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Notes
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Dedication: For Judith, who bore the weight of this book.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording, large print.
Works about this Work
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A National (Diasporic?) Living Treasure : Thomas Keneally
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Le Simplegadi , November no. 14 2015; (p. 20-27) Although Thomas Keneally is firmly located as a national figure, his international literary career and his novels’ inspection of colonial exile, Aboriginal alienation, and movements of people throughout history reflect aspects of diasporic experience, while pushing the term itself into wider meaning of the transnational. -
Interpodes : Poland, Tom Keneally and Australian Literary History
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture , vol. 2 no. 2 2012; (p. 169-179)'This article is framed by a wider interest in how literary careers are made: what mechanisms other than the personal/biographical and the text-centred evaluations of scholars influence a writer's choices in presisting in building a succession of works that are both varied and yet form a consistently recognizable 'brand'.
Translation is one element in the wider network of 'machinery' that makes modern literary publishing. It is a marker of success that might well keep authors going despite lack of sales or negative reviews at home. Translation rights can provide useful supplementary funds to sustain a writer's output. Access to new markets overseas might also inspire interest in countries and topics other than their usual focus or the demands of the home market.
The Australian novelist and playwright Thomas Keneally achieved a critical regard for fictions of Australian history within a nationalist cultural resurgence, but to make a living as a writer he had to keep one eye on overseas markets as well. While his work on European topics has not always been celebrated at home, he has continued to write about them and to find readers in languages other than English.
Poland features in a number of Keneally books and is one of the leading sources of translation for his work. The article explores possible causes and effects around this fact, and surveys some reader responses from Poland. It notes the connections that Keneally's Catholic background and activist sympathies allow to modern Polish history and assesses the central place of his Booker-winning Schindler's Ark filmed as Schindler's List.' [Author's abstract]
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Religion, Class and Nation in Contemporary Australian Fiction
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Kunapipi , vol. 31 no. 1 2009; (p. 83-94) 'This article tackles the charge of elitism levelled at some Australian writers by Australian critics and suggests that these assessments may be biased because of an over-emphasis on class. This kind of criticism connects elitism with the writers' appropriation of the spiritual for the endorsement of the nation, and either rejects works that treat the spiritual, or it refuses to acknowledge a spiritual element in writing that is accepted for its working-class ethos. Through readings of David Malouf's The Conversation at Curlow Creek and Thomas Keneally's A Family Madness and The Office of Innocence, I question the connection that has been made between high literariness and the symbolic endorsement of the White nation in Australia.' Source: The author. -
Imaging Australia
1996
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , Autumn vol. 41 no. 1 1996; (p. 52-60) -
Thomas Keneally : Cycle and Redemption
1991
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: International Literature in English : Essays on the Major Writers 1991; (p. 425-435)
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'Life of Riley' Takes a Bashing from Keneally
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 8 October vol. 108 no. 5488 1985; (p. 84)
— Review of A Family Madness 1985 single work novel -
A Balzac of Our Own in Keneally
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 26 October 1985; (p. 15)
— Review of A Family Madness 1985 single work novel -
Inside Family Tragedy : Understanding Beyond the Headlines
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December-January (1985-1986) no. 77 1985; (p. 27-29)
— Review of A Family Madness 1985 single work novel -
Keneally : a Mighty Maze But Not Without a Plan
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 28 September 1985; (p. 46)
— Review of A Family Madness 1985 single work novel -
Keneally and the World Gone Askew
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian Magazine , 28-29 September 1985; (p. 17)
— Review of A Family Madness 1985 single work novel -
Religion, Class and Nation in Contemporary Australian Fiction
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Kunapipi , vol. 31 no. 1 2009; (p. 83-94) 'This article tackles the charge of elitism levelled at some Australian writers by Australian critics and suggests that these assessments may be biased because of an over-emphasis on class. This kind of criticism connects elitism with the writers' appropriation of the spiritual for the endorsement of the nation, and either rejects works that treat the spiritual, or it refuses to acknowledge a spiritual element in writing that is accepted for its working-class ethos. Through readings of David Malouf's The Conversation at Curlow Creek and Thomas Keneally's A Family Madness and The Office of Innocence, I question the connection that has been made between high literariness and the symbolic endorsement of the White nation in Australia.' Source: The author. -
Compelling Keneally
1985
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: The Sunday Mail , 6 October 1985; -
Talking Easier : Keneally
Oliver Harvey
(interviewer),
1985
single work
criticism
interview
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 8 October 1985; -
Interpodes : Poland, Tom Keneally and Australian Literary History
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture , vol. 2 no. 2 2012; (p. 169-179)'This article is framed by a wider interest in how literary careers are made: what mechanisms other than the personal/biographical and the text-centred evaluations of scholars influence a writer's choices in presisting in building a succession of works that are both varied and yet form a consistently recognizable 'brand'.
Translation is one element in the wider network of 'machinery' that makes modern literary publishing. It is a marker of success that might well keep authors going despite lack of sales or negative reviews at home. Translation rights can provide useful supplementary funds to sustain a writer's output. Access to new markets overseas might also inspire interest in countries and topics other than their usual focus or the demands of the home market.
The Australian novelist and playwright Thomas Keneally achieved a critical regard for fictions of Australian history within a nationalist cultural resurgence, but to make a living as a writer he had to keep one eye on overseas markets as well. While his work on European topics has not always been celebrated at home, he has continued to write about them and to find readers in languages other than English.
Poland features in a number of Keneally books and is one of the leading sources of translation for his work. The article explores possible causes and effects around this fact, and surveys some reader responses from Poland. It notes the connections that Keneally's Catholic background and activist sympathies allow to modern Polish history and assesses the central place of his Booker-winning Schindler's Ark filmed as Schindler's List.' [Author's abstract]
-
`White Ravens' in a World of Violence : German Connections in Thomas Keneally's Fiction
1989
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October vol. 14 no. 2 1989; (p. 160-173)
- Refugees & displaced persons
- Belorussian people
- Family relationships
- Infidelity
- Rugby League
- Suicide
- Effects of war
- Suffering
- Despair
- Conflicts
- Violence
- German armed forces
- World War II
- Strangers & outsiders
- Compassion
- Ethics
- Nationalism
- Political assassination
- Australian culture
- Migrants
- Military invasion & occupation
- Nazism / Third Reich
- National cultures
- Innocence
- Europe,
- Penrith, Penrith area, Sydney Outer West, Sydney, New South Wales,
-
cBelarus,ccFormer Soviet Union,cEastern Europe, Europe,
- 1940s
- 1970s
- 1980s