Past, Present and Future in Claire G. Coleman’s Terra Nullius

master's thesis

• Title (croatian): Prošlost, sadašnjost i budućnost u romanu Terra Nullius Claire G. Coleman
• Author: Jelena Benčić
• Mentor: Iva Polak (mentor)
• Committee member: Ivana Bašić (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Vanja Polić Jurković (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of English language and literature); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2024-06-19, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: FIELD OF ART; Interdisciplinary Fields of Art
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; Anglistics

Abstract

Terra Nullius is a debut novel by Claire G. Coleman, who belongs to the latest generation of Indigenous Australian authors who have been opting for Indigenous futurism, i.e. changed perimeters of mainstream science fiction in order to address a series of issues that are of both historical and contemporary relevance for Indigenous Australians. The novel’s innovativeness and political importance rests on a narrative twist that defogs the science fictional time frame and nature of the story-now as late as in Chapter 10. The thesis thus argues that the shift is employed in order to strategically target a wider audience against the background of perpetual racism in Australia and the global climate crisis. Additionally, the author herself describes Terra Nullius as an “empathy bomb”, which is one of the reasons to apply Suzanne Keen’s broadcast strategic empathy in the first part of the novel that foregrounds the history of Aboriginal Australians. Moreover, the shift from Indigenous Australians to human beings in general not only universalizes the story but also directly corresponds to Martha Nussbaum’s narrative imagination defined as a means of imagining what it might be like to be in the shoes of a disadvantaged social group, which further informs the discussion of how Terra Nullius tries to provoke empathy for Indigenous Australians in its white audiences. Finally, the thesis analyses the complex environmental theme that functions as a leitmotif in the novel and claims that the author both points to the colonial origin of already present climate crises and uses narrative imagination to make the case for urgent action in the present for the future. Furthermore, the discussion also looks into the non-linear concept of time in the context of Indigenous futurism, as well as its complex meanings for various indigenous communities, including Indigenous Australians; and the suggestive inclusion of Indigenous culture and “forgotten” historical facts into the narrative in order to dispel common misconceptions from Australia’s colonial history.

• Keywords: Terra Nullius; Claire G. Coleman; Indigenous futurism; science fiction; narrative imagination; broadcast strategic empathy; climate crisis
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:774063
• Study programme: Title: English Language and Literature (double major); specializations in: Linguistics, Literature and Culture, Translation, TEFL; Course: Literature and Culture; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti (magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2024-06-19 07:12:45