Description
Book SynopsisThe Australian South Sea Islander (ASSI) minority community has a contested indentured labour background and involvement in the Australian sugar cane industry which has resulted in a consequent paucity of material culture and other records. This paucity, in a sense, forms a substantive part of
The Secret Life of Memorials: Through the Memory Lens of the Australian South Sea Islanders as it is argued that memory places, rather than static artefactual stand-ins for the past, are dynamic material culture which have agency and relevance in the present, participating in the on-going post-colonial process. Although a material culture study focused on the materialised expression of memory, this research allows discussion beyond typologies, styles and categories to consider the relational meaning and distributed agency of these objects within the complex network of public memory. In addition to considerations of their symbolic, mnemonic or representational reflections of the past, contemporary memorials are discussed as extensions of the original ASSI event to which they refer, a part of a continuous process that is helping to shape current communities. This encompassing approach, from historical experience to present day memory enactment strategies, employs a variety of theoretical arguments, contributing a new method for comprehending and including the many interleaving aspects of memory spaces, of interest to heritage professionals, local councils and governing bodies, and members of the general public.
Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 3: Theoretical Concepts - Liminal Spaces
Chapter 2: Research Context - Literatures
Chapter 4: The Memory Practices - Material Constructs
Chapter 5: Embedded Memory - Language Based
Chapter 6: Entangled Memory - Cognitive Meaning
Chapter 7: Interactive Memory - Philosophical Constructs
Chapter 8: Networked Memory
Chapter 9: Conclusion
Appendix 1: Legislation
Appendix 2: Australian South Sea Islander Organisations
Appendix 3: Visitor Centre Email Template
Appendix 4: Extended Detail Data Base
Appendix 5: QHR Original Record for SSI Sugar Wagon Trail Yeppoon
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