Writing Disability in Australia:
| Type of disability | Physical malformation, speech impediment, walking difficulties. |
| Type of character | Primary. |
| Point of view | First person. |
'Acceptance and Rejection are the key concepts that influence an individual’s psychological and emotional well-being. Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Theory (IPAR Theory) postulated by Ronald P. Rohner and his colleagues offers a framework for understanding the intense influence of interpersonal acceptance and rejection on individuals’ psychological and social outcomes. Understanding the dynamics of Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection is crucial for fostering inclusive and supporting circumstances. This paper does the same by disclosing and contextualizing Rohner’s Subtheories in Peter Philip Carey’s The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith. Through his writings, Carey delves into the complex workings of his character’s psyche, thereby giving scope for the readers to explore the interior lives of his characters – their desires, fears, inner conflicts and motivations. The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith is a picaresque narrative that centres on Tristan, the titular character born with physical deformities. The complexities of his life in a society that is obsessed with physical perfection raise questions about the conventional notions of Acceptance and Rejection. This paper highlights the Acceptance-Rejection phenomena in Tristan’s life and their implications.' (Publication abstract)
'Ubiquitous, highly visible, nonspecific to geography, history, race, or sex, dwarfism's connection with Australia's mythic and literary histories is remarkable enough to suggest here that it occupy its own subgenre in literature, the zwergroman (m). Australia's branding as the "Antipodes" geographically recalls its colonial past; mythographically the imaginative configuration was as an underworld of opposites ruled by the diminutive King of the Antipodes. Thus, the zwergroman is frequently fashioned from Celtic myths of the colonizing power along with the shaping power of colonial processes. In addition to introducing the conventions of the zwergroman and demonstrating the significance of dwarf characters to Australia's pre- and postcolonial narratives, this article gradually introduces concepts from disability studies (through the scholarly work of Erin Pritchard, David T. Mitchell and Sharon L. Snyder, and others) by examining representations and cultural meanings imposed on dwarf characters prior to the counter histories of twenty-first-century short-statured scholars whose demand for personhood required an engagement with subjective and experiential realities. The novels discussed (1970–94) represent a cluster of dwarf-centric novels by notable writers, all able-bodied at the time of writing (excepting Patrick White). They include C. J. Koch, The Year of Living Dangerously (1978; filmed 1982); James McQueen, Hook's Mountain (1982); Ruth Park, Swords and Crowns and Rings (1977); Peter Carey, The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith (1994); and Patrick White, The Vivisector (1970).' (Publication abstract)
'In my reading of Peter Carey's novel The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith, I explore the way in which Carey attempts to make a fictional world in order to connect with the political and social events in the real world of Australia during the 1970s. His fictional world of Efica was made with the same struggles for identity, on both the political and social levels, that Australia was experiencing. Through an examination of the lives of the citizens of Efica, two distinct connections to the real Australia emerge: the first is a retelling of the events and scandals that led to the dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, an event which Whitlam himself describes as an 'execution;' the second relies on Benedict Anderson's theory of the constructed nature of national identities, revealing the complex and overlapping character of national identities. This is exemplified through the attributes-often shared with Voorstand, its principal ally-used to create Efica's identity. This relationship between the two countries which Carey created reflects the relationship that Australia had with the USA. Meanwhile, the characters themselves are caught in a process of trying to make new worlds and new identities in order to feel as though they belong, something that also seems to be a reflection of Australia's history as discussed by Richard White.' (Author's abstract)
