'Joseph Furphy spent the last seven years of his life in and around Fremantle and the suburbs of Perth in WA. When he died suddenly, aged 69, his literary reputation was unknown there. In fact, his death went unremarked apart from a mean-spirited paragraph in the Bulletin; his occupation on his death certificate was recorded as ‘Mechanic’, and the only possession of value he left was his typewriter.
'During those WA years Furphy was increasingly isolated from the few literary contacts he had made while Such Is Life was being published, and even his correspondence with Kate Baker dwindled. Increasingly frustrated with the little time he had for writing, he described his harsh and often unrewarding daily life in a letter to his mother (August 1906): ‘I have deteriorated. The change in conditions of life, with irregular hours, have broken me off literary work; and I have become a grafter, pure and simple’. (364 Barnes)
'Yet decades after his almost anonymous death Joseph Furphy’s reputation was recovered in the name of Tom Collins in the West, where it is of lasting influence. I want to trace that history, together with some illustrations of Tom Collins House as it is known, which has been preserved as the home of the West Australian branch of the Fellowship of Australian Writers since 1949, and of the valuable collection of Australian paintings which make up part of the Tom Collins Bequest to the University of Western Australia.' (Author's abstract)
'This paper investigates Furphy’s ethnographical writings on Aborigines in the short essays and paragraphs he wrote for the Bulletin and in one of his short stories. It also examines his representation of Toby', an 'Aboriginal stockman in Such is Life, and concludes by examining one of the most difficult passages in a colonial era novel, his account of a Palmer River Aboriginal attack, cannibalism, and settler murder in The Buln-buln and the Brolga. These Aboriginal-focused narratives are told as part of a suite of realistic tales by Barefooted Bob and Tom Collins, by way of counter-narrative to Fred Falkland Pritchard’s fantastical romance/action tales which belong to the ripping yarns/Boy’s Own tradition. The paper argues that, although the narrative method, in its refusal to editorialise, is uncharacteristically and unnervingly oblique, there is more than a little of Lilian Pritchard, the Lady Novelist, in Furphy himself and that the questions he puts into the mouth of the Lady Journalist about Aboriginal culture are probing and pungent.' (Author's abstract)
'This paper discusses the uses and implications of the diary form in Such is Life considering the historical development of the diary across the nineteenth century, with particular reference to the Letts company. It considers the gender and imperial associations of the nineteenth-century diary and the temporal and spatial constraints imposed by the diary form and potentially used and parodied by Furphy in his selection of this format for the novel.' (Author's abstract)
'This essay examines the representation of dogs, especially Pup in the novels of Joseph Furphy.' (Author's abstract)
'The article traces the phrase 'Secret of England's Greatness' through its currency in nineteenth-century British culture, including the title of the painting of Queen Victoria by Thomas Jones Barker (1863), and other references, to argue that it was a commonplace in Joseph Furphy's time. The paper traces Furphy's critique of British imperialism in the novel.' (Author's abstract)
'Joseph Furphy, considered to be "the father of the Australian novel" is best known for Such is Life which remains a classic that “nobody reads and even fewer comprehend”. In recent times, there has been a resurgence of interest in Furphy, as evidenced by the range of celebratory activities now associated with him. Fans may visit both “real” and “imaginary” geographies in their search for connection with Furphy’s legend. This paper will consider a range of sites within the nascent Furphy heritage industry, arguing that they offer tourists opportunities to emotionally re-engage with Australia’s frontier past.' (Author's abstract)
