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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Notes
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Dedication: To my parents, Francis and Sheila.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
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Murray-Mallee Imaginaries : Towards a Literary History of a Region
2018
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 1 no. 18 2018; -
Circling with Ghosts: The Search for Redemption
2007
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , Special Issue 2007; (p. 65-76) 'This article explores the ways in which Michael Meehan's The Salt of Broken Tears (referred to hereafter as Salt) might be read as an allegorical quest for redemption. I refer also to Patrick White's Voss, to the extent that it provides an obvious antecedent, and an ironic archetype of the "explorer" tale. Voss provides a useful juxtaposition to Salt, in that they both represent quests, and futile quests at that. Both are historical novels, using a distanced past to illuminate a particular (different) present. Both novels illustrate an Australian masculinity haunted by a lost sense of "rightness": not just of "right-doing", but also of fitness, comprehensibility, belonging. The masculine is presented as both mirrored and haunted by the feminine. There are two key elements in the construction of this masculinity: violence, and deprivation or "lack". I am interested in how these elements drive the masculine quest, and how this masculine quest mirrors the broader Australian longing for redemption, or perhaps absolution.' (p.65) -
Salt-Lakes and Swamps : Michael Meehan's Australian Environments
2006
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Colloquy : Text Theory Critique , November no. 12 2006;'Although The Salt of Broken Tears and Stormy Weather are set in the Mallee, one depicts a world of heat, dust and salt, whereas the other is an account of one day in the small town of Towaninnie on which the rain is unceasing. A major symbol of the first novel is the salt-lake, and of the second, the fecund greenness of the rabbiter's swamp. This paper will examine the way these two disparate environments affect the novels' characters and influence the narrative, and what both novels suggest about Australians' relationship with their environment.'
Source: Colloquy : Text Theory Critique, no.12 November 2006 Sighted: 12/07/2007 -
A Haunted Land
2005
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Studies , vol. 20 no. 1&2 2005; (p. 139-153) 'Since the nineteenth century, Australian art and writing has had a double vision of the country, as a sunny land of opportunity, and as a place of loneliness and loss. [...] Recent fiction by white writers has, like Lawson, shown an awareness of the strangeness of the land, but it locates this strangeness more directly in the brutality and defeats of settlement. The sufferings of both settlers and of those they violently displaced continue to haunt their successors' (139). The paper examines the nature of this haunting in recent novels by white Australian writers. -
Saying Places : Finding a 'Voice' in Landscape
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Regenerative Spirit : Volume 2 : (Un)settling, (Dis)locations, (Post-)colonial, (Re)presentations - Australian Post-Colonial Reflections 2004; (p. 272-282) Williams sees fiction as a means of enhancing and understanding landscape, and explores the way that the landscape, being integral to the novel's plot and character, 'speaks' to the reader in The Salt of Broken Tears.
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Magical Mystery Tour
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 16 no. 1 2002; (p. 84)
— Review of The Salt of Broken Tears 1999 single work novel -
Books in Brief
2000
single work
review
— Appears in: Blast , Autumn no. 41 2000; (p. 23)
— Review of The Salt of Broken Tears 1999 single work novel ; Kadaitcha : A Novel 1999 single work novel -
Her Kingdom for a Horse
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 3-4 July 1999; (p. 11)
— Review of Pegasus in the Suburbs 1999 single work novel ; The Salt of Broken Tears 1999 single work novel -
Meehan's Out
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 3 July 1999; (p. 25)
— Review of The Salt of Broken Tears 1999 single work novel -
Books in Brief
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian's Review of Books , July vol. 4 no. 6 1999; (p. 24)
— Review of The Salt of Broken Tears 1999 single work novel -
Saying Places : Finding a 'Voice' in Landscape
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Regenerative Spirit : Volume 2 : (Un)settling, (Dis)locations, (Post-)colonial, (Re)presentations - Australian Post-Colonial Reflections 2004; (p. 272-282) Williams sees fiction as a means of enhancing and understanding landscape, and explores the way that the landscape, being integral to the novel's plot and character, 'speaks' to the reader in The Salt of Broken Tears. -
Circling with Ghosts: The Search for Redemption
2007
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , Special Issue 2007; (p. 65-76) 'This article explores the ways in which Michael Meehan's The Salt of Broken Tears (referred to hereafter as Salt) might be read as an allegorical quest for redemption. I refer also to Patrick White's Voss, to the extent that it provides an obvious antecedent, and an ironic archetype of the "explorer" tale. Voss provides a useful juxtaposition to Salt, in that they both represent quests, and futile quests at that. Both are historical novels, using a distanced past to illuminate a particular (different) present. Both novels illustrate an Australian masculinity haunted by a lost sense of "rightness": not just of "right-doing", but also of fitness, comprehensibility, belonging. The masculine is presented as both mirrored and haunted by the feminine. There are two key elements in the construction of this masculinity: violence, and deprivation or "lack". I am interested in how these elements drive the masculine quest, and how this masculine quest mirrors the broader Australian longing for redemption, or perhaps absolution.' (p.65) -
Salt-Lakes and Swamps : Michael Meehan's Australian Environments
2006
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Colloquy : Text Theory Critique , November no. 12 2006;'Although The Salt of Broken Tears and Stormy Weather are set in the Mallee, one depicts a world of heat, dust and salt, whereas the other is an account of one day in the small town of Towaninnie on which the rain is unceasing. A major symbol of the first novel is the salt-lake, and of the second, the fecund greenness of the rabbiter's swamp. This paper will examine the way these two disparate environments affect the novels' characters and influence the narrative, and what both novels suggest about Australians' relationship with their environment.'
Source: Colloquy : Text Theory Critique, no.12 November 2006 Sighted: 12/07/2007 -
A Haunted Land
2005
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Studies , vol. 20 no. 1&2 2005; (p. 139-153) 'Since the nineteenth century, Australian art and writing has had a double vision of the country, as a sunny land of opportunity, and as a place of loneliness and loss. [...] Recent fiction by white writers has, like Lawson, shown an awareness of the strangeness of the land, but it locates this strangeness more directly in the brutality and defeats of settlement. The sufferings of both settlers and of those they violently displaced continue to haunt their successors' (139). The paper examines the nature of this haunting in recent novels by white Australian writers. -
The Courier-Mail Book of the Year Shortlist [2000]
2000
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 30 September 2000; (p. 5)
Awards
- Bush,
- North West Victoria, Victoria,
- Mallee, North West Victoria, Victoria,
- 1920s