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
Romantic Literary Celebrity and the Emergence of Modern Literary Culture, 1798-1910. This project will produce the first full-length study of Romantic literary celebrity (1798-1910). It will argue that a new form of literary fame emerged in the Romantic era, which required developed cultural and media markets. Romantic literary fame helped shape modern institutions of literary production and reception around tensions between popular cultures of celebrity and publicity and high-cultural concepts ....Romantic Literary Celebrity and the Emergence of Modern Literary Culture, 1798-1910. This project will produce the first full-length study of Romantic literary celebrity (1798-1910). It will argue that a new form of literary fame emerged in the Romantic era, which required developed cultural and media markets. Romantic literary fame helped shape modern institutions of literary production and reception around tensions between popular cultures of celebrity and publicity and high-cultural concepts of the literary artist. Using cultural history and cultural theory, the project examines transformations in the history of literary celebrity from its emergence to the modernist period by analysing intersections between literary culture and wider structures of sociability and sexuality.Read moreRead less
A Generic Study of Colette's Short Writing. The study uses "genre" as a key to a literary-historical account of Colette's short writing in its cultural context. The corpus is generically ambiguous, since it first appeared as "articles" in magazines and was later collected in volumes, thus acquiring a more "literary" status as "essays". Taking into account both the conditions of publication and the rhetoric of these pieces, I shall investigate the network of cultural relations in which they parti ....A Generic Study of Colette's Short Writing. The study uses "genre" as a key to a literary-historical account of Colette's short writing in its cultural context. The corpus is generically ambiguous, since it first appeared as "articles" in magazines and was later collected in volumes, thus acquiring a more "literary" status as "essays". Taking into account both the conditions of publication and the rhetoric of these pieces, I shall investigate the network of cultural relations in which they participate, and their command of their readership. This will show how Colette made a place for "women's knowledge" in public culture and what that place was.Read moreRead less
Consumer Culture: the influence of economics on modern theories and practices of sexual psychology. The project has implications for a wide range of public debates in Australia today, including debates about the ethics and psychology of the pornography industry and the pervasive use of the ‘sex sells’ principle in marketing and entertainment. It will produce new knowledge and understanding of how psychological theory has been used to rationalise the commercialisation of sex in consumer culture a ....Consumer Culture: the influence of economics on modern theories and practices of sexual psychology. The project has implications for a wide range of public debates in Australia today, including debates about the ethics and psychology of the pornography industry and the pervasive use of the ‘sex sells’ principle in marketing and entertainment. It will produce new knowledge and understanding of how psychological theory has been used to rationalise the commercialisation of sex in consumer culture and how modern rhetoric of sexual liberation have been shaped by the very economic concerns they purport to repudiate. Finally, the project will advance the knowledge-base of key disciplines in the new humanities and enhance Australia's reputation for groundbreaking research in cultural history and analysis.Read moreRead less
The Political Thought of European Women: 1400-1800. Women's political theory has so far received scant attention in the
history of political thought. Our research aims to address this problem by providing an introduction to the major political texts written by women during the period of 1400-1800. It will result in the first book-length analysis of the political theories of early modern European women and their influence on European political practice. It will highlight the work of many unjustl ....The Political Thought of European Women: 1400-1800. Women's political theory has so far received scant attention in the
history of political thought. Our research aims to address this problem by providing an introduction to the major political texts written by women during the period of 1400-1800. It will result in the first book-length analysis of the political theories of early modern European women and their influence on European political practice. It will highlight the work of many unjustly neglected female thinkers and contribute to the understanding of European traditions of political justice and the origins of our political institutions.Read moreRead less