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Seminar 15:
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Michael McGirr will talk about the traditions of restlessness and stillness which are found in earlier Australian writing, especially in the works of Joseph Furphy, Henry Lawson and some of the explorers. He will look at the tension between escapism and reality which is evident in that writing and suggest ways in which the beginnings of an Australian contemplative tradition can also be found there. Why was this such a difficult place in which to be still? Why were potentially creative people blinded by their own restless anxiety? Elaine Lindsay will look to writers such as Helen Garner, Barbara Hanrahan and Marion Halligan as representatives of one strand of late twentieth century urban women's spirituality. How do they resolve the urge to move on with the longing to settle into the landscape; the desire to stand back and observe while being one with community? Is the contemplative way necessarily positive for women, or can it be a form of escapism? Might the mystical tradition, with its hope of a loving union with God, be more helpful as a way of reconciling the contradictions of life?
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