Journals in Theory: Practices of Academic Judgment. This project aims to examine the way key journals transformed the discipline of literary studies from 1946 to now. It expects to generate new knowledge of how editorial practices of academic judgement institutionalised and legitimated new modes of reading, thinking and writing. Based on archival research on journals including Critical Inquiry, Tel Quel and The Australian Journal of Cultural Studies, the project's outcomes will show how, in brin ....Journals in Theory: Practices of Academic Judgment. This project aims to examine the way key journals transformed the discipline of literary studies from 1946 to now. It expects to generate new knowledge of how editorial practices of academic judgement institutionalised and legitimated new modes of reading, thinking and writing. Based on archival research on journals including Critical Inquiry, Tel Quel and The Australian Journal of Cultural Studies, the project's outcomes will show how, in bringing together new intellectual passions, governance structures and imagined readerships, journals bestowed on criticism its current working definition. Expected benefits include a better account of the relationship between conceptual innovation and institutional mechanisms for research integrity.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
Architectures of imagination: buildings, fictions, and worlds. This project aims to offer an account of the roles played by fiction and imagination in the production of space during the long 18th century (1700-1835), through studies of key buildings (Strawberry Hill, Fonthill Abbey, Abbotsford); the fictions with which they were associated (Otranto, Vathek, Waverley); and the relation between these buildings, texts, and their readers/inhabitants. Drawing on these primary studies, the project wil ....Architectures of imagination: buildings, fictions, and worlds. This project aims to offer an account of the roles played by fiction and imagination in the production of space during the long 18th century (1700-1835), through studies of key buildings (Strawberry Hill, Fonthill Abbey, Abbotsford); the fictions with which they were associated (Otranto, Vathek, Waverley); and the relation between these buildings, texts, and their readers/inhabitants. Drawing on these primary studies, the project will aim to develop a new account of the 18th-century imagination, the emergence of modern architectures of imagination, and the transition from neoclassicism to romanticism, while bringing these developments into dialogue with current debates about space, creativity, and the rapidly expanding field of biopolitics.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
Transnational selves: French narratives of migration to Australia. This project aims to examine texts authored by French-speaking migrants to Australia in order to explore how migrating subjects write their identity, how migrants represent the self between nations and between languages, and how Australia is viewed through the prism of another language. Expected outcomes to this project include enhanced knowledge of Australian literature, of practices of migrant writing, and of the construction ....Transnational selves: French narratives of migration to Australia. This project aims to examine texts authored by French-speaking migrants to Australia in order to explore how migrating subjects write their identity, how migrants represent the self between nations and between languages, and how Australia is viewed through the prism of another language. Expected outcomes to this project include enhanced knowledge of Australian literature, of practices of migrant writing, and of the construction of Australian identity. This will provide significant benefits, such as a wider understanding of the diversity of Australian literature, an increased awareness of literature in Languages Other Than English in Australia, and a more nuanced appreciation of Australian identity.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240101246
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$379,214.00
Summary
Beyond Big Brother: New Narratives for Understanding Surveillance. This project aims to investigate how recent forms of narrative fiction reflect and shape understandings of digital surveillance. It expects to generate new knowledge about the personal and social implications of digital surveillance across different cultural, technological and geographical contexts. Expected outcomes include a significant interdisciplinary methodology that integrates surveillance studies, digital humanities, and ....Beyond Big Brother: New Narratives for Understanding Surveillance. This project aims to investigate how recent forms of narrative fiction reflect and shape understandings of digital surveillance. It expects to generate new knowledge about the personal and social implications of digital surveillance across different cultural, technological and geographical contexts. Expected outcomes include a significant interdisciplinary methodology that integrates surveillance studies, digital humanities, and literary studies to improve our understanding of surveillance. The project also aims to generate teaching and public engagement resources for research, industry, and government. This will substantially improve our understanding of the impact of digital surveillance at the individual, community, and national levels.Read moreRead less
Early modern women and the poetry of complaint, 1540-1660. This project aims to discover how early modern women used the widespread, powerful and diverse mode of complaint to voice expressions of protest and loss during the English Renaissance. The project will highlight women’s roles as writers, patrons and textual producers and consumers of the mode of complaint. The project expects to uncover how the imagined voices of the disempowered shaped the literary and political cultures of early moder ....Early modern women and the poetry of complaint, 1540-1660. This project aims to discover how early modern women used the widespread, powerful and diverse mode of complaint to voice expressions of protest and loss during the English Renaissance. The project will highlight women’s roles as writers, patrons and textual producers and consumers of the mode of complaint. The project expects to uncover how the imagined voices of the disempowered shaped the literary and political cultures of early modern England. Reconceptualising a mode in Renaissance literature will benefit Australia's standing at the forefront of research in early modern studies.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
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