Walter Newton's history of the world—or Australia

Abstract

How do people whose forebears were overtaken by an expansionary Europe but who still retain a separate identity make sense of conquest and domination? Can they adapt their own traditions to this purpose, and if so, can they speak with authority, or speak at all, in the shadow of the colonists' hegemonic culture? Australian Aborigines seem rarely to have applied their tradition to the task. This article describes one man's attempt to negotiate the impasse as he creates a dialogue between Dreamtime stories and Anglo‐Australian traditions. It suggests how he came to make that attempt and why it was abortive. The analysis is conducted in the light of recent writings about mythical and historical consciousness among non‐Western peoples. [Australia, Aborigines, colonialism, myth, history, narrative, consciousness, Australian Aborigines]

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