Benang Chapter 1 Summary

This “w. way of thinking” runs like a common thread through Scotts way of proceeding and through Benang. He admits that the research he did for writing a historical novel like Benang, was primarily based on documents, thus written sources. (Cf. Scott, 2001 169-70) It seems almost ironic that he critically addresses the very way of research and documentation in his novel that he used for his novel. Yet, this affirms what several scholars have pointed out as the essential attitude in writing history: being self-reflexive and letting the reader participate in the process of writing. It can therefore be stated that Scott provides an example of how writing history should look like. In chapter 4.2 it is elaborated how literature can occupy an important role in rethinking how the past should be processed. It is also mentioned that for some marginal groups, e.g. Aboriginal Australians, literature is the only way to tell their version of (his)story. Yet, even the freedom that literature allocates is overshadowed by white supremacy. As aforementioned the very fact that
The main difference between the white way and the Aboriginal way of dealing with history is that white history appears to be lifeless, dead, while Aboriginal history is alive and interacting with human beings in the present. Scott included this juxtaposition of white and Aboriginal history in the story that is told in Benang. On page 32 in the novel a rhythm is mentioned that emphasizes the aliveness of Aboriginal history, while handicaps like blindness, deafness and death itself are attributed to the white way of history writing. (Cf. 32) This passage has been mentioned in previous chapters, to show how the protagonist struggles with being imprisoned in a white way of dealing with the past. However, the rhythm of the past, which stands for the Aboriginal heritage, is omnipresent, albeit