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Issue Details: First known date: 2017... 2017 ‘En Australie, Je Parle Une Langue Minoritaire‘ : Catherine Rey‘s Une Femme En Marche as Australian Life Writing in French
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'In the Asia-Pacific region, literature is plurilingual. Even Australian literature is not necessarily written in English. There are several contemporary Australian authors who write in languages other than English and many who write in various Englishes. This article examines one such example by analysing the life writing of Catherine Rey. It focuses upon the self-reinvention that this French author performed by migrating to Australia in mid-life. Focusing on the first-person narrative Une femme en marche (2007) and drawing comparisons with self-reflexive essays by this author, the article teases out the contrasts between Rey’s representation of France and Australia as spaces for literary creation. It then interrogates how Rey reinvents herself through linguistic play within her life writing. Using theories of ‘translanguaging’, the article analyses the ways in which this author blends French and English to probe the gaps in languages, to nuance literary representation and to create new linguistic forms to express her self-narrative.' (Publication abstract)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Life Writing Locating Lives : Papers from the Inaugural Regional IABA Conference, IABA Asia-Pacific vol. 14 no. 4 2017 12015855 2017 periodical issue

    'what are the challenges of thinking about an Asia Pacific region for life writing; what work, if any, has already raised useful questions or can offer cautionary tales about such a concept; and what are the logistical and institutional difficulties of making such an entity viable?'  (Howes, ‘Pacifying Asia, Orienting the Pacific: What Work Can a Life Writing Region Do?’)

    'Over the past decade, in particular, life-writing scholarship, including some excellent work published in this journal, has often focused on regional issues; for instance, locating life writing in its national, cultural, historical, or linguistic context. Such scholarship works to recognise the diverse texts, authors, genres, languages, and so forth that life narrators from different contexts are writing and reading. Centres and research groups for the study of life writing have emerged strongly in this region, for instance, The Center for Biographical Research (CBR) at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, The Centre for Life Writing and Shanghai Jiao Tong University China, The Lingnan University Life Writing Research Program in Hong Kong, the Centre for Cross-Cultural Studies at Kaohsiung Medical University in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, The National Centre of Biography at the Australian National University in Australia, and the Flinders University Life Narrative Research Group in South Australia, to name just a handful of examples. National and regional life writing theory and practice has been mapped at various national and international conferences devoted to life writing scholarship. The most notable of these conferences is the International Auto/Biography Association (IABA) conferences.'  (Editorial introduction)

    2017
    pg. 455-463
Last amended 13 Oct 2017 08:55:10
455-463 ‘En Australie, Je Parle Une Langue Minoritaire‘ : Catherine Rey‘s Une Femme En Marche as Australian Life Writing in Frenchsmall AustLit logo Life Writing
Subjects:
  • French language
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