American Literary Celebrity and Contemporary Identity. In post-war America, the writers James Baldwin, Truman Capote, Gore Vidal and Tennessee Williams were all assumed to be homosexual in the days before this became relatively "safe," yet they all attained celebrity status. This project aims to examine the effect that the presence of these literary celebrities had on the formation of contemporary gay identity. In doing so, the project aims to demonstrate the inadequacy of the analytic categorie ....American Literary Celebrity and Contemporary Identity. In post-war America, the writers James Baldwin, Truman Capote, Gore Vidal and Tennessee Williams were all assumed to be homosexual in the days before this became relatively "safe," yet they all attained celebrity status. This project aims to examine the effect that the presence of these literary celebrities had on the formation of contemporary gay identity. In doing so, the project aims to demonstrate the inadequacy of the analytic categories of the open secret and the closet, conventionally used in sexuality studies to explain gay identity in the post-war years before gay liberation. The project endeavours to contribute to our understanding of two vital and interrelated aspects of contemporary society: celebrity culture and gay identity.Read moreRead less
Modernism and the Early Middle Ages. This project aims to understand how Modernist writers engaged with early mediaeval thought and texts.Literary Modernism draws heavily on medieval literature and thought, particularly Anglo-Saxon poetry, the Provençal poetry of the Troubadours, and Dante’s Divina Commedia – but little attention has been paid to their influence on Modernist writers. This project will use the transmission of late classical thought and such textual practices as linear commentarie ....Modernism and the Early Middle Ages. This project aims to understand how Modernist writers engaged with early mediaeval thought and texts.Literary Modernism draws heavily on medieval literature and thought, particularly Anglo-Saxon poetry, the Provençal poetry of the Troubadours, and Dante’s Divina Commedia – but little attention has been paid to their influence on Modernist writers. This project will use the transmission of late classical thought and such textual practices as linear commentaries and glossatory techniques to study Modernism and the High Middle Ages. The project expects to provide a foundation for and counterpart to the newly vibrant field of Modernism and the High Middle Ages.Read moreRead less
Early Modern Women and the Institutions of Authorship: Publication, Collaboration, Translation. This project will provide the first in-depth account of early modern womens' contributions to the history of the book by considering their roles in publication, collaboration and translation. It aims to transform early modern book history by considering agents and forms of literary labour that have previously been deemed marginal to the discipline as a whole. In doing so, it will challenge and refine ....Early Modern Women and the Institutions of Authorship: Publication, Collaboration, Translation. This project will provide the first in-depth account of early modern womens' contributions to the history of the book by considering their roles in publication, collaboration and translation. It aims to transform early modern book history by considering agents and forms of literary labour that have previously been deemed marginal to the discipline as a whole. In doing so, it will challenge and refine categories of authorship that have been defined in almost exclusively masculine terms, providing a more complete and historically nuanced account of authorial institutions crucial to the future of early modern literary studies.Read moreRead less
Antipodean America: Australasia, colonialism, and the constitution of US literature. This project will revise the cultural histories of Australia and the United States by showing the broad extent of Australasian influence on the construction of American literature and national identity since the 1780s.
Editing complex modernist texts: a methodological study. This project aims to identify the problems of editing and representing a number of complex modernist literary texts. The spirit of experimentation evident in modernist texts and their manuscripts calls for a more finely honed set of editorial techniques, including digital representation, by which to best display their literary and formal qualities.
Reimagining the cultural archetype of the fall in modernist poetry. This project intervenes in recent popular and scholarly debates about the clash between religious traditions and secular societies by analysing the way twentieth-century poets adapted the myth of the Fall. Through this critique, the project will revitalise theories of modern poetics and shed new light on today's fractured religious climate.
Rioting and the literary archive. This project aims to examine writers' enduring engagement with the riot's destructive energy and its transformative potential. Riots have become a familiar feature of an increasingly volatile global politics, but contemporary responses to these events have a long history across a range of media and modes of writing. Literary writers have historically struggled in the aftermath of riots to make sense of and communicate the collective trauma felt by families and c ....Rioting and the literary archive. This project aims to examine writers' enduring engagement with the riot's destructive energy and its transformative potential. Riots have become a familiar feature of an increasingly volatile global politics, but contemporary responses to these events have a long history across a range of media and modes of writing. Literary writers have historically struggled in the aftermath of riots to make sense of and communicate the collective trauma felt by families and communities who suffer resulting injury, death, homelessness or unemployment. Drawing together writing from Britain, United States of America, Australia and the Middle-East, this project will provide an understanding of the resurgence of the riot in a contemporary global context.Read moreRead less
From colonial to modern: transnational girlhood in Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian print cultures (1840-1940). This project will produce new histories of girlhood through the examination of Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian print culture. It will shed new light on how colonial girlhood reflected transitional ideals and how Australia related to fellow colonies through its print culture and developed unique national ideals for girls in the modern period.
Chronometrics: Cross-Temporal Approaches to Literature and Culture. The aim of this project is to produce a comparative cultural history of time, with particular emphasis on how temporality has been represented in literary works from the Middle Ages to the present day. Tracking the genealogy of temporality is expected to raise important questions about relationships between literature and history, and about ways in which cultural artifacts of various kinds interact with the environment that prod ....Chronometrics: Cross-Temporal Approaches to Literature and Culture. The aim of this project is to produce a comparative cultural history of time, with particular emphasis on how temporality has been represented in literary works from the Middle Ages to the present day. Tracking the genealogy of temporality is expected to raise important questions about relationships between literature and history, and about ways in which cultural artifacts of various kinds interact with the environment that produces them. The project also aims to explore how Australian conceptions of temporality serve to highlight aspects of the sequence of time that have been implicit, though largely suppressed, in other cultures. The major output planned is a significant monograph on this topic.Read moreRead less
English: the History of a Discipline 1920-70. This project aims fundamentally to change and enrich our understanding of a dynamic intellectual movement—academic literary criticism between 1920 and 1970. During this period, English (as it was often called) shaped the humanities at both the secondary and tertiary level. It also changed how and why we read literature. This project will produce what the scholarship still lacks: a detailed, analytic account of the history of English in the period, i ....English: the History of a Discipline 1920-70. This project aims fundamentally to change and enrich our understanding of a dynamic intellectual movement—academic literary criticism between 1920 and 1970. During this period, English (as it was often called) shaped the humanities at both the secondary and tertiary level. It also changed how and why we read literature. This project will produce what the scholarship still lacks: a detailed, analytic account of the history of English in the period, including in Australia, sensitive to the discipline’s impact and to the forces which caused it to take new paths in the 1970s. Benefits include expanding academic and public awareness of this rich disciplinary history and informing strategic directions for English in Australia and abroad.Read moreRead less