D.H. Lawrence’s Australia: Anxiety at the Edge of Empire

348 Pages·2015·4.838 MB·English

by  David Game

D. H. Lawrence’s austraLia
To my parents
Michael and Elizabeth Game
D. H. Lawrence’s australia
anxiety at the edge of empire
DaviD Game
Australian National University, Australia
First published 2015 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
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Copyright © David Game 2015
David Game has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Game, David.
D.H. Lawrence’s Australia: anxiety at the edge of empire / by David Game.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4724-1505-9 (pbk)
1. Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert), 1885–1930—Criticism and interpretation.
2. Australia—In literature. I. Title.
PR6023.A93Z62926 2015
823’.912—dc23
2014046390
ISBN: 9781472415059 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781315575766 (ebk)
“… and in australia mimosa, that they call wattle, and sharp-tongued strange
heath-flowers.”
(D. H. Lawrence, “Flowery Tuscany”)
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Contents
Acknowledgements ix
List of Illustrations xi
References and Abbreviations xiii
Chronology xvii
Prologue xxi
Introduction 1
1 Darwinism and Lawrence’s Quest for Regeneration: “A New
Conception of What it Means, to Live” 9
2 Regeneration, the Rejection of Eugenics and Rananim in Australia 35
3 Lawrence Decides to Travel to Australia 65
4 Imagining Australia: “The Vicar’s Garden,” The White Peacock,
The Daughter-in-Law, “The Primrose Path,” The Lost Girl,
Aaron’s Rod and Mr Noon 73
5 “Pommy,” “Pommygranate” and “Pommigrant” in Kangaroo: Mr
and Mrs Somers, the Amateur Emigrants 97
6 Aspects of Degeneration in Kangaroo – “A Novel, Shot with a
Wayward Beauty” 125
7 “Kangaroo” and the Spirit of Australia 153
8 The Race for the Bush: The Australian Aboriginal Presence and
British Race Regeneration in Kangaroo and The Boy in the Bush 159
9 Matriarchy, Mates and Bigamy in The Boy in the Bush 195
10 The Aristocrat in the Bush: Some Textual Origins for the Questing
Hero in The Boy in the Bush 217
11 Out of Place: Colonial Australians in St. Mawr 239
12 Last Words: “Preface to Black Swans,” “The Hand,” Lady
Chatterley’s Lover, “Eve in the Land of Nod,” P. R. Stephensen –
Mandrake Press and “Introduction to Pansies,” Mimosa Letters 255
Conclusion 283
Bibliography 285
Index 305
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Acknowledgements
I owe particular thanks to Paul Eggert, Christopher Pollnitz and Bruce Steele,
who have provided critical comment on my work, generously provided me with
resources and suggestions, and offered their friendship over many years. I thank
Joseph Davis for his hospitality and for sharing his knowledge of Thirroul and the
places visited by D. H. Lawrence. I thank the head of the School of Literature,
Languages and Linguistics, Australian National University, Catherine Travis, and
her predecessors – Jane Simpson, Rosanne Kennedy, Jill Julius-Matthews and
Jacqueline Lo – for maintaining my affiliation with the school in its various forms
since 2009. I thank Livio Dobrez and Ian Higgins, who supported this book from
its inception, as well as Simon Haines, Gillian Russell and the late Iain Wright. I
thank my cousin, Philip Butterss, for his enthusiasm, generosity and feedback on
early work, and my daughter Helena Game for her tireless editorial assistance. I
am grateful to have received an Australian Postgraduate Award, which enabled me
to undertake postgraduate studies.
I would like to acknowledge the vibrant community of Lawrence scholars in the
D. H. Lawrence societies around the world, whom I have been privileged to meet
at the international D. H. Lawrence conferences since 2003. In particular I thank
Andrew Harrison, Bethan Jones, the late Mark Kinkead-Weekes, Ronan McGinty,
the late Peter Preston, Nancy Paxton and John Worthen for their encouragement,
hospitality and friendship.
I thank Eleanor Green, editor of the D. H. Lawrence Review, for permission
to draw on “Aspects of Degenerationism in D. H. Lawrence’s Kangaroo,”
D. H. Lawrence Review 32–3 (2003–2004), and Sue Reid, editor of the Journal
of the D. H. Lawrence Society, for permission to draw on “Out of Place: Colonial
Australians in St. Mawr,” Journal of D. H. Lawrence Studies 2:3 (2011). I gratefully
acknowledge the permission of the editors to rework this material. I thank
Beverly Mackay for permission to reproduce a postcard sent by D. H. Lawrence
to her grandmother, Mrs Laura Forrester, and to reproduce a photograph of
the Lawrences, her grandmother, and Mr and Mrs Marchbanks, taken by her
grandfather, A. D. Forrester. I thank Pollinger Limited for permission to quote
from the letters and works of D. H. Lawrence. I am grateful to individuals at the
following institutions and organisations who enabled me to access and reproduce
material held in collections: Alexander Turnbull Library; State Library of Western
Australia; National Gallery of Australia; National Library of Australia; Harry
Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin; Lilly Library, Indiana University;
and World Ship Society of Victoria.
I would like to thank friends who have maintained an interest in this project
over the years, particularly Paula Davidson, Mary Fanning, Marina Lewis,
Neil Longmore and Geoffrey Potter. I thank colleagues at the Commonwealth