|
Fair comment. I suppose I am more swept away by the book because I see what it has to say as so important, to Australians in particular.
For the depiction of the Aboriginals, we see and understand almost nothing about them because we are seeing them through the eyes of the settlers. I think Grenville based these observations on writings by Europeans at the time. While I agree that the "noble savage" concept is an idealisation which is also racist, I'm not sure how else she could have portrayed them.
The richness and complexity of their society was completely outside the understanding and knowledge of the settlers. Until the anthropologists took the trouble to learn their languages (of which there were a great many across the continent) and talk to them about their customs, values and beliefs, they were dismissed as ignorant savages who hadn't even managed to invent the wheel. And of course that is still the feeling among some Australians, even today.
|