y separately published work icon Eleanor Dark : A Writer's Life single work   biography  
Issue Details: First known date: 1998... 1998 Eleanor Dark : A Writer's Life
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Works about this Work

‘This Long and Shining Finger of the Sea Itself’ : Sydney Harbour and Regional Cosmopolitanism in Eleanor Dark’s Waterway Melinda Cooper , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 17 no. 1 2017;

'In Eleanor Dark’s novel Waterway (1938), Professor Channon is prompted by the ominous international headline ‘Failure of Peace Talks’ to imagine the world from a global perspective (120). Channon feels himself metaphorically ‘lifted away from the earth … seeing it from an incredible distance, and with an incredible, an all-embracing comprehension’ (119-20). This move outward from a located perspective to ‘a more detached overview of a wider global space’ signifies a cosmopolitan viewpoint, ‘in which the viewing subject rises above the placebound attachments of the nation-state to take the measure of the world as a wider totality’ (Hegglund 8-9). Yet even this global view is mediated by Channon’s position from within ‘a great island continent alone in its south sea’ (121). Gazing from a ‘vast distance,’ he views Europe as ‘the patches where parasitic man had lived longest and most densely,’ and from which humankind ‘went out to infect fresh lands’ (120). This description of old world Europe as ‘parasitic’ provides a glimpse of resistant nationalism, reflecting Channon’s location within one of the ‘fresh lands’ affected by colonisation. Channon is ultimately unable to sustain a ‘Godlike’ perspective in this scene, desiring ‘nothing but to return’ to local place (121). Although his view initially ‘vaults beyond the bounds of national affiliation’ (Alexander and Moran 4), this move outward does not ‘nullify an affective attachment to the more grounded locations of human attachment’ (Hegglund 20). Channon’s return to the ‘shabby home … of his own humanity’ brings a renewed sense of connection to ‘the sun-warmed rail of the gate’ and ‘the faint breeze [which] ruffled the hair back from his forehead’ (122).' (Introduction)

Biopolitics and Eleanor Dark's Prelude to Christopher Anne Maxwell , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , June vol. 26 no. 2 2011; (p. 76-90)
'In 1934 Miles Franklin described Eleanor Dark's second novel, Prelude to Christopher, as 'a terribly beautiful piece of work' (128). One of Dark's earliest critics, Franklin attributed the book's strength to the author's deft handling of a tragic theme and 'the urge to speak the naked truth' (125). Later critics emphasised the book's experimental style, especially its skilled handling o the multiple viewpoints, flashbacks and interior monologues associated with high modernism. By contrast, recent critics have focused on the novel's subject matter and Dark's engagement with the biopolitical norms that manifested in eugenics. This essay pursues that focus. It aims to flesh out the ways in which Dark's novel registers the potential impact of eugenics on liberal conceptions of freedom and to explore some of the ways in which it attempts to reclaim that freedom...(' From author's introduction p. 76)
Mother Is, Like, History Nicole Moore , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Women Making Time: Contemporary Feminist Critique and Cultural Analysis 2006; (p. 172-190)
A "speculative, questioning" work "compelled by a certain conflict between history and forgetting" (p.172).
Women and "Selves" Frances De Groen , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 60 no. 1 2000; (p. 203-212)

— Review of Eleanor Dark : A Writer's Life Barbara Brooks , Judith Clark , 1998 single work biography ; Woman and Herself : A Critical Study of the Works of Barbara Hanrahan Annette Stewart , 1998 single work criticism ; Australian Lives : An Oxford Anthology 1998 anthology biography extract autobiography
Biography : A Light on Eleanor Dark Olga Asal Connolly , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 14 no. 1 2000; (p. 81-82)

— Review of Eleanor Dark : A Writer's Life Barbara Brooks , Judith Clark , 1998 single work biography
...But Where are the Stories and Symphonies? Ann Skea , 1998 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December-January (1998-1999) no. 207 1998; (p. 17)

— Review of Eleanor Dark : A Writer's Life Barbara Brooks , Judith Clark , 1998 single work biography
Against the Grain Dorothy Hewett , 1998 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 12-13 September 1998; (p. 11)

— Review of Eleanor Dark : A Writer's Life Barbara Brooks , Judith Clark , 1998 single work biography
Eleanor Dark : A Writer's Life Paul Gillen , 1998 single work review
— Appears in: Meanjin , vol. 57 no. 4 1998; (p. 840-842)

— Review of Eleanor Dark : A Writer's Life Barbara Brooks , Judith Clark , 1998 single work biography
Fitting Literature in with Housecleaning Lesley Lebkowicz , 1998 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 3 October 1998; (p. 21)

— Review of Eleanor Dark : A Writer's Life Barbara Brooks , Judith Clark , 1998 single work biography
Mrs Dark is Not a Thinker Carole Ferrier , 1998 single work review
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 153 1998; (p. 93-95)

— Review of Eleanor Dark : A Writer's Life Barbara Brooks , Judith Clark , 1998 single work biography
Mother Is, Like, History Nicole Moore , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Women Making Time: Contemporary Feminist Critique and Cultural Analysis 2006; (p. 172-190)
A "speculative, questioning" work "compelled by a certain conflict between history and forgetting" (p.172).
Biopolitics and Eleanor Dark's Prelude to Christopher Anne Maxwell , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , June vol. 26 no. 2 2011; (p. 76-90)
'In 1934 Miles Franklin described Eleanor Dark's second novel, Prelude to Christopher, as 'a terribly beautiful piece of work' (128). One of Dark's earliest critics, Franklin attributed the book's strength to the author's deft handling of a tragic theme and 'the urge to speak the naked truth' (125). Later critics emphasised the book's experimental style, especially its skilled handling o the multiple viewpoints, flashbacks and interior monologues associated with high modernism. By contrast, recent critics have focused on the novel's subject matter and Dark's engagement with the biopolitical norms that manifested in eugenics. This essay pursues that focus. It aims to flesh out the ways in which Dark's novel registers the potential impact of eugenics on liberal conceptions of freedom and to explore some of the ways in which it attempts to reclaim that freedom...(' From author's introduction p. 76)
Journal of Biography : Writing Eleanor Dark Barbara Brooks , 1999 single work criticism
— Appears in: Hecate , vol. 25 no. 1 1999; (p. 81-88)
A reflection on the process of writing Eleanor Dark : A Writer's Life.
‘This Long and Shining Finger of the Sea Itself’ : Sydney Harbour and Regional Cosmopolitanism in Eleanor Dark’s Waterway Melinda Cooper , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 17 no. 1 2017;

'In Eleanor Dark’s novel Waterway (1938), Professor Channon is prompted by the ominous international headline ‘Failure of Peace Talks’ to imagine the world from a global perspective (120). Channon feels himself metaphorically ‘lifted away from the earth … seeing it from an incredible distance, and with an incredible, an all-embracing comprehension’ (119-20). This move outward from a located perspective to ‘a more detached overview of a wider global space’ signifies a cosmopolitan viewpoint, ‘in which the viewing subject rises above the placebound attachments of the nation-state to take the measure of the world as a wider totality’ (Hegglund 8-9). Yet even this global view is mediated by Channon’s position from within ‘a great island continent alone in its south sea’ (121). Gazing from a ‘vast distance,’ he views Europe as ‘the patches where parasitic man had lived longest and most densely,’ and from which humankind ‘went out to infect fresh lands’ (120). This description of old world Europe as ‘parasitic’ provides a glimpse of resistant nationalism, reflecting Channon’s location within one of the ‘fresh lands’ affected by colonisation. Channon is ultimately unable to sustain a ‘Godlike’ perspective in this scene, desiring ‘nothing but to return’ to local place (121). Although his view initially ‘vaults beyond the bounds of national affiliation’ (Alexander and Moran 4), this move outward does not ‘nullify an affective attachment to the more grounded locations of human attachment’ (Hegglund 20). Channon’s return to the ‘shabby home … of his own humanity’ brings a renewed sense of connection to ‘the sun-warmed rail of the gate’ and ‘the faint breeze [which] ruffled the hair back from his forehead’ (122).' (Introduction)

Last amended 10 Nov 2004 14:37:28
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