literary or religious texts into his own writing. Here collage mainly takes
the form of quotation, but Eliot also rewrites some passages (for example,
recasting the famous speech from Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra
‘The barge she sat in, like a burnish’d throne’ into a decadent contempo-
rary setting). The writing is principally Eliot’s own, but the poem is,
nevertheless, partly a constellation of other texts. Another example of
collage is Paterson by American poet William Carlos Williams (1983). In
Paterson Williams takes textual materials—such as a passage from a letter
or part of a historical document—and juxtaposes them with passages of
his own writing.
COLLAGE IN CLOSE-UP
The Ash Range , by Australian writer Laurie Duggan (1987), uses diaries,
journals and newspaper stories—including accounts by early Australian
pioneers, to chart the history of Gippsland, Victoria—and patches them
together, sometimes reorganising them in ways which suit his poetic
purpose. As we read The Ash Range , the early days of colonial Australia
emerge through the voices of the invaders. But this is different from the
author telling us directly what he thinks about these historical events;
instead he is acting as a facilitator, so that ideas emerge almost magically
from the material itself. This approach demonstrates the significance of
which voices are, or are not, heard: the history of indigenous people can
normally only be guessed at through colonial reports.
In this extract you can see how Duggan draws on accounts from early
explorers, their response to the landscape, and their condescending atti-
tude towards indigenous Australians:
Example 4.1: Juxtaposition of textual chunks
Passed through a chain of clear downs to some very
extensive ones, where we met a tribe of natives, who
fled at our approach, however, we soon, by tokens
of kindness, offering them biscuits etc. together with
the assistance of a domesticated native of our party,
induced them to come nearer and nearer, till by
degrees we ultimately became good friends; but on no
account would they touch or approach our horses, of
which they were from the first much more frightened
than of ourselves. We learned that the clear country
before us was called Monaroo.68 The Writing Experiment
Mark
Currie
4/6/1823