Jean Devanny
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jane (Jean) Devanny (7 January 1894 – 8 March 1962) was a
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
writer and
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
. She was born to William and Jane Crook in Ferntown near Collingwood, in the Nelson district of New Zealand. She migrated to Australia in 1929, eventually moving to
Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
, in
North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...
, where she died at the age of 68. She is best known for the novels '' Sugar Heaven'' and '' The Butcher Shop'', but she also wrote short stories and political papers.


Literary connections

Devanny was one of the founders of the Writers' League, along with
Katharine Susannah Prichard Katharine Susannah Prichard (4 December 18832 October 1969) was an Australian author and co-founding member of the Communist Party of Australia. Early life Prichard was born in Levuka, Fiji in 1883 to Australian parents. She spent her childhood ...
and
Egon Kisch Egon Erwin Kisch (29 April 1885 – 31 March 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian and Czechoslovak writer and journalist, who wrote in German. He styled himself ''Der Rasende Reporter'' (The Racing Reporter) for his countless travels to the far corners ...
. In 1935, she became the League's first president. The Writers' League became the Writer's Association in 1937. She was a close friend and correspondent of
Miles Franklin Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin (14 October 187919 September 1954), known as Miles Franklin, was an Australian writer and feminist who is best known for her novel ''My Brilliant Career'', published by Blackwoods of Edinburgh in 1901. While s ...
,
Marjorie Barnard Marjorie Faith Barnard (16 August 18978 May 1987) was an Australian novelist and short story writer, critic, historian and librarian. She went to school and university in Sydney, and then trained as a librarian. She was employed as a libraria ...
and Winifred Hamilton, and was in frequent contact with other Australian writers throughout the mid-20th Century. In 1948, she approached
Mary Gilmore Dame Mary Jean Gilmore (née Cameron; 16 August 18653 December 1962) was an Australian writer and journalist known for her prolific contributions to Australian literature and the broader national discourse. She wrote both prose and poetry. Gi ...
to write a foreword to '' Travels in North Queensland'', but Gilmore declined on the basis that Devanny should write it herself, because "I have written so many that I have decided not to write any more for a time, as they will have no value by now".Ferrier, C. (1999). Jean Devanny : romantic revolutionary. Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press


Political activity

Devanny joined the
Communist Party of Australia The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian communist party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been ...
in the early 1920s, and had a long-term affair with the general secretary
Jack Miles John R. Miles (born July 30, 1942) is an American author. He is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship and the MacArthur Fellowship. His writings on religion, politics, and culture have appeared in numerous national publication ...
; called "Leader" in her memoirs. Despite that, many in the party disagreed with her "forthright avant-garde views" and her candid discussion of sexual activities and women's sexuality. Devanny used her novels as a way of expressing ideological principles. During the 1930s, she toured North Queensland to spread propaganda for the communist movement. ''Sugar Heaven'' was written during that period, drawing upon her experiences working as a domestic servant on a sugar plantation, and was intended to be a form of propaganda. Egon Kisch described the style of writing in ''Sugar Heaven'' as "reportage" or "fact in the form of fiction" . Devanny had several disagreements with the leadership of the party that eventually led to her expulsion in 1940. She rejoined the party in 1944, but the party bureaucracy's treatment of her novel ''Cindie'', also about the North Queensland sugar industry, provoked her final resignation in 1950. Despite the egalitarian ideals espoused by communist ideology, the party leadership was dominated by men, who often adhered to the idea that women's participation in politics should be restricted to a supporting role.Personal Correspondence, Jean Devanny Archive, James Cook University Library Special Collections. Although she remained a staunch communist after leaving the Communist Party, she often expressed disagreement with other communists of the time, most notably
Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
, of whom she reportedly said: "Picasso hasn't got any political opinions. His work proves that. He's only got a sentimental attachment to the idea of social justice". Despite decreasing her political activity in her later years, she continued to express her opinions on local, national and global political events and figures.


Later years

Devanny later regretted using her novels as a way to convey ideology rather than trying to write to the best of her abilities. She noted: "I realise now that I have not exploited the small measure of ability for writing I possess one whit. I never really got down to it and THOUGHT. Thought was reserved for politics". Devanny moved to North Queensland during the 1940s and spent the last two decades of her life in the region, expanding her knowledge of the natural world, taking part in a number of
anthropological Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behaviour, wh ...
expeditions along the cost of North Queensland. During the 1950s, she wrote many articles and stories documenting details about the region during the mid-20th century, focusing on a range of themes, such as the relations between White Australians and the Indigenous inhabitants. Devanny died in Townsville on 8 March 1962, having been diagnosed with chronic
leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...
. Her remains were cremated in
Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...
. Her daughter Pat also became a communist activist.


Records and collections

The Eddie Koiki Mabo Library at
James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cair ...
, Townsville, holds copies of all of Devanny's published works in its North Queensland Collection. Many of Devanny's private papers, consisting of drafts of speeches, published and unpublished articles, personal communications, and letters, are held in that library's special collections.


Bibliography


Novels

* ''The Butcher Shop'' (1926) * ''Lenore Divine'' (1926) * ''Dawn Beloved'' (1928) * ''Riven'' (1929) * ''Devil Made saint'' (1930) * ''Bushman Burke'' (1930) (aka ''Taipo'') * ''Poor Swine'' (1932) * ''Out of Such Fires'' (1934) * ''The Virtuous Courtesan'' (1935) * ''The Ghost Wife'' (1935) * ''Sugar Heaven'' (1936) * ''Paradise Flow'' (1938) * ''The Killing of Jacqueline Love'' (1942) * ''Roll Back the Night'' (1945) * ''Cindie : A Chronicle of the Canefields'' (1949)


Short story collection

* ''Old Savage : And Other Stories'' (1927)


Non-fiction

* ''By Tropic Sea and Jungle : Adventures in North Queensland'' (1944) – travel * ''Bird of Paradise'' (1945) – biography * ''Travels in North Queensland'' (1951) – travel * ''Point of Departure: The Autobiography of Jean Devanny'' (1987) – autobiography


External links


''Jean Devanny'' by Carole Ferrier (2007 essay)''Jean Devanny'' at the "Dictionary of New Zealand Biography"

''Jean Devanny'' at the "Australian Dictionary of Biography"





References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devanny, Jean 1894 births 1962 deaths Australian women novelists New Zealand communists New Zealand women novelists New Zealand emigrants to Australia 20th-century New Zealand novelists 20th-century Australian novelists Communist women writers People from Collingwood, New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand women writers 20th-century Australian women writers People from Townsville Communist Party of Australia members People from Golden Bay