Gender, Reception and 'The Drover's Wife' Phenomenon

Abstract

This thesis investigates the literary and cultural phenomenon of 'The Drover's Wife'. Since Henry Lawson published the short story 'The Drover's Wife' in 1892, it has inspired many reworkings. Australian artists have moulded the iconic story into various shapes and given the archetypal bushwoman one identity after another. From the 1890s to the 2020s, the thesis examines more than 25 versions and variations across different genres and forms, including Louisa Lawson's essay 'The Australian Bush-Woman' (1889), Russell Drysdale's painting The Drover's Wife (1945), Murray Bail's short story 'The Drover's Wife' (1975), Anne Gambling's story 'The Drover's De Facto' (1986), Chris Eipper's story 'The Wife's Drover' (1996), Luke O'Shea's 2011 country song, Frank Moorhouse's 2017 anthology The Drover's Wife: A Collection, Ryan O'Neill's book The Drover's Wives: 99 Reinterpretations of Henry Lawson's Australian Classic (2018) as well as Leah Purcell's 'Moll Johnson' adaptations from 2016 to 2021, a play, a novel and a film. By drawing from reception, rewriting, adaptation and genre studies, this thesis considers 'The Drover's Wife' as a phenomenon of rewriting. It focuses on the intricate intertextual relations between each version and contemplates the acts of reception and reproduction. More importantly, the thesis concerns the gendered nature of Australian cultural discourse and the relationship between gender, race and the so-called 'national identity'. Through 'The Drover's Wife', writers, readers and critics negotiate their understanding of gender roles, relations and identities. Rewriting becomes a means to rethink existing conceptions of gender. And 'The Drover's Wife' phenomenon enables the exploration of the changing conceptualisation of gender roles and relations in Australian culture. Show more