Henry Lawson and Judith Wright were deaf but theyre rarely acknowledged as disabled writers. Why does that matter?
| dc.contributor.author | White, J. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Tink, A. | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Most of us know Henry Lawson and Judith Wright are icons of Australian literature. But it’s less well known that they were both disabled. Lawson began to lose his hearing when he was nine. Wright started to lose hers in her early twenties. Neither identified as culturally Deaf, but both named deafness as a significant influence on how and why they wrote. Lawson said deafness was “in a great measure responsible for my writing”. Wright said her deafness “really reached into all the interstices of my life, it’s been part of the conditions I live under”. However, their deafness is rarely acknowledged in discussions of their work. On AustLit, the Australian literature database, only ten of the 788 items on Lawson mention his deafness. And only 4 of the 595 items on Wright refer to hers. If we recognise rather than ignore the influence of their deafness, its creative possibilities become obvious. We develop a more accurate picture of these writers – and of Australian literature. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/11541.2/34762 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | The Conversation | |
| dc.rights | Copyright 2023 the author. This publication is available under a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/) | |
| dc.source.uri | https://theconversation.com/henry-lawson-and-judith-wright-were-deaf-but-theyre-rarely-acknowledged-as-disabled-writers-why-does-that-matter-208365 | |
| dc.subject | deafness | |
| dc.subject | Australian literature | |
| dc.subject | Henry Lawson | |
| dc.subject | deaf | |
| dc.subject | Judith Wright | |
| dc.subject | Australian writers | |
| dc.subject | Les Murray | |
| dc.subject | disability coverage | |
| dc.title | Henry Lawson and Judith Wright were deaf but theyre rarely acknowledged as disabled writers. Why does that matter? | |
| dc.type | Website | |
| pubs.publication-status | Published | |
| ror.mmsid | 9916780208101831 |