Loved and Despised: Imaging the Golliwog Doll in the Australian Context
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Author(s)
Leslie, Donna
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2018
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This article is written within the context of the visual arts. It explores the Golliwog doll and its interpretation as a racist symbol, its origins and the problems it presents today. It includes a special reference to an encounter between a group of Aboriginal Australians in the state of Victoria, Australia, with images of the Golliwog doll on tea towels at a market stall. The experience, which was reported in the Melbourne newspaper, The Age, was responded to in a vigorous online debate, consisting of written commentaries by approximately 114 individuals. Their responses reveal contemporary Australian attitudes to the doll ...
View more >This article is written within the context of the visual arts. It explores the Golliwog doll and its interpretation as a racist symbol, its origins and the problems it presents today. It includes a special reference to an encounter between a group of Aboriginal Australians in the state of Victoria, Australia, with images of the Golliwog doll on tea towels at a market stall. The experience, which was reported in the Melbourne newspaper, The Age, was responded to in a vigorous online debate, consisting of written commentaries by approximately 114 individuals. Their responses reveal contemporary Australian attitudes to the doll and its relationship to history. For historical accuracy, some outmoded, derogatory, or sensitive terms which may be considered offensive when included in other contexts, are used in the following text or quotations (e.g. ‘Golliwog’, ‘white’, ‘black’, ‘Piccaninny’, ‘Negro’, ‘Nigger’, ‘Sambo’, ‘race’, etc.). Some spellings may differ when quoted (e.g. ‘Golliwogg’, ‘Golliwog’, ‘Golly Wogs’).
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View more >This article is written within the context of the visual arts. It explores the Golliwog doll and its interpretation as a racist symbol, its origins and the problems it presents today. It includes a special reference to an encounter between a group of Aboriginal Australians in the state of Victoria, Australia, with images of the Golliwog doll on tea towels at a market stall. The experience, which was reported in the Melbourne newspaper, The Age, was responded to in a vigorous online debate, consisting of written commentaries by approximately 114 individuals. Their responses reveal contemporary Australian attitudes to the doll and its relationship to history. For historical accuracy, some outmoded, derogatory, or sensitive terms which may be considered offensive when included in other contexts, are used in the following text or quotations (e.g. ‘Golliwog’, ‘white’, ‘black’, ‘Piccaninny’, ‘Negro’, ‘Nigger’, ‘Sambo’, ‘race’, etc.). Some spellings may differ when quoted (e.g. ‘Golliwogg’, ‘Golliwog’, ‘Golly Wogs’).
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Journal Title
Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues
Volume
21
Issue
1-2
Copyright Statement
After all reasonable attempts to contact the copyright owner, this work was published in good faith in interests of the digital preservation of academic scholarship. Please contact copyright@griffith.edu.au with any questions or concerns.
Subject
Education
Human society
Art history, theory and criticism not elsewhere classified
History, heritage and archaeology