Issue Details: First known date: 2017... 2017 Indigenous Lives, The ‘Cult of Forgetfulness’ and the Australian Dictionary of Biography
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'In 1968 the esteemed Australian anthropologist Bill Stanner coined the term “the great Australian silence” to describe a “cult of forgetfulness” that had seen Aboriginal people virtually ignored in the writing of Australian history. The Australian Dictionary of Biography had published its first two volumes by then, and the indifference that Stanner observed was already apparent in its choice of biographical subjects.

'The architects of the dictionary had envisaged a great national co-operative venture with autonomous working parties in each state whose members would choose “significant and representative” subjects, a “cross-section of Australian society”. In succinct articles, these lives would collectively illustrate the Australian national story.'

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Last amended 1 Nov 2017 09:04:07
https://theconversation.com/indigenous-lives-the-cult-of-forgetfulness-and-the-australian-dictionary-of-biography-86302 Indigenous Lives, The ‘Cult of Forgetfulness’ and the Australian Dictionary of Biographysmall AustLit logo The Conversation
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