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Inga Vivienne Clendinnen

インガ・ヴィヴィエン・クレンドニン

Inga Vivienne Clendinnen

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1934-08-17 （Geelong, Victoria, Australia）
Died
2016-09-08 （Melbourne, Victoria, Australia） age 82
Nationality
Australian
Languages
English
Residence History
Geelong, Victoria → Melbourne, Victoria

Career

Occupations
historian, anthropologist, author, academic
Active Years
1955-2016
Affiliations
University of Melbourne (Senior Tutor, 1955–1968), La Trobe University (Lecturer / Senior Lecturer, 1969–1991)
Memberships
Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA)

Education

University of Melbourne
Department of History
Degree: Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
Period: 1950s
Year of Graduation: 1955
Country: Australia
BA with Honours
La Trobe University
Department of History
Degree: Master of Arts
Period: 1970s
Year of Graduation: 1975
Country: Australia
Master of Arts

Awards

Herbert Eugene Bolton Memorial Prize
1988
Work: Ambivalent Conquests
Result: 受賞
NSW Premier's History Awards (General History Prize)
1999
Work: Reading the Holocaust
Organization: New South Wales
Result: 受賞
National Jewish Book Award (Holocaust category)
1999
Work: Reading the Holocaust
Category: ホロコースト部門
Organization: Jewish Book Council
Result: 受賞
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards (Gleebooks Prize for Critical Writing)
2000
Work: Reading the Holocaust
Organization: New South Wales
Result: 受賞
Adelaide Festival Award (Innovation)
2002
Work: Tiger's Eye
Result: 受賞
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards (Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-fiction)
2004
Work: Dancing with Strangers
Organization: New South Wales
Result: 受賞
Australian Society of Authors Medal
2005
Organization: Australian Society of Authors
Result: 受賞
Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)
2006
Organization: Government of Australia
Result: 任命
Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal
2007
Result: 受賞
Dan David Prize
2016
Category: Social History – New Directions
Organization: Dan David Foundation
Result: 受賞
Centenary Medal
2003
Organization: Government of Australia
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatán, 1517–1570

1987 history / Mesoamerican studies

A study of Maya society and interactions with Spaniards in Yucatán from 1517 to 1570, analysing cultural and social encounters.

cultural contactconquest and resistanceritual and religion

Aztecs: An Interpretation

1991 history / cultural anthropology

An interpretive account of Aztec civilization focusing on social structures, religion and ritual, including discussions of sacrificial practices.

ritualsocial structurecultural aspects of violence

Reading the Holocaust

1998 history / Holocaust studies

Essays on interpreting the Holocaust, addressing issues of historical interpretation, memory and the relation between public commemoration and individual testimony.

memory and historyethicstestimony

Tiger's Eye: A Memoir

2000 memoir / essays

A memoir reflecting on illness, mortality and the relation between personal experience and historical understanding.

illness and memorypersonal reflectionhistory and ethics

Dancing with Strangers: Europeans and Australians at First Contact

2003 history (colonial encounters / cultural contact)

A multifaceted account of first contacts between Indigenous Australians and Europeans, examining misunderstandings, negotiations and cultural encounters.

first contactcolonial cultural comparisonethics of historical narrative

Bibliography

  • Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatán, 1517–1570 (1987)
  • Aztecs: An Interpretation (1991)
  • Reading the Holocaust (1998)
  • True Stories (1999)
  • Tiger's Eye: A Memoir (2000)
  • Dancing with Strangers (2003)
  • True Stories: History, Politics, Aboriginality (2008, 2nd ed.)
  • The Cost of Courage in Aztec Society: Essays on Mesoamerican Society and Culture (2010)
  • Agamemnon's Kiss: Selected Essays (2006)
  • Inga Clendinnen: Selected Writings (edited by James Boyce, 2021)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
scholarly yet accessible prose aimed at general readersnarrative-analytical treatment of cultural encounters and ritualethical and reflective argumentation
Recurring Motifs
cultural encountersritual and violencememory and historical narrativefirst contact

Health

  • hepatitis
    1991
    Contracted hepatitis in 1991, forced to curtail academic duties and shifted focus toward memoir writing.
  • short illness (unspecified)
    2016
    Died after a short illness in 2016.

Legacy

Clendinnen was highly regarded in social history and the history of cultural encounters, making major contributions to Aztec studies, Holocaust interpretation and histories of first contact in Australia. She shaped public debate and advanced discussions on the ethics of historical narrative and memory.

Academic Societies

  • Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA)

Archives

  • La Trobe University archives (related materials)

In Popular Culture

  • Her appearances at events such as Adelaide Writers' Week and public lectures made her historical commentary influential for general audiences.

Quotes

  • “For service to scholarship as a writer and historian addressing issues of fundamental concern to Australian society and for contributing to shaping public debate on conflicting contemporary issues.”
    Source: Australia Day 2006 Honours citation (Officer of the Order of Australia) (2006)

Trivia

  • Born in Geelong in 1934, youngest of four children.
  • Married philosopher F. John Clendinnen in 1955 and had two children.
  • Recognised authority on Aztec civilisation and pre-Columbian ritual.
  • Delivered the 1999 Boyer Lectures; ideas later published in True Stories.