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
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.
Province, Nation, Empire: France, 1871-1940. This project will deepen understanding of structures of political, strategic and economic power by providing insight into the dynamics of regionalist, nationalist and internationalist ideologies through study of the world's second largest overseas empire. It examines the role of non-state initiatives and pressures, while also investigating the colonial origins of contemporary globalisation. It will shed light, in particular, on the post-colonial heri ....Province, Nation, Empire: France, 1871-1940. This project will deepen understanding of structures of political, strategic and economic power by providing insight into the dynamics of regionalist, nationalist and internationalist ideologies through study of the world's second largest overseas empire. It examines the role of non-state initiatives and pressures, while also investigating the colonial origins of contemporary globalisation. It will shed light, in particular, on the post-colonial heritage of actions in countries of the Asia-Pacific region that were French colonies or that remain French overseas outposts.Read moreRead less
'Ordinary Writings': lower-class writing practices in the transition to mass literacy in Europe, 1800-1918. This project contributes to public debate on literacy and literacy standards. Its historical perspective offers an antidote to conventional wisdom. It will show that there is no clear separation between literacy and illiteracy, that levels of literary competence vary according to specific occasions and specific tasks, and that schooling is not necessary for literacy acquisition. It will he ....'Ordinary Writings': lower-class writing practices in the transition to mass literacy in Europe, 1800-1918. This project contributes to public debate on literacy and literacy standards. Its historical perspective offers an antidote to conventional wisdom. It will show that there is no clear separation between literacy and illiteracy, that levels of literary competence vary according to specific occasions and specific tasks, and that schooling is not necessary for literacy acquisition. It will help put Australian research in the international forefront of cultural history. It will show that written heritage deserves full recognition in all its aspects, not just as the expression of educated elites. This aspect of our written patrimony needs re-evaluation, and we need to improve preservation of it and accessibility to it.Read moreRead less
Women, War and the Stalinist State, 1941-45. This project will produce a sociocultural analysis of the experiences of Soviet women soldiers in the Second World War. It will address three pivotal questions:
Why did women assume wartime roles that challenged official representations of Soviet women?
What did the phenomenon of female fighters say about relations between women, men and the Soviet state in the 1930s-40s?
What light does this phenomenon shed on the paradox of massive mobilisation ....Women, War and the Stalinist State, 1941-45. This project will produce a sociocultural analysis of the experiences of Soviet women soldiers in the Second World War. It will address three pivotal questions:
Why did women assume wartime roles that challenged official representations of Soviet women?
What did the phenomenon of female fighters say about relations between women, men and the Soviet state in the 1930s-40s?
What light does this phenomenon shed on the paradox of massive mobilisation in defence of a repressive state?
Expected outcomes include a significant conceptual advance in the historiography of women under Stalinism, to be published in a scholarly monograph and refereed journals.
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Soviet state and society in the Great Patriotic War, 1941-45. This project will produce a sociocultural analysis of what motivated the mass of the Soviet citizenry to defend the Stalinist state against Hitler's onslaught in the Great Patriotic War. Its significance lies in explaining a pivotal but neglected moment in the development of the Soviet Union: massive mobilisation in defence of a repressive state. Expected outcomes include a significant conceptual advance in the understanding of Soviet ....Soviet state and society in the Great Patriotic War, 1941-45. This project will produce a sociocultural analysis of what motivated the mass of the Soviet citizenry to defend the Stalinist state against Hitler's onslaught in the Great Patriotic War. Its significance lies in explaining a pivotal but neglected moment in the development of the Soviet Union: massive mobilisation in defence of a repressive state. Expected outcomes include a significant conceptual advance in the understanding of Soviet cultural and social history to be published as a scholarly monograph as well as other contributions to international, refereed journals.Read moreRead less
The Racial Century. My aim is to produce an intellectual history of bio-politics in what I call the 'racial century' between 1850 and 1950 by studying the cases of Germany and Australia. Not only will the project contribute to the literature in social theory on race and 'modernity', but also to the recent controversial historiography of genocide and the Holocaust. It will offer a new way of linking eugenic thought and policy development (bio-politics) with nation building, imperial competition, ....The Racial Century. My aim is to produce an intellectual history of bio-politics in what I call the 'racial century' between 1850 and 1950 by studying the cases of Germany and Australia. Not only will the project contribute to the literature in social theory on race and 'modernity', but also to the recent controversial historiography of genocide and the Holocaust. It will offer a new way of linking eugenic thought and policy development (bio-politics) with nation building, imperial competition, and international and intra-national racial struggle, thereby transcending unproductive debates about the precendence or uniqueness of particular genocides.Read moreRead less
Assimilation and Empire. There are growing calls internationally for the integration of immigrant communities as a long-term means of combating terrorism. Through an understanding of the history of assimilation, this project provokes considerable scepticism concerning the current resurgence of assimilationist sentiment. The politics of culturally diverse societies are profound but they are not going to be solved by simplistic diagnosis. The politics of assimilation is not the solution to cont ....Assimilation and Empire. There are growing calls internationally for the integration of immigrant communities as a long-term means of combating terrorism. Through an understanding of the history of assimilation, this project provokes considerable scepticism concerning the current resurgence of assimilationist sentiment. The politics of culturally diverse societies are profound but they are not going to be solved by simplistic diagnosis. The politics of assimilation is not the solution to contemporary terrorism but part of the problem. Thus at the heart of this project lie concerns which directly address the National Research Priority, Safeguarding Australia.Read moreRead less