“Judicial killings – that’s a rarity in Australia”: Detection, Identity and Representation in Nicole Watson’s The Boundary

TY - JOUR

T1 - “Judicial killings – that’s a rarity in Australia”

T2 - Detection, Identity and Representation in Nicole Watson’s The Boundary

AU - Stephan, Matthias

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Through the lens of Australian author Nicole Watson’s The Boundary this paper will consider the representation of the crime novel, both traditional detection (Christie, Doyle) and the modernist tradition, and how that illuminates social realities. Drawing from critical race theory, and examining the embedded logic of settler colonialism, the paper connects the form of the novel to Watson’s social and legal critique, questioning of the liminality of the legal/illegal, ethical/unethical, and its framing. At stake in the novel is the preservation of an ethnic identity, an uncorrupted natural landscape, and faith in both a political and law enforcement system in which corruption and personal entanglements seem to play as great a role as ethics and integrity. At stake in the paper is how the novel can intervene in social and political debates on Aboriginal, racial, and ethical terms, preserving both personal identity and its contingent effects in protecting the land.

AB - Through the lens of Australian author Nicole Watson’s The Boundary this paper will consider the representation of the crime novel, both traditional detection (Christie, Doyle) and the modernist tradition, and how that illuminates social realities. Drawing from critical race theory, and examining the embedded logic of settler colonialism, the paper connects the form of the novel to Watson’s social and legal critique, questioning of the liminality of the legal/illegal, ethical/unethical, and its framing. At stake in the novel is the preservation of an ethnic identity, an uncorrupted natural landscape, and faith in both a political and law enforcement system in which corruption and personal entanglements seem to play as great a role as ethics and integrity. At stake in the paper is how the novel can intervene in social and political debates on Aboriginal, racial, and ethical terms, preserving both personal identity and its contingent effects in protecting the land.

KW - Crime Fiction

KW - terra nullius

KW - Critical Race Theory

KW - Australian Literature

KW - Aboriginal Studies

KW - Magical Realism

U2 - 10.1080/0013838X.2022.2047351

DO - 10.1080/0013838X.2022.2047351

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0013-838X

VL - 103

SP - 821

EP - 836

JO - English Studies

JF - English Studies

IS - 6

ER -