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A review by jaclyn_sixminutesforme
Lies, Damned Lies: A personal exploration of the impact of colonisation by Claire G. Coleman
5.0
There’s something about Coleman’s writing that feels incredibly energising and hopeful when I read—there’s a relentless pursuit of truth and knowledge that makes the writing of the personal and broader history blend so seamlessly.
I also love the way Coleman interrogates the archive and canon of Australian history, the literal ways history has been whitewashed and falsified. That Australian history contains some of the earliest examples of fake news even just looking at the documents that have been relied on as testimony of that history. The unreliability of the record for those who insist on a national narrative, who still fail to understand that even what is purported to be “celebrated” has been falsified.
There’s also the beauty of reading a poet who brings so much of their craft into writing narrative nonfiction, the result being essays that pack a punch as much as they strike you with their tenderness. I loved this, I found the writing engaged me from the get-go and I appreciated how much Coleman shared about her own family and personal journey to learning of her identity. I also think Coleman articulates really succinctly the ways in which colonisation is ongoing on this continent, it isn’t a historic occurrence that we confine to the pages of history books. We aren’t postcolonial because we are still in the colonial process—I found the way the essays that drew this discussion out really profound broken down in a way that makes the academic ways this typically manifests make complete sense.
This is a great place to start if you haven’t read Coleman’s works yet, but I also can’t recommend her fiction enough too—The Old Lie and Terra Nullius are so so good!
I also love the way Coleman interrogates the archive and canon of Australian history, the literal ways history has been whitewashed and falsified. That Australian history contains some of the earliest examples of fake news even just looking at the documents that have been relied on as testimony of that history. The unreliability of the record for those who insist on a national narrative, who still fail to understand that even what is purported to be “celebrated” has been falsified.
There’s also the beauty of reading a poet who brings so much of their craft into writing narrative nonfiction, the result being essays that pack a punch as much as they strike you with their tenderness. I loved this, I found the writing engaged me from the get-go and I appreciated how much Coleman shared about her own family and personal journey to learning of her identity. I also think Coleman articulates really succinctly the ways in which colonisation is ongoing on this continent, it isn’t a historic occurrence that we confine to the pages of history books. We aren’t postcolonial because we are still in the colonial process—I found the way the essays that drew this discussion out really profound broken down in a way that makes the academic ways this typically manifests make complete sense.
This is a great place to start if you haven’t read Coleman’s works yet, but I also can’t recommend her fiction enough too—The Old Lie and Terra Nullius are so so good!