University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2014 The home girls in Olga Masters' fiction: A Linguistic Representation of Femininity Thu Hanh Nguyen University of Wollongong, Australia Recommended Citation Nguyen, Thu Hanh, The home girls in Olga Masters' fiction: A Linguistic Representation of Femininity, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts, University of Wollongong, 2014. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/4527 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Department of Law, Humanities and the Arts The Home Girls in Olga Masters’ Fiction: A Linguistic Representation of Femininity Thu Hanh Nguyen “This thesis is presented as part of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Wollongong” December 2014 THESIS CERTIFICATION CERTIFICATION I, Thu Hanh Nguyen, declare that this thesis, submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts, University of Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. Thu Hanh Nguyen December 2014 i ABSTRACT The main aim of this research has been to explore the linguistic representation of femininity and female experience in Olga Masters’ stories. Specifically this research examines character depiction through Masters’ choices of transitivity patterns and lexical elements in her stories. The research relates this linguistic representation of femininity to the socio-political view demonstrated in her writing, in opposition to the common view that Masters merely uses a ‘plain’ style of writing to create ‘simple’ stories about ‘humble’ people. The chosen methodology has been a close textual analysis of Olga Masters’ representation of 1930s Australian femininity in selected pieces of her writing, with the aim of exploring what such a method adds to our understanding of Masters’ approach, topical focus, and significance as a writer. Using the systemic functional linguistic theory of M.A.K. Halliday and his associates, particularly in relation to transitivity and lexical choice, I have investigated eight of Masters’ stories. These stories come from her short story collections The Home Girls and A Long Time Dying, and her novel Amy’s Children. The stories selected are “The Little Chest”, “The Done Thing”, “The Snake and Bad Tom”, “A Soft and Simple Woman”, “The Lang Women”, Amy’s Children, “A Dog that Squeaked” and “The Teacher’s Wife”. Together with lexical analysis, the analysis deals generally with Process types, Participants, and Circumstances throughout these selected texts. These eight stories are examined as matched pairs, producing four chapters that address the themes of femininity and domesticity, motherhood, sexual desires, and feminine rebellion. The lexical and grammatical representation of eight female protagonists found within the selected stories is analysed, looking at their actions and behaviour in comparison to what is likely to have been expected of women in the period in which the stories are set. These chapters focus on the transitivity data which was combined with lexical analysis in order to understand how Masters uses linguistic elements to portray the women characters in her stories and how Masters’ attitudes to gender roles are conveyed. ii This linguistic investigation reveals that Masters is not an ‘ordinary writer’ of ‘ordinary stories’ about ‘ordinary people’ but rather, an accomplished writer whose fictional craft is used to get the feeling of actual life across while raising important questions about feminine identity and its possibilities. She treats the subjects of her stories with a voice of warmth, compassion, and painful sympathy. She has a keen eye for detail and her realisation of place and time are precise. Masters’ stories can be described as having a feminist articulation, and Masters herself can be described as a feminist in her own way. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisors Alison Moore and Anne Collett at the University of Wollongong for their support and the ideas they contributed to my work. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with them, and have been inspired by their intelligence and enthusiasm. They never failed to encourage me and guide me through the difficulties and joys of both academia and life. My thanks should also go to Leigh Dale who helped me a lot during the early days of my PhD candidature. Her guidance and support has been immeasurable. I would like to extend my gratitude to Dorothy Jones, for her consideration and conversations. Her expertise in the field helped me a lot. My special appreciation goes to the Masters family, especially Chris Masters. The discussions with him have been illuminating. I would also like to say thank you to the Military Science Academy, Vietnam who believed in my ability and awarded me the chance to broaden my knowledge. Thanks to all my friends and colleagues in the English Department for their contribution to my growth as a lecturer and a researcher, and for their encouragement and support during my PhD candidature. I would like to thank my colleagues in the Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts, University of Wollongong for all their support. On a more personal level, I would like to thank my big family who all keep inspiring and supporting me. Thanks to Phuong Hang and Phuong Hoa for allowing Mum to go to the office and write. I hope that one day they will understand what their sacrifice allowed me to achieve. And especially to my dear husband whose endless support and love meant not only that I had time to finish, but that I believed I could do it as well. You all have been so kind to me. Thank you so much. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS THESIS CERTIFICATION .......................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................ iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................ v ABBREVIATED TITLES AND SOURCES ........................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... ix INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 10 1 OLGA MASTERS: LITERARY BIOGRAPHY, REVIEWS, CRITICISM .......... 19 1.1 Olga Masters: a journalist and an author ................................................... 19 1.2 Research and criticism on Olga Masters .................................................... 25 1.3 Recurring themes in Masters’ writing ....................................................... 32 1.4 The Depression in Australia during Olga Masters’ time ........................... 46 1.5 Australian female writers of the 20th century ............................................ 52 1.6 Chapter conclusion .................................................................................... 59 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................................... 61 2.1 Selecting examples of Olga Masters’ writing ............................................ 61 2.2 The choice of clause as unit for analysis ................................................... 67 2.3 Analysing the data ..................................................................................... 69 2.4 Chapter conclusion .................................................................................... 76 3 TEXT ANALYSIS – THEORY AND LITERARY APPLICATIONS ................. 78 3.1 Language, discourse, and textual analysis ................................................. 78 3.2 Systemic Functional Linguistics: a functional approach to discourse ....... 82 3.3 The Hallidayan approach to Ideational metafunction and transitivity ...... 86 3.4 The linguistic analysis of literary texts ...................................................... 95 3.5 Chapter conclusion .................................................................................... 99 4 FEMININITY AND DOMESTIC ACTIVITIES ................................................. 101 4.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 101 4.2 Mrs Schaefer as a very particular housekeeper in “The Little Chest” ..... 102 4.2.1 Overview of the story .......................................................................... 103 4.2.2 Transitivity analysis illustrating Mrs Schaefer’s industriousness ........ 104 4.2.3 Lexical choices representing Mrs Schaefer’s passion for housework . 112 v 4.3 Louisa as an enthusiastic cook in “The Done Thing” .............................. 118 4.3.1 Overview of the story .......................................................................... 118 4.3.2 Transitivity analysis depicting Louisa’s passion for cooking .............. 119 4.3.3 Lexical choices demonstrating Louisa’s cooking knowledge ............. 128 4.4 Chapter conclusion .................................................................................