'Goori Futurism is a new genre of speculative fiction that envisions Goori sovereignty in various futures in the Tweed/Bundjalung country, using Blackfella Futurism themes and tropes. This thesis has two components. ALWAYS WILL BE: stories of Goori sovereignty, from the future(s) of the Tweed, the creative component of this project, is a short story collection comprised of ten short Goori Futurism stories. The critical component is an exegesis in three parts. The overarching question that the whole thesis asks is: what might our country, community and culture look like in a Future Tweed, given the reassertion of Goori sovereignty? ALWAYS WILL BE offers ten different answers to this question, and the exegesis considers the research and writing that led to the answers. The exegesis first defines Goori Futurism, then it traces Goori Futurism’s origins, lineage and goals. Next, the exegesis introduces The Goori Futurism Research Framework as made up of three reading and writing frames: Politics – Goori Sovereignty, Setting – Future Tweed and Genre – Blackfella Futurism. The third section is ALWAYS WILL BE, and the stories are tied together by politics, setting and genre: each of the stories in this collection explore different expressions of Goori Sovereignty; all of the stories are set in the Tweed, in different versions of the Future, with various climate scenarios, population dynamics and political structures; and each story responds to the prevailing themes and tropes within the Blackfella Futurism genre. Finally, the exegesis reflects on the ways that each of the stories are products of The Goori Futurism Research Framework. This thesis, comprised of the stories in ALWAYS WILL BE and the scholarly writing in the exegesis combined, initiates the genre of Goori Futurism, articulates a philosophy and aesthetics of the genre and delineates its boundaries while resisting prescriptive genre protocols.'
Source: University of Sydney Repository.
