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  • Monumental Disruptions: Aboriginal people and colonial commemorations in so-called Australia by Bronwyn Carlson book cover
  • Monumental Disruptions: Aboriginal people and colonial commemorations in so-called Australia by Bronwyn Carlson book cover
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Monumental Disruptions: Aboriginal people and colonial commemorations in so-called Australia

by Bronwyn Carlson

Rethinking colonial memorials

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AlbakiReads Editorial

Rethinking colonial memorials

Bronwyn Carlson examines how colonial commemorations in Australia have been created and understood, with particular attention to their meanings for Aboriginal and First Nations people across time. The book places these debates alongside international challenges to public monuments, including the 2020 protests around the James Cook anniversary and the statue in Sydney’s Hyde Park. Questions of removal, alteration and new forms of commemoration connect the historical discussion to present-day efforts by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities to mark the past together. The framing keeps the focus on who is represented in public memory and how societies acknowledge contested histories.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in Aboriginal and First Nations perspectives on Australian history
  • Those exploring public monuments, commemoration and colonial legacies
  • Readers interested in contemporary debates about how communities represent the past

Themes

Colonial commemorationAboriginal perspectives and sovereigntyPublic memory and contested historyCommunity approaches to marking the past

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Book overview

What is the place of Australia's colonial memorials in today's society? Do we remove, destroy or amend? Monumental Disruptions investigates how these memorials have been viewed, and are viewed, by First Nations people to find a way forward. In June 2020, on the heels of Australia's James Cook anniversary commemorations and statue-toppling Black Lives Matter protests in the USA, dozens of police were sent to guard a statue of Cook in Hyde Park, Sydney. Despite the police presence, two women spraypainted 'sovereignty never ceded' across the statue. Scenes like this are being repeated around the world as societies reassess memorials that no longer reflect today's values. Should they be removed, destroyed or amended? Monumental Disruptions looks for answers. It investigates why commemorations were erected, their meaning for Aboriginal people in Australia, both then and now, and it compares Australia's experience with that overseas. Those who question colonial commemorations have been called 'UnAustralian'; but, in Australia, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities are working together to forge new ways to mark the past. This timely book is essential reading for anyone interested in how a society commemorates and acknowledges its complex history.
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