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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
An historical overview of the literary representations of Australian Aboriginals by white writers from first contact till the mid-1970s. The author looks at poetry and prose in historical sequence. The subject of the work deals with the efforts of white Australian writers to come to grips with Aboriginal Australians. The author argues that the interest in Australian Aboriginals as literary subjects is touched by an interest in themselves, in Australia itself as a land, and as a social-political structure.
Notes
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Dedication: To Pam Finbarr John Copland
Contents
* Contents derived from the
St Lucia,
Indooroopilly - St Lucia area,
Brisbane - North West,
Brisbane,
Queensland,:University of Queensland Press
, 1989 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
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The Character of Contact,
single work
criticism
(p. 4-25)This chapter looks at the initial contact between Captain Cook and members of his official party and Australian Aboriginals of the Sydney region. Healy argues that literature has played both a reflective and constructive part in the development of Australia, and in the seeds of Cook's visit there were tensions of values which went to the heart of the new commonwealth. Literary representation is seen as part of the consciousness of white writers of Australian Aboriginals between 1770 and 1975.
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The Literature of Contact,
single work
criticism
(p. 26-48)This chapter examines the earliest works of fiction produced in Australia representing Aboriginal people as fictional characters. Healy traces a trajectory of works which seek to attribute meaning to Aboriginal Australians by white authors, beginning with the 1830 work Alfred Dudley by Sarah Porter. Nineteenth century representations by G. W. Rusden and James Tucker are also analysed.
-
Squatter Reflections,
single work
criticism
(p. 49-75)This chapter looks at representations of Aboriginal Australians constructed by squatters in the early colonial period. Healy identifies Rolf Boldrewood (aka Thomas Alexander Browne) as the principal chronicler of squatter reflections of Aboriginal Australians. Focus is also given to the works of Rosa Campbell Praed.
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Myth, Melbourne, McCrae,
single work
criticism
(p. 76-90)In this chapter Healy examines Frederick Sinnett's review in 1958 of fiction fields of Australia, where he rejected the idea of the Aborigine as a valid subject for Australian literature. Healy looks at the difficulties of constructing Aboriginal cosmology into poetry or other prose by white 19th Century authors. Focus is given to several works of George Gordon McCrae.
- Sense and Nonsense, single work criticism (p. 91-112)
- Innocence and Experience, single work criticism (p. 113-138)
- Recovery, single work criticism (p. 139-153)
- Indignation and Ideology, single work criticism (p. 154-180)
- Rehabilitation and Transcendence, single work criticism (p. 181-207)
- Protest and Apology : Western Australia, single work criticism (p. 208-240)
- Protest and Apology : Eastern Australia, single work criticism (p. 241-262)
- Poor Fellow My Country, single work criticism (p. 263-290)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
'White Aboriginals' : White Australian Literary Responses to the Challenge of Indigenous Histories
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Imaginary Antipodes : Essays on Contemporary Australian Literature and Culture 2011; (p. 71-86) 'Chapter 4 examines the phenomenon of the 'white Aboriginal,' a putative figure of cultural synthesis as proclaimed in Germaine Greer's maverick manifesto Whitefella Jump Up (2003). However, in texts such as Patrick White's A Fringe of Leaves (1976) and David Malouf's Remembering Babylon (1993), Liam Davison's The White Woman (1994), and Stephen Gray's The Artist is a Thief (2001), the 'white Aborigine' figure progressively modulates into a sign of appropriation rather than of reconciliation.' (From author's introduction, 12)
-
Sea-change or Atrophy? The Australian Convict Inheritance
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Coolabah , no. 5 2011; This paper is an offshoot of a larger project which explored the possibility for the erstwhile settler-colonizer undergoing the sea-change into settler-indigene emergent through a study of selected novels of Patrick White. It became apparent to me that the convict figure, who played an ancillary role in these works, could lay claim to the status of white indigene well ahead of the main protagonist. Robert Hughes (in The Fatal Shore) discredits the idea of any bonding between the convict and the Aborigine but acknowledges examples of "white blackfellas"—white men who had successfully been adopted into Aboriginal societies. Martin Tucker's nineteenth century work, Ralph Rashleigh, offers surprising testimony of a creative work which bears this out in a context where Australian literature generally reflected the national amnesia with regard to the Aborigine and barely accorded them human status. Grenville's The Secret River (2005), based broadly on the history of her own ancestor, appears to support Hughes' original contention but is also replete with ambivalences that work against a simple resolution. This paper will explore some of the ambivalences, the 'food for thought' on aspects of the Australian experience highlighted by these literary texts, and glances briefly also at variations on the theme in Carey's Jack Maggs and the The True Story of the Kelly Gang. (Author's abstract)
-
Finding Fault : Aborigines, Anthropologists, Popular Writers and Walkabout.
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Cultural History , vol. 28 no. 2/3 2010; (p. 179-200) 'The popular middlebrow magazine Walkabout was published between 1934 and 1974. Its principle aim was to promote travel to and within Australia and to educate Australians about their continent. It aspired to be an Australian geographic magazine, and to this end it focussed on inland and remote Australia, and natural history. For this reason, and because it was published throughout a period, particularly in the early decades, when only those Aborigines living afar from populated regions were recognised as Aborigines, many of Walkabout's articles were about Aborigines or, more commonly, made mention of them. There are very few critiques of Walkabout, but those that do exist are critical of its portrayal of Aborigines. Notwithstanding that there are many reasons to find fault, it is possible to read this material in a more salutary light, even against the apparent intention of at least one of the contributors, Ernestine Hill. This article considers the work of a number of popular writers and two of the anthropologists who contributed to Walkabout, and finds reason to be less critical and more cautious in our assessment of their narrative representation of Aborigines than is generally allowed. The period of analysis is from 1934 to 1950.' (Editor's abstract)
-
Whites on Blacks Without Ideology
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: Social Alternatives , April vol. 8 no. 1 1989; (p. 66-67)
— Review of Black Words, White Page : Aboriginal Literature 1929-1988 1989 single work criticism ; Literature and the Aborigine in Australia 1770- 1975 1978 single work criticism -
Views From a "Fourth World"
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 8 April. 1989; (p. 12)
— Review of Black Words, White Page : Aboriginal Literature 1929-1988 1989 single work criticism ; Literature and the Aborigine in Australia 1770- 1975 1978 single work criticism
-
Cries of Anger : Aboriginal Literature
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 25 March 1989; (p. 42)
— Review of Black Words, White Page : Aboriginal Literature 1929-1988 1989 single work criticism ; Literature and the Aborigine in Australia 1770- 1975 1978 single work criticism -
Evaluating Aboriginal Writing
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 11 March 1989; (p. B2)
— Review of Black Words, White Page : Aboriginal Literature 1929-1988 1989 single work criticism ; Literature and the Aborigine in Australia 1770- 1975 1978 single work criticism -
Progressive Proposals
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 109 1989; (p. 19-20)
— Review of Black Words, White Page : Aboriginal Literature 1929-1988 1989 single work criticism ; Literature and the Aborigine in Australia 1770- 1975 1978 single work criticism -
Reviews
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , September vol. 34 no. 3 1989; (p. 85-88)
— Review of Black Words, White Page : Aboriginal Literature 1929-1988 1989 single work criticism ; Literature and the Aborigine in Australia 1770- 1975 1978 single work criticism -
Views From a "Fourth World"
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 8 April. 1989; (p. 12)
— Review of Black Words, White Page : Aboriginal Literature 1929-1988 1989 single work criticism ; Literature and the Aborigine in Australia 1770- 1975 1978 single work criticism -
Sea-change or Atrophy? The Australian Convict Inheritance
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Coolabah , no. 5 2011; This paper is an offshoot of a larger project which explored the possibility for the erstwhile settler-colonizer undergoing the sea-change into settler-indigene emergent through a study of selected novels of Patrick White. It became apparent to me that the convict figure, who played an ancillary role in these works, could lay claim to the status of white indigene well ahead of the main protagonist. Robert Hughes (in The Fatal Shore) discredits the idea of any bonding between the convict and the Aborigine but acknowledges examples of "white blackfellas"—white men who had successfully been adopted into Aboriginal societies. Martin Tucker's nineteenth century work, Ralph Rashleigh, offers surprising testimony of a creative work which bears this out in a context where Australian literature generally reflected the national amnesia with regard to the Aborigine and barely accorded them human status. Grenville's The Secret River (2005), based broadly on the history of her own ancestor, appears to support Hughes' original contention but is also replete with ambivalences that work against a simple resolution. This paper will explore some of the ambivalences, the 'food for thought' on aspects of the Australian experience highlighted by these literary texts, and glances briefly also at variations on the theme in Carey's Jack Maggs and the The True Story of the Kelly Gang. (Author's abstract)
-
'White Aboriginals' : White Australian Literary Responses to the Challenge of Indigenous Histories
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Imaginary Antipodes : Essays on Contemporary Australian Literature and Culture 2011; (p. 71-86) 'Chapter 4 examines the phenomenon of the 'white Aboriginal,' a putative figure of cultural synthesis as proclaimed in Germaine Greer's maverick manifesto Whitefella Jump Up (2003). However, in texts such as Patrick White's A Fringe of Leaves (1976) and David Malouf's Remembering Babylon (1993), Liam Davison's The White Woman (1994), and Stephen Gray's The Artist is a Thief (2001), the 'white Aborigine' figure progressively modulates into a sign of appropriation rather than of reconciliation.' (From author's introduction, 12)
-
Finding Fault : Aborigines, Anthropologists, Popular Writers and Walkabout.
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Cultural History , vol. 28 no. 2/3 2010; (p. 179-200) 'The popular middlebrow magazine Walkabout was published between 1934 and 1974. Its principle aim was to promote travel to and within Australia and to educate Australians about their continent. It aspired to be an Australian geographic magazine, and to this end it focussed on inland and remote Australia, and natural history. For this reason, and because it was published throughout a period, particularly in the early decades, when only those Aborigines living afar from populated regions were recognised as Aborigines, many of Walkabout's articles were about Aborigines or, more commonly, made mention of them. There are very few critiques of Walkabout, but those that do exist are critical of its portrayal of Aborigines. Notwithstanding that there are many reasons to find fault, it is possible to read this material in a more salutary light, even against the apparent intention of at least one of the contributors, Ernestine Hill. This article considers the work of a number of popular writers and two of the anthropologists who contributed to Walkabout, and finds reason to be less critical and more cautious in our assessment of their narrative representation of Aborigines than is generally allowed. The period of analysis is from 1934 to 1950.' (Editor's abstract)
Last amended 22 Jan 2018 16:42:40
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