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Introduction - PDF Document (654 K) |
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| Access Rights |
Open Access |
| Citation |
Healy, C. (1997). Introduction. In From the ruins of colonialism: history as social memory (pp. 1-10). Cambridge ; Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. |
| Citation |
10187/2221 |
| Handle |
10187/2221 |
| Title |
Introduction |
| Creator |
Healy, Chris |
| Publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
| Date |
1997 |
| Subject / Keywords |
cultural studies, history, colonialism |
| Abstract |
As a collection of British colonies and then a nation, Australia came into existence as a product of both colonialism and modernity; proud of its fancied youth and eager for the fruits of civilisation, enamoured with progress yet yearning for tradition. Historical accounts of Australia have equally been products of colonialism and modernity. More often than not, the mission of history has been to remember the triumph of colonising a continent and forming a modern nation state with destiny on its side. While the historical legacies of colonialism and modernity remain palpable, many of the dreams of colonialism and modernity lie in ruins. This is a book from these 'ruins' in the sense that it discusses both the colonial past of former colonies and the colonising of indigenous people in Australia. But ruins are never simply gone or in the past; ruins are enduring traces; spaces of romantic fancies and forgetfulness where social memories imagine the persistence of time in records of destruction. Thus this book is about the past in the present, it is written from within contemporary cultures of history. It moves from Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal accounts of Captain Cook, jumps to the installation of history in museums and school curricula, glides through the historiography of archetypal historical events. |
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This is a book with strong hopes for history and social memory. My interest is not in hammering home the constructedness of history, nor in the important task of diversifying and proliferating accounts of neglected historical actors but in thinking historically about existing social memory. It is a gesture towards learning to inhabit landscapes of memory which are, in part, landscapes littered with ruins; some archaic and others nightmarish, some quaint simulations and others desperate echoes. I imagine such a landscape of memories not as homeless place for lost souls but a ground from which new flights of historical imagination might depart and to which they might return, differently. |
| Type |
Book Chapter |
| Source Title |
From the ruins of colonialism: history as social memory |
| Pages |
1-10 |
| Language |
eng |
| Notes |
© Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction prohibited. |
| Publication Status |
Published |
| Peer Reviewed |
Peer Reviewed |
| Faculty/Department |
Arts: Department of English with Cultural Studies |
| Institution |
University of Melbourne |
| Alternative Location |
http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521565766 |
| Collection |
Research Collections (UMER) |
| Rights |
Terms and Conditions: Copyright in works deposited in the University of Melbourne Eprints Repository (UMER) is retained by the copyright owner. The work may not be altered without permission from the copyright owner. Readers may only, download, print, and save electronic copies of whole works for their own personal non-commercial use. Any use that exceeds these limits requires permission from the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from these works. |
| PID |
67311 |
| Related collections |
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