On some contexts of Joan Lindsay’s "Picnic at Hanging Rock"

Abstract

Joan Lindsay’s novel, Picnic at Hanging Rock , which dates back to mid-1960s enjoys a cult status in Australia. It has been adapted many times, notably by Peter Weir in his film, which – in Europe – is considered a starting point to discuss the meanings of the book; this leads to numerous explicative transgressions departing from the sense of the original work. The pseudo-historic quality of the novel and the counterfeit esoteric epilogue published after Lindsey’s death, which contrast with the realistic quality of the book, further complicate the picture. However, the wide spread interpretative proposals within psychoanalysis and gender studies fail to acknowledge the work as a whole, as they tend to be partial and focus mostly on Weir’s film. Ignoring the postcolonial context, such as the Stolen Generations, as well as mythological determinants (beliefs of Indigenous Australians rather than Mediterranean people) results in stripping the novel from its home culture and, as a consequence, in the flawed or incomplete interpretations. In addition, the film’s metaphysical ambience leads to exaggerated interpretations. The paper aims to unscramble and rearrange interpretations of Lindsay’s work by explicating and exemplifying political, social, symbolic, artistic, genre-related and other contexts. In so doing, the author hopes to refresh the Polish reader’s memory of the novel obscured by Weir’s mosaic.