Abstract
[Truncated] The main focus of this research project was the production of a novel, A Most Intelajint Kuriositee, based upon an investigation of the first ten to twenty years of the colonisation of the south coast of Western Australia with the place now known as “Albany” and a set of circumstances often referred to as the ‘friendly frontier’ at its centre.
The novel takes its inspiration from the apparent readiness of Indigenous people of the region (hereafter referred to as Noongar) to accommodate the British presence and appropriate some of their technologies, activities and cultural forms. In particular, the narrative voice of the novel is influenced by the occasional examples in the archives of Noongar people playing with various genres of written and spoken English; the use of British words, images and even point-of-view in otherwise ‘traditional’ Noongar songs; the example of letters written by Noongar people in the nineteenth century; whalers’ journals; and Noongar language itself.
The notion of the ocean as part of the spiritual heritage of south-coastal Noongar culture is central to the novel, as is the existence of alliances between Noongar and colonial individuals in the shore-based whaling industry and in “exploratory expeditions”.
Mindful of Henry James’ oft-quoted dictum regarding the ‘humbug’ of presenting an historical ‘consciousness’ the novel seeks to evoke a ‘secret sharing’ by interplay between the sensibilities of narrator characters( and, of course, reader) to suggest to a contemporary readership a relationship with a particular history and place. The novel’s setting, although based upon the south coast and the town of Albany, does not exactly correspond to reality, but amalgamates different geographical features of the south coast while maintaining ‘typical’ relationships between such things as beach, ocean, bay, river and granite outcrops. Similarly, the novel does not feature ‘real’ historical characters, but amalgamations and elaborations of various historical individuals as well as invented identities. Thus it seeks to obliquely, rather than directly, refer to a particular history and to provoke consideration of other possibilities latent in Indigenous/non-Indigenous historical interaction.
The novel is accompanied by a dissertation, An Anomalous History and a Noongar Voice which discusses the rationale for, and research behind, the novel.
The novel takes its inspiration from the apparent readiness of Indigenous people of the region (hereafter referred to as Noongar) to accommodate the British presence and appropriate some of their technologies, activities and cultural forms. In particular, the narrative voice of the novel is influenced by the occasional examples in the archives of Noongar people playing with various genres of written and spoken English; the use of British words, images and even point-of-view in otherwise ‘traditional’ Noongar songs; the example of letters written by Noongar people in the nineteenth century; whalers’ journals; and Noongar language itself.
The notion of the ocean as part of the spiritual heritage of south-coastal Noongar culture is central to the novel, as is the existence of alliances between Noongar and colonial individuals in the shore-based whaling industry and in “exploratory expeditions”.
Mindful of Henry James’ oft-quoted dictum regarding the ‘humbug’ of presenting an historical ‘consciousness’ the novel seeks to evoke a ‘secret sharing’ by interplay between the sensibilities of narrator characters( and, of course, reader) to suggest to a contemporary readership a relationship with a particular history and place. The novel’s setting, although based upon the south coast and the town of Albany, does not exactly correspond to reality, but amalgamates different geographical features of the south coast while maintaining ‘typical’ relationships between such things as beach, ocean, bay, river and granite outcrops. Similarly, the novel does not feature ‘real’ historical characters, but amalgamations and elaborations of various historical individuals as well as invented identities. Thus it seeks to obliquely, rather than directly, refer to a particular history and to provoke consideration of other possibilities latent in Indigenous/non-Indigenous historical interaction.
The novel is accompanied by a dissertation, An Anomalous History and a Noongar Voice which discusses the rationale for, and research behind, the novel.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Publication status | Unpublished - 2009 |