THEORY & PRACTICE by Michelle de Kretser
A unique novel with memoir qualities
At 183 pages, Theory & Practice is a novel from two-time Miles Franklin Award winner Michelle de Kretser. A unique combination of fiction intertwined, undoubtably, with memoir, Theory & Practice is set in 1980s Melbourne, with themes of feminism, 1980s culture and the complexities of relationships between women - mothers and daughters, colleagues, friends and those we compete with for love.
This is the first of de Kretser’s works I have read. Her prose is beautiful.
“The sunset was a murderous red stripe over the bay. Little waves went on sounding their note of baffled rage.”
In Theory & Practice, the protaganist is a postgraduate research student, whose analysis of feminist writing is driven by her dedication to the “Woolfmother”, a.k.a. Virginia Woolf. As her work progresses, the contradiction between the theory of feminism and the practice of feminism awakens within her.
There are no chapters in this book (which is why it is styled by some as essay-like but I wouldn’t label it that way) but it is easy to find spots to stop reading, where you need it. This is a book that forces the reader to think about what feminism means to them. It forces the reader to reconnect to the terror of the AIDS epidemic that ravaged the LBGTIQ+ community. It forces the reader (particularly daughters) to contemplate their relationships with mothers.
There is contradiction in the theory of feminism the protaganist aspires to, and the practice of that feminism. This is a conundrum for many feminists, at least sometimes, is that what we think is right and what happens in life are often not the same. That means, in the case of the novel, having an affair with a man in a ‘deconstructed relationship’ (which, forgive me, is a bullshit term for either polyamory (fine if that’s your thing) or cheating (less so)).
It means imaging harm to a woman who has the man you want.
It means recognising that mothers are not perfect and daughters aren’t, either.
Theory & Practice is a novel that incites contemplation. It strikes a balance between the past and the present. The writing is exquisite and I expect to think about it for some time to come.
I commend it to you.
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