White Aborigines: Identity Politics in Australian Art

by Ian L. McLean

This highly original book shows that Australian art, and the writing of its history, has since settlement been in a dialog (although often submerged) with Aboriginal art and culture; and that this dialog is inextricably interwoven with the struggle to find an identity in the antipodes. McLean argues that the colonizing culture invested far more in indigenous aspects of the country and its inhabitants than it has been willing to admit. He considers artists and their work within their cultural context, and in light of contemporary theory.

216 pages, Hardcover

First published April 6, 1998

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Certainly an interesting with interesting tidbits on Australian art history, and an interesting thesis. But there was so much jargon and weird poststructural/critical theory theorising that a lot of it either went over my head or become a bit ridiculous.