Narrative techniques

The article presents an overview of Alex Miller’s literary career and development as a writer and examines his six novels published to date.

Hal Porter's early short stories may be seen as constant experiments designed to solve the problems associated with maintaining effective distance from his material and…

Beverley Farmer is an award-winning writer but critical assessment of her achievement has been minimal. Her short stories have been reviewed in tandem with other…

There is a clear autobiographical dimension to Beverley Farmer's fiction: her own life and experience provide the material that goes into her writing, and the…

Discusses the 'metarealistic' narrative strategy employed by Castro, 'the purpose of which is to unlock the gates of alienation'. Argues that the strategy 'essentially consists…

Kiernan questions whether Such is Life reflects the “spirit of the nineties” and whether the ideas that Tom Collins expresses in his digressions are simply…

Focusing on Wright’s representation of the land, the river and the cyclone, the essay attempts to demonstrate ‘how playfully, flexibly and experimentally Wright moblilises a…

The article examines the ways in which anti-Semitism functions in Tsiolkas's novel and whether it perpetuates or interrogates racism. ‘Discussions of Tsiolkas's motivations for writing…

In 1973, the Monash University Library acquired from the Australian bookseller Burge Lopez, a manuscript itemised as 'an anonymous unpublished typescript novel' (Arthur and…

When an Aboriginal writer appropriates western literary forms to tell stories of pre-invasion tribal heritage and culture, there is little objection from many black or…

McDonald attempts to show how Clarke’s narrative technique reconciles naturalistic and melodramatic elements. The use of a shifting narrative perspective enables Rufus Dawes to be…

The image of the journey in time characterises much of twentieth-century fiction--Joyce, Mann, Proust, Svevo and Woolf bear witness--and finds in Australian writing a fertile…

Since the finding of the Australian High Court in what has come to be known as the Mabo decision of January 1992, the phrase Terra…

Among the many historical novels written in Australia during the thirties and forties, The Timeless Land is unique for the way it foregrounds the journals…

Discusses Barbara Hanrahan's The Scent of Eucalyptus as 'autobiographical fiction', describing this genre as allowing for 'greater scope and range', and increased openness to 'the…

Weller discusses the relationship between Aboriginal literature and (white) academia, and his approach to writing Aboriginality, particularly in terms of characterisation, form and style.

Peter Carey has generally preferred to fictionalise Australia at a remove, to reimagine it, shape-shifted out of its present appearance by science fiction transformations, or…

Remembering Babylon, with its strange and compelling story of Gemmy Fairley's negotiation between 'Australian' and 'Aboriginal' identities, is, like 'The Writing Lesson', simultaneously an…

Argues that close examination of her fictions shows 'Jolley continually intervening not to provide neat judgements and solutions, but to set up several opposing ethical…

Discusses the popular appeal of Ruth Park's novel The Harp in the South in the context of Park's lukewarm critical reception.