University of Tasmania
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

Finding Fault: Aborigines, anthropologists, popular writers and Walkabout

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 09:18 authored by Rolls, M
The popular middlebrow magazine Walkabout was published between 1934 and 1974. Its principle aim was to promote travel to and within Australia and to educate Australians about their continent. It aspired to be an Australian geographic magazine, and to this end it focussed on inland and remote Australia, and natural history. For this reason, and because it was published throughout a period, particularly in the early decades, when only those Aborigines living afar from populated regions were recognised as Aborigines, many of Walkabout’s articles were about Aborigines or, more commonly, made mention of them. There are very few critiques of Walkabout, but those that do exist are critical of its portrayal of Aborigines. Notwithstanding that there are many reasons to find fault, it is possible to read this material in a more salutary light, even against the apparent intention of at least one of the contributors, Ernestine Hill. This article considers the work of a number of popular writers and two of the anthropologists who contributed to Walkabout, and finds reason to be less critical and more cautious in our assessment of their narrative representation of Aborigines than is generally allowed. The period of analysis is from 1934 to 1950.

History

Publication title

Australian Cultural History

Volume

28

Issue

2-3

Pagination

179-200

ISSN

0728-8433

Department/School

School of Humanities

Publisher

Routledge

Place of publication

UK

Rights statement

Copyright 2011 A P I Network.

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Understanding Australia’s past

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC