AustLit
Latest Issues
Contents
- Michael Dransfield as Landscape Poet, single work criticism (p. 14-29)
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From Paranoia to Celebration, the Shifting City and the Shifting Bush
The Shifting City and the Shifting Bush : From Paranoia to Celebration,
single work
criticism
Discusses literary representations of the City and the Bush, particularly in Dorothy Hewett's poetry.Note: With title: From Paranoia to Celebration, the Shifting City and the Shifting Bush
-
The Case of Elizabeth Deborah Brockman, Western Australian Poet (1833-1915),
single work
criticism
(p. 63-96)
Note: Bibliography: p. 95-96.
- On Adapting Wagner's Gotterdammerung into English, single work criticism (p. 97-130)
- Is There an Australian Pastoral?, single work criticism (p. 131-161)
- Myths of the Wheatbelt, single work criticism (p. 162-200)
-
Henry Clay : Racist or Not? (1844-1896),
single work
criticism
(p. 201-237)
Note: Bibliography: p. 237.
-
Loyalties,
single work
essay
(p. 238-268)
Note: Bibliography: p. 268
- Cross-Cut : The Forest, single work criticism (p. 269-300)
-
The Home Letterbox : Glimpses into the Suburban,
single work
essay
Kinsella discusses the significance of the letterbox, and mail delivery, in suburbia.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
A Western Australian Pastoral of Rust and Dust
2021
single work
criticism
— Appears in: ISLE : Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment , Summer vol. 28 no. 2 2021; (p. 662–685)'Born in 1935 to a family of early and successful Western Australian squattocracy (squatter aristocracy), the celebrated mid-century novelist Randolph Stow’s early life in rural Geraldton exposed him to the political contexts surrounding Australian pastoralism, particularly the dispossession and racist treatment of the Yamatji and Wajarri people of the central Gascoyne region and associated environmental destruction. This article reads two of Stow’s pastoral poems in light of these tensions, following the work of Stow’s Geraldton countryman John Kinsella’s understanding of settler Australian pastoral as inevitably fraught, for instead of a blank arcadia, even in retreat the landscape is always occupied (“Contrary Rhetoric” 136). The most influential voice in contemporary Australia (if not international) criticism of the pastoral, Kinsella argues that environmental violence is inextricable from violence done to the occupants of the land as functions of colonization, and the pastoral as it primarily operates in an Australian context occludes this violence. Kinsella writes that the “hierarchy of land ownership, a concept imported from Europe in particular, has meant that no nostalgia, no return to an Eden, is possible. These Edens are about dispossession and ownership by the few” (“Is There an Australian Pastoral” 348). Yet, is this necessarily other to the pastoral, which traces one of its many origin points to Virgil’s dispossession from his ancestral property at Mantua following the 42BC battle of Phillipi? How might an understanding of the pastoral as social form—complex, communal, and political—better help unpack the work of Stow and others? In this article, I take this question as my central concern, revisiting the poetry of Stow, which has largely rested in a critical lacunae since his death in Harwich, UK, in 2010. I am interested in teasing out how the pastoral is intrinsically linked to citizenship and community, or as William Empson writes, “the problems of one and the many, especially their social aspects” (21). This is the rusted pastoral of the Western Australian Wheatbelt Stow offers us, one that, through the questioning of human communities, is porous, allowing nature, history, and politics to filter through.' (Introduction)
-
Is There an Australian Pastoral Poetry?
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Le Simplegadi , November no. 14 2015; (p. 38-51) Pastoral was common as a European literary genre from the Renaissance until the eighteenth century. It existed in other artistic forms as well, especially in the visual arts, and after its demise as a distinct genre elements of it persisted into the twentieth century, for example in music. With the colonial spread of European culture the pastoral influence also extended into other countries, with a mixed fate. Recently, the term Pastoral has come back into prominence in literature in English, not only in Great Britain but also, notably in the USA and Australia, with the growth of writing motivated by ecological involvement with the natural world, especially landscape. This has led to re-definitions of the term Pastoral in the last few decades. A number of Australian poets are looked at to see whether, and how, their writing about landscape might relate to, or incorporate elements of the Pastoral. The Australian poet John Kinsella, in particular, has been a widely published spokesperson for a new definition of Pastoral. His published works trace his move from a politically activist anti-colonialist redefinition of Pastoral towards a quieter, more harmonious, and essentially ethical engagement with the natural world. -
Untitled
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Transnational Literature , November vol. 5 no. 1 2012;
— Review of Contrary Rhetoric : Lectures on Landscape and Language 2008 selected work criticism essay -
Spinning the Dream : Assimilation in Australia and Contrary Rhetoric : Lectures on Landscape and Language
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Indigo , Summer no. 3 2009; (p. 177-181)
— Review of Spinning the Dream : Assimilation in Australia 1950-1970 2008 single work criticism ; Contrary Rhetoric : Lectures on Landscape and Language 2008 selected work criticism essay -
Non-Fiction 2007-2008
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , November vol. 53 no. 2008; (p. 76-92)
— Review of The Rise and Rise of Kerry Packer 1993 single work biography ; This Crazy Thing a Life : Australian Jewish Autobiography 2007 selected work criticism ; John Winston Howard 2007 single work biography ; Mudrooroo : A Likely Story : Identity and Belonging in Postcolonial Australia 2007 single work criticism ; A Matter of Conscience : Sir Ronald Wilson 2007 single work biography ; Contrary Rhetoric : Lectures on Landscape and Language 2008 selected work criticism essay ; Australian Literature : Postcolonialism, Racism, Transnationalism 2007 single work criticism ; Power Plays : Australian Theatre and the Public Agenda 2007 single work criticism ; Heartsick for Country : Stories of Love, Spirit and Creation 2008 anthology life story ; Conversations With The Mob 2008 anthology life story ; Make It Australian: The Australian Performing Group, the Pram Factory and New Wave Theatre 2008 single work criticism ; Stressing the Modern : Cultural Politics in Australian Women's Poetry 2007 selected work criticism
-
Nonfiction
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: Island , Spring no. 114 2008; (p. 57-60)
— Review of Contrary Rhetoric : Lectures on Landscape and Language 2008 selected work criticism essay -
Prolific Rhetoric
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 193 2008; (p. 86-88)
— Review of Shades of the Sublime and Beautiful 2008 selected work poetry ; Contrary Rhetoric : Lectures on Landscape and Language 2008 selected work criticism essay -
Non-Fiction 2007-2008
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , November vol. 53 no. 2008; (p. 76-92)
— Review of The Rise and Rise of Kerry Packer 1993 single work biography ; This Crazy Thing a Life : Australian Jewish Autobiography 2007 selected work criticism ; John Winston Howard 2007 single work biography ; Mudrooroo : A Likely Story : Identity and Belonging in Postcolonial Australia 2007 single work criticism ; A Matter of Conscience : Sir Ronald Wilson 2007 single work biography ; Contrary Rhetoric : Lectures on Landscape and Language 2008 selected work criticism essay ; Australian Literature : Postcolonialism, Racism, Transnationalism 2007 single work criticism ; Power Plays : Australian Theatre and the Public Agenda 2007 single work criticism ; Heartsick for Country : Stories of Love, Spirit and Creation 2008 anthology life story ; Conversations With The Mob 2008 anthology life story ; Make It Australian: The Australian Performing Group, the Pram Factory and New Wave Theatre 2008 single work criticism ; Stressing the Modern : Cultural Politics in Australian Women's Poetry 2007 selected work criticism -
Spinning the Dream : Assimilation in Australia and Contrary Rhetoric : Lectures on Landscape and Language
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Indigo , Summer no. 3 2009; (p. 177-181)
— Review of Spinning the Dream : Assimilation in Australia 1950-1970 2008 single work criticism ; Contrary Rhetoric : Lectures on Landscape and Language 2008 selected work criticism essay -
Untitled
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Transnational Literature , November vol. 5 no. 1 2012;
— Review of Contrary Rhetoric : Lectures on Landscape and Language 2008 selected work criticism essay -
The 'Lore' of Diminishing Returns
2008
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 193 2008; (p. 88-90) -
Is There an Australian Pastoral Poetry?
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Le Simplegadi , November no. 14 2015; (p. 38-51) Pastoral was common as a European literary genre from the Renaissance until the eighteenth century. It existed in other artistic forms as well, especially in the visual arts, and after its demise as a distinct genre elements of it persisted into the twentieth century, for example in music. With the colonial spread of European culture the pastoral influence also extended into other countries, with a mixed fate. Recently, the term Pastoral has come back into prominence in literature in English, not only in Great Britain but also, notably in the USA and Australia, with the growth of writing motivated by ecological involvement with the natural world, especially landscape. This has led to re-definitions of the term Pastoral in the last few decades. A number of Australian poets are looked at to see whether, and how, their writing about landscape might relate to, or incorporate elements of the Pastoral. The Australian poet John Kinsella, in particular, has been a widely published spokesperson for a new definition of Pastoral. His published works trace his move from a politically activist anti-colonialist redefinition of Pastoral towards a quieter, more harmonious, and essentially ethical engagement with the natural world. -
A Western Australian Pastoral of Rust and Dust
2021
single work
criticism
— Appears in: ISLE : Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment , Summer vol. 28 no. 2 2021; (p. 662–685)'Born in 1935 to a family of early and successful Western Australian squattocracy (squatter aristocracy), the celebrated mid-century novelist Randolph Stow’s early life in rural Geraldton exposed him to the political contexts surrounding Australian pastoralism, particularly the dispossession and racist treatment of the Yamatji and Wajarri people of the central Gascoyne region and associated environmental destruction. This article reads two of Stow’s pastoral poems in light of these tensions, following the work of Stow’s Geraldton countryman John Kinsella’s understanding of settler Australian pastoral as inevitably fraught, for instead of a blank arcadia, even in retreat the landscape is always occupied (“Contrary Rhetoric” 136). The most influential voice in contemporary Australia (if not international) criticism of the pastoral, Kinsella argues that environmental violence is inextricable from violence done to the occupants of the land as functions of colonization, and the pastoral as it primarily operates in an Australian context occludes this violence. Kinsella writes that the “hierarchy of land ownership, a concept imported from Europe in particular, has meant that no nostalgia, no return to an Eden, is possible. These Edens are about dispossession and ownership by the few” (“Is There an Australian Pastoral” 348). Yet, is this necessarily other to the pastoral, which traces one of its many origin points to Virgil’s dispossession from his ancestral property at Mantua following the 42BC battle of Phillipi? How might an understanding of the pastoral as social form—complex, communal, and political—better help unpack the work of Stow and others? In this article, I take this question as my central concern, revisiting the poetry of Stow, which has largely rested in a critical lacunae since his death in Harwich, UK, in 2010. I am interested in teasing out how the pastoral is intrinsically linked to citizenship and community, or as William Empson writes, “the problems of one and the many, especially their social aspects” (21). This is the rusted pastoral of the Western Australian Wheatbelt Stow offers us, one that, through the questioning of human communities, is porous, allowing nature, history, and politics to filter through.' (Introduction)