| This dissertation examines and compares several texts by Caribbean Anglophone and Australian Aboriginal writers which contain a theme of healing or the practice of indigenous healing rituals as a way to mitigate the pain of conquest by European invaders. The healing rituals and/or healer figures are often culturally hybridized, incorporating some of the colonizer's features. The healer/shaman seeks to reconnect his/her community with an ancestral spirit world to restore well-being and spiritual balance. The healing rituals may have a variety of goals, including but not limited to: providing resistance to the invader, exacting revenge, or seeking reconciliation. In addition, the authors themselves are cultural hybrids who, by the act of writing, may be seeking a personal "cure." Healing narratives such as these are part of a gradual process of decolonization.;A broad definition of "indigenous" is used, which includes Afro-Caribbean healing practices such as obeah and Vodou, in addition to Amerindian and Australian Aboriginal rituals. Caribbean writers included: Jean Rhys, Wilson Harris, Michael Gilkes, Pauline Melville, Derek Walcott. Australian Aboriginal writers included: Jack Davis, Mudrooroo, Sam Watson. |
