Linguistic individuation in the plays of Shakespeare and his peers, 1576-1599. The question of how differently each speaker or writer uses language is important in everything from plagiarism to the definition of artistic genius. The project makes Shakespearean drama before 1600 a definitive test case of this wider problem of individuality in language. Australians are inheritors of the Western tradition of individual self-determination and self-expression; the project will help clarify one of the ....Linguistic individuation in the plays of Shakespeare and his peers, 1576-1599. The question of how differently each speaker or writer uses language is important in everything from plagiarism to the definition of artistic genius. The project makes Shakespearean drama before 1600 a definitive test case of this wider problem of individuality in language. Australians are inheritors of the Western tradition of individual self-determination and self-expression; the project will help clarify one of the main assumptions behind this tradition. Australia is also an inheritor of the English-language culture of which Shakespeare is a key element, and the project will enrich the understanding of this culture through new light on his beginnings.Read moreRead less
Styles of Meaning-making in Poetry by Victorian Scientists. While much has been written about the attitudes of canonical poets to science in Victorian Britain, the complementary perspectives of scientists who wrote poetry have been entirely overlooked. What is most striking about their poetry (and indeed that of neglected feminist poets of the 1880s and 1890s which the study will also examine) is the agreeable relations that it, unlike canonical Victorian poetry and most scholarship in the area, ....Styles of Meaning-making in Poetry by Victorian Scientists. While much has been written about the attitudes of canonical poets to science in Victorian Britain, the complementary perspectives of scientists who wrote poetry have been entirely overlooked. What is most striking about their poetry (and indeed that of neglected feminist poets of the 1880s and 1890s which the study will also examine) is the agreeable relations that it, unlike canonical Victorian poetry and most scholarship in the area, sees to exist between poetry and science. The substantial revisionary monograph I propose will focus upon the discursive modes that scientists brought to their poetry and the ontologies which underpin them.Read moreRead less
PACIFISM IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. 'Pacifism in English Literature' will be a single author monograph examining and analysing English literature from the point of view of classical pacifist thought. It will be a development from my two former ARC-funded books, 'Natural Law in English Renaissance Literature' (1996) and 'Natural Rights in English Romanticism of the 1790s' (2001). This will be achieved by the same successful research process as the other books - by ARC funding giving teaching relief f ....PACIFISM IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. 'Pacifism in English Literature' will be a single author monograph examining and analysing English literature from the point of view of classical pacifist thought. It will be a development from my two former ARC-funded books, 'Natural Law in English Renaissance Literature' (1996) and 'Natural Rights in English Romanticism of the 1790s' (2001). This will be achieved by the same successful research process as the other books - by ARC funding giving teaching relief for one semester per year for three years.Read moreRead less
Dreams: A Cultural History, 1840-1940. This project will produce a groundbreaking history of the emergence of the dream as a fundamental aspect of identity in the period 1840-1940, when the contours of modern psychology were being dramatically transformed. By tracking the vital relationship between an emerging science of the mind and the rapidly evolving cultural arts in this crucial period, this project will ensure Australia's place at the forefront of innovative interdisciplinary research acro ....Dreams: A Cultural History, 1840-1940. This project will produce a groundbreaking history of the emergence of the dream as a fundamental aspect of identity in the period 1840-1940, when the contours of modern psychology were being dramatically transformed. By tracking the vital relationship between an emerging science of the mind and the rapidly evolving cultural arts in this crucial period, this project will ensure Australia's place at the forefront of innovative interdisciplinary research across the humanities and sciences. The enduring popular and scholarly fascination with dreams will stimulate broad discussion about an area of psychic life that continues to inform the relationship between a science of the mind and everyday cultural life.Read moreRead less
Minds, Bodies, Machines: a cultural and intellectual history of technologies in the 21st century. This project benefits the intellectual and cultural life of the nation by establishing a unique dialogue between the I.T. community and University researchers in the humanities and social sciences. Using an
interdisciplinary methodology to explore technologically-driven social change across a period of more than two hundred years, the project will generate new and fresh ways of thinking about emerg ....Minds, Bodies, Machines: a cultural and intellectual history of technologies in the 21st century. This project benefits the intellectual and cultural life of the nation by establishing a unique dialogue between the I.T. community and University researchers in the humanities and social sciences. Using an
interdisciplinary methodology to explore technologically-driven social change across a period of more than two hundred years, the project will generate new and fresh ways of thinking about emerging areas of intense debate and controversy, such as humanoid robotics and artificial intelligence. The dialogue we propose will foster an environment of enhanced innovation, one in which knowledge translates directly and indirectly into social and economic benefits.Read moreRead less
Noise, Technology, Literature. 21st century life is pervaded by fears of sensory and information overload, the deafening interference of data generated by a digitalised global economy, as well as the literal noise of everyday life. These fears transcend national boundaries, connecting the experiences of contemporary Australians to a common global experience. It is this inter-connected trans-national history of the profound impact of noise on our lives that this project will begin to chart. Stre ....Noise, Technology, Literature. 21st century life is pervaded by fears of sensory and information overload, the deafening interference of data generated by a digitalised global economy, as well as the literal noise of everyday life. These fears transcend national boundaries, connecting the experiences of contemporary Australians to a common global experience. It is this inter-connected trans-national history of the profound impact of noise on our lives that this project will begin to chart. Stretching back to the nineteenth century and into the present, this project is necessarily collaborative and ambitious in its engagement not only with ideas of noise as they are discussed within the confines of academia but also in the broader community. Read moreRead less
The Dissemination and Control of Clandestine Writing in England 1695--1774. The literary underworld of the eighteenth century is the subject of serious academic pursuit internationally by literary historians, historians of sex and sexuality, philosophers and feminists. Australia's reputation will be enhanced by participating in this rapidly evolving field. Australia already has an internationally significant profile in bibliography and eighteenth-century literary studies due to a combination o ....The Dissemination and Control of Clandestine Writing in England 1695--1774. The literary underworld of the eighteenth century is the subject of serious academic pursuit internationally by literary historians, historians of sex and sexuality, philosophers and feminists. Australia's reputation will be enhanced by participating in this rapidly evolving field. Australia already has an internationally significant profile in bibliography and eighteenth-century literary studies due to a combination of outstanding scholars and resources. This project will enhance Australian strength in, and contribution to, the world-wide study of these two subjects. This study will also be informed by, and contribute to, the contemporary philosophical, religious and ethical debate concerning the distribution of contentious material.Read moreRead less
The transition from print to electronic textuality in the scholarly editing of Australian literature: practice and theory. Scholarly editions of Henry Lawson's While the Billy Boils and colonial poet Charles Harpur's Complete Poems will afford access to authenticated texts of classic works of Australian literature. The editions complete the Academy Editions of Australian Literature series, a long-term project of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. The analysis of versions will allow a newl ....The transition from print to electronic textuality in the scholarly editing of Australian literature: practice and theory. Scholarly editions of Henry Lawson's While the Billy Boils and colonial poet Charles Harpur's Complete Poems will afford access to authenticated texts of classic works of Australian literature. The editions complete the Academy Editions of Australian Literature series, a long-term project of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. The analysis of versions will allow a newly informed study of the works. The Academy Editions series makes a staged transition to electronic delivery with these editions. The new methodology will lay the groundwork for future projects, and the text-authentication method may have further application. The State Library of New South Wales website will make fruits of the scholarship available to a wider public.Read moreRead less
Rushdie Annotated: Definitive explanations of all obscure references in the Salman Rushdie corpus and extended critical commentaries on the author. In an Australia where the literary work of art now attends to issues which are multicultural, this reference text on Rushdie would show how crucial the creative use of language is in the formation of cultural identity. As a key spokesperson for liberal values, Rushdie and his works are informed by those communal values which have a direct bearing on ....Rushdie Annotated: Definitive explanations of all obscure references in the Salman Rushdie corpus and extended critical commentaries on the author. In an Australia where the literary work of art now attends to issues which are multicultural, this reference text on Rushdie would show how crucial the creative use of language is in the formation of cultural identity. As a key spokesperson for liberal values, Rushdie and his works are informed by those communal values which have a direct bearing on definitions of the Australian nation state. Ongoing debates in Australia about citizenship in a globalized world, about the relative autonomy of the literary work of art, about the links between culture and religion find valuable expression in Rushdie's works.Read moreRead less
Imperialism, reform and the making of Englishness in Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë is usually thought to be imprecise about the time period of Jane Eyre. Working from a close chronology established from Brontë's historical allusions to West Indian slave rebellions, I propose to write a pioneering book about the novel and aspects of its reception, situating them and Brontë's juvenilia in relation to axes of reform politics in Britain in the 1820s and 1830s. I draw on innovative primary research on ....Imperialism, reform and the making of Englishness in Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë is usually thought to be imprecise about the time period of Jane Eyre. Working from a close chronology established from Brontë's historical allusions to West Indian slave rebellions, I propose to write a pioneering book about the novel and aspects of its reception, situating them and Brontë's juvenilia in relation to axes of reform politics in Britain in the 1820s and 1830s. I draw on innovative primary research on the articulation of gender, empire and Englishness in relation to these axes and address the implications of Brontë's invocation in 1847 of an earlier reform complex.Read moreRead less