Ludwig Leichhardt's Ghosts

<p>After the renowned Prussian scientist and explorer Ludwig Leichhardt left the Australian frontier in 1848 on an expedition to cross the continent he disappeared without a trace. Andrew Hurley's book complicates that view by undertaking an afterlife biography of "the Humboldt of Australia." Although Leichhardt's remains were never located he has been sought and textually "found" many times over particularly in Australia and Germany. He remains a significant presence a highly productive ghost who continues to "haunt" culture.</p><p>Leichhardt has been employed for all sorts of political purposes. In imperial Germany he was a symbol of pure science but also a bolster for colonialism. In the 20th century he became a Nazi icon a proto-socialist the model for the protagonist of Nobel laureate Patrick White's famous novel <em>Voss</em> as well as a harbinger of multiculturalism. He has also been put to use by Australian Indigenous cultures. Engaging Leichhardt's ghosts and those who have sought him yields a fascinating case study of German entanglement in British colonialism in Australia. It also shows how figures from the colonial past feature in German and Australian social memory and serve present-day purposes. In an abstract sense this book uses Leichhardt to explore what happens when we maintain an open stance to the ghosts of the past. Andrew Wright Hurley is Associate Professor in German Studies at the University of Technology Sydney. His book Into the Groove: Popular Music and Contemporary German Fiction was published by Camden House in 2015.</p>