Tracing/Tracking History's Nightmares. The Wreck of the Batavia as Australian Foundational Myth

Abstract

The wreck and subsequent mutiny of the VOC Batavia happened in 1629 off Western Australia mainland, became one of the Australian founding myths, and triggered many heated discussions about the concepts of nation, identity and cultural heritage. In European eyes, Australia was a land of exotic adventures and possible utopia, but also the land of very real and quite invasive encounters whose traces are dispersed in the collective memory of the native tribes. British Australia came into existence in 1770, when Captain Cook disembarked in Botany Bay and choose it as the ideal place for a settlement. The Batavia case and the textual and documental apparatuses linked to it trigger a series of discourses and reflections on concepts and ideological practices, such as nation, historical and cultural heritage, authenticity and identity politics. From institutional webpages, to history books and documentary films, from adult and juvenile fiction to opera and radio drama, the story of the Batavia has gone through a process of continuous rewriting. The essay focuses on texts, icons, and objects which capture and manipulate a supposedly documental history and refashion it into a source of continuous reverberations.