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Australia Day from Colony to Citizenship: 1788–1948

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Political Memories and Migration

Part of the book series: Palgrave Macmillan Memory Studies ((PMMS))

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Abstract

Expounding the concept of political memories, Kleist shows how in commemorations of Australia Day, Australia’s national day, two different forms of memory with distinct narratives were utilized to remember the landing of the First Fleet, which brought the first European settlers to Australia’s shores in 1788. With these two politically competing forms of memory, one referring to an event as origin, the other to a process, distinct concepts of Australian society were expressed. Cultural memories of an origin implied a belonging based on communal and nationalistic notions of Australian nativism. In contrast, civic memories of processes characterized a civic belonging under the Empire’s rule and through democratic institutions. Kleist illustrates the contestation surrounding belonging and migration in a number of events commemorating Australia Day and the First Fleet, from the early settler colony leading up to Australian Federation, and during the first half of the twentieth century. The politically opposed forms of memory and their implicit modes of belonging were crucial, Kleist argues, for positioning Australia Day as an anti- or pro-immigration commemoration, respectively, and for discussing social and political conflicts of Australian society.

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  1. Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies (IMIS), Universität Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany

    J. Olaf Kleist

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Olaf Kleist, J. (2017). Australia Day from Colony to Citizenship: 1788–1948. In: Political Memories and Migration. Palgrave Macmillan Memory Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57589-0_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57589-0_2

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