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Tony Simoes da Silva writes: 'I explore how at times well-intentioned work is undermined by the very knowledge it seeks to create, and by the vocabulary in which it aims to do so. I have in mind in this instance a recent anthology edited by well-known Australian authors Thomas Keneally and Rosie Scott, A Country Too Far (2013). As I aim to show in a discussion of selected texts, the book is a significant example of the ways in which a desire to have an impact and the best of intentions do not always have the intended outcome' (66).
Notes
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Epigraph: Among your characters you must always include The Starving African, who wanders the refugee camp nearly naked, and waits for the benevolence of the West. Her children have flies on their eyelids and pot bellies, and her breasts are flat and empty. She must look utterly helpless. She can have no past, no history; such diversions ruin the dramatic moment. Moans are good. She must never say anything about herself in dialogue except to speak of her (unspeakable) suffering. (Binyavanga Wainaina, 'How to Write about Africa')
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Last amended 24 Jun 2015 14:41:39
65-78
Displaced Selves in Contemporary Fiction, or the Art of Literary Activism
Australian Literary Studies
Australian Literary Studies
Subjects:
- A Country Too Far : Writings on Asylum Seekers 2013 anthology autobiography biography poetry short story essay
- The Indiana Jones Story 2013 single work autobiography
- The Boat Project 2013 single work poetry
- The Stranger 2013 single work short story
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