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
Bilingualism and Multilingualism in a National Movement: Ukrainian Writers in the Nineteenth Century. This analysis of the role of languages with different social and political roles in the formation of a modern Ukrainian literature will advance the study of Eastern Europe in Australia, foster international research links and open avenues for collaboration between humanities and social science scholars in Australia and countries of the former Soviet Union. It will contribute to research training ....Bilingualism and Multilingualism in a National Movement: Ukrainian Writers in the Nineteenth Century. This analysis of the role of languages with different social and political roles in the formation of a modern Ukrainian literature will advance the study of Eastern Europe in Australia, foster international research links and open avenues for collaboration between humanities and social science scholars in Australia and countries of the former Soviet Union. It will contribute to research training and enhance the standing of Australian scholarship in Slavic and East European Studies. By contributing to knowledge about the gestation of nations - political and cultural units into which most people today believe themselves to belong - the project will advance the national priority goal of understanding our region and the world.Read moreRead less
Germany in China: Colonial Interactions, Qingdao 1897-1914. The project will assist in increasing Australia's knowledge base about both colonialism in general and social change in China; to add to Australia's international reputation as a major center of research on China; and to provide additional information on local development in Qingdao, a major growth area in East China, that assists those engaged in government and business relations.
Byzantine Chronicle of Kedrenos, Translation and Commentary. Mid-East and Balkan tensions have roots in the 11th-12th centuries when Orthodox Byzantium, already under northern pressure (Slavs), became the battleground where the West (Normans, Franks, Catholic Christianity) fought the Arabs and Islam for the glittering prize: Jerusalem.
Kedrenos's massive Chronicle, from the heart of this period, is indirectly a major ideological statement. The key of intertextuality can unlock its insights in ....Byzantine Chronicle of Kedrenos, Translation and Commentary. Mid-East and Balkan tensions have roots in the 11th-12th centuries when Orthodox Byzantium, already under northern pressure (Slavs), became the battleground where the West (Normans, Franks, Catholic Christianity) fought the Arabs and Islam for the glittering prize: Jerusalem.
Kedrenos's massive Chronicle, from the heart of this period, is indirectly a major ideological statement. The key of intertextuality can unlock its insights into the genesis of current attitudes and conflicts.
The project joins a "dream team" of Australian Byzantinists (world leaders in this approach) with specialist international collaborators to produce a reliable, accessible text and reveal its relevance.
Read moreRead less
Expecting the Unexpected: Learning Complex Temporal and Rhythmic Relations. Music is one of the most accessible routes to experience, and to learn about, cultures other than our own. A new implicit method for learning complex rhythm and underlying metre promotes inter-group understanding and communication. We hypothesize that implicit learning (IL) of unfamiliar complex metres through music generalizes to spoken language built on similar metres; IL facilitates segmentation of previously unfamili ....Expecting the Unexpected: Learning Complex Temporal and Rhythmic Relations. Music is one of the most accessible routes to experience, and to learn about, cultures other than our own. A new implicit method for learning complex rhythm and underlying metre promotes inter-group understanding and communication. We hypothesize that implicit learning (IL) of unfamiliar complex metres through music generalizes to spoken language built on similar metres; IL facilitates segmentation of previously unfamiliar spoken language and enhances recognition of English spoken with the stress pattern of a 'foreign' metre. Future intervention programs based on implicit learning of temporal relations will benefit people with reading difficulties or timing problems characteristic of cerebellar and basal ganglia patients.Read moreRead less
"The Whole Map of the Balkans": Ethnicity, National Identity and Empire in the Work of Ismail Kadare. The Albanian intellectual, Ismail Kadare, foreshadowed the re-valorization of ethnic identity as a socio-political category under late 20th century communism. While Kadare's novels and essays deal primarily with his native Albania, they also represent the emergence more broadly of ethnicity as a factor in the literature of Eastern and South-Eastern European socialism. The project will explore in ...."The Whole Map of the Balkans": Ethnicity, National Identity and Empire in the Work of Ismail Kadare. The Albanian intellectual, Ismail Kadare, foreshadowed the re-valorization of ethnic identity as a socio-political category under late 20th century communism. While Kadare's novels and essays deal primarily with his native Albania, they also represent the emergence more broadly of ethnicity as a factor in the literature of Eastern and South-Eastern European socialism. The project will explore in depth the relationship between ethnicity, ideology and socialist literary culture that underpins Kadare's work, providing the first detailed analytical and critical study in English, and locating Kadare in the context of the major lines of contemporary European thought regarding ethnicity and ethnic identity.Read moreRead less
Europe and Identity: A transcultural history of European communities in the Islamic world 1685-1800. This project originates from the pressing need to reconceptualize histories in the context of multicultural societies. To address the mutual hostility of the historical narratives reinforced by recent global political events, we must open European history, and particularly the crucial period of the Enlightenment, to an inclusive cultural dialogue about the past. This project is built on a strong ....Europe and Identity: A transcultural history of European communities in the Islamic world 1685-1800. This project originates from the pressing need to reconceptualize histories in the context of multicultural societies. To address the mutual hostility of the historical narratives reinforced by recent global political events, we must open European history, and particularly the crucial period of the Enlightenment, to an inclusive cultural dialogue about the past. This project is built on a strong track record of dialogue with a region from which Australia is too often disconnected, despite the significant Arab and Turkish communities within the Australian polity. Recent conflicts have reinforced the urgency of opening this cross-cultural dialogue within our own multicultural cities.Read moreRead less
The Baudin Legacy:A New History of the French Scientific Voyage to Australia (1800-1804). More interested in the British stories of conquest and settlement, historians have largely neglected an important episode in Australian history, the French scientific expedition to New Holland (1800-1804), led by Nicolas Baudin and commissioned by Bonaparte. As well as making Australians aware of the diversity of their past, and thereby contributing in our multi-cultural society to debates concerning natio ....The Baudin Legacy:A New History of the French Scientific Voyage to Australia (1800-1804). More interested in the British stories of conquest and settlement, historians have largely neglected an important episode in Australian history, the French scientific expedition to New Holland (1800-1804), led by Nicolas Baudin and commissioned by Bonaparte. As well as making Australians aware of the diversity of their past, and thereby contributing in our multi-cultural society to debates concerning national identity, the project will add significantly to knowledge of early encounters between the Europeans and Aborigines, and to the scientific history of our continent. The Franco-Australian nature of the project will have the particular benefit of strengthening and creating social and collaborative links between Australia and France.Read moreRead less