Issue Details: First known date: 2017... 2017 Decolonizing Reading : The Murri Book Club
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'This article explores the cultural work of the Townsville-based Murri (Indigenous) Book Club. Although a growing body of research relates to book clubs in Britain and the US, little work has been done in the Australian context on what Marilyn Poole has called, ‘one of the largest bodies of community participation in the arts in Australia’ (280). The work that has been done, moreover, suggests that book clubs are an overwhelmingly white phenomenon, through which members ‘maintain their currency as literate citizens through group discussion’. But what of an Indigenous book club and its concerns? This article asserts that the Murri book club challenges traditional book club expectations through its very different relationship to cultures of books and reading. In doing so, the Murri book club has taken a white, middle-class practice and reshaped it for its own purposes: decolonizing the book club as a social, cultural and political institution. By examining the origins of the book club, its approach to books and the lives of some of its members, this article also suggests that the Murri book club challenges expectations about Indigenous professionals and offers insight into the complex ways in which Indigenous professionals negotiate their identities and their relationships with other readers, through communal literary networks.' (Publication abstract)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Continuum : Journal of Media & Cultural Studies vol. 31 no. 6 2017 13605626 2017 periodical issue

    'Continuum has been at the forefront of Cultural Studies for 30 years. Continuum had its beginnings in Perth, Western Australia and many of the early supporters were part of the dynamic 1980s Perth Cultural Studies scene. Jon Stratton’s analysis of the rise of Perth cultural studies places the history of Continuum in this context. He states that ‘the key themes of Perth Cultural Studies was the emphasis on text, the move to visual mass media, the use of semiotics’ and culture.  The emphasis on visual culture is still evidenced in the ever-changing cover image for the journal, which is overseen by Continuum’s Photography Editor...'  (Editorial abstract)

    2017
    pg. 791-801
Last amended 9 Jul 2018 08:50:59
791-801 Decolonizing Reading : The Murri Book Clubsmall AustLit logo Continuum : Journal of Media & Cultural Studies
Subjects:
  • Townsville, Townsville area, Marlborough - Mackay - Townsville area, Queensland,
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