AustLit

'Historical scholarship on the recovery of Aboriginal Anzacs in twentieth-century Australia is a field that has developed significantly in recent years. As knowledge of Indigenous service in overseas wars grows, the more these narratives have begun to be disseminated through a range of public history sites and audiences. This article focuses on the representation of Aboriginal people in the First World War in postcolonial documentaries made for television. The major emphasis will be on six documentaries screened on public broadcasters that foreground Aboriginal voices in revealing forgotten war service. Television has the capacity to reach a mass audience and therefore occupies an important position in challenging the monolithic white Anzac legend. However, the role of television as a legitimate communicator of historical argument is contested by many historians. This article contends that historical documentary possesses some advantages over the traditional written canon especially as a medium for Aboriginal storytelling. All of the examples selected effectively develop the audience's appreciation of the complex interplay of forces surrounding the home front, war service and its legacy. They do so by drawing on a range of personal narratives centred around emotion, identity and empathy and in so doing gesture towards reconciliation.'

Source: Abstract.