Cirrus@Austlit

'This paper charts a theoretical and literary genealogy for what I term the critical essay, which I define as a literary essay that includes analysis of an artwork amongst its objects of inquiry. After briefly outlining the increasing prevalence of the critical essay in contemporary letters, I review theoretical schemas surrounding the critical essay, and grapple with the terminological slippage of labels like “essay” and “criticism”. Drawing from Marxist and feminist schools of literary studies, I argue that alternative forms of critical writing have generally been propounded not as literary modes but rather as scholarly revolts against disciplinary strictures. I argue that such alternative forms of critical writing share a desire to invent modes of analysis and expression capable of challenging dominant class, race and/or gendered ideologies. I go on to propose that the critical essay may be capable of disrupting the epistemological frameworks undergirding public criticism, making space for writers who, due to their subject positions, have not historically been conferred critical authority' (Publication abstract)

'In a political context of climate inaction, Australian fiction writers have increasingly focused on the emergency; drawing attention to how the political and environmental processes underway might play out and exploring attendant emotions. The novel form – with its foregrounding of private feelings and individual agency, and its historical alignment with the development of the extractive capitalism it may wish to critique – occupies an ambivalent position as a tool to bring about change. If the task is to refigure the social imaginary towards interconnection with all forms of life, is the novel an inadequate means of social engagement? I hope to make the case – by referencing debates in climate change literature and through discussion of Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser (2021) and This Devastating Fever by Sophie Cunningham (2022) – that writers are using the distinctive capacities of the novel to think through contemporary challenges. These novels, distinct in tone and narrative content, both treat climate change as inextricable from other forces – such as colonialism and misogyny – and emphasise interconnectedness with other beings. Through a commitment to play, via formal experimentation and humour, they help readers to engage with the intellectual and emotional challenges of a changing world.' (Publication abstract)

'Dialogue is a prominent feature of creative non-fiction used to reveal character, anchor narratives in a context and present different perspectives. But how can conversation be recovered if your subject has passed from living memory? I faced this challenge in my creative biography of Catherine Helen Spence – Australia’s first female novelist and first woman political candidate. Her public and private lives were complex and many-faceted, which became clear from a close reading of her archival record, containing letters and recollections by friends and family, and her vast literary legacy. Building on Paul John Eakin’s theory – that our lives become stories through our “relational others” – I chose to tell Spence’s life from the perspectives of those around her. I imagined oral history interviews with them, listened for their speech patterns and applied Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of heteroglossia – many voices in a text – to my investigation. Conversation is frequently cited as a signpost of fictionality, but it can also lend a sense of verisimilitude and empathy. My depiction of Spence demonstrates how life writing at the confluence of history and fiction can illuminate archival evidence to reveal character and present different perspectives of a complex life'  (Publication abstract) 

'How can the innovative spirit of a poet catalyse the breaking of traditional artistic conventions and engender a transformative effect within the realm of poetry? Ouyang Yu is one of the pioneers of English–Chinese bilingual poetry and self-translation in Australia. As a translingual and cross-cultural poet who has long been active in Australia and China, Yu’s linguistic and poetic experiments show a passion for innovation and a rebellious spirit. This article explores Yu’s bilingual poetry by drawing on a new classification method which distinguishes four subtypes of English– Chinese bilingual poetry according to the extent of integration of the two languages: 1. intra-word/character bilingualism; 2. intra-phrase bilingualism; 3. intra-sentence bilingualism; and 4. cross-sentence bilingualism. In this system, either language could be the carrier language and the other the inserted language. This method fills a longstanding gap in the field by comprehensively and explicitly defining the boundaries of mixing these two languages within the genre of poetry. The article also explores Yu’s poetry self-translation by focusing on his advocacy for the freedom of re-creation when translating one’s own works, which includes the retention of the hieroglyphic attributes of Chinese characters in English, as well as Yu’s innovative “direct translations” (Publication abstract)
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'This article explores the challenges faced by climate fiction writers who address human responses to climate change, emphasising the need to expose the underlying political and economic mechanisms of the climate crisis. It builds on the critique offered by theorists Adam Trexler, Timothy Clark, Mark Fisher and Amitav Ghosh, highlighting the risk of climate fiction novels becoming “complicit concealments” if they fail to focus on the principle drivers of the carbon economy – overconsumption, economic growth and market-based thinking. We analyse a growing trend in Australian climate fiction, where connections between neoliberal capitalism and climate change are becoming major themes. Novels like Sally Abbott's Closing Down (2010) and Briohny Doyle’s Echolalia (2021) represent characters’ relations to society and the economy and try to capture the complex realities of climate change. Based on this analysis, we propose the concept of “ecological consciousness” as a potential narrative strategy for writers, building on the Marxist concept of class consciousness, which extends awareness beyond traditional class dynamics to encompass the interconnectedness of humans with the environment. The article concludes by emphasising the strength and versatility of this approach, showcasing its potential for providing a holistic perspective on societal and environmental dynamics in climate fiction.' (Publication abstract)

'Literary journals are post-digital publications, where digital and print media blend and
shape one another. They play an important role in Australian literary culture, but rely
on funding to survive. Recent discourse about funding Australian literary journals has
been characterised by debates about publication media: print and digital. With the
upcoming establishment of a new body for writing in Australia, ‘Writing Australia’,
this study examines literary journals’ relationships with these media, and how editors’
use of these media affects the operations and economics of their publications, and the
field as a whole. The study finds that federal project funding is unsuited to the type of
work that literary journals do, as well as evidence of an increasingly entrenched two-
tier field, where journals with operational backing from institutions like universities are
more competitive than their smaller, unsupported counterparts in obtaining existing
funding. While digital publication has many advantages for literary journals, skills
shortages in digital publishing, marketing, and data analysis limit the scope of some
journals to demonstrate their reach and effectiveness. The study finds that print
publication remains important, particularly for writers, and that the community-
building capacity of literary journals is a highly significant contribution which, while
not evidenced on the page or screen, should be given weight in assessments of journals’ success.' (Publication abstract) 

'Creating or recreating voices through the writing of fictional letters can be a way of reconnecting with places that may have been taken from us. For the person denied an authentic connection with their birthplace, the writing of voice through fictional stories, novels and creative nonfiction may have the power to bridge time and distance, to take a person back to the place where they were born and to help rebuild an origin story that was refused them. By recreating the voices of people associated with one’s original home, especially when writing for an audience who may take the theoretical place of an absent respondent, a person may come to develop a better understanding of their relationship with that region. This paper is informed by Elspeth Probyn’s theory that childhood is a repeatable point of beginning, Anne-Marie Fortier’s extended definition of home, and an examination of the results a return to the past may bring. It references studies on dialect as it relates to character the epistolary form. It provides examples that informed the author’s thinking in using voice to reflect place and follows with samples of the author’s attempts to connect with their birthplace by drawing imaginary portraits using dialect reflected in the epistolary form. It ends with a reflection on this process.' (Publication abstract)