Cirrus@Austlit

'Early narratives of colonial exploration mythologised the role of the explorer. He, for inevitably the explorer was a man, was often cast as a lone heroic figure venturing into the vast uninhabited unknown. This mythical trope was a resilient one that found its way into published journals of exploration and works of literature and art well into the twentieth century. Yet the reality of colonial exploration was vastly different from the myth. The territory being explored was, in fact, inhabited and had been so for millennia. Furthermore, explorers relied on the expertise and knowledge of Indigenous intermediaries and mediators to navigate the unfamiliar landscape. It is the role of these intermediaries that is examined in Brokers and boundaries: colonial exploration in Indigenous territory. The editors of this volume of collected essays have brought together historians of Australia and Papua New Guinea to formulate new narratives in the history of exploration that address the complex interactions between explorers and intermediaries. These accounts draw attention to the agency that was often exercised by these intermediaries and the manner in which they used their positions to navigate relationships with not only colonial explorers but also other Indigenous peoples.'  (Introduction)

'Historian Alison Holland charts the life and work of activist Mary Bennett and her long quest to improve the condition of Aboriginal people. Bennett was one of the leading advocates for Indigenous rights both at home and on the international stage during the twentieth century. Holland also uses the arc of Bennett’s life story to explore the development of a broader humanitarian discourse that sought to highlight the plight of Indigenous peoples in Australia.' (Introduction)

'The myth of the warrior looms large in the Australian popular imagination. The young men who served at Gallipoli, at the Western Front and across other fields of battle have not faded from the national consciousness and, in many instances, have been canonised as secular saints. The language of sport is imbued with martial terms; football matches are often described as battles and those playing on the field earn the epithet of ‘warrior’. The display of aggression seen on the playing field is lauded as noble and heroic. The most notable exception to this was seen in 2015 when Aboriginal Australian Football star Adam Goodes was criticised by some for performing a war dance after scoring a goal. For some critics, the warlike display by a proud and strong Aboriginal man was too much to take. The same pride and physicality in the Aboriginal man Dundalli struck fear in the hearts and minds of the European inhabitants in the fledging British settlement of Brisbane and its surrounds. Dundalli came to exemplify the dangers that lay beyond the limits of colonial control. It is the little known story of this man and the resistance of the Dalla, Jagara and Gubbi Gubbi people to European invasion that historian Libby Connors chronicles in Warrior' (Introduction)

'Coranderrk: we will show the country is the result of an intensive and fruitful collaboration between University of Melbourne historian Giordano Nanni and the director and playwright Andrea James. Conceived as part of the Australian Research Council–funded ‘Minutes of evidence’ project, it brings to the stage the events of the 1881 Parliamentary Inquiry into the Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve. The book is, at the same time, a scholarly historical study of the Coranderrk Reserve, a script of the stage production and an examination of the complex creative processes undertaken by the authors during the development of the project.' (Introduction)

'First published in 1878, Mrs Lance Rawson’s cookery book and household hints was the first cookbook of its kind to provide recipes and household hints specifically tailored for life in colonial Australia. Over a long and prolific career, Wilhelmina Rawson instructed her readers on more than mere culinary matters, her works were also guides on what a colonial lifestyle should look like. Cookbooks are valuable cultural artefacts that mirror many aspects of the society that has produced them. They not only codify culinary and domestic practices but also codify wider cultural and social practices. Rawson’s books, such as The Antipodean cookery book and The Australian enquiry book, provide fascinating insights into life at turn of the century Australia.' (Author's abstract)