Thea Astley makes Something out of Nothing
This paper explores Thea Astley's use of a single word and its derivatives. The word is 'nothing'-which recurs constantly, and with significant empasis, at key points in many of her novels. It is argued that the word carries complex, but relatively fixed significance for Astley, and t...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
2007
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4800 |
| _version_ | 1848744618291625984 |
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| author | Genoni, Paul |
| author_facet | Genoni, Paul |
| author_sort | Genoni, Paul |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This paper explores Thea Astley's use of a single word and its derivatives. The word is 'nothing'-which recurs constantly, and with significant empasis, at key points in many of her novels. It is argued that the word carries complex, but relatively fixed significance for Astley, and that the appeal of the word to her imagination is the power of nothing(ness) to convey the presence of uncontrolled physical and moral spaces.The paper suggeststhat representations of nothingness lie deeply entrenched in the Australian imagination as a spectral presence. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:04:20Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-4800 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:04:20Z |
| publishDate | 2007 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-48002017-01-30T10:41:45Z Thea Astley makes Something out of Nothing Genoni, Paul Thea Astley Australian landscape Nothingness This paper explores Thea Astley's use of a single word and its derivatives. The word is 'nothing'-which recurs constantly, and with significant empasis, at key points in many of her novels. It is argued that the word carries complex, but relatively fixed significance for Astley, and that the appeal of the word to her imagination is the power of nothing(ness) to convey the presence of uncontrolled physical and moral spaces.The paper suggeststhat representations of nothingness lie deeply entrenched in the Australian imagination as a spectral presence. 2007 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4800 fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Thea Astley Australian landscape Nothingness Genoni, Paul Thea Astley makes Something out of Nothing |
| title | Thea Astley makes Something out of Nothing |
| title_full | Thea Astley makes Something out of Nothing |
| title_fullStr | Thea Astley makes Something out of Nothing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Thea Astley makes Something out of Nothing |
| title_short | Thea Astley makes Something out of Nothing |
| title_sort | thea astley makes something out of nothing |
| topic | Thea Astley Australian landscape Nothingness |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4800 |