Spicer, Chrystopher (2021) The Granite and the Rainbow: Towards a New Biography of Louis becke. Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, 21 (2).

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Abstract

A biographer’s life, Gilbert and Sullivan might have suggested, is not an easy one. D Jean Clandinin proposes that people shape their lives by stories about themselves and others, yet Paul Murray Kendall, in his The Art of Biography, also cautions that researching and writing those lived stories is like trying to make sense of an incomplete play. This paper explores some of the issues biographers face while researching and writing life stories, using as an example the writer’s current work on the life of Australian author Louis Becke, who was renowned for shaping his own life by stories, altering chronologies and events to add drama to a life story that became difficult to distinguish from his fiction. This paper also explores the nature of the personal relationship that develops between author and subject, for in writing their story, we are writing our story.

Item ID:	77200
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1833-6027
Keywords:	Louis Becke, biography, life writing, South Pacific, literature
Copyright Information:	The copyright for articles in this journal is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use with proper attribution in educational and other non-commercial sectors.
Date Deposited:	10 Feb 2023 05:39
FoR Codes:	47 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 4705 Literary studies > 470502 Australian literature (excl. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander literature) @ 40% 44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4410 Sociology > 441015 Sociology of the life course @ 30% 47 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 4705 Literary studies > 470514 Literary theory @ 30%
SEO Codes:	13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1301 Arts > 130103 The creative arts @ 40% 28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280122 Expanding knowledge in creative arts and writing studies @ 30% 28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280116 Expanding knowledge in language, communication and culture @ 30%
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