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Touching Tiananmen single work   short story  
Issue Details: First known date: 1992... 1992 Touching Tiananmen
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Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The House of Breathing Gail Jones , Fremantle : Fremantle Press , 1992 Z508629 1992 selected work short story (taught in 2 units)

    'The invasion of East Timor, the sinking of the Titanic, Freud's encounter with an "imbecile dwarf," astronomy, pregnancy, Tiananmen Square, a remote Aboriginal community: these historical episodes and narratives inspire the fourteen superb and engaging short stories in The House of Breathing, winner of four major Australian literary prizes. Concerned with the extremes of human experience, Jones's stories give fictional form to a wide range of philosophical concerns: cultural imperialism, political and sexual repression, the impact of modern technology on culture and consciousness.'

    Source: Publisher's blurb (US ed.)

    Fremantle : Fremantle Press , 1992
    pg. 130-139
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Australian Short Story : An Anthology from the 1890s to the 1980s Laurie Hergenhan (editor), St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 1986 Z380969 1986 anthology short story (taught in 13 units) St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 1994 pg. 312-320
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Australian Short Story : An Anthology from the 1890s to the 1980s Laurie Hergenhan (editor), St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 1986 Z380969 1986 anthology short story (taught in 13 units) St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2002 pg. 377-387

Works about this Work

Forgetfulness and Remembrance in Gail Jones’s “Touching Tiananmen” Pilar Royo Grasa , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of the European Association of Studies on Australia, , vol. 3 no. 2 2012; (p. 32-46)
'The proliferation of trauma fiction has given rise to a debate about the ethical challenges of representing and responding to trauma. An abuse of this theoretical framework may lead to an unethical appropriation of the trauma of others. The main aim in this article is to study Gail Jones's use of poetic indirection in her short story "Touching Tiananmen" (2000). This strategy raises awareness about the historical trauma of the Tiananmen massacre, and takes how its victims may be represented into consideration. Firstly, the ambivalent meaning and relevance of silence in the short story will be explained. This discussion is supported by a detailed analysis of the formal and stylistic strategies used in Jones's narrative to evoke the 1989 traumatic event. Secondly, the story's construction of temporal, place and positional forms of circumspection will be examined. Finally, Homi Bhabha's notion of "now knowledge" will be used to comment on the story's anti-climatic turning-points and ending. By way of conclusion, it will be argued that Jones's choice to "speak shadows" proves to be a powerful strategy to denounce forgetfulness and call for our recognition of responsibility towards the victims.' (Author's abstract)
Forgetfulness and Remembrance in Gail Jones’s “Touching Tiananmen” Pilar Royo Grasa , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of the European Association of Studies on Australia, , vol. 3 no. 2 2012; (p. 32-46)
'The proliferation of trauma fiction has given rise to a debate about the ethical challenges of representing and responding to trauma. An abuse of this theoretical framework may lead to an unethical appropriation of the trauma of others. The main aim in this article is to study Gail Jones's use of poetic indirection in her short story "Touching Tiananmen" (2000). This strategy raises awareness about the historical trauma of the Tiananmen massacre, and takes how its victims may be represented into consideration. Firstly, the ambivalent meaning and relevance of silence in the short story will be explained. This discussion is supported by a detailed analysis of the formal and stylistic strategies used in Jones's narrative to evoke the 1989 traumatic event. Secondly, the story's construction of temporal, place and positional forms of circumspection will be examined. Finally, Homi Bhabha's notion of "now knowledge" will be used to comment on the story's anti-climatic turning-points and ending. By way of conclusion, it will be argued that Jones's choice to "speak shadows" proves to be a powerful strategy to denounce forgetfulness and call for our recognition of responsibility towards the victims.' (Author's abstract)
Subjects:
  • Beijing,
    c
    China,
    c
    East Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
  • c
    China,
    c
    East Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
Settings:
  • 1990s
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