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Notes
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Dedication: For Natalie Staples.
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Epigraph: Love is the final metaphor of sexuality. It's cornerstone is freedom: the mystery of the person. Octavio Paz. The Double Flame.
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Epigraph: He wasn't a profound thinker or anything at all - just a piddling, laughable man. He assumed a Greek name, dressed like the Greeks, learned to behave more or less like a Greek; and all the time he was terrified he'd spoil his reasonably good image by coming out with barbaric howlers in Greek and the Alexandrians, in their usual way, would start to make fun of him, vile people that they are. From 'A Prince from Western Libya', C. P. Cavafy (translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard).
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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The Absence of Authenticity and the Authenticity of Absence in Robert Dessaix's Twilight of Love
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Travel Writing , vol. 19 no. 3 2015; (p. 259-273)'This paper examines Robert Dessaix's tourist experiences in his fifth book-length publication Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev (2004). Drawing on tourism theorists John Urry and John Frow, I suggest that Dessaix's travel experience shifts between the self-conscious coolness of the post-tourist and an unselfconscious, humanist quest for authenticity. I analyse these shifts in terms of Ning Wang's concept of “existential authenticity” which he differentiates from objectivist, constructivist and post-modernist approaches to authenticity. Dessaix essentially engages with, or moves playfully between, each of these modes. Ultimately, though, they dovetail at Courtavenel, France, when he visits one of Turgenev's former dwellings, revealing an essential sense of absence at the centre of Dessaix's identity, one that speaks to his absent biological parents, his lack of a concrete genealogy, the silence that surrounded his homosexuality in the first part of his life, and the threat of mortality that permeates Dessaix's work and his efforts to engage with his “true self”. In this way, Dessaix's travel experience not only characterises his journey as a quest for existential authenticity, but it also confirms Judith Adler's notion of travel as an artform that is capable of articulating subjectivity.'(Publication abstract)
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'So Completely French'
2012
single work
correspondence
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 341 2012; (p. 4) Leigh Swinbourne expresses his concern at Robert Dessaix's 'invention' of a major figure in Dessaix's Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev. Dessaix had discussed his narrative 'invention' in the 2011 Seymour Lecture, 'Pushing against the Dark'. -
As Robert was Saying
2012
single work
column
— Appears in: The Monthly , March no. 76 2012; (p. 46-49) -
Aspects of Love
Carla Sari
(interviewer),
2007
single work
interview
— Appears in: Meanjin , April vol. 66 no. 1 2007; (p. 150-157) Cara Sari discusses 'Love of persons, places, cultures, languages' with Robert Dessaix. (Meanjin) -
Love and Death
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin , vol. 64 no. 1-2 2005; (p. 38-44)
— Review of Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev 2004 single work prose
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Books
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: Brisbane News , 25 - 31 August no. 505 2004; (p. 30)
— Review of Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev 2004 single work prose -
Into the Twilight
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 28 August 2004; (p. 7)
— Review of Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev 2004 single work prose -
The Heart of the Matter
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 28 August 2004; (p. 5)
— Review of Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev 2004 single work prose -
Passion of a Free Thinker
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 28-29 August 2004; (p. 10)
— Review of Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev 2004 single work prose -
Lishnost
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 264 2004; (p. 34-35)
— Review of Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev 2004 single work prose -
On Turgenev's Trail in Powers of Love
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 20 November 2004; (p. 15-16) -
Aspects of Love
Carla Sari
(interviewer),
2007
single work
interview
— Appears in: Meanjin , April vol. 66 no. 1 2007; (p. 150-157) Cara Sari discusses 'Love of persons, places, cultures, languages' with Robert Dessaix. (Meanjin) -
As Robert was Saying
2012
single work
column
— Appears in: The Monthly , March no. 76 2012; (p. 46-49) -
'So Completely French'
2012
single work
correspondence
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 341 2012; (p. 4) Leigh Swinbourne expresses his concern at Robert Dessaix's 'invention' of a major figure in Dessaix's Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev. Dessaix had discussed his narrative 'invention' in the 2011 Seymour Lecture, 'Pushing against the Dark'. -
The Absence of Authenticity and the Authenticity of Absence in Robert Dessaix's Twilight of Love
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Travel Writing , vol. 19 no. 3 2015; (p. 259-273)'This paper examines Robert Dessaix's tourist experiences in his fifth book-length publication Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev (2004). Drawing on tourism theorists John Urry and John Frow, I suggest that Dessaix's travel experience shifts between the self-conscious coolness of the post-tourist and an unselfconscious, humanist quest for authenticity. I analyse these shifts in terms of Ning Wang's concept of “existential authenticity” which he differentiates from objectivist, constructivist and post-modernist approaches to authenticity. Dessaix essentially engages with, or moves playfully between, each of these modes. Ultimately, though, they dovetail at Courtavenel, France, when he visits one of Turgenev's former dwellings, revealing an essential sense of absence at the centre of Dessaix's identity, one that speaks to his absent biological parents, his lack of a concrete genealogy, the silence that surrounded his homosexuality in the first part of his life, and the threat of mortality that permeates Dessaix's work and his efforts to engage with his “true self”. In this way, Dessaix's travel experience not only characterises his journey as a quest for existential authenticity, but it also confirms Judith Adler's notion of travel as an artform that is capable of articulating subjectivity.'(Publication abstract)
Awards
- 2007 winner Tasmania Book Prizes Tasmanian Literary Awards — Margaret Scott Prize
- 2005 shortlisted Mark and Evette Moran Nib Award for Literature
- 2005 winner Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — Award for Non-Fiction
- 2005 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction