THE ABORIGINAL CULTURAL HERITAGE: A REWIEW OF AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL WRITINGS

Abstract

Colonialism was a juggernaut that pulverized the native cultures and tried to replace them with European culture. When the Whites arrived on alien shores, they brought the bag and baggage of their ethnocentric biases with them. The Europeans thought that their culture is the only mainstream culture while all other cultures are deviant. Sometimes stories were forced to demean the native cultures sometimes the cultures were interpreted diabolically to make them look inferior. One of the first casualties of colonialism was the native culture. Colonisers displaced the natives and devised policies that would stop the transmission of culture. Native literature written across the world shows a commitment to the revival of native culture. There are certain practices that have been lost but whatever is left is being codified by the native writers for the future generations.