Henry%20Lawson%20

1
Henry Lawson An Introduction

• Telling Stories
• An Emerging Australian Voice

2
Who Was Henry?

• Manning Clark said that Lawson had the gift.to
  use words to make people cry.
• What do you think that means in relation to
  telling stories?

3
Biography

• Born near the gold-mining center of Grenfell,
  New South Wales, on June 17, 1867
• Having suffered a severe loss of hearing as a
  lad, Henry Lawson grew up with little education
  beyond that gained from reading.

4
Biography Continued

• At 14 he left school and began work. The
  homesteaders' endless struggle to earn a living
  from the impoverished land affected the Lawsons
  outlook on life.

5
Biography Continued

• In mid-1887 Lawson's first scrap of verse was
  published by the Bulletin, a radical weekly that
  had attracted an avid readership among rural
  workers.
• At 22 Lawson began his wanderings about
  Australia, undertaking various jobs but hankering
  after journalism.

6
Henrys Abode, Nth Sydney

• Lawson was always concerned with the plight of
  the common man.
• Lawsons marriage was unhappy and his alcoholism
  was impacting upon his health and relationships.

7
His End

• Lawson played out the final years of his life
  with a small literary pension and an allowance
  from his publishers. He died on Sept. 2, 1922,
  and was given a state funeral.

8
His Poetry and Short Stories

• He often wrote stories of larrikins and their
  push and even a series about a bottle-o.
• His poetry depicted the Australian virtue of
  mateship.

9
Representing Australia

• Like written texts, visual artists also try to
  represent subjects. Their representations could
  contain particular bias or leave out essential
  information.

10
What does this representation say?

• Near Liverpool, New South Wales
• William Piguenit

11
What does this Representation Say?

• John Glover
• Patterdale Farm

12
What does this representation say?

• Sydney Long
• Vaucluse

13
What does this representation say?

• Tom Roberts Washing Day

14
What does this representation say?

• Tom Roberts Shearing the Rams 1890

15
What does this representation say?

• Frederick Mc Cubbin Down on his Luck

16
Lawsons representations of the bush

• Focused on the hardships that resulted in men and
  women becoming mates and stoical (suffering
  great difficulties without showing ones
  feelings) heroism.
• Lawson saw the bush as a place of work and
  struggle.
• Lawson used humour to soften the harshness of
  the bush.

17
The Drovers Wife (Russell Drysdale 1951)
18
Now it is your turn

• 1. Write down 4 things that you have learnt from
  this powerpoint presentation.
• 2. What problems can you see with the idea of
  representation?