In this subject students examine the relationship between private lives, intimate relations and colonisation in nineteenth and twentieth century Australia. We analyse sexual and racial taboos and transgressions and examine the intersection of race, gender and sexuality and the domestic politics of colonialism. Case studies include: sexual exploitation on the frontier, 'going native', captivity narratives and the 'abducted white woman', outlawed indigenous marriages and state miscegenation policies to 'breed out the colour'. We consider changing regulations that sanctioned or prohibited 'interracial' marriages and explore attitudes to sexual relations between indigenous women and white men and indigenous men and white women.

Subject rules

Readings