Volume VI Special Issue VI September 2026

Name of Author : Dr. Lisa Pavithran

Title of the paper : A New Historicist Reading of Melissa Lucashenko Edenglassie

Abstract: Edenglassie is a historical novel that explores the impact of British colonization on Aboriginal Australians. In the novel, Lucashenko intertwines fiction with documented historical events surrounding the colonization of Brisbane, formerly known by the name Edenglassie, which is an earlier colonial name. Though the title is colonial in origin, the novel reclaims and reinterprets the history of the place from an aboriginal perspective. The novel moves between the nineteenth century and the present day, illustrating how historical events continue to influence contemporary indigenous lives. A New Historicist reading examines the novel as a product of historical, political, and cultural discourses. rather than as an isolated literary work. Edenglassie exposes how the colonial narratives were constructed to justify land seizure and cultural domination. Lucashenko rewrites history by restoring Aboriginal agency and demonstrating that indigenous communities possessed sophisticated social, legal, and ecological systems long before British settlement. The novel functions as a counter history by narrating colonization from Aboriginal perspectives where the indigenous characters are not passive victims but active participants who negotiate, resist, adapt, and survive colonial oppression. Edenglassie shows that the wounds of colonization remain part of contemporary Australia. At the same time, it presents hope through the survival of Aboriginal culture, family ties, and storytelling.

Keywords : Edenglassie, indigenous, aboriginals, colonialism, resistance

DOI :

Page Number : 5-9