Grace Karskens

Autor von The Colony: A History of Early Sydney

7+ Werke 172 Mitglieder 3 Rezensionen

Über den Autor

Grace Karskens is author of The Colony, winner of the 2010 Prime Minister's Non-fiction Award, and of The Rocks., winner of the 1998 NSW Premier's History Award. She is Professor of History at the University of New South Wales and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

Bildnachweis: Grace Karskens

Werke von Grace Karskens

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The Colony: A History of Early Sydney (2009) 80 Exemplare

People of the River: Lost Worlds of Early Australia (2020) 48 Exemplare

The Rocks: Everyday Life in Early Sydney 1788-1830 (1795) 24 Exemplare

Inside The Rocks: The Archaeology of a Neighbourhood (1999) 13 Exemplare

The Cumberland/Gloucester streets site, The Rocks : archaeological investigation report (1999) 4 Exemplare

Holroyd : a social history of western Sydney (1991) 2 Exemplare

The History of the Australian House 1 Exemplar

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Painting the Rocks: The Loss of Old Sydney (2012) — Einführung — 6 Exemplare

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Wissenswertes

Rechtmäßiger Name: Karskens, Grace Elizabeth
Geschlecht: female
Nationalität: Australia
Wohnorte: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Ausbildung: University of Sydney (BA, MA, PhD)
Berufe: professor (Australian and Public History)
historian
Organisationen: University of New South Wales
Australian Academy of the Humanities (Fellow)

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People of the River: Lost Worlds of Early Australia von Grace Karskens

An old friend lent me his copy of People of the River by the rigorous historian Grace Karskens. It's a beautifully written and thoroughly engaging account not only of Nepean/Hawkesbury river history but also of manifold family histories and their complex inter-relationships. Karskens personalises so many of her observations through family stories from both an Aboriginal perspective and the white settlers. It begins with what the river's ancient geology can tell us about Aboriginal occupation and deftly shifts into the complex consequences of European invasion.

Having recently read [b:Pemulwuy, The Rainbow Warrior|6323289|Pemulwuy, The Rainbow Warrior|Eric Willmot|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1361081906l/6323289._SX50_.jpg|6508759] by Eric Willmot, I question whether Grace Karskens adequately covers the extent of Aboriginal resistance to white settlement which, although mentioned, is largely omitted. If Eric Willmot is to be believed, then Pemulwuy and other warriors went very close to ridding NSW of the invaders in his 12-year war.

There are dimensions of this book that are part of my own family history. As a descendent (on my mother's side) of Colonial Secretary, Evan Nepean and his brother, Nicholas Nepean of the NSW Corps as well as (on my father's side) Governor Macquarie's ADC, Captain John Antill, our family is descended from what Grace Karskens calls the colonial elite. But we also have convict forebears. How fascinating and just that today the new elite are those who are descended from the dispossessed Aboriginal clans. Like many other Currency girls, my great-great grandmother, Selina (nee Antill) married at 16. Over 9 generations our family has developed intimate enchantments with different Australian places. My own enchantment with the Warrumbungles, in north-western N.S.W, is articulated in In Place .

Karskens delves into why the Currency generation should despise the new British settlers. A tension that continues to this day with entitled British migrants pontificating from a position of perceived superiority. However, for those who saw beauty...

At-homeness and a passionate attachment to this country were articulated still more clearly among the next generation, who identified strongly with their river birthplaces, families and communities, and called themselves Australians. p. 275

Nevertheless, the dispossession on which this new sense of belonging was based, extended to the prevailing notion that Aboriginal culture is/was somehow fixed and therefore doomed. The dynamism and flexibility of Indigenous culture is still largely ignored today, with many lamenting the loss of traditional cultural practices.

Aboriginal people continued their own cultural practices and movements within 'settled' areas for decades, a tenacious and practical form of resistance. But they also adopted and transformed some of the settler's pleasures and participated in others:..p.430

Just when I began to wonder if this book was becoming slightly plodding I found myself enthralled with the description of songs as connective events. In 1933, on the edge of Australia's western MacDonell Ranges, my father witnessed the last great pre-contact gathering of Nalliae, Pintubi and Loritcha groups. During a corroboree the Nalliae sang a song (among many others) referred to as the Duck Flying Away song. Not only was it rhythmically remarkable in that it was clear to all that it was about the flight of ducks as they circle a water hole, but it was sung in an old language no-one understood. My father speculated that it may have been a relic of a more sophisticated period. Karskens provides another explanation:

Songs also spread language far across Country, for when Aboriginal people learned the words, they learned the 'dialects of the language hence the poets sprung', although they could not always understand the meaning. p.441.

… (mehr)

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simonpockley | Feb 25, 2024 |

The Colony: A History of Early Sydney von Grace Karskens

https://shawjonathan.com/2020/09/06/grace-karskens-colony/

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shawjonathan | 1 weitere Rezension | Sep 4, 2020 |

The Colony: A History of Early Sydney von Grace Karskens

In this detailed and expansive volume, Grace Karskens unravels the history of the convict settlement of Sydney and its rapid expansion across the Cumberland Plain beyond. She begins, quite properly, by reconstructing the forested landscape of the Sydney basin over recent geological time including the relationship and understanding Aboriginal people had with this land. The account of the initial convict camp that follows includes a cast list ranging from soldiers, convicts, settlers and scientists. With extensive and informative background material we are provided with a rare glimpse into the thoughts and visions of the governors of this colony including their sometimes ill fated strategies for both prosperity and harmony. Subsequent chapters look at the growing pains of the new settlement all the while leading to the eventual armed conflict between old and new inhabitants of the land.

Overall Karskens displays a strong sense of narrative, conjuring convicts toiling in the intense and variable Australian climate to “free” the land for cultivation while naked Aboriginals from the local tribes look on, no doubt nervous about these foreigners’ long term intentions.

Grace Karskens is a distinguished author in the field; her previous books include The Rocks: Life in Early Sydney and Inside the Rocks. She comes across as a scrupulous researcher who respects her sources and is prepared to challenge the views of previous scholars and authors. The Colony seems to represent a personal mission to remove the many myths and lingering stains of impropriety emanating from an important moment in both British and Australian history, and I feel Grace has achieved her goal. The book is very well illustrated with maps, photographs and artistic images but I’ll admit that at nearly 600 pages this book is not something that can be breezed through at pace. It will take several sittings and many moments of reflection to truly appreciate its detailed analysis and commentary. This is a book for all who are interested in the subject matter and want to improve their understanding - not least those devoted colonial scholars.… (mehr)

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adamclaxton | 1 weitere Rezension | Nov 18, 2011 |

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