Framing Marginality Multicultural Literary Studies - Interpretations S.

Outside the mainstream of literary production, ethnic minority writings can be perceived either as "framing" it or as constituting (in Jacques Derrida's phrase) a "dangerous supplement". What happens to Australian literature when it is supplemented "dangerously" by a heterogeneous collection of writings variously described as "migrant", "ethnic minority" or "multicultural"? Is ethnic difference as significant a factor in the critical interpretation of texts as gender and social class are now recognized to be? Might the discourses of multiculturalism be deployed strategically to construct a counter-public sphere?;In trying to answer these questions, Professor Gunew draws not only on feminist, post-structural and post-colonial criticism but also on comparative multicultural studies (as developed in Canada, the USA and the UK), recent critiques of English studies as an imperial apparatus, and the deconstruction (by such scholars as Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak and Trinh Minh-ha) of "universal" notions of culture.