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A review by kimbofo
The Queen Is Dead by Stan Grant
5.0
Stan Grant’s latest book, The Queen is Dead, blends lived experience with factual journalism and memoir to tell a compelling story about Australia’s colonisation under Empire.
It asks important questions about the monarchy and why Australia so willingly accepted (and promoted) the seamless transition of King Charles III reign without properly considering the perspective of First Nations people, both at home and abroad, of this news.
It exposes the awful truth of the monarchy’s impact on First Nations people and highlights the disconnect between the Crown, represented by Queen Elizabeth II, and the legacy of impoverishment and imprisonment experienced by Indigenous Australians created in its name and which she never acknowledged in her lifetime (italics are mine).
Grant begins his book with Queen Elizabeth II’s death after her 70-year reign, but this is not really a story about the Queen per se. Yes, it’s about what the Crown represents, especially under Empire, and yes, it argues that there’s no place for it in a modern forward-thinking world.
But the crux of The Queen is Dead is less about monarchy and more about Whiteness (it is capitalised in the book) and the West, both of which are social constructs and can, therefore, be changed (as Grant’s logic suggests).
Some of his arguments are confronting, especially if you are White, a royalist, British or a combination thereof, and the anger is palpable, but in laying bare the truth, he shows us a path to reconciliation. He argues that the Queen’s death — she is described as “the last White Queen” throughout — offers a chance to reset, end the monarchy in Australia and redress the bitter legacy of colonialism for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
For a more detailed review, please visit my blog.
It asks important questions about the monarchy and why Australia so willingly accepted (and promoted) the seamless transition of King Charles III reign without properly considering the perspective of First Nations people, both at home and abroad, of this news.
It exposes the awful truth of the monarchy’s impact on First Nations people and highlights the disconnect between the Crown, represented by Queen Elizabeth II, and the legacy of impoverishment and imprisonment experienced by Indigenous Australians created in its name and which she never acknowledged in her lifetime (italics are mine).
Grant begins his book with Queen Elizabeth II’s death after her 70-year reign, but this is not really a story about the Queen per se. Yes, it’s about what the Crown represents, especially under Empire, and yes, it argues that there’s no place for it in a modern forward-thinking world.
But the crux of The Queen is Dead is less about monarchy and more about Whiteness (it is capitalised in the book) and the West, both of which are social constructs and can, therefore, be changed (as Grant’s logic suggests).
Some of his arguments are confronting, especially if you are White, a royalist, British or a combination thereof, and the anger is palpable, but in laying bare the truth, he shows us a path to reconciliation. He argues that the Queen’s death — she is described as “the last White Queen” throughout — offers a chance to reset, end the monarchy in Australia and redress the bitter legacy of colonialism for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
For a more detailed review, please visit my blog.