'Research that relates to Indigenous Australian history has changed considerably since Aboriginal history first emerged as a distinct field in the 1970s. Beginning as an interdisciplinary field, Aboriginal history has since been shaped by historians, archaeologists, anthropologists and linguists who have brought to light a diverse range of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ historical experiences. Such research has sought to answer eminent anthropologist W. E. H. Stanner’s call to shatter the “Great Australian Silence” that is said to have omitted Indigenous people from national narratives of Australia’s past. Since its inception, Aboriginal history has proved to be a dynamic field. Much early work focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ experiences of colonisation—from first encounters with Europeans, to histories of frontier conflict, governmental intervention through protection and assimilation policies, and Indigenous labour histories. The influence of anthropology and linguistics has also ensured that Aboriginal history explores Indigenous worlds, drawing on languages and ethnography to reveal insights into so-called traditional practices concerning caring for Country and land management, diplomacy and law, and ceremonial life.' (Shino Konishi, Introduction)
'This article explores connections between history, emotion and Aboriginal song in the south of Western Australia. Songs performed in the Noongar language in the 19th and early 20th centuries provide insight into the emotional worlds of Western Australia’s past. Historical documentation reveals how Noongar sang to deal with rapid changes associated with colonisation, with song acting as a conduit for cultural resilience. Today, the Noongar language is endangered, and few people remember the old songs. Community aspirations to claim, consolidate and enhance cultural heritage have driven a collaborative process of translating, interpreting and revitalising some of this repertoire. Listening to and performing Noongar songs at community gatherings today stirs strong emotions, feelings of connection to the past and senses of both loss and hope. In this context, songs are also key to maintaining links to ancestors, language and a sense of community.' (Publication abstract)
'Archival-poetics is an active, embodied reckoning with history and the violence of the colonial archive, particularly South Australia’s Aboriginal records. Family records at the heart of this work trigger questions about surveillance, representation and agency, bearing witness to the state’s archivisation processes and the revelation of what is both absent and present on the record. Emotion and intuition compel such archival-intimacy, particularly when reckoning with traumatic, contested and buried episodes of history that inevitably return to haunt. As my research progressed, I unintentionally re-created and became stuck in the very thing I was interrogating: the archive box. The only way to unbind myself was to write poetry and weave my way out, which grounded this archival-poetics in unanticipated ways. This article will explore the process of weaving with my nanna’s and great-grandmother's handwritten letters, as both conceptual metaphor and as literal, cultural practice. As a creative arts praxis, it will also discuss the transformative effect and decolonising potential of weaving archives into something beautiful and honouring, to offer new narratives of history for the future record. A Ngarrindjeri basket can hold many stories. This is one of them.' (Publication abstract)
'In Australia, language and song are integral to maintaining Aboriginal knowledge systems. British colonisation and ensuing Australian government policies of assimilation have adversely impacted these knowledge systems, at least partially by functioning to dramatically diminish the vitality of many Aboriginal languages and song traditions. As a Noongar researcher motivated by community-oriented goals, I employ a multidisciplinary approach to enhance the revitalisation of the endangered Noongar language and its song traditions in the south coast region of Western Australia. This work draws on established methods from ethnomusicology and linguistics, engaging with community knowledge-holders and archival records to rebuild repertoire while increasing opportunities to gather together, sing and speak. While the processes developed to aid this endeavour may function as useful models for others involved in similar projects across the world, its aims are primarily oriented towards empowering the local community. Given the continued development of approaches to Indigenous research, this article will discuss the potential for language revitalisation, song and performance to expand available ways of knowing.' (Publication abstract)
'The past three decades have seen David Carter’s books, chapters and journal articles gradually establish his solid academic reputation in the fields of Australian literature and cultural studies. The younger and promising scholar Roger Osborne has also achieved impressive research results in the fields of Australian publishing history and digital humanities. Their collaborative effort, Australian Books and Authors in the American Marketplace 1840s–1940s, represents an innovative contribution to the study of Australian national literature and its formation. It reveals a triangle model in the map of the circulation of Australian literature, in which Australia, the UK and the US occupy the three points. Instead of being limited by the “imperial and colonised” binary thinking mode, Carter and Osborne draw attention to another side of the triangle on which Australia stands and the US awaits exploration.' (Introduction)
