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Notes
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Dedication: To the people of Australia, including my husband, my Australian children, my even more thoroughly Australian grandchildren, and my family in Europe.
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Epigraph: 'If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth; and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be' (Ecclesiastes 11:3).
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
Works about this Work
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Writing a Whole Life : Maria Lewitt's Holocaust/Migration Narratives in 'Multicultural' Australia
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Life Writing , October vol. 11 no. 4 2014; (p. 391-410)Many scholars argue today that the memory of the Holocaust has become transnational, travelling to locations and cultures worldwide. This phenomenon has been explored in relation to technological developments, but thus far little scholarly attention has been paid to the interconnection between Holocaust memory and the post-war migration of survivors. In this article, I redress this critical oversight and examine how memory and migration shape the work of Maria Lewitt, a Polish-born Jewish Holocaust survivor who emigrated to Australia. Come Spring (1980) portrays her survival in Europe and No Snow in December (1985) her Australian migrant life; together, the two autobiographical novels recount ‘a whole life’, both over time and synchronically, as Lewitt connects private experiences to global historical events. In the 1980s, a time when Australia was increasingly embracing the diversity arising from its migrant population, the texts inserted Lewitt's personal memories into the public discourse in her new home country. I argue that Lewitt combined her memories of survival and migration in order to add her voice as a Jewish Australian to this new ‘multiculturalism’. This positioning suggests that we require an approach to Holocaust literature that dedicates attention to sociocultural environments. Such an interpretive viewpoint would allow the investigation of transnational movements of memory from individual perspectives, while acknowledging them as bound within certain national contexts and specific memory cultures. [Author's abstract]
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New Places, Old Memories
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Antípodas , no. 15 2004; (p. 77-83) -
Survival and Exile in Maria Lewitt's "Come Spring" and "No Snow in December"
1989
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Commonwealth , Autumn vol. 12 no. 1 1989; (p. 73-80) -
Untitled
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Good Reading Guide 1989; (p. 169)
— Review of No Snow in December : An Autobiographical Novel 1985 single work novel autobiography -
Harvesting the Past for the Fictional and Factual
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 16 December 1989; (p. 48)
— Review of No Snow in December : An Autobiographical Novel 1985 single work novel autobiography ; Matilda, My Darling 1983 single work novel
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Strangers in a Strange Land: Post-War Years Relived
1985
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 10 November 1985; (p. 8)
— Review of No Snow in December : An Autobiographical Novel 1985 single work novel autobiography -
Chronicles of Migration : Highs, Lows and All
1986
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 80 1986; (p. 13-14)
— Review of No Snow in December : An Autobiographical Novel 1985 single work novel autobiography -
From Poland, with Love
1986
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 1 March 1986; (p. 45)
— Review of No Snow in December : An Autobiographical Novel 1985 single work novel autobiography -
Triumphantly Living
1986
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland , July no. 103 1986; (p. 75-76)
— Review of No Snow in December : An Autobiographical Novel 1985 single work novel autobiography -
Harvesting the Past for the Fictional and Factual
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 16 December 1989; (p. 48)
— Review of No Snow in December : An Autobiographical Novel 1985 single work novel autobiography ; Matilda, My Darling 1983 single work novel -
New Places, Old Memories
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Antípodas , no. 15 2004; (p. 77-83) -
The Migrant Experience Reflected in Australian Jewish Writing
1988
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , Winter vol. 2 no. 2 1988; (p. 91-94) -
Survival and Exile in Maria Lewitt's "Come Spring" and "No Snow in December"
1989
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Commonwealth , Autumn vol. 12 no. 1 1989; (p. 73-80) -
Writing a Whole Life : Maria Lewitt's Holocaust/Migration Narratives in 'Multicultural' Australia
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Life Writing , October vol. 11 no. 4 2014; (p. 391-410)Many scholars argue today that the memory of the Holocaust has become transnational, travelling to locations and cultures worldwide. This phenomenon has been explored in relation to technological developments, but thus far little scholarly attention has been paid to the interconnection between Holocaust memory and the post-war migration of survivors. In this article, I redress this critical oversight and examine how memory and migration shape the work of Maria Lewitt, a Polish-born Jewish Holocaust survivor who emigrated to Australia. Come Spring (1980) portrays her survival in Europe and No Snow in December (1985) her Australian migrant life; together, the two autobiographical novels recount ‘a whole life’, both over time and synchronically, as Lewitt connects private experiences to global historical events. In the 1980s, a time when Australia was increasingly embracing the diversity arising from its migrant population, the texts inserted Lewitt's personal memories into the public discourse in her new home country. I argue that Lewitt combined her memories of survival and migration in order to add her voice as a Jewish Australian to this new ‘multiculturalism’. This positioning suggests that we require an approach to Holocaust literature that dedicates attention to sociocultural environments. Such an interpretive viewpoint would allow the investigation of transnational movements of memory from individual perspectives, while acknowledging them as bound within certain national contexts and specific memory cultures. [Author's abstract]