Bibliograph

Finding Eliza, power and colonial storytelling, Larissa Behrendt

Type

Label

Finding Eliza, power and colonial storytelling, Larissa Behrendt

Language

eng

Form of composition

not applicable

Format of music

not applicable

Literary text for sound recordings

other

Main title

Finding Eliza

Responsibility statement

Larissa Behrendt

Sub title

power and colonial storytelling

Summary

Aboriginal lawyer, writer and filmmaker Larissa Behrendt has long been fascinated by the story of Eliza Fraser, who was purportedly captured by the Butchulla people after she was shipwrecked on their island in 1836. In this deeply personal book, Behrendt uses Eliza's tale as a starting point to interrogate how Aboriginal people - and indigenous people of other countries - have been portrayed in their colonisers' stories. Exploring works as diverse as Robinson Crusoe and Coonardoo, Behrendt looks at the stereotypes embedded in these accounts, including the assumption of cannibalism and the myth of the noble savage. Ultimately, Finding Eliza shows how these stories not only reflect the values - and how, in Australia, this has contributed to a complex racial divide

Target audience

adult

Contributor