Cathy Freeman, reconciliation and the burden of history

Journal article


Nolan, Maggie. (2022). Cathy Freeman, reconciliation and the burden of history. Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies. 36(3), pp. 429-447. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2021.1998371
AuthorsNolan, Maggie
Abstract

On 25 September 2020, the ABC released a documentary film to mark the twentieth anniversary of Cathy Freeman’s gold medal victory in the women’s 400 metres at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Media interest in Freeman’s victory still erupts periodically, most recently, to commemorate the twentieth anniversary. This article revisits Cathy Freeman’s historic gold-medal-winning performance in order to ponder the lost promise of reconciliation. At the time, and still today, Freeman’s victory is overwhelmingly celebrated as more than just an athletic feat; it is also lauded as a victory for reconciliation. Rather than trying to determine the extent to which Freeman’s race did bolster reconciliation, or even whether it contributed to reconciliation at all, this article instead analyses the metaphors, rhetoric and images through which Freeman’s victory was represented as an act of reconciliation, and what this tells us about how reconciliation plays out in the Australian context. In particular, it argues that the complex ways in which Freeman’s victory were represented, and continue to be understood, reveal a widespread desire to be free from the burdens of history by projecting the work of reconciliation onto Freeman herself.

KeywordsCathy Freeman; reconciliation; olympics; history; sport
Year2022
JournalContinuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies
Journal citation36 (3), pp. 429-447
PublisherRoutledge
ISSN1030-4312
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2021.1998371
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85120156705
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range429-447
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online29 Nov 2021
Publication process dates
Deposited30 May 2022
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8xx76/cathy-freeman-reconciliation-and-the-burden-of-history

Restricted files

Publisher's version

  • 157
    total views
  • 0
    total downloads
  • 1
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

Introduction : The uses of Irish-Australian literature
McDonald, Ronan and Nolan, Marguerite. (2021). Introduction : The uses of Irish-Australian literature. Australian Literary Studies. 36(2), pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.20314/als.3eb21c884e
Reading fiction, talking reconciliation : Australian book clubs, book talk and the politics of history
Nolan, Marguerite Rose, Clarke, Robert and Brown, Rebekah. (2021). Reading fiction, talking reconciliation : Australian book clubs, book talk and the politics of history. In In Moser, Doris and Dürr, Claudia (Ed.). Über bücher reden : Literaturrezeption in lesegemeinschaften pp. 231-242 V&R unipress. https://doi.org/10.14220/9783737013239.231
Conceptualising Irish-Aboriginal writing
Nolan, Maggie. (2021). Conceptualising Irish-Aboriginal writing. Australian Literary Studies. 36(2), pp. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.20314/als.776fd12cac
Shifting timescapes and the significance of the Mine in Alexis Wright's Carpentaria
Nolan, Maggie. (2020). Shifting timescapes and the significance of the Mine in Alexis Wright's Carpentaria. Australian Literary Studies. 35(2), pp. 1-21. https://doi.org/10.20314/als.5910cfb010
Reading massacre : Book club responses to landscape of farewell
Nolan, Maggie. (2020). Reading massacre : Book club responses to landscape of farewell. Texas Studies in Literature and Language. 62(1), pp. 73-96. https://doi.org/10.7560/TSLL62104
An Australian ethics of reading?
Nolan, Maggie. (2020). An Australian ethics of reading? In In Gildersleeve, Jessica (Ed.). The routledge companion to Australian literature pp. 171-178 Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003124160
Reading groups and reconciliation : Kate Grenville's The Secret River and the ordinary reader
Nolan, Marguerite and Clarke, Robert. (2014). Reading groups and reconciliation : Kate Grenville's The Secret River and the ordinary reader. Australian Literary Studies. 29(4), pp. 19 - 35.
XVII New literatures
Carpentier, Sally, Chakraborty, Mridula Nath, Daymond, Margaret, Holden, Philip, McNeill, Dougal, Nolan, Marguerite Rose, Raja, Ira, Rampaul, Giselle, Sharrad, Paul, Da Silva, Tony Simoes, Skeete, Geraldine and Whitehouse, Ian. (2014). XVII New literatures. Year's Work in English Studies. 93(1), pp. 1046 - 1212. https://doi.org/10.1093/ywes/mau015
Book clubs and reconciliation : A pilot study on book clubs reading the 'fictions of reconciliation'
Clarke, Robert and Nolan, Marguerite. (2014). Book clubs and reconciliation : A pilot study on book clubs reading the 'fictions of reconciliation'. Australian Humanities Review.
Reading The Secret River
Nolan, Marguerite and Clarke, Robert. (2011). Reading The Secret River. Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies. 17(2), pp. 9 - 25.
Who's a weird mob? Imagining assimilation in postwar Australia
Nolan, Marguerite Rose. (2009). Who's a weird mob? Imagining assimilation in postwar Australia. In In R. Summo-O'Connell (Ed.). Imagined Australia: Reflections around the reciprocal construction of identity between Australia and Europe pp. 265 - 276 Peter Lang Publishing.
Canvassing the issues: Indigenous Australians in higher education
Frawley, Jack, Nolan, Marguerite Rose and White, Nereda Dawn. (2009). Canvassing the issues: Indigenous Australians in higher education. In In J. Frawley, M. Nolan and N. White (Ed.). Indigenous Issues in Australian Universities: Research, Teaching, Support pp. 1 - 6 Charles Darwin University Press.
The demidenko affair and Australian hoaxes
Nolan, Marguerite Rose. (2007). The demidenko affair and Australian hoaxes. In In N. Birns and R. Birns (Ed.). A Companion to Australia Literature Since 1900 pp. 127 - 138 Camden House.
Bitin back: Indigenous writing in QLD
Nolan, Marguerite Rose. (2007). Bitin back: Indigenous writing in QLD. In In P. Buckridge and B. McKay (Ed.). By the Book: A Literary History of Queensland pp. 259 - 277 University of Queensland Press.
Elizabeth Durack, Eddie Burrup and the art of identification
Nolan, Marguerite Rose. (2004). Elizabeth Durack, Eddie Burrup and the art of identification. In In P. Knight and J. Long (Ed.). Fakes and Forgeries pp. 135 - 145 Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Dynamics of displacement: Doing postgraduate Australian studies in the UK
Nolan, Marguerite Rose. (2004). Dynamics of displacement: Doing postgraduate Australian studies in the UK. In In D. Carter, K. Darian-Smith and G. Worby (Ed.). Thinking Australian Studies pp. 224 - 234 University of Queensland Press.
Displacing indigenous Australians: Freud’s totem and taboo
Nolan, Marguerite Rose. (2003). Displacing indigenous Australians: Freud’s totem and taboo. In In J. Damousi and R. Reynolds (Ed.). History on the Couch: Essays in History and Psychoanalysis pp. 60 - 72 Melbourne University Press.
Identity crises and orphaned rewritings
Nolan, Marguerite Rose. (2003). Identity crises and orphaned rewritings. In In A. Oboe (Ed.). Mongrel Signatures: Reflections on the Work of Mudrooroo pp. 107 - 128 Rodopi.