AustLit

'When the French edition of my book came out in 2009, Simon Caterson argued "that only an outsider can fully appreciate the big cultural picture". When the Australian edition was released in 2016, Nicholas Jose also observed that “The outside gaze illuminates what the insider cannot see, especially when that gaze focuses on what most distinguishes the inside, what makes it what it is.” There seems to be two distinct assumptions meshed into one observation: that as an outsider I would have a vantage point to discuss Australian fiction, and that my ringside view would be specifically informed by my French background.

'In this article I discuss whether I actually have a French view on Australian novels and whether my outsider’s perspective gives me an unquestioned vantage point to discuss Australian fiction.'

Source: Abstract.