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Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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'A Little Child Shall Lead Them' : Tasmanian and Victorian School Readers and National Growth
2008
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , June vol. 18 no. 1 2008; (p. 5-12)Jane McGennisken's essay looks at mythologies of Australian childhood identity and practices of 'nation-building' as evidenced in some of the stories included in the First and Second Books of the Victorian and Tasmanian Readers. First published in 1928, eight books make up the collection of fiction and non-fiction stories that became the standard reading/literacy materials used to teach English up until the 1950s.
McGennisken argues that the texts construct a particular image of the Australian child which becomes 'the central element around which ideals of Australia and Australian nationhood are constructed' (5). She claims that in both the Tasmanian and Victorian readers, 'themes of national growth negotiate bwteen innocence and knowingness, informed by the figure of the [idealized] child, selective memories and collective imagining' (5). After analysing a number of stories in detail, McGennisken concludes that the representation of children that populates the stories in the Readers serve to reinforce notions of an ideal, uniquely Australian child' that is 'inevitably a child of the bush' (10).
According to McGennisken, 'themes of national growth in the Readers' work effectively to 'displace Aboriginal Australians and their claim to the country 'with a new generation of 'natives' whose presence will endure the nations' continuing development and its white national identity' (10). In this sense, the reader's functioned within educational institutions as prescribed material that looked to 'shape future Australian citizens through the ideological production of children by text' (11).
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The Westering of Quasimodo : The Legacy of the Grotesque in the New World
2002
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Departures : How Australia Reinvents Itself 2002; (p. 211-221, notes 298-299) Examines the use of the grotesque in some Australian ("New World") writing and the way in which this differs from the European grotesque, particularly that of Victor Hugo. -
Marcus Clarke's Lost Children
1999
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Country of Lost Children : An Australian Anxiety 1999; (p. 40-46) -
Marcus Clark's Children's Story
1996
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Margin , November no. 40 1996; (p. 14-17) -
"Weird Melancholy" : Inner and Outer Landscapes in Marcus Clarke's Stories
1986
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: Mapped but Not Known : The Australian Landscape of the Imagination : Essays and Poems Presented to Brian Elliott LXXV 11 April 1985 1986; (p. 128-145) Studies in Classic Australian Fiction 1997; (p. 9-31) 'When Hamilton Mackinnon collected Clarke's stories in The Austral Edition of the Selected Works of Marcus Clarke (1890),1 he placed as the first item of the 'Australian Tales and Sketches' section two pages entitled 'Australian Scenery'. This justly famous passage, originally part of the text accompanying reproductions of two paintings, Louis Buvelot's 'Waterpool Near Coleraine' and Nicholas Chevalier's 'The Buffalo Ranges' in Photographs of the Pictures in the National Gallery, Melbourne (1874), had been incorporated into Clarke's preface to Adam Lindsay Gordon's poems in 1876 and frequently reprinted.2 It was certainly not a tale, even if arguably a sketch. But its inclusion set a tone for Clarke's stories that followed, even if it was not the tone that Clarke set. The expected feature of Australian stories by the 1890s was clearly up-country description. Yet when we turn to Clarke's stories, such landscape descriptions are generally marginal. Mackinnon's incorporation of the passage into 'Australian Tales and Sketches' suggests an attempt to supplement the comparative lack of scenic settings in the stories themselves.' (Introduction)
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Marcus Clark's Children's Story
1996
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Margin , November no. 40 1996; (p. 14-17) -
Marcus Clarke
1931
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Brisbane Courier , 1 August 1931; (p. 12) The author discusses the criticism and praise that has been levelled at Clarke's work since his death fifty years prior. -
'A Little Child Shall Lead Them' : Tasmanian and Victorian School Readers and National Growth
2008
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , June vol. 18 no. 1 2008; (p. 5-12)Jane McGennisken's essay looks at mythologies of Australian childhood identity and practices of 'nation-building' as evidenced in some of the stories included in the First and Second Books of the Victorian and Tasmanian Readers. First published in 1928, eight books make up the collection of fiction and non-fiction stories that became the standard reading/literacy materials used to teach English up until the 1950s.
McGennisken argues that the texts construct a particular image of the Australian child which becomes 'the central element around which ideals of Australia and Australian nationhood are constructed' (5). She claims that in both the Tasmanian and Victorian readers, 'themes of national growth negotiate bwteen innocence and knowingness, informed by the figure of the [idealized] child, selective memories and collective imagining' (5). After analysing a number of stories in detail, McGennisken concludes that the representation of children that populates the stories in the Readers serve to reinforce notions of an ideal, uniquely Australian child' that is 'inevitably a child of the bush' (10).
According to McGennisken, 'themes of national growth in the Readers' work effectively to 'displace Aboriginal Australians and their claim to the country 'with a new generation of 'natives' whose presence will endure the nations' continuing development and its white national identity' (10). In this sense, the reader's functioned within educational institutions as prescribed material that looked to 'shape future Australian citizens through the ideological production of children by text' (11).
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The Prose Works of Marcus Clarke
1887
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Sydney Quarterly Magazine , June vol. 4 no. 2 1887; (p. 115-135) -
"Weird Melancholy" : Inner and Outer Landscapes in Marcus Clarke's Stories
1986
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: Mapped but Not Known : The Australian Landscape of the Imagination : Essays and Poems Presented to Brian Elliott LXXV 11 April 1985 1986; (p. 128-145) Studies in Classic Australian Fiction 1997; (p. 9-31) 'When Hamilton Mackinnon collected Clarke's stories in The Austral Edition of the Selected Works of Marcus Clarke (1890),1 he placed as the first item of the 'Australian Tales and Sketches' section two pages entitled 'Australian Scenery'. This justly famous passage, originally part of the text accompanying reproductions of two paintings, Louis Buvelot's 'Waterpool Near Coleraine' and Nicholas Chevalier's 'The Buffalo Ranges' in Photographs of the Pictures in the National Gallery, Melbourne (1874), had been incorporated into Clarke's preface to Adam Lindsay Gordon's poems in 1876 and frequently reprinted.2 It was certainly not a tale, even if arguably a sketch. But its inclusion set a tone for Clarke's stories that followed, even if it was not the tone that Clarke set. The expected feature of Australian stories by the 1890s was clearly up-country description. Yet when we turn to Clarke's stories, such landscape descriptions are generally marginal. Mackinnon's incorporation of the passage into 'Australian Tales and Sketches' suggests an attempt to supplement the comparative lack of scenic settings in the stories themselves.' (Introduction)
- Australian Outback, Central Australia,
- Bush,
