Explorations – No 29 Dec 2000

(issued March 2001)

PATRICIA CLANCY, JACQUES DE SAINT-FERJEUX, COLIN THORNTON-SMITH, Foreword

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE, Biographies of incoming Associate Editors, Ivan Barko and Edward Duyker

IVAN BARKO, French Perceptions of Australian Federation

This essay (which takes up almost the whole of Explorations no 29) analyses French reactions to the proclamation of Australian Federation at the beginning of the twentieth century. It explores them at three levels: the French Government’s stance, the views of French “Australia-watchers” and the feelings and opinions of the local French community (Le Courrier australien). The article also examines the views of French writers on social, economic and political developments in Australia.

Keywords: Ivan Barko, Georges Biard d’Aunet, Australian Federation, Le Courrier australien

JACQUES DE SAINT-FERJEUX, COLIN THORNTON-SMITH, Another Napoleonic victory for Dr Patricia Clancy

The Scott Moncrieff Prize for translation from the French, sponsored by the French Ministry of Culture, the French Embassy and the Arts Council of England, has this year been awarded to Patricia Clancy for her translation of The Dark Room at Longwood by Jean-Paul Kauffmann.

Keywords: Patricia Clancy, Scott Moncrieff Prize, The Dark Room at Longwood, Jean-Paul Kauffmann

BOOK REVIEWS

Marc Serge Riviere (translator & editor), The Governor’s Noble Guest: Hyacinthe de Bougainville’s Account of Port Jackson, reviewed by Edward Duyker

Dominick LaCapra, History and Reading: Tocqueville, Foucault, French Studies, reviewed by Edward Duyker

Explorations – No 26F Jul 1999

(French language edition)

PATRICIA CLANCY, JACQUES DE SAINT-FERJEUX, COLIN THORNTON-SMITH, Avant-propos

IVAN BARKO, La Fondation et les débuts de l’Alliance française de Sydney

A second special number of Explorations to commemorate the centenary of the foundation of the Alliance française of Sydney. Issue 26F consists mainly of a modified version, in French, of Ivan Barko’s article on the early years of the Alliance française of Sydney, published in Explorations No 26. This is not a literal translation — the text has been re-written with French readers in mind.

Keywords: Alliance française of Sydney, Georges Biard d’Aunet, Albert Pinard, Pierre Durieux, Alexandre Chayet, C.R. Campana

Explorations – No 26 Jun 1999

PATRICIA CLANCY, JACQUES DE SAINT-FERJEUX, COLIN THORNTON-SMITH, Foreword

IVAN BARKO, The Foundation and Early History of the Alliance française of Sydney

This history of the beginnings of the Alliance française of Sydney occupies the whole of no 26 of Explorations. The creation of the Sydney Alliance took place in two stages: a borrowing library sponsored by the Alliance française of Paris was set up by Georges Biard d’Aunet, the Consul General, in 1896. A fully-fledged Alliance was not established until 8th June 1899, still under the leadership of Biard d’Aunet, who became its foundation president. Led by Albert Pinard and Pierre Durieux the Alliance flourished but Pinard’s death introduced an unstable period. The long task of re-building the Alliance began in 1918, after the arrival of Chayet’s successor, C.R. Campana.

Keywords: Ivan Barko, Alliance française of Sydney, Georges Biard d’Aunet, Albert Pinard, Pierre Durieux, Alexandre Chayet, C.R. Campana

Explorations – No 19 Dec 1995

(issued December 1997)

WALLACE KIRSOP, Foreword

COLIN NETTELBECK, Looking Ahead: an 1898 French View of Australian Federation

In a short introduction the author recalls the accidental discovery in the late 1980s of some of the pre-war archives of the Melbourne French Consulate and describes a specific 1898 document, namely a report sent by Georges Biard d’Aunet, the then French Consul General in Sydney, to his Minister, Théophile Delcassé, a copy of which ended up on the desk of Léon Dejardin, the French Consul General in Melbourne. This introduction and a summary of the report are followed by the reproduction of the full text of Biard d’Aunet’s paper, preceded by a covering letter sent to Consul General Dejardin by the Minister.

Keywords: Georges Biard d’Aunet, Léon Dejardin, Federation in Australia, protectionism, bi-lateral trade, social protection, expansion of Australian influence in the Pacific, recommendations relating to the protection of French interests in the Pacific.

WALLACE KIRSOP, Some Notes on Georges Biard d’Aunet (1844-1934)

A brief account of the life and career of Georges Biard d’Aunet, a former naval officer, who served as French Consul General in Sydney (1893-1900) and as Consul General for the whole of the new Australian Federation (1901-1904). The author also reviews Biard d’Aunet’s background, the status of his father as a painter at the court of King Louis-Philippe, the celebrity of his mother Léonie d’Aunet both as a writer and as Victor Hugo’s mistress, the fame of his sister as an influential journalist under the nom de plume Étincelle, as well as Biard d’Aunet’s own activities as a writer both of plays and essays, including a book featuring his impressions of Australia.

Keywords: diplomatic service, archives diplomatiques, Paris, Georges Biard d’Aunet