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Why Weren't We Told? is a frank account of Henry Reynolds' personal journal towards the realisation that he, like generations of Australians, grew up with a distorted and idealised version of the past. From the author's unforgettable encounter in a North Queensland jail with injustice towards Aboriginal children, to his friendship with Eddie Mabo, to his shattering of the myths about our 'peaceful' history, this bestselling book will shock, move and intrigue. Why Weren't We Told? is crucial reading on the most important debate in Australia as we enter the twenty-first century.
Notes
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Explores the social conditions and treatment of Aboriginal Australians.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Uncanny Encounters and Haunting Colonial Histories in Australia’s Reconciliation-era Narratives
2023
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Settler Colonial Studies , vol. 13 no. 3 2023; (p. 398-418) Settler literature is haunted by the colonial past. Motifs found in the Australian literary tradition signify this haunting-Aboriginal spectrality, uncanny Aboriginal ceremonial grounds, and taboo massacre sites being the most common. Settler authors typically use these literary devices in moments of social and political upheaval that disturb the foundational myths of settler belonging. Australia's Reconciliation agenda brought realities of colonial frontier violence and the scale of Aboriginal deaths to the fore of mainstream socio-political consciousness. Literary scholars have adapted Freud's concept of the uncanny to argue that settler belonging feels imperiled or strange when confronted with the distressing knowledge of Aboriginal modernity. Overwhelmingly, the manufacture of Aboriginal haunting in Australia's Reconciliation—era signifies settler anxiety and attempts to reclaim the authority unsettled by Indigenous alterity. Works by Henry Reynolds—Why Weren't We Told? (2000)—and Alex Miller-Journey to the Stone Country (2003)—are representative of a broader literary response to Reconciliation, after which depictions of Aboriginal death and burial, as well as new settler quests for belonging, proliferated. The essay concludes by reading Noongar writer Kim Scott's novel Taboo (2017) as a subversion of works like those by Reynolds and Miller. -
Why Didn’t You Listen : White Noise and Black History
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , vol. 34 no. 2010; (p. 11-33) 'The review and analysis of Why Weren't We Told? an international bestseller written by Henry Reynolds is discussed. The book highlights the author's personal reflection elaborating his awakening encounter with a manifestation of Australian race relations.' Source: Mitchell Rolls. -
y
Witnessing Australian Stories : History, Testimony and Memory in Contemporary Culture
Melbourne
:
2010
6037495
2010
single work
thesis
'This book is about how Australians have responded to stories about suffering and injustice in Australia, presented in a range of public media, including literature, history, films, and television. Those who have responded are both ordinary and prominent Australians–politicians, writers, and scholars. All have sought to come to terms with Australia's history by responding empathetically to stories of its marginalized citizens.
'Drawing upon international scholarship on collective memory, public history, testimony, and witnessing, this book represents a cultural history of contemporary Australia. It examines the forms of witnessing that dominated Australian public culture at the turn of the millennium. Since the late 1980s, witnessing has developed in Australia in response to the increasingly audible voices of indigenous peoples, migrants, and more recently, asylum seekers. As these voices became public, they posed a challenge not only to scholars and politicians, but also, most importantly, to ordinary citizens.
'When former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered his historic apology to Australia's indigenous peoples in February 2008, he performed an act of collective witnessing that affirmed the testimony and experiences of Aboriginal Australians. The phenomenon of witnessing became crucial, not only to the recognition and reparation of past injustices, but to efforts to create a more cosmopolitan Australia in the present. This is a vital addition to Transactions critically acclaimed Memory and Narrative series.' (Publisher's blurb)
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Becoming Migloo
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Ideas Market : An Alternative Take on Australia's Intellectual Life 2004; (p. 236-258) -
Shelf Life
2000
single work
column
— Appears in: The Age , 28 October 2000; (p. 8)
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Shelf Life
2000
single work
column
— Appears in: The Age , 28 October 2000; (p. 8) -
Becoming Migloo
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Ideas Market : An Alternative Take on Australia's Intellectual Life 2004; (p. 236-258) -
Why Didn’t You Listen : White Noise and Black History
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , vol. 34 no. 2010; (p. 11-33) 'The review and analysis of Why Weren't We Told? an international bestseller written by Henry Reynolds is discussed. The book highlights the author's personal reflection elaborating his awakening encounter with a manifestation of Australian race relations.' Source: Mitchell Rolls. -
y
Witnessing Australian Stories : History, Testimony and Memory in Contemporary Culture
Melbourne
:
2010
6037495
2010
single work
thesis
'This book is about how Australians have responded to stories about suffering and injustice in Australia, presented in a range of public media, including literature, history, films, and television. Those who have responded are both ordinary and prominent Australians–politicians, writers, and scholars. All have sought to come to terms with Australia's history by responding empathetically to stories of its marginalized citizens.
'Drawing upon international scholarship on collective memory, public history, testimony, and witnessing, this book represents a cultural history of contemporary Australia. It examines the forms of witnessing that dominated Australian public culture at the turn of the millennium. Since the late 1980s, witnessing has developed in Australia in response to the increasingly audible voices of indigenous peoples, migrants, and more recently, asylum seekers. As these voices became public, they posed a challenge not only to scholars and politicians, but also, most importantly, to ordinary citizens.
'When former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered his historic apology to Australia's indigenous peoples in February 2008, he performed an act of collective witnessing that affirmed the testimony and experiences of Aboriginal Australians. The phenomenon of witnessing became crucial, not only to the recognition and reparation of past injustices, but to efforts to create a more cosmopolitan Australia in the present. This is a vital addition to Transactions critically acclaimed Memory and Narrative series.' (Publisher's blurb)
-
Uncanny Encounters and Haunting Colonial Histories in Australia’s Reconciliation-era Narratives
2023
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Settler Colonial Studies , vol. 13 no. 3 2023; (p. 398-418) Settler literature is haunted by the colonial past. Motifs found in the Australian literary tradition signify this haunting-Aboriginal spectrality, uncanny Aboriginal ceremonial grounds, and taboo massacre sites being the most common. Settler authors typically use these literary devices in moments of social and political upheaval that disturb the foundational myths of settler belonging. Australia's Reconciliation agenda brought realities of colonial frontier violence and the scale of Aboriginal deaths to the fore of mainstream socio-political consciousness. Literary scholars have adapted Freud's concept of the uncanny to argue that settler belonging feels imperiled or strange when confronted with the distressing knowledge of Aboriginal modernity. Overwhelmingly, the manufacture of Aboriginal haunting in Australia's Reconciliation—era signifies settler anxiety and attempts to reclaim the authority unsettled by Indigenous alterity. Works by Henry Reynolds—Why Weren't We Told? (2000)—and Alex Miller-Journey to the Stone Country (2003)—are representative of a broader literary response to Reconciliation, after which depictions of Aboriginal death and burial, as well as new settler quests for belonging, proliferated. The essay concludes by reading Noongar writer Kim Scott's novel Taboo (2017) as a subversion of works like those by Reynolds and Miller.
