Textuality, mutability and learning to write

Moya Costello, Southern Cross University

Abstract

Imitation is an ancient pedagogical practice. It enables creative writing students to attain mastery of their craft. But it calls originality into question. Intertextuality is both a form of homage to predecessors as well as an attempt to create something new. In my own creative writing projects I have been influenced by and paid homage to Murray Bail, specifically his novel Holden's Performance. I have written the faux biography of Harriet Chandler, a minor character in that novel. Intertextuality is characterised as a liminal space with the potential for change. Present in the master-apprentice or teacher-learner relationship is the potential for the texts and identities involved, temporarily fixed, to transform.