Cirrus@Austlit

'What in today's literary discourse are the reality and the world created by the words: nativism, nativity, the native, native? Why do we still speak and communicate with them and use them in different contexts, even though we know that these words often carry a negative emotional meaning load, taking us to spaces, times, and experiences of colonial suffering, despite their basis in academic arguments. In Australia such issues have been addressed by many Indigenous writers, amongst them — M. Langton, A. Moreton- Robinson, Mudrooroo, C. Watego, T. Birch, F. Bayet — Charlton, to name just a few.' (Author's introduction)