Shankari Chandran explores Australia’s racial tensions in a really clever and interesting way. By juxtaposing them with the ethic tensions in Sri Lanka, also carefully crafted by its colonial overlords, the British (the familiar strategy of divide and rule was implemented to exacerbate differences between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority), she highlights the deeply human need to belong. The white Australians who are so afraid of their land being overtaken by non-white immigrants, refuse to acknowledge that the land was never theirs to claim.
Category: book blog
Cultural Eraser and Critical Thinking
I’m a child of the 80’s, raised by first generation immigrant parents, and have seen the very ugly (yep I used that word!) faces of racism and xenophobia first hand. It continues to thrive in our culture through the white saviour narrative which forms the backbone of the majority of Hollywood films. I could walk into any newsagent today and see racist rhetoric on the pages of almost all our newspapers, or visit a school and see textbooks that continue to whitewash our history.
In the mood for Romance, but make it Halal.
What I wanted to read was a romance that spoke to me, as an older Muslim reader. So I was pleased when I was offered an opportunity to review a series of short Muslim Romances for a collection called Ramadan Nights. As a Muslim woman, I know that Romance and Muslim are not incompatible or contradictory, but I was curious how the authors would deliver on a more 15 rated version of a romance whilst also making it halal.
This Hybrid Reads 