Locating Australian Literary Memory

Brigid Magner

Description

Exploration of sites explicitly connected with Australian authors through material forms of commemoration

‘Locating Australian Literary Memory’ explores sites which are explicitly connected with Australian authors through material forms of commemoration such as houses, graves, statues and assorted artefacts. The focus is on eleven Australian authors – Adam Lindsay Gordon, Joseph Furphy, Henry Handel Richardson, Henry Lawson, A. B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson, Nan Chauncy, Katharine Susannah Prichard, Eleanor Dark, P. L. Travers, Kylie Tennant and David Unaipon. Each of these writers offers different perspectives on the conventions of literary commemoration from the nineteenth century onwards.

Australian heritage terrain has been thoroughly mapped by nationalist heritage practices which may no longer relate to contemporary values. As elsewhere, the focus is moving towards a greater recognition of the contributions of women authors, migrants, expatriates and First Nations peoples. There is an often unacknowledged dissonance between imported modes of commemoration and the unceded lands onto which they have been introduced. The designation of ‘author countries’ is especially problematic in a postcolonial context because it ‘overwrites’ Indigenous Country, obscuring it from the view of non-Indigenous Australians.

Rather than advocating for the creation of more literary monuments, or the further preservation of memorials that currently exist, ‘Locating Australian Literary Memory’ seeks to reveal the many blind spots, contradictions, challenges and eccentricities of literary commemoration in Australia. While observing the value of literary memorials and the voluntary labour that enables their construction, this book argues for an expanded repertoire of practices to recognise authors and storytellers who have been hitherto overlooked.

Acknowledgements; Introduction: Remembering Absent Authors; 1. Adam Lindsay Gordon’s Grave; 2. Joseph Furphy in the Riverina; 3. Henry Handel Richardson and the Haunting of Lake View; 4. Henry Lawson Country; 5. The Multiple Birthplaces of A. B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson; 6. Nan Chauncy’s Sanctuary; 7. Living Memorials: The Houses of Katharine Susannah Prichard and Eleanor Dark; 8. Statue: Mania: P. L. Travers and the Appeal of Mary Poppins; 9. Kylie Tennant’s Hut; 10. The David Unaipon Monument at Raukkan; Conclusion: Towards an Expanded Repertoire of Literary; Commemorations; Index.

Sujets

• HISTORY
• General officer
• Literary criticism
• General

Informations

• Publié par: Anthem Press
• Date de parution: 22 novembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785271090
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Locating Australian Literary Memory
ANTHEM STUDIES IN AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE
Anthem Studies in Australian Literature and Culture Anthem Studies in Australian Literature and Culture specializes in quality, innovative research in Australian literary studies. The series publishes work that advances contemporary scholarship on Australian literature conceived historically, thematically and/or conceptually. We welcome well-researched and incisive analyses on a broad range of topics: from individual authors or texts to considerations of the field as a whole, including in comparative or transnational frames.
Series Editors
Katherine Bode – Australian National University, Australia
Nicole Moore – University of New South Wales, Australia
Locating Australian Literary Memory
Brigid Magner
Anthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
www.anthempress.com
This edition first published in UK and USA 2020
by ANTHEM PRESS
75–76 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA, UK
or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK
and
244 Madison Ave #116, New York, NY 10016, USA
Copyright © Brigid Magner 2020
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-13: 978-1-78527-107-6 (Hbk)
ISBN-10: 1-78527-107-5 (Hbk)
This title is also available as an e-book.
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Remembering Absent Authors

Chapter One Adam Lindsay Gordon’s Grave

Chapter Two Joseph Furphy in the Riverina

Chapter Three Henry Handel Richardson and the Haunting of Lake View

Chapter Four Henry Lawson Country

Chapter Five The Multiple Birthplaces of A. B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson

Chapter Six Nan Chauncy’s Sanctuary

Chapter Seven Living Memorials: The Houses of Katharine Susannah Prichard and Eleanor Dark

Chapter Eight Statue Mania: P. L. Travers and the Appeal of Mary Poppins

Chapter Nine Kylie Tennant’s Hut

Chapter Ten The David Unaipon Monument at Raukkan

Conclusion: Towards an Expanded Repertoire of Literary Commemorations

Notes
Index
Illustrations
1.1 Still from The Life's Romance of Adam Lindsay Gordon (1916). Reproduced with permission of the National Film and Sound Archive, Title no. 6497

1.2 10 Lewis Street Brighton, Adam Lindsay Gordon’s home at the time of his death (1933). Reproduced with permission of the State Library of Victoria, PCLTA 771

1.3 Third-form students from Brighton Grammar School conducting a poetry reading at the grave of Adam Lindsay Gordon on the centenary of his death. Photograph by Maggie Diaz (1970). Reproduced with permission of the State Library of Victoria, PCLTFBN 309

2.1 Residence of Joseph Furphy at Shepparton. Photograph by John Kinmont Moir (1938). Reproduced with permission of the State Library of Victoria, PCLTA 2222 F.2642

2.2 Unveiling tablet to Joseph Furphy (in garden of his home): guests listening to address (27 September 1947). Reproduced with permission of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, MSPH-0001.2

2.3 Joseph Furphy statue, Welsford Street, Shepparton. Photograph by Susan Lever

2.4 Letter from A. G. Stephens to Joseph Furphy, 26 June 1903. Permission granted by the National Library of Australia, MS 2022

3.1 Social Function at Lake View Homestead, Chiltern. Photograph by Le Dawn Studios. Reproduced with the permission of the State Library of Victoria, PCLTFBN 214

3.2 Re-enactment of Laura’s journey to school in The Getting of Wisdom , Maldon (2009). Courtesy of Janey Runci

4.1 Henry Lawson’s home at Eurunderee (1948). Reproduced with permission of the State Library of New South Wales, FL 2004622

4.2 Opening of Henry Lawson’s Home at Eurunderee, near Mudgee (1949). Reproduced with permission of the State Library of New South Wales, FL1745226

5.1 Emmaville Cottage, Orange. Photograph by Brigid Magner

5.2 Jack Thompson addressing a crowd at the Buckinbah ruins, 2009. Photograph courtesy of Sharon and Alf Cantrell, Banjo Paterson Museum, Yeoval

6.1 Nan Chauncy outside Day Dawn with dogs. Reproduced with the permission of the State Library of Tasmania, PH 30/1/7536

6.2 Nan Chauncy’s typewriter ‘George’ at Day Dawn. Photograph by Sophie Underwood

7.1 Katharine Susannah Prichard with Eleanor Dark on the verandah at Greenmount (1948), Western Australia. Reproduced with permission of the National Library of Australia, PIC/8840

7.2 Katharine Susannah Prichard’s work room (circa 1930s). Courtesy of the Katharine Susannah Prichard Foundation

7.3 Inside Eleanor Dark's work room at Varuna. Photograph by Brigid Magner

7.4 Jerrekellimi, Blue Mountains, New South Wales. Photograph by Brigid Magner

8.1 Mary Poppins statue outside the Birthplace Museum, Maryborough Queensland. Reproduced with the permission of Joy Newman

8.2 Sean Crampton’s rough for a statue of Mary Poppins in Central Park (1966). Reproduced with the permission of Harriet Crampton and the State Library of New South Wales, MLMSS5341

8.3 Mary Poppins statue, Bowral, NSW. Reproduced with the permission of John Huth

9.1 Kylie’s Hut, post-restoration. Photograph from the personal collection of Benison Rodd

9.2 Cleaning up Kylie's Hut. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Australia, MS10043

9.3 Sign at the site of Ernie's Metcalfe's old house, Diamond Head. Reproduced with permission of the National Library of Australia, MS10043

9.4 Ruins of Eve Langley’s hut, 2018. Photograph by Brigid Magner

10.1 Raukkan church, South Australia. Photograph by Brigid Magner

10.2 David Uniapon monument, Raukkan, South Australia. Photograph by Brigid Magner
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book has my name on the cover, but it is the result of a collective effort. In the following list, I will attempt to mention the people and organisations who have helped me bring it to completion.
Thanks to the Fellowship of Australian Writers (NSW) for access to their records; Trish Kotai-Ewers and Peter Bibby of FAW (WA) for their hospitality at the Tom Collins and Mattie Furphy houses in Perth; Shannon Coyle at the Katherine Susannah Prichard Writing Centre and Barbara Palmer at Varuna; Henry Lawson Society members particularly Kevin Robson, James Howard, Tony Lambides Turner; John Adams and Allan Childs of the Adam Lindsay Gordon Commemorative Committee; Janey Runci and Helen McCrae, Di Parsons, Graeme and Dot Charles, Clive and Meg Probyn and Beryl Pickering of the Henry Handel Richardson Society; Alf and Sharon Cantrell from the Banjo Paterson Museum, Yeoval; Mick Doyle from Rotary in Orange; Bill Boyd and Phillip Bowman of the Camden Haven Historical Society; Andrew Marshall from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and Karen Hughes of Swinburne University.
I am indebted to the State Library of Victoria for a Creative Fellowship in 2015 and for publishing an article on Adam Lindsay Gordon in the La Trobe Journal . Extra thanks to Fiona Jeffery for her assistance with images from the Pictures collection.
I would like to acknowledge the role of the ASAL Vets in my thinking – particularly the efforts of Susan Lever who published a version of the Furphy chapter in JASAL and encouraged me to join literary outings even though I’m not yet retired. Roger Osbourne has also been very generous with sharing his theories about Furphy’s typewriter.
Special appreciation to John Arnold and the late Peter Pierce for answering my endless questions and to Robin Gerster for title suggestions.
I express gratitude to my colleagues at RMIT University, especially Linda Daley, David Carlin, Lucinda Strahan, Laurene Vaughan, Tracy O’Shaughnessy and other members of the non/fictionLab for reading early drafts of essays on Henry Lawson and Nan Chauncy. Also to Vern Field and Jacinda Woodhead for publishing them in Island and Overland and Sheila Hones of Literary Geographies journal for giving me insightful feedback on my article about Henry Handel Richardson’s house.
Huge appreciation to Kai Jensen for his brilliant editing and to Janet Hope for coaching me to believe I could do it in the first place. And to my dear friends Emily Potter, Tessa Laird, Hester Joyce, Abigail Dent and my sister Tui for keeping my spirits up.
Finally, I offer immense gratitude to my family - Brett, Augie, Griffin and Violet -- for their love and willingness to accompany me on trips to literary locations scattered around the country.
Introduction: Remembering Absent Authors

Such monuments, alas, too often are a saving of face by the living in regard to the neglected dead.
– Miles Franklin (1942) 1
The language of literary commemoration is shot through with references to memory. The word ‘monument’ is derived from the Latin word ‘monere’, to name. ‘Memorial’ comes directly from ‘memorialis’, meaning ‘of or belonging to memory’. Monuments are structures whi