No more boomerang? "Nigger's Leap" and "Five Bells"

Authors

Leigh Dale, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

75922

Publication Details

Dale, L. (2013). No more boomerang? “Nigger's Leap” and “Five Bells”. Journal of Australian Studies, 37 (1), 48-61.

Abstract

This essay argues that Judith Wright’s poem ‘‘Nigger’s Leap’’ is a reply to Kenneth Slessor’s ‘‘Five Bells’’, within the context of discussions about Slessor’s and Wright’s attitudes towards colonialism and colonial history. The essay also discusses Gail Jones’ novel Five Bells and its engagement with Slessor’s poem, arguing that metaphors of sound and musical repetition offer a useful way of understanding the structure of Jones’ novel and the relationship between novel and poem.