Dr. Louise Mullavey

Biography

Louise Mullavey is a PhD student at Linköping University, whose research interests focus on the intersection of Indigenous epistemologies, ontologies, New Materialist, and Posthuman thinking in the context of contemporary Indigenous Australian literatures. Her PhD project, titled 'Diffracting Storytelling: Contemporary Indigenous Australian Literature Archive,' investigates how these Indigenous frameworks interact and articulate relationships within literary contexts, particularly those addressing ecological themes and the agency of more-than-human entities. Mullavey is particularly concerned with how Australian Indigenous literary works can serve as conduits for vital knowledge and public pedagogy, especially in relation to environmental sustainability. Her method involves a diffractive reading strategy inspired by Karen Barad’s concepts, merging Indigenous perspectives with contemporary theoretical texts, aiming to challenge Western anthropocentric narratives. Her current methodological development resonates with the notion of a 'third archive' that brings together Indigenous knowledge and contemporary Western knowledge systems. Through her work, Mullavey seeks to highlight the significance of Indigenous philosophies within the New Materialist and Posthuman scholarship.

Research Interests