Finding Eliza: Power and Colonial Storytelling
Larissa Behrendt
Feb 2025 · Bolinda · Narrated by Ella Ferris
headphones
Audiobook
5 hr 5 min
Unabridged
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
Want a 19 min sample? Listen anytime, even offline.
Add
About this audiobook
Aboriginal lawyer, writer and filmmaker Larissa Behrendt has long been fascinated by the story of Eliza Fraser, who was purportedly captured by the Butchulla people after she was shipwrecked on their island off the Queensland coast in 1836. In this deeply personal audiobook, Behrendt uses Eliza's tale as a starting point to interrogate how Aboriginal people – and indigenous people of other countries – have been portrayed in their colonisers' stories. Exploring works as diverse as Robinson Crusoe and Coonardoo, Behrendt looks at the stereotypes embedded in these accounts, including the assumption of cannibalism and the myth of the noble savage. Ultimately, Finding Eliza shows how these stories not only reflect the values of their storytellers but also reinforce those values – and how, in Australia, this has contributed to a complex racial divide.
About the author
Larissa Behrendt – a Euahleyai / Gamillaroi woman – is an award winning author and an award winning filmmaker. She is the author of several books and writes and directs for film and television. She is also a lawyer and an academic based at the University of Technology Sydney. She is the host of Speaking Out on ABC Radio.
Ella Ferris is a Taribelang artist from Cairns, Queensland. She graduated from VCA in 2022, and has since appeared on stage in Sunshine Super Girl for Performing Lines and Tracker for The Australian Dance Theatre. Ella's TV appearances include a pivotal role in Scrublands for Easy Tiger/STAN. As a voice artist, Ella's beautiful, clear and unique voice weaves a story and draws the ear.
Rate this audiobook
Tell us what you think.
Listening information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can read books purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
