From the Ruins of Colonialism: History as Social Memory

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CUP Archive, Mar 27, 1997 - History - 249 pages
From the Ruins of Colonialism throws fresh light on the history of memory, forgetting and colonialism. Focusing on Australia, the book charts how film, public commemorations, history textbooks and museums have, in a strange ensemble, become something called Australian History. It considers key moments of historical imagination, including the legends of Captain Cook and the Eureka Stockade, events such as the 1988 Bicentennial celebrations and the shipwrecked woman Eliza Fraser, whose story reflects anxieties about race and gender. This book argues for a new sense of remembering. Rather than being content with a culture of amnesia, it makes the case for learning to belong in the ruins of colonial histories. Chris Healy's investigation of these historical cultures and narratives is innovative and stimulating and will become a powerful statement for new histories.

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Contents

Illustrations
1
White Histories of Cook
16
The Apotheosis of Captain Cook
18
The front cover of the current guide book to Cooks Cottage
31
Black Histories of Cook
42
Hobbles Danaiyairi
59
INSTALLING MEMORY
73
Cover image from Strahan et al Rare and Curious Specimens
80
IN THE EVENT
130
The Eureka Flag
134
Still from The Eureka Stockade
156
Eliza Fraser and the Impossibility of Postcolonial History
159
Untitled image of Eliza Fraser
174
Death of Captain Fraser
187
Notes
190
Select Bibliography
224

Collection of Aboriginal material on display
94
The Memorywork of Schooling
106
School interior Beechworth
108

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