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Notes
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Author's note [in Sister Girl]: Some writers and social scientists have asked me about their ethical concerns when writing about Aboriginal people. In fact they asked me so often I thought I'd better draw up a formula to assist in their dilemmas and to save myself from repeating it so often. It is so much quicker when one can say, 'Now read this.' My article is however by no means the perfect prescription. Human error can enter into every judgement and the way I view my world is not the same as the next person. To all those who presumably represent us this essay (written in 1993) was a plea that the process is crucial to the best outcomes (p. 83).
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Writing White, Writing Black, and Events at Canoe Rivulet
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: TEXT : Journal of Writing and Writing Courses , October vol. 16 no. 2 2012; 'How a community imagines the past contributes to the shaping of its present culture; influences that community's vision for the future. Yet much about the past can be difficult to access, as it can be lost or hidden. Therefore, when retelling first contact stories, especially when the documentary information is limited to a colonial perspective, how might a writer approach fictionalizing historical Indigenous figures? 'Will Martin' (2011), a tale written as part of my practice-led PhD, is a fictional retelling of the eighteenth century sailing trip, taken along the New South Wales coast, by explorers Matthew Flinders, George Bass, and Bass's servant, William Martin. This paper traces my attempts to discover how to approach fictionalizing the historical Indigenous figures that Flinders met. Examining how some non-Indigenous writers have appropriated Indigenous culture and investigating what some writers have said about non-Indigenous writers creating Indigenous characters, provided me with some guidelines. Interviews with Indigenous elders, and other members of the Illawarra community, helped me imagine the gaps in knowledge. In the fictional retelling, using unreliable narration to suggest there may be multiple stories around a single historical event, some of which we may never get to hear, became a useful narrative strategy.' (Author's abstract)
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Writing White, Writing Black, and Events at Canoe Rivulet
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: TEXT : Journal of Writing and Writing Courses , October vol. 16 no. 2 2012; 'How a community imagines the past contributes to the shaping of its present culture; influences that community's vision for the future. Yet much about the past can be difficult to access, as it can be lost or hidden. Therefore, when retelling first contact stories, especially when the documentary information is limited to a colonial perspective, how might a writer approach fictionalizing historical Indigenous figures? 'Will Martin' (2011), a tale written as part of my practice-led PhD, is a fictional retelling of the eighteenth century sailing trip, taken along the New South Wales coast, by explorers Matthew Flinders, George Bass, and Bass's servant, William Martin. This paper traces my attempts to discover how to approach fictionalizing the historical Indigenous figures that Flinders met. Examining how some non-Indigenous writers have appropriated Indigenous culture and investigating what some writers have said about non-Indigenous writers creating Indigenous characters, provided me with some guidelines. Interviews with Indigenous elders, and other members of the Illawarra community, helped me imagine the gaps in knowledge. In the fictional retelling, using unreliable narration to suggest there may be multiple stories around a single historical event, some of which we may never get to hear, became a useful narrative strategy.' (Author's abstract)
Last amended 5 Aug 2011 12:23:44
83-87
Respect V Political Correctness
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