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'The time for new approaches to White's work is overdue. Central to the present study are Edward Said's ideas about the role of the intellectual (and the writer) - of speaking "truth to power," and also the importance of tracing the "affiliations" of a text and its embeddedness in the world. This approach is not incompatible with Jung's theory of the 'great' artist and his capacity to answer the deep-seated psychic needs of his people.
'White's work has contributed in many different ways to the writing of the nation. The spiritual needs of a young nation such as Australia must also comprehend its continual urge towards self-definition. Explored here is one important aspect of that challenge: white Australia's dealings with the indigenous people of the land, tracing the significance of the Aboriginal presence in three texts selected from the oeuvre of Patrick White: Voss (1957), Riders in the Chariot (1961), and A Fringe of Leaves (1976). Each of these texts interrogates European culture's denigration of the non-European Other as embedded in the discourse of orientalism.
'One central merit of White's commanding perspective is the constant close attention he pays to European hubris and to the paramount autonomy of indigenous culture. There is evidence even of a project which can be articulated as a search for the possibility of white indigeneity, the potential for the white settler's belonging within the land as does the indigene.' (Publisher's website)
Notes
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Dedication: For Ian & For Rohan
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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[Review] Writing the Nation : Patrick White and the Indigene
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 11 no. 2 2011;
— Review of Writing the Nation : Patrick White and the Indigene 2009 single work criticism -
"Twisted Ghosts" : Settler Envy and Historical Resolution in Andrew McGahan's The White Earth
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Splintered Glass : Facets of Trauma in the Post-Colony and Beyond 2011; (p. 191-204) -
Sea-change or Atrophy? The Australian Convict Inheritance
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Coolabah , no. 5 2011; This paper is an offshoot of a larger project which explored the possibility for the erstwhile settler-colonizer undergoing the sea-change into settler-indigene emergent through a study of selected novels of Patrick White. It became apparent to me that the convict figure, who played an ancillary role in these works, could lay claim to the status of white indigene well ahead of the main protagonist. Robert Hughes (in The Fatal Shore) discredits the idea of any bonding between the convict and the Aborigine but acknowledges examples of "white blackfellas"—white men who had successfully been adopted into Aboriginal societies. Martin Tucker's nineteenth century work, Ralph Rashleigh, offers surprising testimony of a creative work which bears this out in a context where Australian literature generally reflected the national amnesia with regard to the Aborigine and barely accorded them human status. Grenville's The Secret River (2005), based broadly on the history of her own ancestor, appears to support Hughes' original contention but is also replete with ambivalences that work against a simple resolution. This paper will explore some of the ambivalences, the 'food for thought' on aspects of the Australian experience highlighted by these literary texts, and glances briefly also at variations on the theme in Carey's Jack Maggs and the The True Story of the Kelly Gang. (Author's abstract)
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[Review] Writing the Nation : Patrick White and the Indigene
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Transnational Literature , November vol. 2 no. 1 2009;
— Review of Writing the Nation : Patrick White and the Indigene 2009 single work criticism -
Native White
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , November vol. 4 no. 10 2009; (p. 15-16)
— Review of Writing the Nation : Patrick White and the Indigene 2009 single work criticism
-
Native White
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , November vol. 4 no. 10 2009; (p. 15-16)
— Review of Writing the Nation : Patrick White and the Indigene 2009 single work criticism -
[Review] Writing the Nation : Patrick White and the Indigene
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Transnational Literature , November vol. 2 no. 1 2009;
— Review of Writing the Nation : Patrick White and the Indigene 2009 single work criticism -
[Review] Writing the Nation : Patrick White and the Indigene
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: The Commonwealth Review , vol. 20 no. 1 2008; (p. 157-161)
— Review of Writing the Nation : Patrick White and the Indigene 2009 single work criticism -
[Review] Writing the Nation : Patrick White and the Indigene
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 11 no. 2 2011;
— Review of Writing the Nation : Patrick White and the Indigene 2009 single work criticism -
[Review] Writing the Nation : Patrick White and the Indigene
2000-
single work
review
— Appears in: Cercles 2000-;
— Review of Writing the Nation : Patrick White and the Indigene 2009 single work criticism -
Sea-change or Atrophy? The Australian Convict Inheritance
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Coolabah , no. 5 2011; This paper is an offshoot of a larger project which explored the possibility for the erstwhile settler-colonizer undergoing the sea-change into settler-indigene emergent through a study of selected novels of Patrick White. It became apparent to me that the convict figure, who played an ancillary role in these works, could lay claim to the status of white indigene well ahead of the main protagonist. Robert Hughes (in The Fatal Shore) discredits the idea of any bonding between the convict and the Aborigine but acknowledges examples of "white blackfellas"—white men who had successfully been adopted into Aboriginal societies. Martin Tucker's nineteenth century work, Ralph Rashleigh, offers surprising testimony of a creative work which bears this out in a context where Australian literature generally reflected the national amnesia with regard to the Aborigine and barely accorded them human status. Grenville's The Secret River (2005), based broadly on the history of her own ancestor, appears to support Hughes' original contention but is also replete with ambivalences that work against a simple resolution. This paper will explore some of the ambivalences, the 'food for thought' on aspects of the Australian experience highlighted by these literary texts, and glances briefly also at variations on the theme in Carey's Jack Maggs and the The True Story of the Kelly Gang. (Author's abstract)
-
"Twisted Ghosts" : Settler Envy and Historical Resolution in Andrew McGahan's The White Earth
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Splintered Glass : Facets of Trauma in the Post-Colony and Beyond 2011; (p. 191-204)
- Voss : A Novel 1957 single work novel
- Riders in the Chariot 1961 single work novel
- A Fringe of Leaves 1976 single work novel