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Mitchell discusses Tench's motives behind his writings on the First Settlement, arguing that he attempted to produce entertaining works, carefully selecting events, language and literary conventions for that purpose. This is seen most clearly in his use of a tableau that dramatically presents the meeting of the "primitive" with the "civilised" as an ailing aborigine and his son are cared for by the European settlers. But despite the sentimentality and light-heartedness of much of his writing, Tench was pessimistic about the future of Australia, and gave a negative view of the colony in his books.
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Last amended 26 May 2015 14:13:19
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Watkin Tench's Sentimental Enclosures : Original Relations from the First Settlement
Australian & New Zealand Studies in Canada
Subjects:
- A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay : With an Account of New South Wales, Its Productions, Inhabitants, &c. : To Which Is Subjoined a List of the Civil and Military Establishments at Port Jackson 1789 single work prose
- A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson, in New South Wales : Including an Accurate Description of the Situation of the Colony; of the Natives; and of its Natural Productions 1793 single work prose
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