Publisher Description

The figure of the lost child has haunted the Australian imagination. Peter Pierce's original and sometimes shocking study The Country of Lost Children traces this ambivalent and disturbing history. In the nineteenth century the idea of losing one's child to a strange country reflected white settlers' distrust of their new land and its Aboriginal inhabitants. The book offers original insights into the passing of an opportunity for reconciliation between European and indigenous Australians. In the twentieth century the lost child continues to torment the national consciousness, but no longer as the bewildered wanderer in the bush. Instead the emblematic lost child of modern Australia is a victim of abuse, abandonment or abduction. Drawing on a wide range of sources, from poetry, fiction and newspaper reports to paintings and films, this book analyses the cultural and moral implications of the lost child in our history.

Author Biography

Robin Gerster is an associate professor in the school of literary, visual, and performance studies at Monash University and the author of "Big-Noting," a previous winner of "The Age"'s Book of the Year Award. Peter Pierce is a professor of Australian literature at James Cook University. He is editor of "The Oxford Literary Guide to Australia" and coeditor of "Clubbing of the Gunfire,"

Table of Contents

Part I. In the Nineteenth Century: Discovering the Lost Child: 1. The lost child introduced: Henry Kingsley's The Recollections of Geoffry Hamlyn; 2. 'Come let us sing of this fair child heroic': Jane Duff and her brothers; 3. Alfred Boulter A Monument at Daylesford; 4. Marcus Clarke's Lost Children; 5. The case of Clara Crosbie; 6. Frederick McCubbin's Images of the Lost Child; 7. Fairytales of the 1890s; 8. The bush balladists' turn; 9. Mrs Praed and the punishment of Mrs Tregaskiss; 10. Henry Lawson and 'The Babies in the Bush'; 11. Joseph Furphy's 'Perfect Young-Australian'; Part II. In the Twentieth Century: The Child Abandoned: 1. In the theatre; 2. In fiction; 3. Book into film; 4. True stories; Works consulted; Index.

Promotional

This book traces the figure of the lost child in Australia's history and imagination.

Promotional "Headline"

This book traces the figure of the lost child in Australia's history and imagination.

Description for Bookstore

Drawing on a wide range of sources - poetry, fiction, newspaper reports, paintings and films - The Country of Lost Children analyses the cultural and moral implications of the figure of the lost child in Australian history. At its core are confronting and often troubling questions about childhood itself.

Description for Library

Drawing on a wide range of sources - poetry, fiction, newspaper reports, paintings and films - The Country of Lost Children analyses the cultural and moral implications of the figure of the lost child in Australian history. At its core are confronting and often troubling questions about childhood itself.

Details