Hmmm, my post title for this week's Monday Musings sounds rather provocative, but I'm going to keep this post pretty light. It's been a busy few days so I'm just going to share an interesting little article I read a few weeks ago while I was reading about Australasian Authors Week in 1927. It's from the Evening … Continue reading Monday musings of Australian literature: The duty of readers and critics
Literary criticism
The Role of the Arts Critic: a Childers Group Public Roundtable
Last week, I reorganised my Friday Lunch Group's schedule in order to attend a public roundtable on the role of the arts critic organised by the Childers Group. This group, formed in late 2011, describes itself as an "independent arts forum ... committed to the long-term viability and vitality of the arts". It aims to … Continue reading The Role of the Arts Critic: a Childers Group Public Roundtable
Lit Blogs and Lit Students
If you are a litblogger like me, have you come across actions or comments that suggest your blog is being used by students? What do you think about it? I've noticed three specific behaviours that suggest student use: outright questions in the comments, some specifically telling me that they are a student and can I … Continue reading Lit Blogs and Lit Students
On pathologising fictional characters
Was Mr Darcy autistic? Phyllis Ferguson Bottomer, a Canadian speech pathologist, suggests that he was in her book So odd a mixture. Her theory has not been taken seriously, but it throws up an issue I've confronted before, the pathologising of fictional characters. Take M.J. Hyland for example. I have read two of her novels … Continue reading On pathologising fictional characters
Whispering Gums 