Behind the green door: a story about suffering and hybrid identity in the 1950s and 1960s

Article

Sulway, Nike. 2015. "Behind the green door: a story about suffering and hybrid identity in the 1950s and 1960s." TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses. 19 (Special Issue 31), pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.52086/001c.27165
Article Title

Behind the green door: a story about suffering and hybrid identity in the 1950s and 1960s

ERA Journal ID35836
Article CategoryArticle
Authors
AuthorSulway, Nike
Journal TitleTEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses
Journal Citation19 (Special Issue 31), pp. 1-14
Number of Pages14
Year2015
PublisherAustralasian Association of Writing Programs
Place of PublicationAustralia
ISSN1327-9556
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.52086/001c.27165
Web Address (URL)http://www.textjournal.com.au/speciss/issue31/Sulway.pdf
Abstract

This paper provides explores the life and work of Elsie Ruth (Lyn) Palmer (1934-1969), an unpublished writer from Melbourne whose experiences as a lesbian writer during the 1950s form a framework for exploring a range of issues around failure, queer identity, and literary endeavour. By examining Palmer’s life and work in the broader context of her times, the paper argues for a re-examination of the current fashion for celebrating or embracing failure, connecting this rhetorical pressure to ‘embrace failure’ with an outdated Romantic notion of the suffering artist, and with suffering as a pre-condition for artistic excellence. The paper explores the ways in which this problematic fetishising of failure ignores the influence and impact of class, gender and sexual identity in the structure of suffering, and its resolution.

Keywordscreative writing; queer writing; lesbian; failure; suffering; 1950s
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020360201. Creative writing (incl. scriptwriting)
Public Notes

File reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher/author.

Byline AffiliationsSchool of Arts and Communication
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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