Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

OODEEN, A MALAY INTERPRETER ON AUSTRALIA'S FRONTIER LANDS

2012; Routledge; Volume: 40; Issue: 117 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13639811.2012.684939

1469-8382

Paul Thomas,

Multilingual Education and Policy

This article focuses on a 19th century government interpreter for the Colony of New South Wales, Oodeen, later known as John O'Dean, as an insight into early communication between European Australia and the Indonesian-Malay World. It reviews the subjectivity of the interpreter through his biography and the colonial administration's motivation in engaging him as an intermediary between Europeans and non-Europeans. Particular attention is given to Oodeen's presence at Fort Wellington, a military garrison and trading post on the north coast of Australia established to secure Britain's claim to the north of the continent and to trade with the Indonesian trepang fleets from Makassar.