The Metaphor of an Adopted Body: An ado/aptive reading and writing of Australia and its contemporary literature [Paperback]

Catherine Lynch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2009 | ISBN-10: 3639146727 | ISBN-13: 978-3639146721

Writers of PhDs have a unique, personal and in-depth relationship with their subject matter, which develops over a number of years. What happens when life intrudes so much into the reading and writing that it takes over the subject matter, so that the original struggle for objective scholarship threatens to become subsumed in emotion and self-discovery? The supervisor can do worse than guide their student towards the genre of life writing, within which a flourishing of sub-genres may be accommodating to such a journey. For an Australian closed-records adoptee caught up in the reunion processes sparked by the 1990 changes to the Adoption Act, critical readings of Peter Carey, Janette Turner Hospital and Luke Davies developed into the invention of the Adopted Body, the Subject Adoptee and a new way of seeing: ado/aptive reading and writing. Perhaps in the field of ado/aptive theory, the stolen generations, inter-country adoptees and the white closed-record adoptees of Australia can re-invent themselves, develop their identities and create a genre of academic theory unique to Australia.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Catherine Lynch's research focuses on the history of Australia's closed records adoption system, its links with the Stolen Generations and its representations in contemporary Australian Literature. She has also taught issues in mass communication at, and holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Australian Literature from, the University of Sydney.

Product Details

• Paperback: 404 pages
• Publisher: VDM Verlag (April 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3639146727
• ISBN-13: 978-3639146721
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)