The Image of Thought: Literature as a way of thinking. The idea that the arts offer important ways of thinking has, to an extent, recently fallen from view. A failure to recognise the value of the arts as distinct modes of thought, which challenge us to think and feel, impoverishes the community. Scholarly activity can build foundations upon which renewed recognition of this value becomes possible. So too, academics have a duty to communicate with the general community. To this end, this project ....The Image of Thought: Literature as a way of thinking. The idea that the arts offer important ways of thinking has, to an extent, recently fallen from view. A failure to recognise the value of the arts as distinct modes of thought, which challenge us to think and feel, impoverishes the community. Scholarly activity can build foundations upon which renewed recognition of this value becomes possible. So too, academics have a duty to communicate with the general community. To this end, this project will include the endeavour to produce newspaper reviews propagating ideas developed through scholarship, and the promotion of the role of literature through the organization of public forums.Read moreRead less
The scientific ape: the evolution of the animal fable after Darwin. This project will contribute to national and international debates over the understanding of human nature, the human propensity for violence towards other beings and the possibility of mutually supportive relations with our natural environment. By demonstrating literature's capacity to intervene meaningfully into conceptual debates about the literary representation of animals, it will enhance Australia's international scholarly ....The scientific ape: the evolution of the animal fable after Darwin. This project will contribute to national and international debates over the understanding of human nature, the human propensity for violence towards other beings and the possibility of mutually supportive relations with our natural environment. By demonstrating literature's capacity to intervene meaningfully into conceptual debates about the literary representation of animals, it will enhance Australia's international scholarly profile in the emerging field of animal studies. It will also contribute to the international renown of Australian scholarship in traditional literary studies by producing the first theoretically informed reassessment of the literary genre of the fable.Read moreRead less
J. M. Coetzee and Making Sense in LIterature. Focusing on the work of Nobel Prize winning South African-Australian novelist J. M. Coetzee, this project examines how Coetzee’s fiction develops techniques that generate or produce meaning about the world and involves levels of ‘translatability’ that allow it to maintain relevance across cultures. A detailed analysis that focuses on how Coetzee makes us question the nature of meaning itself has not yet been undertaken, even though this is of central ....J. M. Coetzee and Making Sense in LIterature. Focusing on the work of Nobel Prize winning South African-Australian novelist J. M. Coetzee, this project examines how Coetzee’s fiction develops techniques that generate or produce meaning about the world and involves levels of ‘translatability’ that allow it to maintain relevance across cultures. A detailed analysis that focuses on how Coetzee makes us question the nature of meaning itself has not yet been undertaken, even though this is of central importance to his work.Read moreRead less
Romanticism and the Poetics of First World War Literature. This project asks how the poetics of nineteenth-century Romanticism informed the literature of the First World War. We build on recent research into the history of war and Romanticism to challenge the common view that the literature of the First World War marked a radical break with the past. We examine how this literature adapted and re-invented traditions of war literature. We probe critical questions of periodisation and war represent ....Romanticism and the Poetics of First World War Literature. This project asks how the poetics of nineteenth-century Romanticism informed the literature of the First World War. We build on recent research into the history of war and Romanticism to challenge the common view that the literature of the First World War marked a radical break with the past. We examine how this literature adapted and re-invented traditions of war literature. We probe critical questions of periodisation and war representation. The project will help inform understanding of the cultural memory of war in Australia. How we understand our war traditions are of critical importance as the nation undertakes its largest peace-time expansion of the Australian Defence Force (2022-) and redevelops the Australia War Memorial (2019-).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
Regimes of reading. The project analyses the ways in which reading and interpretation have been socially organised across a range of cultures, from ancient Rome to the contemporary world of virtual reality. It focuses in particular on conflict between different practices of reading in order to highlight the cultural assumptions underlying the uses of texts.
Comic medievalism and the modern world. This project will study comic depictions of the Middle Ages, examining how they reflect views about the past and the present. It will produce new knowledge about how this historical humour intersects with, and contributes to, ongoing debates about progress, social changed and cultural tolerance, which are vital to Australian public life.
Technology, identity and human relations: the posthuman subject in children's literature, television and film, 1950-2010. This project will produce a pioneering study of technology as represented in children's literature, television and film from 1950-2010, exploring how these narratives seek to legitimise particular ideologies about the relationship between technology, identity and social relationships.
Plato Comicus and Greek comedy: a study of his dramatic career. The experience of Greek comedy offers numerous points of contact with our own society. This project analyses an author and genre that flourished within a robustly democratic society, touching on perennial matters of social and political importance and raising pertinent questions about censorship, free speech, even good taste. Such a study can enlarge reflection on our own values, contributing cultural perspectives necessary for cons ....Plato Comicus and Greek comedy: a study of his dramatic career. The experience of Greek comedy offers numerous points of contact with our own society. This project analyses an author and genre that flourished within a robustly democratic society, touching on perennial matters of social and political importance and raising pertinent questions about censorship, free speech, even good taste. Such a study can enlarge reflection on our own values, contributing cultural perspectives necessary for constructive public debate and a healthy democracy. The project will also make a significant contribution to current trends in international classical scholarship. Its ambitious scope will contribute to research excellence within Australian Classics and further promote its reputation overseas.Read moreRead less
Old Norse-Icelandic Poetry, Poetics and Myth. I will investigate three central issues in Old Norse-Icelandic literature, leading an international team in reediting skaldic verse,writing a book on Norse poetry and poetics and concluding my study of myth in medieval Icelandic fantasy literature.The edition will provide a benchmark for specialists and, together with my analytical overview, make this important collection of medieval poetry accessible to non-specialists. The study of myth will show h ....Old Norse-Icelandic Poetry, Poetics and Myth. I will investigate three central issues in Old Norse-Icelandic literature, leading an international team in reediting skaldic verse,writing a book on Norse poetry and poetics and concluding my study of myth in medieval Icelandic fantasy literature.The edition will provide a benchmark for specialists and, together with my analytical overview, make this important collection of medieval poetry accessible to non-specialists. The study of myth will show how a neglected genre belongs within the literature of fantasy. Expected outcomes: a new edition of Norse skaldic poetry; two books, on Norse poetry and poetics, and myth in Icelandic fantasy literature.Read moreRead less