Autobiography of a People: Aboriginal Writing in Queensland, 1890s-1930s. As the recent "history wars" confirm, Australians today care deeply about the colonial past, because its legacies are "all around us and within" (as Oodgeroo noted). This project advances knowledge and conceptual understanding in the key areas of colonial race relations, Indigenous self-representation, and Indigenous literacy. Aboriginal autobiography is an especially effective tool for stimulating the empathetic imaginati ....Autobiography of a People: Aboriginal Writing in Queensland, 1890s-1930s. As the recent "history wars" confirm, Australians today care deeply about the colonial past, because its legacies are "all around us and within" (as Oodgeroo noted). This project advances knowledge and conceptual understanding in the key areas of colonial race relations, Indigenous self-representation, and Indigenous literacy. Aboriginal autobiography is an especially effective tool for stimulating the empathetic imagination, and bridging social, temporal and geographical distances between people. This research will strengthen the nation's social fabric by promoting inter-racial understanding, and by adding historical depth to present thinking about contemporary Aboriginal attitudes to literacy.Read moreRead less
Indigenous Life Narratives and Racial Reconciliation in Australia and South Africa. The project studies the relationship between indigenous storytelling (life narratives, storytelling, testimony)and political campaigns for human rights and racial reconciliation in South Africa and Australia. It analyses the contexts of production, dissemination and consumption of these stories and their effects on indigenous and non-indigenous tellers and listeners within and beyond the respective nations, inclu ....Indigenous Life Narratives and Racial Reconciliation in Australia and South Africa. The project studies the relationship between indigenous storytelling (life narratives, storytelling, testimony)and political campaigns for human rights and racial reconciliation in South Africa and Australia. It analyses the contexts of production, dissemination and consumption of these stories and their effects on indigenous and non-indigenous tellers and listeners within and beyond the respective nations, including the emergence of new national literatures, indigenous identities, discourses on ethics, responsibility and racial reconciliation within and beyond the nations. The study offers a significant theoretical and methodological advance within the emerging field of critical global studies and the changing formations of nationhood.Read moreRead less
Jack Lindsay: critic, writer, socialist. The national benefits of this project are two-fold. Firstly, it aims to describe the process by which people are able to move beyond conventional ways of thinking and working and to be both creative and innovative, where innovation refers to the ways in which this new creative thought is put into practice as a new product or technology. The other benefit of the project is that it describes the landmark work of an Australian artist and intellectual who is ....Jack Lindsay: critic, writer, socialist. The national benefits of this project are two-fold. Firstly, it aims to describe the process by which people are able to move beyond conventional ways of thinking and working and to be both creative and innovative, where innovation refers to the ways in which this new creative thought is put into practice as a new product or technology. The other benefit of the project is that it describes the landmark work of an Australian artist and intellectual who is not as well-known as he should be, Jack Lindsay, oldest son of Norman Lindsay. It will provide access to Jack Lindsay's ideas and writing, both analytical and creative, to show how these can contribute to our current need for new and creative ways of working and thinking.Read moreRead less
Inhumanities: Asylum seeker letters and the precarious 'human' rights of contemporary life narrative. Letters exchanged between asylum seekers and activists between 2001-05 are a powerful repository of cross cultural exchange and political activism in Australia this century, and they offer unique insights into debates about citizenship and national identity in the very recent past. When read as a distinctive genre of life narrative, these letters and the epistolary communities which they engende ....Inhumanities: Asylum seeker letters and the precarious 'human' rights of contemporary life narrative. Letters exchanged between asylum seekers and activists between 2001-05 are a powerful repository of cross cultural exchange and political activism in Australia this century, and they offer unique insights into debates about citizenship and national identity in the very recent past. When read as a distinctive genre of life narrative, these letters and the epistolary communities which they engender are important new resources in current scholarship on human rights and testimony. This project will make a vital and distinctive Australian contribution to debates about representations of the human and the inhuman in contemporary literature.Read moreRead less
Anglos Abroad: Memoirs of Immersion in a Foreign Language and Culture. A study of Anglophone narratives of language immersion offers a significant intellectual resource for thinking about ways in which Australian non-immigrant selves are shaped by culture and language: an issue with important implications for just practises within a wide range of national institutions and agencies, including education, immigration and social work. It thus contributes to the priority goal of strengthening Austral ....Anglos Abroad: Memoirs of Immersion in a Foreign Language and Culture. A study of Anglophone narratives of language immersion offers a significant intellectual resource for thinking about ways in which Australian non-immigrant selves are shaped by culture and language: an issue with important implications for just practises within a wide range of national institutions and agencies, including education, immigration and social work. It thus contributes to the priority goal of strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric (Research Priority 2). It also contributes to enhancing our capacity to interpret and engage with our region and the world through a greater understanding of other languages and cultures (Research Priority 4).Read moreRead less
A study of travel writing in Australian colonial history. Travel writing is a key mechanism by which readers learn about other peoples and cultures, a genre that is crucial to the formation of identities, ideologies, and ideas. Australian travel writing provided foundational texts for those emigrating to the colony. This project positions Australian texts within an international comparative sphere. It will advance the understanding of colonial culture in Australia, and of the perceptions and val ....A study of travel writing in Australian colonial history. Travel writing is a key mechanism by which readers learn about other peoples and cultures, a genre that is crucial to the formation of identities, ideologies, and ideas. Australian travel writing provided foundational texts for those emigrating to the colony. This project positions Australian texts within an international comparative sphere. It will advance the understanding of colonial culture in Australia, and of the perceptions and values of those who settled colonial Australia. It will make available to Australian and international students and researchers a rich archive of texts that have not been previously mapped. Australians are keenly interested in travel and its literature, and this project brings colonial travel texts to public attention.Read moreRead less
Working Together: Indigenous and Non-indigenous Collaboration in Australian Film and Literature. As the first, comprehensive study of Indigenous and non-indigenous collaboration in film and literature this project will make an important contribution to Australian cultural history. It will provide filmmakers, educators and publishers with expanded theoretical findings about the nature of collaboration. In the most general sense, this critical analysis of one of the ways in which Indigenous and ....Working Together: Indigenous and Non-indigenous Collaboration in Australian Film and Literature. As the first, comprehensive study of Indigenous and non-indigenous collaboration in film and literature this project will make an important contribution to Australian cultural history. It will provide filmmakers, educators and publishers with expanded theoretical findings about the nature of collaboration. In the most general sense, this critical analysis of one of the ways in which Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians have and continue to 'work together' will contribute to the national project of Reconciliation.Read moreRead less
The new medical body in contemporary Chinese imaginaries. Advances in organ transplant, blood transfusion, and related practices not only affect understandings of the human body in medical and scientific communities, but in society at large. This project will analyse contemporary Chinese literature, cinema, art, and popular media to better understand the impact of medical innovations on Chinese culture.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101359
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Imagining diversity: race and ethnicity in popular fantasy. How do fantasy worlds represent and reconstruct real world approaches to racial and cultural difference? This project examines the ways reader and writers of popular culture think and talk about race and ethnicity, offering insight into contemporary discourses of diversity and an essential window into Australia's multicultural society.
Past Tense: 'acts of memory' in contemporary Australian memoir. This project examines the turn to autobiographic expression - particularly fragmentary forms of memoir - by the intelligentsia in Australia in the fin de siecle of the twentieth century. Why and how did these styles of writing proliferate? How did they shape ideas and express uncertainties about national identity and citizenship during a phase of national commemoration, self-consciousness, jubilation and unease? In a monograph, 'Pa ....Past Tense: 'acts of memory' in contemporary Australian memoir. This project examines the turn to autobiographic expression - particularly fragmentary forms of memoir - by the intelligentsia in Australia in the fin de siecle of the twentieth century. Why and how did these styles of writing proliferate? How did they shape ideas and express uncertainties about national identity and citizenship during a phase of national commemoration, self-consciousness, jubilation and unease? In a monograph, 'Past Tense', and a series of articles and conference presentations these questions will be considered using a comparative, cross cultural approach which will make a contribution to understanding identity debates in contemporary Australian society.
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