After taking time to review the two different microlectures on settler colonialism, I have a much clearer idea of how settler colonialism appears in The Secret River by Kate Grenville. The settler colonialism in The Secret River isn't clearly apparent until parts two and three of the story. The only time that settler colonialism does appear in part one is all the different mentions of brazilin wood and other imports from colonial territories. As I have learned in the microlectures, settler colonialism is essentially a branch of colonialism in which the foreign settlers never actually leave the territories they have taken over/settled on. Some such places are in the Americas where settlers there formed the United States and took over the majority of Native American land (There There) and in Australia (The Secret River).
In parts two and three William Thornhill and his family are brought to New South Wales, which is a settlement in the land that is now known as Australia. The benefit of hindsight is that we now know that this settlement, along with others on the continent would be brought together to create the country of Australia due to settler colonialism.
Something that both There There and The Secret River have in common when it comes to settler colonialism is that both settlers are/were slowly displacing the aboriginals and Native Americans from their lands. In There There, most of the displacing happens before the story is set, but even within the story some of the characters are affected by the Indian Relocation Act of 1956 where many Native Americans where forced to move to urban cities as a form of forced assimilation. Similarly, the aboriginals in The Secret River are being pushed off their land by settlers who go out and claim whatever land they want as long as they have some sort of placeholder marking that a particular piece of land is taken. These settlers don't put much thought into the notion that technically the land belongs to those who were there first, the aboriginals.
Hey Monique, thank you for reminding me about the brief mentions of Settler Colonialism in Part One. I agree with you and believe that the import of Brazilian wood is a pretty direct product from Settler Colonialism and trade from South America. I also agree with you own how the two novels both show the process of the gradual 'displacement' of the native peoples. The settlers certainly are not interested in the consequences of their intrusion to the aboriginals.
ReplyDelete