Osborne, Roger (2026) ‘I keep her jigging every evening’: Joseph Furphy and his typewriter. Southerly, 81 (1). pp. 209-218. (In Press)

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Abstract

This is the story of the typewriter – man and machine – that shaped Such is Life for the twentieth century, enabling its publication in 1903. By considering Furphy’s typewriter and the large fragment of Such is Life that exists in typescript at the State Library of New South Wales, we engage directly with cultural changes that emerged in the wake of the adoption of new communication technologies at the turn of the twentieth century. In the case of the typewriter, these changes foreground questions of authorship in literary composition and the meaning of writing and transcribing in print culture. As the author and typewriter of his own work, Furphy performed several cultural roles that were in the process of being defined during his lifetime, and, in this case, he might be regarded as one of the first literary authors in the world to single-handedly deliver a typescript for publication.

Item ID:	94042
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	0038-3732
Copyright Information:	Copyright © Southerly Journal.
Date Deposited:	17 Sep 2026 04:56
FoR Codes:	47 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 4705 Literary studies > 470502 Australian literature (excl. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander literature) @ 100%
SEO Codes:	13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1302 Communication > 130203 Literature @ 100%
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