Abstract: The writing of Ruby Langford Ginibi has been read, not only within Australia, but also overseas. Often, Indigenous literature is regarded as a primarily national literature, addressed to first and foremost white Australian readers. This article places Ginibi’s writing in an overseas context and examines the reactions that Germanspeaking readers have shown to her texts. Drawing on qualitative interviews with readers in Germany and Austria, this study explores the individual techniques of German-speaking readers to connect to the cultural foreign contexts of Ginibi’s texts and make sense of them. It also reflects on the author’s personal connections to Ginibi’s texts and how her writing relates to his own racial contexts in Central Europe.
Keywords: Ruby Langford Ginibi; German-speaking readers; German reception of Indigenous literature; self-reflection
Copyright © Oliver Haag 2012. This text may be archived and redistributed both in electronic form and in hard copy, provided that the author and journal are properly cited and no fee is charged.