EP5: The Filers and The Keepers
Yves and Clare are joined by Mark McKenna, historian and award-winning author whose latest book Return to Uluru (2021) tells the hidden history of a story at the heart of the nation. Does the contemporary white historian present themselves in the role of a savior figure? The group discusses the emotional and ethical difficulties of working with personal archives, the significance of a storyteller’s own identity, and the gendered nature of a colonial history that seeks to penetrate the centre of a nation.
Yves Rees, Clare Wright and Mark McKenna recording Archive Fever.
Mark’s University of Sydney staff page:
https://www.sydney.edu.au/arts/about/our-people/academic-staff/mark-mckenna.html
Mark on his life’s work:
https://manningclark.org.au/2021/06/11/mark-mckenna-on-his-lifes-work/
Mark on ABC RN Conversations:
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/mark-mckenna/13202934
Front cover of Mark McKenna’s Return to Uluru.
Mark on truth, justice and violence:
https://www.roaringstories.com.au/a-story-of-violence-truth-and-justice-return-to-uluru-mark-mckenna/
Mark’s essays in The Monthly:
https://www.themonthly.com.au/author/mark-mckenna