Cirrus@Austlit

'This paper addresses a particular form of life writing by expatriates, the memoirs of diplomats. The diplomatic memoir is an emerging and particular genre of life writing that adds a surprising facet to the rich field of narratives of expatriation. As will be discussed, it is, in some ways, a form of life writing of uncertain promise, hedged about as it is with an array of constrictions that are difficult to escape. In this discussion of Australian diplomatic memoirs I will include some of my own recollections and diary accounts drawn from my experience as a career diplomat.' (Introduction)