Rewriting Quarantine: Pacific History at Australia's Edge
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Authors
Bashford, Alison
Hobbins, Peter
Abstract
There is no doubt that the historical geographies of quarantine and racial nationalism overlapped at Sydney's North Head Quarantine Station. To conflate these practices into a single narrative of immigration restriction, however, obscures other stories and agendas. Drawing upon inscriptions left in the Sydney sandstone by those detained at North Head, we argue that for many Pacific voyagers, quarantine was merely a temporary interruption rather than an exclusionary endpoint or affront. Citing the shuttling trade of ships and crews from New Zealand, Japan and China, this article re-locates North Head from a continental gateway to a Pacific outpost.
Description
Keywords
4303 Historical Studies, 43 History, Heritage and Archaeology
Journal Title
Australian Historical Studies
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
1031-461X
1940-5049
1940-5049
Volume Title
46
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Publisher DOI
Sponsorship
The research upon which this article is based is supported by an Australian Research Council grant, LP120200259, ‘The archaeology and history of quarantine’. We are grateful to our industry partner, the Mawland Group, for supporting the ongoing archaeological and historical research at North Head Quarantine Station.