AustLit

'Peter Rose's 2001 memoir Rose Boys is a meditation on male family relationships. Described by the author as 'an essay in fraternal juxtaposition', the work is not only a tribute to a brother but also an acknowledgement of the centrality of the father in the formation of two very different sons. This article will elaborate on this principal auto/biographical exchange in Rose Boys: the exchange between a speaking or performing subject (in the sons Robert and Peter) and a watching object (in the father Bob Rose). How is the paternal gaze conceived of and represented in this form of auto/biography? Can this work be read as a 'performance' for the father? How is the performance of sonship framed and represented? And how is Peter Rose's auto/biographical act both a 'speaking for himself' and an attempt to speak for his brother? Can a life writer speak for another, or will another to speak through his work, and what are the ethical implications of this attempt? Stephen Mansfield.