Unpunishable Crimes in Claire G. Coleman’s Futuristic Novel Terra Nullius

Znanstveni rad - Izvorni znanstveni rad

• Autor: Iva Polak https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3061-4380
• Autorova ustanova: Sveučilište u Zagrebu; Filozofski fakultet; (Odsjek za anglistiku)
• Znanstveno / umjetničko područje, polje i grana: HUMANISTIČKE ZNANOSTI; Filologija; Anglistika

Sažetak (engleski)

Aside from being part of a vibrant corpus of Indigenous futurism, Claire G. Coleman’s novel Terra Nullius (2017) can also be analysed as an eco-crime novel. Indigenous Australian authors of this genre (e.g., Philip McLaren, Steven McCarthy, Nicole Watson) often anchor the source of criminal acts in the theft, loss and devastation of traditional lands, which provides their crime novels with a heightened awareness of environmental issues. The same applies to Terra Nullius. This is, however, a novel that successfully conceals its futuristic framework until halfway through. Equally, this successfully disrupts the usual postulates of crime fiction by shifting the reader’s attention from the usual “whodunnit” to the more elusive “whoizzit” mode of crime fiction. This, as the discussion reveals, means that the criminal acts in Terra Nullius are rendered unpunishable. This paradox, as it is argued, is strengthened by introducing the so-called “noir detective” (Timothy Morton) in the character of Father Grark, who cannot investigate that which constitutes the crime and the alibi shaping the world of Coleman’s futuristic novel.

• Ključne riječi (engleski): Terra Nullius; Claire G. Coleman; eco-crime fiction; “whoizzit” mode; noir detective; Indigenous futurism
• Jezik: engleski
• Vrsta publikacije: Znanstveni rad - Izvorni znanstveni rad
• Status objave: Objavljen
• Vrsta recenzije: Recenziran - međunarodna recenzija
• Verzija publikacije: Objavljena verzija rada (izdavačev PDF)
• Naslov časopisa: Humanities
• Brojčani podaci: vol. 11, br. 2, 47
• e-ISSN: 2076-0787
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/h11020047
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:493223
• Datum objave publikacije: 2022-03-25
• URL dokumenta: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/11/2/47
• Vrsta resursa: Tekst
• Prava pristupa: Otvoreni pristup
• Datum i vrijeme pohrane: 2022-05-05 09:07:18