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Issue Details: First known date: 2008... 2008 An Appreciation of Difference : WEH Stanner and Aboriginal Australia
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'WEH Stanner was a public intellectual whose work reached beyond the walls of the academy, and he remains a highly significant figure in Aboriginal affairs and Australian anthropology. Educated by Radcliffe-Brown in Sydney and Malinowski in London, he undertook anthropological work in Australia, Africa and the Pacific.'

'Stanner contributed much to public understandings of the Dreaming and the significance of Aboriginal religion. His 1968 broadcast lectures, After the Dreaming, continue to be among the most widely quoted works in the field of Aboriginal studies. He also produced some exceptionally evocative biographical portraits of Aboriginal people. Stanner’s writings on post-colonial development and assimilation policy urged an appreciation of Indigenous people’s distinctive world views and aspirations.'

'Hinkson and Beckett have drawn together some of Australia’s leading academics working in Aboriginal studies to provide an historical and analytical context for Stanner’s work, as well as demonstrating the continuing relevance of his writings in the contested field of Aboriginal affairs.' (Source: Publisher's website)

Notes

  • This work is divided into four parts:

    Part 1. Diverse Fields

    Part 2. In Pursuit of Transcendent Value

    Part 3. Land and People

    Part 4. A Public Intellectual

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Other Formats

Works about this Work

Untitled Kristina Everett , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , November no. 35 2011; (p. 203-204)

— Review of An Appreciation of Difference : WEH Stanner and Aboriginal Australia 2008 single work biography
My Hero Dean Ashenden , 2011 single work essay
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 70 no. 4 2011; (p. 94-109)

'Eight or nine years ago I found myself thinking about the strangeness of a place in which I'd lived as a boy, strange in several ways, but most vividly because there, in Tennant Creek, unlike any other place in which I'd lived before or have lived in since, there were Aborigines. I knew almost nothing about them, either in general or in Tennant Creek in particular, and I began reading. Early on, and more or less by chance, I came across a slim volume titled After the Dreaming, by a W.E.H. Stanner, and picked it up simply because it wouldn't take long to read. That was a miscalculation of ignorance. Only three or four pages in I was already slowed by the force, density and passion of the argument. Soon I was reading line by line, word by word.' (Publication abstract)

Untitled Helen Gardner , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , March vol. 41 no. 1 2010; (p. 111-112)

— Review of The Dreaming and Other Essays W. E. H. Stanner , 2009 selected work criticism ; An Appreciation of Difference : WEH Stanner and Aboriginal Australia 2008 single work biography
Maggots and Mysticism Barry Hill , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Arena Magazine , October-November no. 102 2009; (p. 48-49)

— Review of An Appreciation of Difference : WEH Stanner and Aboriginal Australia 2008 single work biography
The Good Soldier Inga Clendinnen , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Monthly , April no. 44 2009; (p. 56-61)

— Review of An Appreciation of Difference : WEH Stanner and Aboriginal Australia 2008 single work biography
The Good Soldier Inga Clendinnen , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Monthly , April no. 44 2009; (p. 56-61)

— Review of An Appreciation of Difference : WEH Stanner and Aboriginal Australia 2008 single work biography
Maggots and Mysticism Barry Hill , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Arena Magazine , October-November no. 102 2009; (p. 48-49)

— Review of An Appreciation of Difference : WEH Stanner and Aboriginal Australia 2008 single work biography
Untitled Helen Gardner , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , March vol. 41 no. 1 2010; (p. 111-112)

— Review of The Dreaming and Other Essays W. E. H. Stanner , 2009 selected work criticism ; An Appreciation of Difference : WEH Stanner and Aboriginal Australia 2008 single work biography
Untitled Kristina Everett , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , November no. 35 2011; (p. 203-204)

— Review of An Appreciation of Difference : WEH Stanner and Aboriginal Australia 2008 single work biography
My Hero Dean Ashenden , 2011 single work essay
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 70 no. 4 2011; (p. 94-109)

'Eight or nine years ago I found myself thinking about the strangeness of a place in which I'd lived as a boy, strange in several ways, but most vividly because there, in Tennant Creek, unlike any other place in which I'd lived before or have lived in since, there were Aborigines. I knew almost nothing about them, either in general or in Tennant Creek in particular, and I began reading. Early on, and more or less by chance, I came across a slim volume titled After the Dreaming, by a W.E.H. Stanner, and picked it up simply because it wouldn't take long to read. That was a miscalculation of ignorance. Only three or four pages in I was already slowed by the force, density and passion of the argument. Soon I was reading line by line, word by word.' (Publication abstract)

Last amended 1 Dec 2015 14:17:10
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