AustLit

'It is generally held that the short stories of the Australian writer Marjorie Barnard (1897-1987) do not express political values or deal with social issues, but are confined to the exploration of personal concerns. Theauthor herself referred to her short stories as subjective 'indulgences', and this evaluation has largely been accepted by commentators. In this paper I challenge this interpretation and argue that the political pressures of the later 1930s seeped or forced themselves into her short fiction and, further, that several of her most interesting stories were directly instigated by and concerned with contemporary political and social questions. I further suggest that as her own political commitment intensified under the pressures of fascism and war, her original devotion to practising art, untainted by propaganda, came under severe pressure.' (Publication abstract)