The status of the Aborigine in the writing of Henry Lawson: a reconsideration

Abstract

This essay examines the representation of indigenous Australians in the writing of Henry Lawson (1867-1922). It argues that Lawson expresses a range of attitudes to indigenous Australians which establish the diversity of settler opinion at the turn of the twentieth century. Lawson's representations of aboriginal Australians document settler confusion in relation to indigenous challenges to ideas about race, class and nation.