In my non-fiction class today we were discussing what makes non-fiction. First I must ask my readers what do you think IS Non-Fiction? The most common answer you will find is “the truth” which isn’t wrong on any level. But as I found out today, now we have to question “what is truth?” which is a little harder as you will find…
One example of this is Truman Capote, who was the first author to write a non-fiction event in a literary form. His novel In Cold Blood was based on true events, however even though he spent a lot of time with everyone involved in the murder, he didn’t tape record any events or take any notes. Does this affect the authenticity of the text? A lot of texts have been skewed into different types of genres in one, this is called Gonzo Literature. Is it non-fiction or is it more fiction? Can it be both?
It’s the same with the Hunter S Thompson novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In fact it’s been done so many times they can probably count them down in 20 to 1
But what happens when you take the identity of non-fiction and skew the truth so much that you take
it too far?One of the greatest hoaxes of all time (sadly did not make it on 20 to 1 greatest pranks and pranksters list) would have to be the Ern Malley hoax. In the 1940’s Harold Stewart and James McAuley thought modernist poetry was pretentious nonsense. So to take the piss out of Max Harris who was the editor of Angry Penguins, they made up a guy called Ern Malley, copied and pasted together poetry from existing modernist poets and forged a letter from Ethel Malley, Ern Malleys “sister”, to the publishers telling the story of her brother that died and while cleaning out his room she found these poems. Max Harris was almost drooling over the papers feeling so lucky that he came across them not realising that he was made a fool of after publishing them and promoting them around the world. Its one of my favourite stories to tell, that notion of what makes good literature is forever stained because of this trick that McAuley and Stewart played on all of us.
The reason why they decided to play this prank is because they were taking the piss, and because quite frankly people take themselves too seriously! However, as much as I love that story, it is possible to take it too far.
The reason why they decided to play this prank is because they were taking the piss, and because quite frankly people take themselves too seriously! However, as much as I love that story, it is possible to take it too far.
Anyone know the name Helen Demidenko?
How about Helen Darville?
Well they’re both the same woman. Though it was Helen Demidenko that apparenty “signed the paper”. It was her story The Hand That Signed The Paper that was a hoax that went too far. Helen was apparently Ukrainian, who was writing about her true experience of the holocaust. She dressed Ukrainian, danced their traditional dance, but it was later found out that she was in fact an English woman…with no connection to the holocaust what so ever!
This lady annoys the HELL out of me! How dare she lie to that extent and fool an entire nation of people. It makes you wonder how Ukrainian people would have felt about the situation, pretty darn insulted I think! What makes me so angry at her and make it different from the Ern Malley situation is that they did it for a good cause, it was almost like an extended April Fools Day if you like. Helen, however, wasn’t ever going to admit that she wasn’t actually Ukrainian until someone finally caught her out. The novel won a lot of awards and what for? For a true story that was about the holocaust…yet ended up being fictional. Could the story have stood on its own imaginative legs if she had of been honest the entire time?
It reminded me of when I saw John Boyne at Deakin Uni Library with Tor Dor. During question time one lady asked him
“Have you ever received hate mail or complaints about writing about the holocaust when you are Irish?” and he answered with
“I have a whole box at home full of them. At one literary event someone came running at me and had to be restrained” his novel The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas is a fictional young adult genius piece! And he was honest with it and called it fictional, yet it still had controversy and pissed people off in a good way. Why did Helen think she had to lie?! I think Mark Harris said it all when he mentioned in an interview “the myth is sometimes greater than its creator” and it’s so true when Peter Craven proves this point by saying “everyone was interested in Helen Darville for what she was not”
There are so many accounts like this out there. Links of different situations are below.
“Have you ever received hate mail or complaints about writing about the holocaust when you are Irish?” and he answered with
“I have a whole box at home full of them. At one literary event someone came running at me and had to be restrained” his novel The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas is a fictional young adult genius piece! And he was honest with it and called it fictional, yet it still had controversy and pissed people off in a good way. Why did Helen think she had to lie?! I think Mark Harris said it all when he mentioned in an interview “the myth is sometimes greater than its creator” and it’s so true when Peter Craven proves this point by saying “everyone was interested in Helen Darville for what she was not”
There are so many accounts like this out there. Links of different situations are below.
Ern Malley
JT Leroy "Terminator"
Norma Khouri
Tell me what your thoughts are about these people? Do you think Helen Demidenko has spunk and balls to pull that off? Or do you think she took this literary hoax too far? For me, I have learnt to question more about what I think good literature is, also the question whose reality is it that makes the genre? The author or the reader?
To conclude…its best to leave the “pissing people off” to fags like Kyle Sandilands.
At least when he pisses people off, he’s honest about it.
Jinx xx
To conclude…its best to leave the “pissing people off” to fags like Kyle Sandilands.
At least when he pisses people off, he’s honest about it.
Jinx xx
