Passengers of memory: Constructions of british immigrants in post-imperial australia

Abstract

Based on broad research investigating British immigrants in post-Second World War Australia, this article examines various impacts of the passing of imperialism on this group, tracing how they have been "passengers" both of national memory in Australia and more recently of their own narratives. Arguing also that British migrants have been subject on occasion to post-imperial forgetting, it is emphasised here that British migrants display heterogenous constructions and negotiations of identity that may reflect new departures. © 2005 Department of History.