y separately published work icon Australian Studies periodical issue   peer reviewed assertion
Issue Details: First known date: 2010... vol. 2 2010 of Australian Studies est. 1988 Australian Studies
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Contents

* Contents derived from the , 2010 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
The Secret Life of Spies and Novelists : Herbert Dyce Murphy and Patrick White, Bruce Bennett , single work criticism
'This article considers the 'secret life' of two Australians who worked for brief periods in intelligence and transmuted aspects of their experience in stories they subsequently told. Herbert Dyce Murphy's depictions of himself as a 'lady spy' in Europe in the early 1900s came to influence Australia's premier novelist Patrick White in the characterisation of his homosexual protagonist in White's novel The Twyborn Affair (1979). For Dyce Murphy and White, as for W H Auden and others, the image of the spy held maginative appeal as a way of projecting the necessary disguises, subterfuges and possibilities that a life of secrecy entailed.' (Author's abstract)
Getting Noticed : Images of Older Women in Australian Popular Culture, Liz Byrski , single work criticism
'Despite the fact that women over the age of 45 buy more books than any other demographic group they rarely feature as the central characters in Australian popular fiction. When they do appear it is usually in minor roles where they are characterised in negatively stereotypical ways. This paper argues that by ignoring older women as subjects and consumers, creators, producers and publishers of the products of popular culture fail to provide realistic and sympathetic representations of older women thus rendering them invisible to themselves and to others. It includes a case study of my own attempts to address this representational black hole through the writing and publishing of five novels in the genre of feminist realism, focused on the lives of women between the ages of 50 and 85. It records the success of these books in the commercial publishing market place where they are now all Australian bestsellers and two have reached the top ten fiction on the NeilsenBookscan.' (Author's abstract)
The Weakening Force of Origin : Reputations and Allegiances of Musicians in Colonial Australia, Roger Covell , single work criticism
'While all lives reflect specific elements of their times to some degree, the lives of musicians in the Western tradition as they intersected Australia's colonial history are often emphatic in declaring this relationship. Earlier arrivals tended to be escaping from debt or notoriety, such as William Vincent Wallace or Isaac Nathan. Nathan, however, coincided in time and sympathy with a brief period of pre-goldrush idealism of an inclusive kind and contributed to that idealism. Musicians in Australia's early colonial period tended to be defined by how and why they left Europe; later arrivals were more like to gain renown from actual accomplishment when post-goldrush affluence beckoned them. Early colonial society required no musical professionals other than versatile military bandsmen. In contrast, the astonishing popularity of touring opera from the 1860s onwards created a local market for swiftly demonstrable skill and prompted colonial emulation, reaching its summit in the career of Melba.' (Author's abstract)
Alexander Sutherland (1852-1902) : Forgotten Australian Intellectual, John Gonzalez , single work biography

'Alexander Sutherland (1852-1902) was a polymath who at various stages in his very short life was among other things a teacher, poet, writer, artist, mathematician, musician, journalist, politician, philosopher, historian and scientist. He wrote several books, many short stories, innumerable journal and newspaper articles, at least two novels and produced dozens of paintings and sketches. He is the author of the first volume of the celebratory work Victoria and its Metropolis and with his younger brother George wrote the first best-selling textbook on Australian history. Overseas he was lauded by some of the best scientific minds of the nineteenth century for his most important and pioneering work entitled The Origin and Growth of the Moral Instinct. Despite such distinctions, Sutherland has not been the subject of serious study in over a century.

This article begins to address this issue by providing a very brief biography of Sutherland, with particular reference to his interpretation of Darwinian evolution as elaborated in his magnum opus. This article shows how Sutherland influenced Russian philosophical thought at the turn of the nineteenth century and attempts to argue that Sutherland's interpretation of Darwinian evolution had more in common with its Russian variation than with the popular British interpretation advanced by Thomas Henry Huxley, Herbert Spencer and others. This article concludes that Sutherland's rehabilitation is long overdue not just because he is a forgotten important and influential intellectual but because it sheds light on philosophical thought in Australia during this period. (Author's abstract)
Nazis, the Holocaust, and Australia’s History Wars, Graham Huggan , single work criticism

'The essay engages with ongoing debates about the validity of comparing Holocaust memory, situating these in the context of Australia's History Wars. Looking at Markus Zusak's The Book Thief (2005) as a recent fictional attempt to confront the effects of both Holocaust memory and German perpetrator trauma, it also considers the novel's status as a displaced (Australian-authored) German survivor's account. Arguing against a facile assimilation of the novel to the contemporary 'Holocaust industry', the essay asserts the value of a transnational approach that insists on the cultural and historical specificity of the Holocaust while showing its continuing usefulness in energising discourses of traumatic memory not necessarily related to the Shoah itself. At the same time, it sounds a cautionary note against using the Holocaust, either as a form of screen memory to avoid confronting colonial violence or as a negative analogy to assert the relative innocuousness of the Australian past.' (Author's abstract)

Elizabeth Jolley : A Cross-Cultural Life in Writing, Barbara Milech , Brian Dibble , single work criticism

'Elizabeth Jolley is one of Australia's most significant writers: she published some two dozen books of fiction, essays and radio dramas, won every major Australian literary award, received four honorary doctorates, was awarded the Order of Australia for service to Australian Literature in 1988, and was named an Australian 'National Living Treasure' in 1997.

Her career has its roots in the UK, the place of her birth, schooling and early marriage. In 1959 she travelled with her three children and her husband to Perth, Western Australia, where Leonard Jolley took up a position as foundation Librarian of the University of Western Australia. She brought with her a trunk full of unpublished/rejected manuscripts which provided the initial materials from which she developed her published fictions and essays in Australia.

This article explores the institutional frameworks in Australia which enabled Jolley - a constant writer from childhood - to develop, in David Carter's phrase, 'a career in writing' from the mid-1970s onwards. It argues that Jolley rewrote her foundation manuscripts (written in another country) both to imagine Australian lives and to conform to Australian publishers' requirements. In doing so, it traces how the fiction and essays translate the experience of migration/exile, often thematised through the recurrent image of being 'on the edge,' into the particular and powerful ethic of love that informs Jolley's writing.' (Author's abstract)
Greek Olives and Italian Prosciutto on Crusty French Bread : Food in Contemporary Fiction by Australian Women, Jennifer Mitchell , single work criticism
'Women have often had a troubled relationship with food, but in recent decades there has been a bit of a turn around - at least in fictional terms. In some earlier Australian feminist fiction from the 1970s and 1980s, women were often portrayed as oppressed by, or resistant to, food and eating. Here I explore food in Kate Grenville's Lilian's Story, Andrea Goldsmith's Gracious Living, and two works by Helen Garner - The Children's Bach and Cosmo Cosmolino. In these stories women refrain from eating, or over indulge, as forms of resistance to oppression. But times have changed. This essay examines the changing nature of how food is represented in fiction by Australian women. The later novels explored here - Drusilla Modjeska's The Orchard, Marion Halligan's The Fog Garden, Stephanie Dowrick Tasting Salt and Amanda Lohrey's Camille's Bread (1995) - significantly reframe food preparation and consumption as positive experiences that promote women's independence, and contribute to their creative lives and personal relationships. These later texts transcend the earlier view of domesticated women as anxious or resistant consumers of food. Instead, food is aesthetically rich and sensually rewarding; a controllable and pleasurable experience promoting health, wellbeing, and positive loving relationships. (Author's abstract)
Olfactory Imagery in the Australian Lives in Selected Short Stories of Janette Turner Hospital, Sylvia Petter , single work criticism
'The sensuality of the prose of Janette Turner Hospital is to my mind informed by the importance of olfaction and olfactory imagery underpinning her work, particularly in relation to the links between olfaction and memory, and place, as well as to the recurring themes of dislocation that inhabit the 'Australian' lives of characters in several of her short stories. Place and memory, and their associated links to olfaction, would suggest that an inquiry into Janette Turner Hospital's use of olfactory imagery might well offer deeper insights into how she effects her grapplings with the concepts of 'home' and 'belonging'.' (Author's abstract)
Impressions of a Young French Gentleman’s 1866 Visit to the Australian Colonies, Marie Ramsland , single work criticism

'Ludovic de Beauvoir's 1868 published account of his discovery of Australia during his round-the-world journey provides a fascinating picture of the British colonies of the mid-1800s. This article examines his observations about the Australian colonies within the broader context, taking into account reports in contemporary local newspapers and other sources. Depicted is a young society viewed through the prism of the author's native country, France, and his adopted country, England, and reflects the class and racial divisions, general attitudes and prejudices of the time. These are especially commented upon as he visits each town and its district — from Melbourne to Hobart, then Sydney, Newcastle and Brisbane. As an outsider's perspective of the past, 'Australie' contributes to the growing historiography of the country.

De Beauvoir's last book published in 1931 testifies to his life-long admiration for Australia and Australians.' ' (Author's abstract)
Reading 'Walkabout' in the 1930s, Mitchell Rolls , single work criticism
'The Australian magazine Walkabout, loosely modelled on National Geographic, was published between 1934 and 1974, with a concluding single edition being issued in January 1978. Unlike National Geographic, the very middlebrow Walkabout has attracted little critical scrutiny. The few responses to Walkabout have predominantly criticised its role in fomenting a specific version of the settlement myth, in particular that of promoting white progress and modernisation of the outback against a projected Aboriginal absence. Leaving aside its representation of Aborigines (this matter is dealt with in a forthcoming essay) this paper argues that at least in the first decade of Walkabout's long run, its warmth for and promotion of Australia, particularly the interior and remote regions, is distinctive when contrasted with the nationalist fervour of other contemporary movements, and that ideologically-bound criticism overlooks the more nuanced forms of settler belonging the magazine facilitated.' (Author's abstract)
A Waltz with Thomas Wood : Constructing an Australian Life, Graham Seal , single work criticism
'Thomas Wood, English composer, traveller and author, wrote the best-selling Australian travel book, Cobbers in the 1930s. His time in Australia, which included his 'discovery' of 'Waltzing Matilda', led to a complex personal and professional negotiation of national identity in which he declared himself to be 'Australian' as well as 'British'. This article briefly considers Wood's writings, experiences and attitudes in an attempt to understand how it was possible for him to make - and to believe - such an apparently unnecessary assertion.' (Author's abstract)
Outlaw Culture : Bushrangers in the Sydney Morning Herald, Bruce Tranter , Jed Donoghue , single work criticism
'The myths surrounding rural outlaws and social bandits are important elements of cultural identity in many urban and industrialised nations, with the image of Australian bushranger Ned Kelly even projected to a global audience during the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Analysis of Sydney Morning Herald articles from 1987 to 2004 confirms that Ned Kelly appears more often than all other bushrangers combined. Journalists tapping the wellspring of the Kelly myth have embellished his legend and introduced him to new generations of Australians. However, he is less likely than other bushrangers to appear in historical pieces and rarely the central focus of articles. Kelly the 'hero' is associated with the visual arts and literature, while Kelly the 'outlaw' is juxtaposed with rapacious banks and rogue politicians. Long after his death, the famous bushranger is enshrined in Australian mythology through regular media exposure, ensuring his position as a cultural symbol of Australia.' (Author's abstract)
“Wherever There Was A Battle” : Australian War, Richard Trembath , single work criticism
'For a small nation Australia has produced a significant number of distinguished war correspondents. Some of these such as Chester Wilmot and Alan Moorehead are amongst the best known reporters of the Second World War. In this paper I want to look more generally at those Australian journalists who worked for Fleet Street before and during the Second World War. In so doing I hope to shed fresh light on the relationship between the Australian and British newspaper worlds and how Fleet Street operated as the centre of the Empire's media in the middle of the 20th Century.' (Author's abstract)
Patrick White's Sense of History in 'A Fringe of Leaves', Elena Ungari , single work criticism
''The historical novel can only represent our ideas and stereotypes about that [historical] past', asserts the philosopher Fredric Jameson in his analysis of postmodernism and its link to history. In this paper I intend to explore the ways in which Patrick White treats the theme of history in A Fringe of Leaves (1976); I will argue that this novel confutes Jameson's statement, while it shows the metaphorical meaning that "history" acquires in the literary text. Finally, I will try to assess the aim and function of White's historical reconstruction in the Australian context of the 1970s.' (Author's abstract)
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