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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'This current issue of Antipodes fittingly represents the work of the three editors who have guided the journal's production in the past year or so. Volume 32 (2018), a double issue, marked the official end of Nicholas Birns's eighteen-year tenure as editor of Antipodes, and as that volume came to production, Belinda Wheeler lent a diligent hand and a keen eye to the publication of the double issue. An essay or two approved by Nicholas has made its way into the current issue (33.1), with Belinda acquiring many of the essays in this issue. Belinda also provided the editorial guidance for the special section on the work of Alexis Wright. It is from the capable hands of Nicholas and Belinda that I take the reins of the journal Antipodes, with a well-mapped path behind and an open road ahead.' (Brenda Machosky, Editorial introduction)
Contents
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The Embrace of Ambiguity in Joan Lindsay's Picnic at Hanging Rock and Henry James's The Turn of the Screw,
single work
criticism
(p. 8-20)'Since Joan Lindsay's Picnic at Hanging Rock (1967) was published over fifty years ago, it has captivated critics and readers alike. Peter Weir's influential 1975 cinematic adaptation brought the tale to an even wider audience, both national and international. The success of the film, however, has been double edged, for while it brought fame to the story, it has overshadowed the book, such that the novel and film tend to be erroneously spoken of in tandem or synonymously. Fifty years on, it is time to reconsider Picnic at Hanging Rock unmoored from its cinematic adaptation, especially in light of Janelle McCulloch's recent book Beyond the Rock (2017). Among McCulloch's many revelations is that Lindsay's literary imagination was significantly influenced by the works of the American novelist Henry James (1843– 1916). McCulloch discloses that "Joan particularly admired his novel The Turn of the Screw which she called 'a mysterious tale that was half-truth and half fiction'" (137). McCulloch does not, however, offer any detail or analysis of how and to what extent Lindsay's regard for James's work, written almost a century earlier, might have influenced her own. Certainly, there are some obvious parallels between Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Turn of the Screw, including the lack of a satisfying ending.' (Introduction)
- Moving Oni"After the poetry reading,", single work poetry (p. 21)
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Prose That Makes Us "Laugh, Cry, Squirm and Gasp and Wonder" : Imagery, Memory, and Emotion in Helen Garner's Memoirs,
single work
criticism
(p. 22-39)'Despite our awareness of the slipperiness of truth, literary memoirists continue to attract vast audiences, keen to immerse themselves in the skillful transformation of "experience into meaning and value" (Hampl, "Memory" 208). The rich tradition of the literary memoir differs from so-called pulp memoirs in relying less on narcissism and self-justification and more on storytelling, figurative language, dialogue, and "moments of imagination" (Bartkevicius 134). The result is the capacity to convey subjective experience, from both intellectual and emotional perspectives, thereby "plung[ing] the reader into the real heart of the matter" (Silverman 149). In effectively portraying the emotions that inevitably underpin the heart of the matter, literary memoirists can also have an emotional impact on us as readers, wherein we are invited to "laugh, cry, squirm and gasp and wonder" (Gaunt 22).' (Introduction)
- Portrait of Departurei"Carried from a neatly clipped garden", single work poetry (p. 40)
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Applying Rasa Theory in David Williamson's The Removalists,
single work
criticism
(p. 41-47)'Australian theater has indeed come of age since Ray Lawler's The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll was performed in Melbourne in 1955, which corresponds to John Osborne's performance of Look Back in Anger, also performed in 1955. This has led many critics of Australian theater to divide its history into two neat parts: pre-Lawler and post-Lawler drama. Early dramatists were busy imitating the European models, and the frequent staging of sentimental plays and vaudeville cannot be ignored. Early drama since 1833 was mostly concerned with the life of the bush rangers, which is roughly equivalent to the US Wild West. The Aboriginal cause has also been a topic in the hands of David Burn, whose Bush Rangers was performed in 1829, after he wrote a considerable portion of the same in Tasmania. Though David Williamson (1942–) belongs to the "First Wave" of such dramatists, he was active in the 1990s as well and is associated with a literary phenomenon called the "New Theater" in Australian drama.' (Introduction)
- Snow, Cockatooi"they came in the heaving bulk", single work poetry (p. 48)
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A Fleeting Infatuation with All Things Australian : American Editions of Australian Novels, 1979–1989,
single work
criticism
(p. 49-59)'In the closing months of 1988, the literary agent Rosemary Creswell wrote of a "mini-boom in Australian books in North America," directing attention to the work of the New York publicist Selma Shapiro, who, three years earlier, had been commissioned by the Literature Board of the Australia Council to promote Australian writing in the United States of America. Shapiro's work had made her the "hub of Australian literary activity in North America," a "crowded, competitive . . . market [where] there is a need for specialist public relations companies promoting books and authors" (Creswell 8). Assessing this period three decades later, Louise Poland and Ivor Indyk acknowledged the buzz that Shapiro's work had generated but pointed to the shaky foundations of this late-1980s enthusiasm, which "was also crossed by tensions and contradictions which led to confusion, disappointment, lost opportunities, and sometimes the outright rejection of important authors and their books" (309). Poland and Indyk identified three difficulties: the promising but limited role played by Penguin Books offering Australian titles through its US affiliate, Viking Penguin; the interventions of literary agents; and the difference in values between the two cultures. Peter Carey recognized the difficulty of Shapiro's job under such conditions, suggesting that the promotion of Australian literature in New York was like "pushing shit uphill" (Carey).' (Introduction)
- Revelation in Troyesi"Saying goodbye at the train on his last visit to Brisbane", single work poetry (p. 60)
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Introduction : Alexis Wright's Significant, Growing Oeuvre,
single work
criticism
(p. 62-64)
'This issue of Antipodes includes essays about several works written by the leading Waanyi author Alexis Wright (1950–). Wright's growing canon is continuing to make a major impression on both Australian literature and the global canon. Wright's novels have won numerous awards, including Australia's highest literary award, the prestigious Miles Franklin Literary Award. She won the award in 2006 for her breakthrough novel Carpentaria, and in 2013 her novel The Swan Book was shortlisted for the award. In 2018, her latest contribution, Tracker, a five-hundredplus-page tribute to the Indigenous Australian activist Leigh Bruce, won the Stella Prize, an award specifically for female authors that is also in honor of Stella Maria Sarah "Miles" Franklin. In addition to the accolades Wright has received for her work, her books are often published by international publishing houses (Carpentaria with Atria Press, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, for example) or Australian publishers with international distribution. Wright has also published in other literary genres including short stories and essays. Several of Wright's works have also been written primarily for a French audience, as was the case with Croire en l'incroyable and Le pacte du serpent arc-en ciel, the subject of several essays included here.' (Introduction)
- Simply 21i"Wearing white is all it takes", single work poetry (p. 65-66)
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Traces of Territory : Alexis Wright's Grog War (1997),
single work
criticism
(p. 67-78)
'This quotation, which appears as an epigraph on the title page of part 1 of Alexis Wright's 1997 book Grog War, immediately frames the problems associated with alcohol in Aboriginal communities as belonging to the legacies of colonialism. Grog is not a passive killer. Poison and guns were killers in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries; nowadays, alcohol is being used to destroy Aboriginal people, families, and whole communities. Grog is contextualized here, at the beginning of Wright's narrative, as an active force in the continuing destruction of communities, a legacy of colonial control and oppression. And if grog is a legacy of colonialism, then both the colonizer and the colonized are compelled to address its destructive force in postcolonial times. A whole community response is needed to address this historical, structural, and social problem. There is no attempt here either to reinforce victimhood or to elude responsibility in relation to the misuse of alcohol. On the contrary, Grog War tells the story of an Aboriginal community's preparedness to face up to the problems of alcohol abuse, to take initiative in working toward solutions, and to encourage a shared sense of responsibility for managing misuse in one Northern Territory town.' (Introduction)
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"In My Mind I See Cross-Roads for Everything I Believe In" : The Way Home in Alexis Wright's Croire En L'incroyable (Believe in the Unbelievable) and Le Pacte Du Serpent Arc-en-ciel,
single work
criticism
(p. 79-91)'The idea of crossroads opens up the idea of horizons pregnant with hope and reviviscence. It points toward the possibility of a life that is dynamic and not solely defined by inflicted wounds and forced separations. Conceptualizing and firmly believing in crossroads as a metaphor for thinking and for nostalgia is not easy. Undertaking this difficult task, however, opens up possibilities to move from painful memories into action, to refuse the unacceptable, and to counter discourses arguing that the ancient (the past, the ever-present immemorial) has been erased or does not matter. Different directions, points of departures, and possible routes indeed emerge when observing crossroads.' (Introduction)
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Framing the Unutterable: Reading Trauma in Alexis Wright's Short Fiction,
single work
criticism
(p. 92-106)'Alexis Wright's literary works are regularly discussed in relation to the ways in which they bring Indigenous perspectives, experiences, and histories to the foreground. Following Carpentaria's Miles Franklin Award win in 2007, Wright claimed that—writing from her own Indigenous "viewpoint"—she tries "to bring out the way" many Indigenous Australians "think as people," to share what she terms "something of our humanity, something of our character, something of our soul" (O'Brien 217). An awareness of the dynamics underpinning Indigenous exposition and cross-cultural exchange are integral to understanding Wright's oeuvre. Yet while close readings of Wright's literary works need be attuned to the "things" that are being expressively shared (modes of storytelling), I propose that such analyses also need to be conscious of the halts, silences, and gaps in her narratives: the unarticulated spaces that may connote trauma. Drawing on Alison Ravenscroft's approach to reading trauma in "Indigenous-signed texts"—a reading technique that focuses on elements of the unknown, or "nodes of silence"—this essay examines some of the ways in which the unspeakable is conveyed in Wright's short fiction and how the manipulation of oral forms contributes to wider processes of cultural regeneration (Ravenscroft, Postcolonial 16).' (Introduction)
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Alexis Wright's Publishing History in Three Contexts : Australian Aboriginal, National, and International,
single work
criticism
(p. 107-124)
'In order to better understand and appreciate Alexis Wright's publishing history, it is important to first place it in the context of the publishing history of Australian Aboriginal literature. Only then can one properly situate it in the larger context of Australian literature. Finally, for full effect, Wright's publishing history should be placed in the context of the international literary marketplace.' (Introduction)
- Strucki"After we candles met it was decided to ditch", single work poetry (p. 125)
- This Is a Difficult Piece to Write, single work prose (p. 126-130)
- Beach Balleti"In the midst of an Irish heatwave,", single work poetry (p. 131)
- We Will Warm Ourselves, single work prose (p. 132-137)
- Nullarbor, single work poetry (p. 138)
- This Is It, single work essay (p. 139-146)
