Critiquing Whiteness-the Identity Problem In Kim Scott’s Novels

Kim Scott is best known as the first Indigenous author who won Australia’s mostprestigious prize for fiction, the Miles Franklin Literary Award, for his1999novel Benang:From the Heart. He won a second time in2011with his third novel That Deadman Dance,which has made him an icon of Australian Aboriginal Literature. As a person ofEuropean-Aboriginal descendant, Scott shows solicitude for the development ofcontemporary Australian society, and pays close attention to the fortune of the Aboriginalpeople. Scott frequently makes use of his writings to examine the Aboriginal-Whiterelationship and to search for the sense of identity for the Aboriginal people. Scott’swriting reaches out to make important cultural re-connections with his Aboriginal roots,putting forward an incisive criticism of the white Australians who rejected, oppressed andeven tried to exterminate the Indigenous people.Setting against the theoretical background of Postcolonialism and critical whitenessstudies, this thesis intends to study three novels, True Country, Benang: From the Heart,and That Deadman Dance, to explore Aboriginal people’s sense of identity and KimScott’s critique of whiteness. The whole thesis falls into five chapters. Chapter One is anintroduction in which an overview of Kim Scott’s life and his works is given. And then itoffers a review of the criticism on Kim Scott and his works. Furthermore, the theoreticalframework and the structure of this thesis are indicated. Chapter Two sheds light on thefirst novel True Country. It offers an interpretation of the loss of identity on the part of theprotagonist Billy, who is a mix-blood of European and Aboriginal that works as a teacherin the reserve Karnama. Scott sharply points out that the contemporary AustralianAborigines still live under neocolonial rule which is implemented by the white Australiangovernment. Chapter Three illustrates “the first white born” Harley’s quest for identity inthe novel Benang: From the Heart within a distorted history written by the whitecolonizers. It profoundly expresses Scott’s concern for the conditions of the Aboriginalpeople in the early period of20th century. It also reveals the history of Australian white society which had tried to destroy the Indigenous people by the method of eugenics underthe influence of the “White Australia Policy”. Chapter Four offers a reading of ThatDeadman Dance. In the novel, the protagonist Bobby tries to connect the White andAboriginal worlds. However, his endeavor ends in failure and he suffers from an identitycrisis. It shows that in the early period of19th century the white invasion severelydamaged the Indigenous people’s original life and eventually led to their failure in identityconstruction. Chapter Five comes to the conclusion that the imperialism from white societyresults in Aboriginal people’s loss of identity, and it also impedes their quest forAboriginality and holds back their attempts in constructing a new identity. Scott presents astrong critique of white oppression imposed on Indigenous people in different times.