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y separately published work icon The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature reference   criticism   biography  
Alternative title: Australian Literature
Issue Details: First known date: 1985... 1985 The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'A comprehensive account of Australian literature from the first settlement in 1788 to the current day, this book represents the most important achievements in Australian poetry, drama, and fiction as well as non-fictional prose–journals, diaries, biographies, and autobiographies–and details the impact on the writing caused by those historical events that often serve as a work's theme. More than 3,000 informative entries cover subjects such as transportation, exploration, gold discoveries, bushranging, and outback ethos, all of which played a part in the development of the continent's literature as did the pervasive presence and influence of the Aboriginal culture. Entries range from lengthy articles on special topics to brief factual paragraphs explaining words or references. Also provided is information and reference sources on important past and contemporary writers as well as anything and everything that may have influenced their development: the growth of publishing and periodicals; the impact of movements such as nationalism, racialism, and feminism; and the contributions made by booksellers, critics, and literary associations. A major new Oxford Companion, this book makes an intriguing new genre of literature accessible to all readers.' (Source: On-line)

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Works about this Work

The Federation of Letters : A Faild Partnership in Australian Literary and Political History Brian Matthews , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Tapestry of the Creative Word in Anglophone Literatures 2013; (p. 265-272)
'My Memory has a Mind of Its Own' : Watching the Climbers on the Mountain and The Tivington Nott Peter Pierce , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Novels of Alex Miller : An Introduction 2012; (p. 55-65) 'Not long ago, Alex Miller remarked at a literary event (my witness is a bookseller from Launceston) that 'My memory has a mind of its own'. What might this mean? Perhaps a memory that is truant, given to reinvention, but also set free. Another implication might concern the double insecurity of memory: the tenuousness of our hold on what we can recollect from the past, and the uncertain hold that memory gives us on our present. In any event, that remark by Miller began and then informs this discussion of the first two novels that he wrote, works that draw closely on some salient events of his youth. They are Watching the Climbers on the Mountain (1988) and The Tivington Nott (1989)...' (From author's introduction 55)
Cultural Creep Nick Bryant , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Griffith Review , Winter no. 36 2012; (p. 118-131) 'TODAY it would be called a reality show, but in the early 1950s the Australian Broadcasting Commission's Incognito was billed as light entertainment. Alas, no recording of the radio program survives in the corporation's vast audio archive. Nor does it earn a mention in Ken Inglis's two-volume authorised history of the ABC. Yet Incognito is one of the most influential programs the national broadcaster has ever put to air, if only because it caught the ear of the Melbourne-based critic AA Phillips. The idea, thought Phillips, was quaint enough: to pit a local artist against a foreign guest, with the audience asked to adjudicate. Occasionally, listeners would favour the home-grown performer, thus producing 'a nice glow of patriotic satisfaction'. The program, however, was founded on the belittling premise that 'the domestic product will be worse than the imported article.' Phillips coined a neat description for this 'disease of the Australian mind' and immediately his aphorism, described in a 1950 Meanjin essay of the same name, took hold: 'the cultural cringe'.' (Author's introduction)
Time in Some Aussie and Kiwi Short Stories : Lawson, Baynton, Palmer, and Sargeson Angelo Righetti , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Time and the Short Story 2012; (p. 105-118) 'The short story in Australia and New Zealand has flourished from the last decade of the nineteenth century onwards, and has been strictly bound to orality - yarns, yarn-spinning (Bennet 5) - from its early days, as the speech cadence of a usually sympathetic storyteller, either involved in the narrative, or simply an eye-witness or a bystander, interacting with listeners / readers, influences its time-scale, rhythm, tempo and structure.

A few significant stories by representative short-fiction writers from the late nineteenty century well into the mid-twentieth century - Australian Henry Lawson, Barbara Baynton, Vance Palmer, and New Zealand Frank Sargeson - though reflecting specific colonial realities and issues in a period of nation building, will be discussed here for their contribution to a relatively new genre, with specific regard to their treatment of time, changing from a traditional to a gradually experimental mode where they are sometimes forerunners or aware of modernist techniques.' (105)
Three Companions 2007-2008 single work column
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December-January no. 297 2007-2008; (p. 1)
A Most Worthy Companion Sophie Masson , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: The New Englander , 8 November 1994;
— Review of The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature 1985 reference criticism biography ; Passenger on a Ferry Jena Woodhouse , 1994 selected work poetry
On Feminist Tactics and Tea Persons Penelope Nelson , 1991 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 1-2 June 1991; (p. rev 5)
— Review of Angels of Power and Other Reproductive Creations 1991 anthology poetry drama short story ; The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature 1985 reference criticism biography
Untitled Marion Spies , 1996 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , May vol. 17 no. 3 1996; (p. 310-317)
— Review of Bibliography of Australian Literature Project : List of Australian Writers 1788-1992 1995 single work bibliography ; The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature 1985 reference criticism biography
Australian Literature : The Difficulties of Definition Simon During , 1986 single work review
— Appears in: The Age Monthly Review , August vol. 6 no. 4 1986; (p. 7-9)
— Review of The Oxford Anthology of Australian Literature 1985 anthology drama poetry short story prose ; The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature 1985 reference criticism biography
A Genguine Volume of Our Literary History David Rowbotham , 1985 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 23 November 1985; (p. 6)
— Review of The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature 1985 reference criticism biography
Companion Makes Some Dubious Choices Brian Kiernan , 1995 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 9 no. 2 1995; (p. 168-170)
Three Companions 2007-2008 single work column
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December-January no. 297 2007-2008; (p. 1)
Time in Some Aussie and Kiwi Short Stories : Lawson, Baynton, Palmer, and Sargeson Angelo Righetti , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Time and the Short Story 2012; (p. 105-118) 'The short story in Australia and New Zealand has flourished from the last decade of the nineteenth century onwards, and has been strictly bound to orality - yarns, yarn-spinning (Bennet 5) - from its early days, as the speech cadence of a usually sympathetic storyteller, either involved in the narrative, or simply an eye-witness or a bystander, interacting with listeners / readers, influences its time-scale, rhythm, tempo and structure.

A few significant stories by representative short-fiction writers from the late nineteenty century well into the mid-twentieth century - Australian Henry Lawson, Barbara Baynton, Vance Palmer, and New Zealand Frank Sargeson - though reflecting specific colonial realities and issues in a period of nation building, will be discussed here for their contribution to a relatively new genre, with specific regard to their treatment of time, changing from a traditional to a gradually experimental mode where they are sometimes forerunners or aware of modernist techniques.' (105)
Cultural Creep Nick Bryant , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Griffith Review , Winter no. 36 2012; (p. 118-131) 'TODAY it would be called a reality show, but in the early 1950s the Australian Broadcasting Commission's Incognito was billed as light entertainment. Alas, no recording of the radio program survives in the corporation's vast audio archive. Nor does it earn a mention in Ken Inglis's two-volume authorised history of the ABC. Yet Incognito is one of the most influential programs the national broadcaster has ever put to air, if only because it caught the ear of the Melbourne-based critic AA Phillips. The idea, thought Phillips, was quaint enough: to pit a local artist against a foreign guest, with the audience asked to adjudicate. Occasionally, listeners would favour the home-grown performer, thus producing 'a nice glow of patriotic satisfaction'. The program, however, was founded on the belittling premise that 'the domestic product will be worse than the imported article.' Phillips coined a neat description for this 'disease of the Australian mind' and immediately his aphorism, described in a 1950 Meanjin essay of the same name, took hold: 'the cultural cringe'.' (Author's introduction)
'My Memory has a Mind of Its Own' : Watching the Climbers on the Mountain and The Tivington Nott Peter Pierce , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Novels of Alex Miller : An Introduction 2012; (p. 55-65) 'Not long ago, Alex Miller remarked at a literary event (my witness is a bookseller from Launceston) that 'My memory has a mind of its own'. What might this mean? Perhaps a memory that is truant, given to reinvention, but also set free. Another implication might concern the double insecurity of memory: the tenuousness of our hold on what we can recollect from the past, and the uncertain hold that memory gives us on our present. In any event, that remark by Miller began and then informs this discussion of the first two novels that he wrote, works that draw closely on some salient events of his youth. They are Watching the Climbers on the Mountain (1988) and The Tivington Nott (1989)...' (From author's introduction 55)
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Last amended 15 Jun 2015 10:23:20
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