Rites/rights/writes of passage: identity construction in Australian Aboriginal young adult fiction

Abstract

A rite of passage is an experience that triggers a significant transformation. During the journey an individual crosses a border or boundary and is transformed in a way that empowers him or her to live in the world differently than before. A genre in Aboriginal writing that often traces a main character’s journey from adolescence to adulthood is young adult fiction. Three prolific Aboriginal young adult fiction writers are John Muk Muk Burke, Melissa Lucashenko, and Tara June Winch.