The Oulipo Group and literary invention. This project aims to explain the emergence of the Oulipo group, a new force in world literature based in France. The project will contribute to the broader search for points of fruitful contact between abstract reasoning and artistic practice. It will provide a new theoretical account of the Oulipo's writing practice, an explanation of how that practice relates to similar currents in contemporary writing around the world, and improved access to the group’ ....The Oulipo Group and literary invention. This project aims to explain the emergence of the Oulipo group, a new force in world literature based in France. The project will contribute to the broader search for points of fruitful contact between abstract reasoning and artistic practice. It will provide a new theoretical account of the Oulipo's writing practice, an explanation of how that practice relates to similar currents in contemporary writing around the world, and improved access to the group’s recent work via translation. Among the anticipated benefits are a deeper understanding of literary form and its historical development, and a mapping of the areas in which the Oulipo's innovative approach to writing is yet to be tried.Read moreRead less
Future fables: literature, evolution and artificial intelligence. The future of AI is a site of considerable philosophical and cultural anxiety in the West. Given the future of AI is currently only available to publics through literary or fictional tropes, it is vital that we investigate the historical evolution of these literary or fictional tropes of AI to understand its future direction. This project aims to understand (1) how the post-Darwinian literary imagination has shaped our current anx ....Future fables: literature, evolution and artificial intelligence. The future of AI is a site of considerable philosophical and cultural anxiety in the West. Given the future of AI is currently only available to publics through literary or fictional tropes, it is vital that we investigate the historical evolution of these literary or fictional tropes of AI to understand its future direction. This project aims to understand (1) how the post-Darwinian literary imagination has shaped our current anxieties about AI and (2) how literary and scientific writers after Darwin rethink the future of the human species by imagining the co-evolution of humans, animals and machines. Expected outcomes of the project include conceptual resources to understand the human-nonhuman relation and the future of AI.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101206
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$329,246.00
Summary
Provincial Poets and the Making of a Nation. This project aims to rediscover, document and analyse prominent regional voices swept aside by the powerful forces constructing national identity in nineteenth-century France in order to argue for a more positive view of provincialism and challenge the division between central and peripheral cultures. Expected outcomes of this project include a more inclusive and representative literary canon, a new awareness of the crucial role of regional poets in t ....Provincial Poets and the Making of a Nation. This project aims to rediscover, document and analyse prominent regional voices swept aside by the powerful forces constructing national identity in nineteenth-century France in order to argue for a more positive view of provincialism and challenge the division between central and peripheral cultures. Expected outcomes of this project include a more inclusive and representative literary canon, a new awareness of the crucial role of regional poets in the formation of the modern nation state, a new and advanced 'transregional' theoretical framework to revalue the potential of locality and place, as well as a wealth of novel evidence in support of public debates aimed at bridging the urban-rural divide in Australia, France and beyond. Read moreRead less
Literature and the Face: A Critical History. The project aims to chart and analyse the representation of the human face in literary texts from the medieval to the contemporary era. It expects to generate comprehensive new knowledge about changing literary and textual discourses about the face by combining rhetorical analysis, the insights of cognitive literary theory, and digital methodologies. Significant outcomes include a deeper understanding of the cultural history of facial expression, iden ....Literature and the Face: A Critical History. The project aims to chart and analyse the representation of the human face in literary texts from the medieval to the contemporary era. It expects to generate comprehensive new knowledge about changing literary and textual discourses about the face by combining rhetorical analysis, the insights of cognitive literary theory, and digital methodologies. Significant outcomes include a deeper understanding of the cultural history of facial expression, identity and emotion, with particular attention to gender and ethnicity. The project’s engagement activities will illuminate the relationship between literary history and contemporary social understandings of the face and allow us to better understand current transformations in facial recognition.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101675
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$419,950.00
Summary
War-Widow, Mother, Slave, Refugee: Andromache in Romantic Europe. This project aims to uncover how Andromache, a prominent classical figure in the Trojan wars, was represented and deployed to shape the literature, politics and culture of Romantic-era Europe. Its expected outcome is a significant reassessment of an understudied figure, focusing on her portrayals as a grieving widow, slave and refugee in times of national crisis and change, especially the Napoleonic wars. Its innovative method com ....War-Widow, Mother, Slave, Refugee: Andromache in Romantic Europe. This project aims to uncover how Andromache, a prominent classical figure in the Trojan wars, was represented and deployed to shape the literature, politics and culture of Romantic-era Europe. Its expected outcome is a significant reassessment of an understudied figure, focusing on her portrayals as a grieving widow, slave and refugee in times of national crisis and change, especially the Napoleonic wars. Its innovative method combines literary studies, musicology, cultural and material history, and emotions history. The project intends to strengthen Australia’s leading role in Romantic studies, enrich cultural life, and foster community reflection on the significant challenges of migration, refugees, gender and violence, war and emotions.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101089
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$441,173.00
Summary
Seeing the Black Child. This project aims to provide a deep understanding of the manner in which Black (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, African and Afro-diasporic) people understand their children’s situation. While dominant conceptions of childhood are typically assumed to be universal, they generally take the figure of the white child, emerging out of a predominantly European body of knowledge, as paradigmatic. This project seeks to expand, reconfigure and present a more complex underst ....Seeing the Black Child. This project aims to provide a deep understanding of the manner in which Black (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, African and Afro-diasporic) people understand their children’s situation. While dominant conceptions of childhood are typically assumed to be universal, they generally take the figure of the white child, emerging out of a predominantly European body of knowledge, as paradigmatic. This project seeks to expand, reconfigure and present a more complex understanding of childhood, one which more adequately reflects Australia today. It is thereby expected to contribute to the work of ensuring that as befits a just, plural society, those whose roles relate to children have an inclusive rather than a parochial grasp of childhood.Read moreRead less