The Laboratory of Modernity: Knowledge Formation and the Australian Settler Colonies (1788-1900). Colonial Australia was a laboratory in which European ideas could be tested, raw data collected, and social experiments trialled, especially in managing settler, convict, and Aboriginal populations. This literary historical project will analyse the production and circulation of colonial knowledge, by focusing on texts and print culture, and will map their influence on European thought and modern soc ....The Laboratory of Modernity: Knowledge Formation and the Australian Settler Colonies (1788-1900). Colonial Australia was a laboratory in which European ideas could be tested, raw data collected, and social experiments trialled, especially in managing settler, convict, and Aboriginal populations. This literary historical project will analyse the production and circulation of colonial knowledge, by focusing on texts and print culture, and will map their influence on European thought and modern social theory. Grounded in meticulous archival and textual analysis, this project will trace the ways in which knowledge created in the settler colonies was produced by individuals and circulated by correspondence, institutions, and publication through imperial networks. This project will produce new insights into Australia’s literary and cultural history.Read moreRead less
Antarctic Imaginations: A Study of Creative Responses to the Continent for Science. Antarctica has for two centuries been the subject of numerous novels, poems and plays, both by writers who have never seen the continent, and by expeditioners and explorers themselves. Apart from a small number of canonical nineteenth-century texts, these representations of the continent have been subject to very little analysis. This project examines creative written responses to Antarctica, drawing on both publ ....Antarctic Imaginations: A Study of Creative Responses to the Continent for Science. Antarctica has for two centuries been the subject of numerous novels, poems and plays, both by writers who have never seen the continent, and by expeditioners and explorers themselves. Apart from a small number of canonical nineteenth-century texts, these representations of the continent have been subject to very little analysis. This project examines creative written responses to Antarctica, drawing on both published works and archival material, and focussing particularly on the cultural significance of Antarctica's construction as a ?continent for science?. Research outcomes will include innovative interdisciplinary contributions to Antarctic studies and English studies.Read moreRead less
Creatures of the Ice: A Cultural Analysis of Human-Animal Relations in Antarctica. Perceptions of animals in the world's largest wilderness, Antarctica, have changed dramatically over history: once seen primarily as commercial resources, whales, seals and penguins are now environmental icons. As few people ever travel to Antarctica, their views of its animals are usually dependent on written and visual texts. Combining expertise in the humanities and sciences, this project examines the ways in w ....Creatures of the Ice: A Cultural Analysis of Human-Animal Relations in Antarctica. Perceptions of animals in the world's largest wilderness, Antarctica, have changed dramatically over history: once seen primarily as commercial resources, whales, seals and penguins are now environmental icons. As few people ever travel to Antarctica, their views of its animals are usually dependent on written and visual texts. Combining expertise in the humanities and sciences, this project examines the ways in which humans have narrated their encounters with animals in Antarctica over the last two centuries. Australia is custodian of forty-two percent of Antarctica; this project provides a cultural context through which to understand current attitudes towards its fragile ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Genre worlds: Australian popular fiction in the 21st century. This project intends to conduct a systematic examination of 21st-century Australian popular fiction, the most significant growth area in Australian trade publishing since the turn of the century. Its three areas of investigation are the publishing of Australian popular fiction; the interrelationships between Australian popular fiction and Australian genre communities; and the textual distinctiveness of Australian popular novels in rel ....Genre worlds: Australian popular fiction in the 21st century. This project intends to conduct a systematic examination of 21st-century Australian popular fiction, the most significant growth area in Australian trade publishing since the turn of the century. Its three areas of investigation are the publishing of Australian popular fiction; the interrelationships between Australian popular fiction and Australian genre communities; and the textual distinctiveness of Australian popular novels in relation to genre. Research is designed to centre on 30 novels across three genres, building a comprehensive picture of the practices and processes of Australian popular fiction through detailed examination of trade data, close reading of texts, and interviews with industry figures.Read moreRead less
New Electronic Archives for Australian Literature. Information capacity in Australian literary studies has been dramatically expanded by national investment in electronic archives, while trends in the discipline increasingly demand empirical support for claims about literary history and literary value. At the same time, research about Australian literature remains primarily theoretical, insufficiently informed by newly available data. This project aims to further enrich the new data sets, and to ....New Electronic Archives for Australian Literature. Information capacity in Australian literary studies has been dramatically expanded by national investment in electronic archives, while trends in the discipline increasingly demand empirical support for claims about literary history and literary value. At the same time, research about Australian literature remains primarily theoretical, insufficiently informed by newly available data. This project aims to further enrich the new data sets, and to use them in an innovative return to the classical issues in Australian literary criticism and history. It will provide demonstration applications of data in new electronic archives.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
Travelling Home: A Study of Walkabout, Australia's Geographic Magazine (1934-74). Walkabout was one of mid-twentieth century's most popular magazines with a focus on inland Australia, as well as the Pacific region. It graced suburban lounge rooms, doctors' and dentists' surgeries, railway waiting rooms, ministerial offices, and school libraries. Walkabout's mixture of entertainment and education ensured its influence across a spectrum of readers: across age, class, and educational boundaries. Th ....Travelling Home: A Study of Walkabout, Australia's Geographic Magazine (1934-74). Walkabout was one of mid-twentieth century's most popular magazines with a focus on inland Australia, as well as the Pacific region. It graced suburban lounge rooms, doctors' and dentists' surgeries, railway waiting rooms, ministerial offices, and school libraries. Walkabout's mixture of entertainment and education ensured its influence across a spectrum of readers: across age, class, and educational boundaries. This project explores the role of Walkabout in the development of a modern national identity. Walkabout deliberately cultivated one of Australia's key modern economic foundations-the travel industry-and did so whilst also influencing knowledge formation and circulation. Read moreRead less
Creative Antarctica: Australian Artists and Writers in the Far South. The project aims to make the rich history of Australian artists' and writers' engagement with Antarctica visible through an innovative combination of critical, curatorial, and qualitative research. It expects to generate new interdisciplinary knowledge of creative responses to the South Polar region. Anticipated outcomes include the first comprehensive history and analysis of the Antarctic stories, sounds, and images produced ....Creative Antarctica: Australian Artists and Writers in the Far South. The project aims to make the rich history of Australian artists' and writers' engagement with Antarctica visible through an innovative combination of critical, curatorial, and qualitative research. It expects to generate new interdisciplinary knowledge of creative responses to the South Polar region. Anticipated outcomes include the first comprehensive history and analysis of the Antarctic stories, sounds, and images produced by Australian artists and writers and recommendations for maximising Antarctic residency outcomes. At a time when Antarctica's future is threatened by warming temperatures and geopolitical tensions, the project provides significant benefits in the form of broader and deeper public engagement with the ice continent.Read moreRead less
Female Convicts as Women Travellers: an investigation into how the itineraries of convict experience affected life narratives. For convict women sent to Australia, ?transportation? meant international travel. By mapping the convicts as travellers, this project will afford a new perspective on women whose convict itineraries radically affected the direction of their lives. Alert to the specifics of time and place, the project investigates the carceral and non-carceral experiences of women whose s ....Female Convicts as Women Travellers: an investigation into how the itineraries of convict experience affected life narratives. For convict women sent to Australia, ?transportation? meant international travel. By mapping the convicts as travellers, this project will afford a new perspective on women whose convict itineraries radically affected the direction of their lives. Alert to the specifics of time and place, the project investigates the carceral and non-carceral experiences of women whose shared voyage as convicts was neither the beginning nor the end of their travels. The research involves a systematic cluster sampling of three ships which sailed to Van Diemen's Land while transportation was at its height: the Harmony (1829), Atwick (1838), and Elizabeth and Henry (1847). Read moreRead less
The 'paper war': Missionary Textuality and Early Nineteenth-Century Australian Colonial Culture. Early nineteenth-century Australian texts reverberate with the anxieties and controversies surrounding colonisation. The morality of colonisation and indigenous-settler relationships were hotly debated in a proliferation of books, pamphlets, letters, and editorials, and in this religious personnel, including missionaries, played a pivotal role. Yet no critical analysis of colonial missionary writing ....The 'paper war': Missionary Textuality and Early Nineteenth-Century Australian Colonial Culture. Early nineteenth-century Australian texts reverberate with the anxieties and controversies surrounding colonisation. The morality of colonisation and indigenous-settler relationships were hotly debated in a proliferation of books, pamphlets, letters, and editorials, and in this religious personnel, including missionaries, played a pivotal role. Yet no critical analysis of colonial missionary writing exists. This project conducts archival research into texts produced by a linked network of religious/missionary figures, focusing on the Lake Macquarie mission run by Lancelot Threlkeld, and analyses these through theories of colonial discourse and textuality. Research outcomes include original, innovative contributions to Australian literary/cultural studies and international colonial/postcolonial studies.Read moreRead less