East Timor, Rene Girard and Neocolonial Violence: Scapegoating as Australian Policy

257 Pages·2022·14.61 MB·English

by  Susan Connelly

East Timor, René Girard and

Neocolonial Violence
Violence, Desire, and the Sacred
Series Editors
Scott Cowdell, Chris Fleming, and Joel Hodge
Volumes in the series
Vol. 1. Girard’s Mimetic Theory Across the Disciplines
edited by Scott Cowdell, Chris Fleming, and Joel Hodge
Vol. 2. René Girard and Sacrifice in Life, Love, and Literature
edited by Scott Cowdell, Chris Fleming, and Joel Hodge
Vol. 3. Mimesis, Movies, and Media
edited by Scott Cowdell, Chris Fleming, and Joel Hodge
Vol. 4. René Girard and Raymund Schwager: Correspondence 1974–1991
edited by Scott Cowdell, Chris Fleming, Joel Hodge, and Mathias Moosbrugger
Vol. 5. Mimesis and Atonement: René Girard and the Doctrine of Salvation
edited by Michael Kirwan and Sheelah Treflé Hidden
Vol. 6. Möbian Nights: Literary Reading in a Time of Crisis
by Sandor Goodhart
Vol. 7. Does Religion Cause Violence?: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on
Violence and Religion in the Modern World
edited by Scott Cowdell, Chris Fleming, Joel Hodge, and Carly Osborn
Vol. 8. Mimetic Theory and Film
edited by Paolo Diego Bubbio and Chris Fleming
Vol. 9. Mimesis and Sacrifice
edited by Marcia Pally
Vol. 10. Violence in the Name of God
by Joel Hodge
Vol. 11. Tragic Novels, the American Dream and René Girard
by Carly Osborn
Vol. 12. East Timor, René Girard and Neocolonial Violence
by Susan Connelly
East Timor, René Girard and

Neocolonial Violence
Scapegoating as Australian Policy
Susan Connelly
BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC
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First published in Great Britain 2022
Copyright © Susan Connelly, 2022
Susan Connelly has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
For legal purposes the Acknowledgements on pp. x–xii constitute an
extension of this copyright page.
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Connelly, Susan, author.
Title: East Timor, René Girard and neocolonial violence : scapegoating as
Australian policy / Susan Connelly.
Description: London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2022. |
Series: Violence, desire, and the sacred ; vol. 12 | Revision of author’s PhD thesis. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021038568 (print) | LCCN 2021038569 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781350161474 (hardback) | ISBN 9781350161481 (pdf) |
ISBN 9781350161498 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Girard, René, 1923-2015. | Imitation. | Desire. |
Violence. | Australia–Foreign relations–Timor-Leste. |
Timor-Leste–Foreign relations–Australia. | Australia–Foreign
relations–Indonesia. | Indonesia–Foreign relations–Australia.
Classification: LCC DU113.5.T56 C66 2022 (print) | LCC DU113.5.T56 (ebook) |
DDC 327. 5987094–dc23/eng/20211027
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021038568
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/202103856.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-3501-6147-4
ePDF: 978-1-3501-6148-1
eBook: 978-1-3501-6149-8
Series: Violence, Desire, and the Sacred
Typeset by Newgen KnowledgeWorks Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, India
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‘Crucify him!’
‘Why?’ Pilate asked them,
‘What harm has he done?’
(Mk 15.13b-14)
vi
Contents

Map of East Timor viii
List of illustrations ix
Acknowledgements x
Introduction 1
1 A new way of seeing: Mimetic theory 11
2 Australian identity and relationships 21
3 World War II 41
4 The Indonesian invasion of East Timor 65
5 The occupation of East Timor 93
6 Collapse and resurgence 125
7 Solidarity and conversion 143
Afterword 171
Appendix: René Girard at a Glance 173
Glossary of Key Girardian Terms 176
Notes 185
Bibliography 219
Index 235
Figure 1 Map of East Timor in relation to Indonesia and Australia. Wikimedia
Commons.
Illustrations
1 Map of East Timor in relation to Indonesia and Australia viii
2 Timorese people supported Australian soldiers during World War II 54
3 Australian soldiers and Timorese friends 56
4 John ‘Paddy’ Kenneally and Rufino Alves Correia 63
5 Starving Timorese children in Laga, East Timor 96
6 Starving Timorese children in Laga, East Timor 97
7 Laurentino Pires and Rob Wesley-Smith on ‘Radio Maubere’ 152
8 Timorese students at a rally in Dili 154
9 Various religious sisters at a demonstration in support of East Timor 157
10 A gathering of Australian prime ministers and foreign ministers 161
11 Alexander Downer giving advice to Timorese prime minister
Mari Alkatiri 162