis of Aboriginal Literature. Chapter Two “The Pre-Shanhai Period” introduces literature by Walis, Hu Defu, Monaneng, Tien Yage and Wenchi. These are works closely related to aboriginal political movements and deal with the disruption of indigenous communities. Chapter Three “The Shanhai Period” discusses Taiwanese Aboriginal Literature of the Shanhai Period through the works of Auvini, Lanpoan, and Vava. The findings illustrate the validity of the above hypothesis through discussion on the relationship between theme and period, change of writing position as a result of the social contexts of the time when the writer wrote, and strategies aboriginal authors deploy to reconstruct aboriginal identity. The two periods of literature show changes in aboriginal writers’ speaking positions, that is, as pan-aboriginal speakers, or as tribal speakers, or as individuals. In its first stage of development, Taiwanese Aboriginal Literature was a discourse about survival and about appealing for justice. Writers wrote to make sense of the world in which they live. In writing they asked questions pertinent to their identity: first, “What does it mean to be born as a Taiwanese Aboriginal, or as one of the Bunun people, or the Atayal people? Writers wrote mainly to counter the perspectives imposed by the colonizers, and to pass on indigenous knowledge. In the second stage of development, Aboriginal Literature reached a period of negotiation and border crossing between indigenous culture and colonial cultures. At this stage, many writers asked: “What does my traditional culture mean to me in modern society?” Out of speculation on cultural differences, they wrote to know themselves so as to position themselves in a challenging modern, globalized society. Through this process aboriginal writers attempted to build up aboriginal subjectivity in Taiwanese literature. This study demonstrates that the writing position and strategy of identity construction in Taiwanese Aboriginal Literature shows a development from a literature of resistance to a literature of cultural building and self-examination. It is from the Shanhai period onwards that Taiwanese Aboriginal Literature gradually seeks and forms a literary norm. The literature under study manifests diverse expressions of identity. The writing process further demonstrates a dialogue of aboriginal writers with mainstream society, a constant diasporic process of generating new indigenous subjectivity. As such, the study brings an understanding of Taiwanese Aboriginal Literature to Western readers and scholars to facilitate future studies in this field.