'A Transfiguration of My Local Patriotism' : Christina Stead, the Figure of Oceanic Totality and 'A Night on the Indian Ocean' single work   criticism  
Issue Details: First known date: 2017... 2017 'A Transfiguration of My Local Patriotism' : Christina Stead, the Figure of Oceanic Totality and 'A Night on the Indian Ocean'
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'In a late interview with Rodney Wetherell (1979), when she was back in Australia and being interviewed rather more frequently in light of her rather belated status as a great Australian writer, Christina Stead found an intriguing way to deal with the equally frequent questions about the reasons for her expatriation to Europe in 1928. She implied that to be Australian was to be always already a citizen of the sea. Her conflation of national identity and the critical geographical identity of the island continent allowed her to argue that there was no especial volition to 'going abroad'. Ina sense, Stead claimed that she had an automatic 'dual citizenship' drawn from a symbiotic relationship between her marine identity and her Australian one. Of course, therefore, one would travel by sea..' (Introduction)
 

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    y separately published work icon Westerly vol. 62 no. 2 2017 12822854 2017 periodical issue

    'Since its infancy, Westerly has a had a long interest in the literatures and cultures of the Indian Ocean, Southern and eastern Asia. Poised on the west coast, we are constantly looking out, facing away from mainland Australia. This space is not an empty one. It is rich with a history of movement and exchange, going back (as Sarah Ridhuan's essay in this issue reminds us) well beyond Australia's colonisation.' (Editorial introduction)

         2017     pg. 87-99
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Last amended 31 Jan 2018 11:05:31
87-99 'A Transfiguration of My Local Patriotism' : Christina Stead, the Figure of Oceanic Totality and 'A Night on the Indian Ocean'small AustLit logo Westerly
Subjects:
  • Indian Ocean Region,
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