By Kirsten Dunlop
The birth of a journal is not unlike the birth of a star: it happens all the time and goes unnoticed by a vast majority of the population. It is rare for a journal to be born which has a potential for a stellar existence. Siglo is one of these rarities.
The collective effort of a group of undergraduate students in collaboration with the English Department, Literary Society and Centre for the Arts of the University of Tasmania, Siglo represents a creative zeal, a foresight and an enthusiasm which are enormously refreshing. A "Journal of Literature and the Arts" is something of which we are most desperately in need — a forum in which disciplines may meet and explore their similarities as much as their differences.
Siglo offers a forum in the literal sense of the word: a marketplace — a site for the exchange of words, art, ideas, poetry, opinions. An opportunity, in other words, for readers to enjoy the fruits of what is generally termed "cultural studies". Not just to enjoy, furthermore, but to contribute: Siglo is an accessible journal.
In both concept and execution, Siglo is extremely promising. The first issue is stunningly produced and very well designed; the quality of the graphics is superb. Alexandra Miles is to be congratulated for an excellent job. The highlight is a pair of photographs by Sandra Brown which demonstrate a remarkable talent for whimsical and empathetic portraiture.
As for written content, Siglo displays an admirable interest in being as far-reaching and varied as possible. Several pages of poems are interspersed throughout, some of them very good, notably those by Bruce Dawe, Tim Thorne and a couple by Josephine Denham.
There is an article by David Lawton, the professor of English at the university, about his recently published book Blasphemy; a short and poignant "Testimonial" from Carmel Bird which is sensitive and touching; two extremely well-written and honest interviews of Margaret Scott and Michael Heyward from Liz Sharples; and a review of Tim Maguire's Chisenhale Drawings.
Of the two short stories, Bronwyn Minifie's "Her Father's Hands" is particularly good. She writes with restraint and clarity about incest; a subject that is so often treated to torrid exposition.
There are two book reviews, one comparing Lou Reed's lyrics with Suzanne Vega's songs which makes a regrettable reference to "the cutting edge of contemporary music" — a flabby generalisation and not particularly valid. The second is of Riane Eisler's The Chalice and the Blade, a strange choice for a start, and one which is not subjected to the critical analysis it warrants.
Both this review and the leading essay, Francisco Ascui's "Art, Poetry and the New World Order", show a predilection for simplistic and inaccurate generalisations supporting arguments which are a little too self-consciously prophetic. It is a pity that Francisco Ascui has not used Umberto Eco's subtle understanding of postmodernism as "an ironic rethinking of the past" (quoted in the essay) to greater effect in trying to give Siglo the intellectual grounding it deserves.
Having said all that, Siglo is a thoroughly impressive and entertaining publication. A journal would not be worth reading if you agreed with all of the ideas expressed within it. In fact its closing note — an extract by Richard Flanagan from his forthcoming book The Death of a River God — sets the seal on the excellence of this journal and its relevance for Tasmania's intellectual life. Its subtlety of vision and complexity of understanding of cultural richness and cultural angst are the keynote for Siglo.
[Kirsten Dunlop is a postgraduate tutor at the University of Tasmania.]