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Post-colonial Literature for Children EDU32PLC Week 4 - Lecture 7

Post-colonial Literature for Children EDU32PLC Week 4 - Lecture 7. European voices in Aboriginal History: Telling the Big Picture. © La Trobe University, David Beagley 2006. References.

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Post-colonial Literature for Children EDU32PLC Week 4 - Lecture 7

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  1. Post-colonial Literature for ChildrenEDU32PLCWeek 4 - Lecture 7 European voices in Aboriginal History: Telling the Big Picture © La Trobe University, David Beagley 2006

  2. References Foster, J., Finnis, E.J. and Nimon, M. (1995) Aboriginal Australia: a century of attitudinal change. in Australian Children’s Literature: an exploration of genre and theme. Wagga: CIS, Charles Sturt University Heiss, A. (2002) Writing about Indigenous Australia - some issues to consider and protocols to follow: a discussion paper. Southerly. 62(2) Summer: 197-205 Jarman, M. (1999) Postcolonialism and language use in Australian Children’s Literature: a case study of The Children of Mirrabooka. in Something to Crow About: new perspectives in Literature for Young people. eds. Susan Clancy and David Gilbey. Wagga Wagga: CIS, CSU

  3. Binary approaches • Aboriginal voice/European voice • Positive/negative • Past/present • History/future How do you prefer to remove a band-aid? • Slowly and delicately … • Just rip it straight off !!!

  4. Differing approaches Positive reminiscences have advantages • Forward looking, not living in the past • Focus on the good aspects, not the “black armband” features • Enables pride in self and identity • Emphasis on young audience promotes shared identifications • Don’t scare the children

  5. But …… The reality is … • Near genocide across a continent over two centuries - massacres, dispossession, racism • Life expectancy 20+ years less than other Australians • Many communities with 3rd world conditions in health, housing, finance • Immense social problems of adjustment to European expectations How is this story to be told?

  6. European stories and story telling Structural and contextual elements • Linear history - focus on sequence of events, causes and consequences • Individual characters - independent of each other and “negotiating” their relationships • Setting and place - background against which the human drama takes place • Are there distinct cultural voices that create different ways of telling stories?

  7. European perspectives In telling Aboriginal stories, are Europeans: • Telling of their own role in the shared history • Coming to terms with the negative aspects • Appropriating the stories and their cultural roles • Reaching towards a shared understanding • Mediating and interpreting the “foreign” • Recognizing the integrity of Aboriginal culture • Are European versions European stories or Aboriginal stories?

  8. Protocols for European writers Language • Vocabulary – Aboriginal / European • Idiom • Voice Consultation • Local, contextual • Mutual creation – mixed voice for mixed audiences Research

  9. Protocols for European writers Respect • Ownership of story, context and detail • Use of terminology and address • Representation – individuals, events, beliefs • Perspective and purpose

  10. Fact or Fiction? Stories for older readers • Children of Mirrabooka • Deadly, Unna? • European authors • Focus on the interaction between Europeans and Aboriginals • Do not shy away from the negative and confronting elements • Present the story in direct, realist style

  11. Children of Mirrabooka “Dream/flashback/time travel” style used by other authors for similar stories • Tangara - Nan Chanucy, You, me and Murrawee Allows two voices to be used: European in present, Aboriginal in past Allows “discovery” by modern world or character of hidden crimes Therefore, allows reflection by modern European on past injustices But also maintains explorer/discovery binary of post-colonialism

  12. Children of Mirrabooka Probably the first non Aboriginal novel which deals explicitly and as an extended theme with Land Rights and dispossession But does the fantasy / time travel aspect weaken the reality of the situation by making it fantasy, or by resigning it to history? Eventually, the colonization of the station is accepted and continues – Jenny as colonial master, despite her pangs of conscience..

  13. Children of Mirrabooka Multiple voices: • European/Aboriginal • Authorial/Narrative • Can such a story be told in an unbiased, balanced way? • Is the story about the European in the present or the Aboriginal in the past? • Is it appropriation of an Aboriginal story for European sensibilities?

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