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Notes
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Dedication: To the Gentlemen of the Flashing Blade
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Sugarcane and the Wet Tropics : Reading the Georgic Mode and Region in John Naish’s Farm Novel The Cruel Field (1962)
2021
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 21 no. 2 2021;'Many critics consider the pastoral ideal as key to understanding Australia’s rural development and therefore interpret regional literature as either supporting or working against that ideal. However, this approach is problematic for a farm novel centred on labour and a harsh reality. This essay introduces the georgic mode as a new interpretative framework. In a reading of John Naish’s The Cruel Field (1962), I identify georgic conventions of the harvest, seasons, labour, harsh conditions, heroism, and farming instructions. These conventions convey insights into the wet tropics bioregion of the mid-twentieth century. Regional insights arise from depictions of sugarcane, seasons, rainforest, Indigenous people, and women. I argue that sugarcane farming and Indigenous fishing align with the georgic mode. My inclusion of Indigenous fishing extends concepts of the georgic and subverts a pastoral tradition. Spatial boundaries situate the farm and sea as georgic, and rainforest as pastoral. This delineation recognises human management of country beyond the farm. This essay has repercussions for how ‘the pastoral’ is understood and positions the georgic mode as integral to interpretations of the farm novel. Along the way, I correct a lack of critical attention to the Welsh-migrant writer, John Naish, and build on Cheryl Taylor and Elizabeth Perkins’ research on North Queensland literature to revive and reshape understandings of ‘the North’.' (Publication abstract)
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The Canefields
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 16 February vol. 85 no. 4331 1963; (p. 41)
— Review of The Cruel Field 1962 single work novel -
Untitled
1962
single work
review
— Appears in: The Cairns Post , 3 November 1962; (p. 6)
— Review of The Cruel Field 1962 single work novel -
Study of a Nervous Breakdown
1962
single work
review
— Appears in: Age Literary Review , 15 September 1962; (p. 19)
— Review of The Cruel Field 1962 single work novel -
How to Become and Remain an Australian
1962
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 8 September 1962; (p. 17)
— Review of The Cruel Field 1962 single work novel
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How to Become and Remain an Australian
1962
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 8 September 1962; (p. 17)
— Review of The Cruel Field 1962 single work novel -
Study of a Nervous Breakdown
1962
single work
review
— Appears in: Age Literary Review , 15 September 1962; (p. 19)
— Review of The Cruel Field 1962 single work novel -
Untitled
1962
single work
review
— Appears in: The Cairns Post , 3 November 1962; (p. 6)
— Review of The Cruel Field 1962 single work novel -
Fiction Chronicle
1962
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin Quarterly , December vol. 21 no. 4 1962; (p. 505-509)
— Review of The Hollow Woodheap 1962 single work novel ; The Well Dressed Explorer 1962 single work novel ; The Country of Marriage 1962 single work novel ; The Cruel Field 1962 single work novel ; The World Turned Upside Down 1962 single work novel ; La Bora 1961 single work novel ; The River and the Brook 1962 single work novel ; The Hive of Glass 1962 single work novel ; March into Morning : A Novel 1962 single work novel ; Down the Golden Mile 1962 single work novel ; The Young Wife 1962 single work novel ; In My Lady's Chamber : A Novel 1962 single work novel -
Untitled
1962
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October vol. 1 no. 12 1962; (p. 153)
— Review of The Cruel Field 1962 single work novel -
Sugarcane and the Wet Tropics : Reading the Georgic Mode and Region in John Naish’s Farm Novel The Cruel Field (1962)
2021
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 21 no. 2 2021;'Many critics consider the pastoral ideal as key to understanding Australia’s rural development and therefore interpret regional literature as either supporting or working against that ideal. However, this approach is problematic for a farm novel centred on labour and a harsh reality. This essay introduces the georgic mode as a new interpretative framework. In a reading of John Naish’s The Cruel Field (1962), I identify georgic conventions of the harvest, seasons, labour, harsh conditions, heroism, and farming instructions. These conventions convey insights into the wet tropics bioregion of the mid-twentieth century. Regional insights arise from depictions of sugarcane, seasons, rainforest, Indigenous people, and women. I argue that sugarcane farming and Indigenous fishing align with the georgic mode. My inclusion of Indigenous fishing extends concepts of the georgic and subverts a pastoral tradition. Spatial boundaries situate the farm and sea as georgic, and rainforest as pastoral. This delineation recognises human management of country beyond the farm. This essay has repercussions for how ‘the pastoral’ is understood and positions the georgic mode as integral to interpretations of the farm novel. Along the way, I correct a lack of critical attention to the Welsh-migrant writer, John Naish, and build on Cheryl Taylor and Elizabeth Perkins’ research on North Queensland literature to revive and reshape understandings of ‘the North’.' (Publication abstract)
- Queensland,