Literary Self-Awareness and Parental Love: Challenging Alterity in Contemporary Medieval Studies. Did medieval women write about themselves as gendered individuals? Did medieval parents love their children? Despite both popular and academic opinion to the contrary, this project aims to demonstrate that these propositions are true. By studying the self-aware writings of Latin-literate medieval women and medieval parent-child advice-texts, this project aims to challenge the alterity, or otherness, ....Literary Self-Awareness and Parental Love: Challenging Alterity in Contemporary Medieval Studies. Did medieval women write about themselves as gendered individuals? Did medieval parents love their children? Despite both popular and academic opinion to the contrary, this project aims to demonstrate that these propositions are true. By studying the self-aware writings of Latin-literate medieval women and medieval parent-child advice-texts, this project aims to challenge the alterity, or otherness, of the Middle Ages, a concept which suggests that medieval people are fundamentally unlike us. In doing so, it questions the significance of alterity in the construction and practices of contemporary Medieval Studies and offers insights into possible new methodologies for the discipline.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
The Language of Old Norse Poetry, an important intellectual achievement of the Western Middle Ages. Old Norse poetry, produced from the Viking Age until the end of the Middle Ages, is one of the most important achievements in European literature. Thematically, it ranges from praise of Viking kings to Christian devotion; in metre and style it is extremely elaborate. It has applied value to a range of disciplines, including history, archaeology, linguistics and religious studies. This project will ....The Language of Old Norse Poetry, an important intellectual achievement of the Western Middle Ages. Old Norse poetry, produced from the Viking Age until the end of the Middle Ages, is one of the most important achievements in European literature. Thematically, it ranges from praise of Viking kings to Christian devotion; in metre and style it is extremely elaborate. It has applied value to a range of disciplines, including history, archaeology, linguistics and religious studies. This project will make Norse poetic language more accessible to scholars and the general public by providing new resources in the English language for its understanding, superseding previous studies because of the use of fully revised primary data.Read moreRead less
Kadare post Communism: Albania, the Balkans and Europe in the Work of Ismail Kadare, 1990-2008. Albanians make up a small but important segment of multicultural Australia. Through the work of Albania's greatest writer and intellectual, Ismail Kadare, we can come to a better understanding of Albanians, their history and culture, and hence of Australia as a multicultural entity. Moreover traditionally Islamic Albania, with its Ottoman history and culture, is seeking inclusion into the European Uni ....Kadare post Communism: Albania, the Balkans and Europe in the Work of Ismail Kadare, 1990-2008. Albanians make up a small but important segment of multicultural Australia. Through the work of Albania's greatest writer and intellectual, Ismail Kadare, we can come to a better understanding of Albanians, their history and culture, and hence of Australia as a multicultural entity. Moreover traditionally Islamic Albania, with its Ottoman history and culture, is seeking inclusion into the European Union, Australia's major partner in trade, tourism, education and culture. Kadare's post-communist works on the subjects of Europe, Islam, Muslims and the West, and Balkan politics and history provide a valuable lesson on the interrelationships of politics, culture and patriotism in a global context for contemporary Australia.Read moreRead less
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
Bowers of Bliss: Literary and Cultural Representations of Luxury in Early Modern England, 1580-1630. Luxury consumption is now commonplace in western societies including our own. It is also the subject of intense moral and ethical debate and part of an international discussion about human well-being. Our desire to consume has a long and complex history which is elucidated by early modern representations of luxury and by their recourse to enduring myths, symbols and rituals, still associated with ....Bowers of Bliss: Literary and Cultural Representations of Luxury in Early Modern England, 1580-1630. Luxury consumption is now commonplace in western societies including our own. It is also the subject of intense moral and ethical debate and part of an international discussion about human well-being. Our desire to consume has a long and complex history which is elucidated by early modern representations of luxury and by their recourse to enduring myths, symbols and rituals, still associated with luxury today. As a credit-based society addicted to luxury consumption, Australia is part of an ongoing global discussion about consumption, morality and society: this project will expand our contribution to that debate, while also furthering our own understanding of a concept whcih continues to evoke both fear and fascination.Read moreRead less
Poetry of the Nordic past: a new analysis and interpretation. In the Middle Ages, Icelandic poets composed verses they imagined were spoken by heroes of the past and these poems were inserted into prose sagas about prehistoric times. This project will make a literary study of this poetry, which will be published as a book about the medieval Icelandic legendary past.
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
Writing from the edge of the world: medieval Icelandic literature and the quest for social identity. This project has special significance for Australians. Iceland and Australia are both geographically isolated communities, both originally colonies of larger political powers (Norway and Britain), both asserting a social identity different from that of the motherland. Many themes of medieval Icelandic literature have parallels in Australian culture; slogans like 'the cultural cringe', 'the lucky ....Writing from the edge of the world: medieval Icelandic literature and the quest for social identity. This project has special significance for Australians. Iceland and Australia are both geographically isolated communities, both originally colonies of larger political powers (Norway and Britain), both asserting a social identity different from that of the motherland. Many themes of medieval Icelandic literature have parallels in Australian culture; slogans like 'the cultural cringe', 'the lucky country', 'home and away' can be readily paralleled in Old Icelandic literature. Our study will be of considerable social benefit to Australia and will show how another ex-colony, remote in time and place, constructed its own social identity.Read moreRead less
George Eliot: the life of a pseudonym. Australia grew to nationhood during the long reign - from 1837 to 1901 - of Queen Victoria. Along with British law and customs, British culture migrated to the Australian colonies. The novelist George Eliot is a significant representative of the liberal humanist ideas and attitudes that reinforced the emergence of Australia's egalitarian, secular society. Analysis of the career of this Victorian cultural icon extends understanding and interpretation of an a ....George Eliot: the life of a pseudonym. Australia grew to nationhood during the long reign - from 1837 to 1901 - of Queen Victoria. Along with British law and customs, British culture migrated to the Australian colonies. The novelist George Eliot is a significant representative of the liberal humanist ideas and attitudes that reinforced the emergence of Australia's egalitarian, secular society. Analysis of the career of this Victorian cultural icon extends understanding and interpretation of an aspect of our national heritage. In addition, this project contributes to increasing Australia's already high international standing in the field of Victorian studies.Read moreRead less