Crossing Bowen Street: Mapping Interventions in the Classed Subject Kathryn Hegarty B.Ed., G.Dip.Arts, M.A. A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Communication and Creative Arts Faculty of Arts Deakin University July 2003 2 CANDIDATE DECLARATION I certify that the thesis entitled Crossing Bowen Street: mapping interventions in the classed subject, submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, is the result of my own work and that where reference is made to the work of others, due acknowledgment is given. I also certify that any material in the thesis which has been accepted for a degree or diploma by any other university or institution is identified in the text. Full Name: Kathryn Rosemary Hegarty Signed ..................................................................................………………. Date: 3 Table Of Contents CANDIDATE DECLARATION ________________________________________________2 Signed ..................................................................................……………….________________ 2 Table Of Contents _______________________________________________________3 Dedication _________________________________________________________6 Acknowledgments _________________________________________________________7 List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ___________________________________________9 Synopsis: Crossing Bowen Street_____________________________________________10 The Start of the End_____________________________________________________17 Arrival 1989 ___________________________________________________________25 Going Bowling _________________________________________________________49 The Ball________________________________________________________________60 Future Present _________________________________________________________94 Beyond ______________________________________________________________122 Letter to Jean _________________________________________________________136 Bound to the Caucus ___________________________________________________140 Letter to Anna __________________________________________________________160 Divergence ___________________________________________________________164 Cusp ________________________________________________________________212 Letter to Anna ________________________________________________________225 Cambridge ___________________________________________________________228 Proctor College ____________________________________________________________ 228 Faculty of English __________________________________________________________ 229 To Mum and Dad ________________________________________________________230 Letter from Mum_________________________________________________________232 Letter to Jean ___________________________________________________________234 Letter to Anna __________________________________________________________235 Locus________________________________________________________________237 Last Letter to Anna ____________________________________________________241 Courting the Enemy____________________________________________________243 The Start at the End, II. ____________________________________________________269 Dedication Two _______________________________________________________274 Abstract______________________________________________________________275 4 Mapping Interventions in the Classed Subject _______________________________276 Introduction______________________________________________________________ 276 A man should try to find before he dies _______________________________________281 Chapter One: Framing the Terrain _______________________________________281 Introduction______________________________________________________________ 281 research questions ___________________________________________________________ 282 theorising, practice ___________________________________________________________ 285 reflexivities, specificities ______________________________________________________ 291 the mirror of class: Lacanian ‘lack’ in the working-class subject __________________ 294 aims ____________________________________________________________________ 300 fiction, textuality ______________________________________________________________ 301 what is class? ________________________________________________________________ 305 Chapter Two: Theorising the Classed Subject _______________________________306 Class definitions and theories _______________________________________________ 306 Introduction______________________________________________________________ 306 class, gender and theory ______________________________________________________ 312 class and the subject__________________________________________________________ 317 Classing the Gendered Subject ______________________________________________ 320 Class identity, confusion, ambivalence _________________________________________ 323 diffèrance ____________________________________________________________________ 330 Constitution Narration Dislocation _____________________________________________ 334 mediations of class and gender ________________________________________________ 336 Chapter Three: Narrating the Classed Subject_______________________________340 Subjectivities and Subject Positions __________________________________________ 340 subjectivities _________________________________________________________________ 340 subject positions _____________________________________________________________ 357 Classing Representations, Representing Class__________________________________ 362 The Classed Subject as Scholar___________________________________________381 Fiction, Theory, Scholarship ________________________________________________ 381 meta-writing __________________________________________________________________ 381 Fiction and writing ____________________________________________________________ 385 relation, dialectic _____________________________________________________________ 389 reflexivity as scholarship ______________________________________________________ 391 Discipline(ing) Rigour _________________________________________________________ 392 Classing Knowledge and Epistemologies _______________________________________ 395 classifying knowledge production______________________________________________ 399 scholarly subjectivities and elite universities____________________________________ 403 Conclusion ___________________________________________________________406 BIBLIOGRAPHY ________________________________________________________412 5 Crossing Bowen Street An abridged Novel by Kathryn Hegarty Crossing Bowen Street is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. ©Kathryn Hegarty 2003 6 Dedication This novel is for my mothers, Dawn and Olive, who were denied. 7 Acknowledgments I owe the greatest debt to my best friend, Kris Reichl, who has provided a light-metre reading for every nuance of my life for 25 years, since we met in Year Eight biology at Hurstbridge High School. I thank her for everything, especially for the home she shares with me in Francis Street, Yarraville, and for her art that adorns all my walls. I thank my wonderful, sustaining friends: Faye, Michal, Karen, Simon, Benny, Jaqui, Liz, Ray, Jane, Anne and Cameron. Dessie, Lena, Gina and Marie give me support and gales of laughter. I am indebted to my managers and colleagues at RMIT, in Academic Policy Branch, and in the Office of the (World’s Greatest) Academic Registrar. I am incredibly proud of the role we play collectively in our world-class University. Professor Robin Usher allowed me to soar as a scholar. For his friendship, generosity and mentorship, and his proud efforts for RMIT, I thank him with all my heart. The University of Melbourne gave me a superb education. I received world-class research training at Victoria University. Girton College, Cambridge, and the State University of New York, Stony Brook provided spiritual ‘homes from home’ during my time overseas. The School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University deserves acknowledgment for the determined research culture being fostered and for encouragement and support throughout my candidature. I am particularly grateful to Ron Goodrich, Clare Bradford, Brian Edwards and Lyn McCredden. I acknowledge all our research partners in universities. I am grateful to the administrators in the Faculty of Arts, especially Liz Hewitt, and Research Services at Deakin University, who provide a consistently high level of service. The Faculty of Arts at Deakin has invested in me enormous research support. It has been well used and certainly moved my work forward. I am also grateful to the librarians and information managers who have assisted me. I acknowledge Deakin University Library (Burwood), the State Library of Victoria and, especially, RMIT Swanston Library. The Document Delivery staff there deserve a big bouquet. I have had an extraordinary co-supervisor in Dr Christina Hill. Thank you, Chris, for your politics, for the generosity of your engagement, for your fierce intellect, humour and warmth, for believing in me and stretching me. I loved working with you. You made it grand. I have been exceptionally privileged to have Judith Rodriguez as my principal supervisor. I was overjoyed at the outset when Judith took me on. I am a very different writer because of it. I’ve laughed a lot, as you do around Judith, and it’s been glorious. Thank you, Judith. You and Chris have helped me attain a dream I’ve held since I was five.