AustLit
Latest Issues
Contents
- Mein Einziger Mord My Only Murder, single work short story
-
The Tramp
Erwählt
The Chosen Vessel,
single work
short story
Note: With title: Erwählt
-
Irgendwann
Some Day,
single work
short story
Mitchell tells of a girl he once loved.Note: With title: Irgendwann
-
Hass
The Jealousy of Stephen Snow,
single work
short story
Note: With title: Hass
-
Dad und die Donovans
Dad and the Two Donovans,
single work
short story
Note: With title: Dad und die Donovans
-
Vermisst
The Lost White Woman,
single work
short story
Note: With title: Vermisst
-
Rats,
single work
short story
humour
Three travelling shearers encounter a swagman, 'Rats', having a fight with his swag.
-
Verflucht
Spirit-Led,
single work
short story
mystery
Note: With title: Verflucht
-
Die Frau des Viehtreibers
The Drover's Wife,
Shawnee Lawrence
(translator)
single work
short story
First appearing in The Bulletin in 1892, Henry Lawson's short story 'The Drovers Wife' is today regarded as a seminal work in the Australian literary tradition. Noted for it's depiction of the bush as harsh, potentially threatening and both isolated and isolating, the story opens with a simple enough premise: an aggressive--and presumably deadly--snake disrupts the working life of a bushwoman and her young children. Brave but cautious, the woman resolves to protect her children since her husband is, characteristically, away from home and of no help.
As time passes within the story, tension builds, and the snake's symbolic threat takes on layers of meaning as the sleepless heroine recalls previous challenges she faced while her husband was away. A series of flashbacks and recollections propel the story through the single night over which it takes place, and by the time the climax arrives--the confrontation with the snake--readers have learned much about the heroine's strengths and fears, most of the latter involving the loss of children and dark figures who encroach upon her small, vulnerable homestead. To be sure, this "darkness" is highly symbolic, and Lawson's use of imagery invokes Western notions of good and evil as well as gendered and racial stereotypes.