Explorations – No 51 Dec 2011

IVAN BARKO, Foreward

PETER RICKWOOD, CHARLES ABELA & IVAN BARKO, A 1788 French Sighting of Evidence for Volcanism in the Sydney Basin – Columnar Sandstone at La Perouse

A discussion of the identification by the French explorers of columnar sandstone at Botany Bay and the recent discovery of samples of this sandstone on the shipwreck site of the Boussole on Vanikoro Reef in the Solomon Islands

Keywords: columnar sandstone, La Pérouse, Botany Bay, Boussole, John Hunter, Anglo-French contact, Solomon Islands, volcanic activity

MARGARET BARRETT, Jean Trémoulet: The Unloved Consul-General

Based on new research, this article discussed the controversial career of French Consul-General Jean Trémoulet, who represented his government, including the Vichy government in Sydney from 1937 to 1941 when he was required to leave Australia.

Keywords: Jean Trémoulet, diplomatic and consular relations between France and Australia, WWII, Vichy government, Free French movement, Allied war effort, Émile Doucet

JOHN DUNMORE, Anglo-French Contacts in 1788: The Knowledge of English on Board La Pérouse’s Ships

By reviewing the backgrounds and education of officers on board the French ships, the author who is an international authority on La Pérouse, surmises that they were probably able to communicate in rather broken English with the British. However, for any official business, and in written communication, each side used their own language.

Keywords: La Pérouse, Captain Phillip, communication, Botany Bay

EDWARD DUYKER, Timothée Vasse: A Biographical Note

A discussion of the various legends surrounding Timothée Vasse, a sailor on the Baudin expedition, who is supposed to have drowned at the Wonnerup Inlet in Western Australia in 1801.

Keywords: Timothée Vasse, Baudin expedition, François Péron

JANA VERHOEVEN, French Forum: A Melbourne Initiative

A brief note about the establishment of a Forum for French scholars from the various universities in the Melbourne region to discuss teaching and research.

KERRY MULLAN, The Second Text: A Feminist Approach to Translation

A report of a presentation at RMIT University by the two translators of a new translation of The Second Text.

Keywords: translation, The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier, Caroline Norma, gender studies

KERRY MULLAN, Georges Perec: The Australian Connection, Thirty Years On

An account of the fifth ‘Melbourne Salon’ devoted to the legacy of Georges Perec, who visited Australia thirty years previously, shortly before his death in 1982. The presentation was preceded by a literary workshop demonstrating Perec’s self-imposed experimental forms of constrained writing.

Keywords: Georges Perec

Podtour
A brief note about an educational downloadable audio tour of Melbourne.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTES

Robert Nash (ed.), The Hidden Thread: Huguenot Families in Australia, reviewed by Wallace Kirsop

Christine Béal, Les interactions quotidiennes en français et en anglais : de l’approche comparative à l’analyse des situations interculturelles, reviewed by Kerry Mullan

Jean-François Vernay, The Great Australian Novel — A Panorama (Panorama du roman australien des origines à nos jours), book note by Elaine Lewis

ELAINE LEWIS, French-Australian Bibliographical Notes

Explorations No 10 – Jun 1991

WALLACE KIRSOP, Foreword

C.B. THORNTON-SMITH, Two Adaptations of S.T. Gill by Gustave Doré

This article examines the adaptation by Gustave Doré of two of S.T. Gill’s drawings, for publication in the French magazine Le Tour du monde. These drawings were meant to illustrate a pseudo-travelogue (“De Sydney à Adélaïde”) which the author argues was not, as claimed by the editors, the text of private correspondence but the translation and adaptation of published material.

Keywords: travel writing, S.T. Gill, Gustave Doré, Le Tour du monde, Rambles in the Antipodes, Dr Edward Wilson, Hubert de Castella, Les Squatters australiens

JOHN HOLROYD, The Grand Bibliopole: William LeGrand

William Legrand was an eccentric but erudite bookseller who arrived in Tasmania in 1855 at the age of approximately 39. Little is known of his background except that he was thought to be of French descent. Apart from antiquarian books, Legrand was also an expert in conchology and in 1871 he published a treatise on “Tasmanian land shells”. Legrand died in 1902, aged 86. When due to his illness the business was closed down, approximately 80,000 items (books, manuscripts, memorabilia, artworks, etc.) were disposed of, mostly through a second-hand general dealer.

Keywords: William Legrand, antiquarian bookseller, Hobart, conchology

ROGER LONDON, French-Australian Relations in War Time

Roger London writes of his personal experiences as a French man living in Australia and mobilised at the beginning of the war. He served in Indochina, Japan and Australia between 1940 and 1943. After the war he joined the diplomatic corps and after various postings was appointed head of the French Consulate in Melbourne.

Keywords: Roger London, WWII, mobilisation, Free French Committee in Australia, ABC French language broadcast, Admiral d’Argenlieu

STEPHEN ALOMES, Taking Liberties: a Tale of Two Bicentennials

The two bicentennials of the title are the celebrations of the arrival of the First Fleet in Botany Bay in 1788 and the fall of the Bastille in 1789. Alternating between the two events, the author highlights the parallels and the contrasts between them. One of the main common themes is what the article refers to as “consumer patriotism”. Other similarities are examined.

Keywords: Bicentennial celebrations, consumerism, political exploitation

J.S. RYAN, Patrick White’s Study of French at Cambridge

Patrick White studied French literature at the University of Cambridge (King’s College) between 1932 and 1935, where he read for the Tripos in Modern Languages (French and German). The article lists the various subject areas and set texts attached to them which were on the syllabus during White’s years at Cambridge, the emphasis being, apart from some medieval and 16th century material, on 17th, 18th and 19th century topics.

Keywords: Patrick White, Cambridge University, 1930s, French literature syllabus

BOOK REVIEWS

National Library of Australia, Australian Historic Records Register, reviewed by Edward Duyker

Lynne Strahan, Private and Public Memory: A History of the city of Malvern, reviewed by Edward Duyker

Francoise Lionnet, Autobiographical Voices: Race, Gender, Self-Portraiture, reviewed by Edward Duyker

Bernard Gildas, Guide des recherches sur l’histoire des familles, reviewed by Edward Duyker

Australian Dictionary of Biography, volume 12:1891-1939, reviewed by Edward Duyker

Joseph Lo Bianco & Alain Monteil, French in Australia: New Prospects, reviewed by Edward Duyker