Speaking at Vivid Sydney debate, Australian novelist says artists can ‘enter other cultures as long as we don’t rip them off’
In an old and now-converted cell of Darlinghurst jail, Thomas Keneally had come to make peace. Speaking at Borrowed Voices: Freedom of Expression vs Cultural Appropriation – a debate hosted by Vivid Sydney – the author of The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith told the audience he was sorry for “assuming an Aboriginal voice” in his 1972 novel, while standing metres from where the real-life basis for his protagonist, Jimmy Governor, was hanged.
“I have apologised before this for writing The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith from the point of view of an Aboriginal,” he said. “I am here to make peace with the ghost of Jimmy Governor, who was imprisoned in this jail and hanged within a short walk from here.”
Related: We need to talk about cultural appropriation: why Lionel Shriver's speech touched a nerve
Related: Lionel Shriver's full speech: 'I hope the concept of cultural appropriation is a passing fad'
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