The Double Revolution : Decline and Renewal in French Narrative Art from Celine to Godard. This study will offer new insight into contemporary France - and increased knowledge of the ongoing development of a major world culture is a significant benefit in itself. France's long-standing status as a great centre of civilisation makes it a vital focal point for understanding the implications of global change. Australia's cultural connections to Europe remain crucial to the continuing construction o ....The Double Revolution : Decline and Renewal in French Narrative Art from Celine to Godard. This study will offer new insight into contemporary France - and increased knowledge of the ongoing development of a major world culture is a significant benefit in itself. France's long-standing status as a great centre of civilisation makes it a vital focal point for understanding the implications of global change. Australia's cultural connections to Europe remain crucial to the continuing construction of our own identity, and in this context too, the French example is highly salient. The study will also constitute a valuable Australian contribution to world research, enhancing the nation's already solid international reputation in French studies.
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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
Making and Unmaking Woman:Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris [Famous Women] in its medieval and Renaissance contexts. Giovanni Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris, [Famous Women] composed in the 1360s is the first attempt at female biography in the history of post-classical Western literature. It over-writes medieval misogyny with a humanistic vision of women. Contemporary criticism has generally treated the text contemptuously. Famous Women, it will be argued, is an example of the ideological comple ....Making and Unmaking Woman:Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris [Famous Women] in its medieval and Renaissance contexts. Giovanni Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris, [Famous Women] composed in the 1360s is the first attempt at female biography in the history of post-classical Western literature. It over-writes medieval misogyny with a humanistic vision of women. Contemporary criticism has generally treated the text contemptuously. Famous Women, it will be argued, is an example of the ideological complexities of humanism in its formative stages. It is the aim of this project to show that the text played a pivotal role in reassessing the conception of woman in early modern Europe. The project will produce the first major monograph on Famous Women.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
Imperialism, reform and the making of Englishness in Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë is usually thought to be imprecise about the time period of Jane Eyre. Working from a close chronology established from Brontë's historical allusions to West Indian slave rebellions, I propose to write a pioneering book about the novel and aspects of its reception, situating them and Brontë's juvenilia in relation to axes of reform politics in Britain in the 1820s and 1830s. I draw on innovative primary research on ....Imperialism, reform and the making of Englishness in Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë is usually thought to be imprecise about the time period of Jane Eyre. Working from a close chronology established from Brontë's historical allusions to West Indian slave rebellions, I propose to write a pioneering book about the novel and aspects of its reception, situating them and Brontë's juvenilia in relation to axes of reform politics in Britain in the 1820s and 1830s. I draw on innovative primary research on the articulation of gender, empire and Englishness in relation to these axes and address the implications of Brontë's invocation in 1847 of an earlier reform complex.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