Cirrus@Austlit

'Koori literature is concerned with, above all else, identity - black identity; and also with complex attitudes, convictions and traditions which make up the Koori culture. S o me aspects of the Koori outlook in literature are: the preoccupation with the history of the loss of land, the stress on violence and sexual abuses, the attempts at altering literature into sociopolitical hype, bringing into focus the campaign for human rights and land. These aspects are some of the most striking of the Koori self-definition in literature. What is important, is that while this selfassessment goes on, the Koori are often treading on thin ice, trying to balance their identity, and the way in which society sees them. This is a difficult process! The Koori writer's self-perception is continually strained by the dominant Gubba culture of Australia. ...' (Abstract)