Insect societies and social butterflies: natural history and sociability in the Romantic period. During the eighteenth century, the Pacific islands and New Holland replaced America as the testing ground for ideas about the state of natural man and the origins of society. In looking at Enlightenment ideas about the natural, the human, and the social, this project will help us to learn more about ourselves as the dominant species.
A difficult marriage: gender, politics and the romance in literary accounts of German unification. This project focuses on the interrelationships between gender, politics and the romance in literary accounts of German unification. Through an exploration of how the political ?marriage? between East and West Germany, with its conventionalised gender roles, is mapped onto literary marriages, the project examines the challenges and opportunities that unification has afforded men and women. It will y ....A difficult marriage: gender, politics and the romance in literary accounts of German unification. This project focuses on the interrelationships between gender, politics and the romance in literary accounts of German unification. Through an exploration of how the political ?marriage? between East and West Germany, with its conventionalised gender roles, is mapped onto literary marriages, the project examines the challenges and opportunities that unification has afforded men and women. It will yield insights into the ways in which unification has rewritten the scripts for femininity and masculinity and forced a transformation of intimacy. Its findings will enhance knowledge of gender relations in post-communist Europe and the relationships between gender, the nation and modernity.Read moreRead less
Complexions of Empire: racial ideology, West Indian slavery and British romanticism. The aim is to undertake a major interdisciplinary study of British culture and colonialism in the 18th century, with a particular focus on identity formation, the development of racial ideology, and the rhetoric of abolitionism. By focussing on the representation of the West Indies and West Indian social identity and customs, in the context of social conditions in England, the project will advance our current un ....Complexions of Empire: racial ideology, West Indian slavery and British romanticism. The aim is to undertake a major interdisciplinary study of British culture and colonialism in the 18th century, with a particular focus on identity formation, the development of racial ideology, and the rhetoric of abolitionism. By focussing on the representation of the West Indies and West Indian social identity and customs, in the context of social conditions in England, the project will advance our current understanding of the dynamic of metropolitan/colonial relations.Read moreRead less
War, Literary Culture and Masculinity in Romantic Period Britain, 1750-1850. The Romantic period represents a formative moment in the history of Australia and my reconsideration of Romantic culture and war has relevance for understanding this history. Australia's own experience of war first originated with the frontier wars of 1788-1838. My research into British Romantic military and naval war writing will provide key insights into the military culture that dominated this formative moment of Aus ....War, Literary Culture and Masculinity in Romantic Period Britain, 1750-1850. The Romantic period represents a formative moment in the history of Australia and my reconsideration of Romantic culture and war has relevance for understanding this history. Australia's own experience of war first originated with the frontier wars of 1788-1838. My research into British Romantic military and naval war writing will provide key insights into the military culture that dominated this formative moment of Australian military history. War has, more broadly, been pivotal in the formation of Australian nationhood and identity. My project will contribute to our understanding of the role of war in Australian culture by providing fresh insight into the historical role of war writing in constructing modern forms of identity.Read moreRead less
Frigidity in France: the history of a sexual pathology and of its place in feminist critique. The history of sexuality is an area of research which puts into historical perspective the disorders and abnormalcies which make up so much modern talk about sexuality. It helps to show that many of the supposed sexual problems which are central to modern thinking took shape only recently, and did so in particular circumstances. This is in fact a very active field of international humanities research, a ....Frigidity in France: the history of a sexual pathology and of its place in feminist critique. The history of sexuality is an area of research which puts into historical perspective the disorders and abnormalcies which make up so much modern talk about sexuality. It helps to show that many of the supposed sexual problems which are central to modern thinking took shape only recently, and did so in particular circumstances. This is in fact a very active field of international humanities research, and this project will make an Australian-based scholarly contribution to it. A detailed, circumstantial history of frigidity will make it possible to question the 'science' which founds twentieth-century norms for female sexual behaviour. It will also enable the project to make a critical contribution to modern feminist thinking.Read moreRead less
Portrait of a Lady: Victorian Women's Novels and the Construction of Female Subjectivity. This country enjoys an excellent reputation in the areas of feminism and Victorian Studies. This project will help keep Australia at the forefront of international scholarship in these fields by making a significant original contribution and by achieving the high level of visibility provided by a monograph with a major international publisher. More generally, 19th century England was a crucible for modern c ....Portrait of a Lady: Victorian Women's Novels and the Construction of Female Subjectivity. This country enjoys an excellent reputation in the areas of feminism and Victorian Studies. This project will help keep Australia at the forefront of international scholarship in these fields by making a significant original contribution and by achieving the high level of visibility provided by a monograph with a major international publisher. More generally, 19th century England was a crucible for modern conceptions of the self, and by examining the contribution of women writers to theories of identity and self-construction, the project will help us to learn more about ourselves. Read moreRead less
Lost Generation: Women Writers and Postwar Modernity. This project will restore a 'lost generation' of Australian women writers to, and reconfigure the meanings of, literary culture in the post-World War 2 years. 1945-65 is a key period of Australian cultural development that is under-researched but over-laden with stereotypes, which still frame and restrict our understanding of it. A fuller and more complex picture of Australian modernity and modernism will be gained by placing women centrally ....Lost Generation: Women Writers and Postwar Modernity. This project will restore a 'lost generation' of Australian women writers to, and reconfigure the meanings of, literary culture in the post-World War 2 years. 1945-65 is a key period of Australian cultural development that is under-researched but over-laden with stereotypes, which still frame and restrict our understanding of it. A fuller and more complex picture of Australian modernity and modernism will be gained by placing women centrally in the picture, and by placing the Australian case within the international field. Such an enhanced understanding of the past is essential for us to have a more productive and harmonious future, and to play a significant role internationally.Read moreRead less
Styles of Meaning-making in Poetry by Victorian Scientists. While much has been written about the attitudes of canonical poets to science in Victorian Britain, the complementary perspectives of scientists who wrote poetry have been entirely overlooked. What is most striking about their poetry (and indeed that of neglected feminist poets of the 1880s and 1890s which the study will also examine) is the agreeable relations that it, unlike canonical Victorian poetry and most scholarship in the area, ....Styles of Meaning-making in Poetry by Victorian Scientists. While much has been written about the attitudes of canonical poets to science in Victorian Britain, the complementary perspectives of scientists who wrote poetry have been entirely overlooked. What is most striking about their poetry (and indeed that of neglected feminist poets of the 1880s and 1890s which the study will also examine) is the agreeable relations that it, unlike canonical Victorian poetry and most scholarship in the area, sees to exist between poetry and science. The substantial revisionary monograph I propose will focus upon the discursive modes that scientists brought to their poetry and the ontologies which underpin them.Read moreRead less
Anglophone Caribbean (auto)biography, plantation slavery, and the traffic of colonial reform and modernisation 1807-1834. The project, the preliminary work for which has already received major international recognition, will significantly enhance the international profile of Australian scholarship in postcolonial studies, nineteenth-century studies, and the history of feminism. It will consolidate Australia's considerable reputation for fine scholarship on the cultural history of slavery and its ....Anglophone Caribbean (auto)biography, plantation slavery, and the traffic of colonial reform and modernisation 1807-1834. The project, the preliminary work for which has already received major international recognition, will significantly enhance the international profile of Australian scholarship in postcolonial studies, nineteenth-century studies, and the history of feminism. It will consolidate Australia's considerable reputation for fine scholarship on the cultural history of slavery and its abolition, and at a time of reinvigorated debate in the field. Within the discipline of English the project will challenge scholars to think more creatively and enterprisingly about the nature and scope of extant archival sources and the necessity of close historical research in interpreting them. Read moreRead less
A History of the Theatre in Late Georgian Britain: Spaces, Sociability and Cultural Networks. The Romantic period in Britain was formative in the history of Australia and the reconfiguring of Romantic period culture which this project entails will be of relevance to the understanding of our history. The ideologies and practices of Enlightenment sociability underpinned the early years of the colony, as much as they influenced metropolitan culture. In 2005, when many of the achievements of Enlig ....A History of the Theatre in Late Georgian Britain: Spaces, Sociability and Cultural Networks. The Romantic period in Britain was formative in the history of Australia and the reconfiguring of Romantic period culture which this project entails will be of relevance to the understanding of our history. The ideologies and practices of Enlightenment sociability underpinned the early years of the colony, as much as they influenced metropolitan culture. In 2005, when many of the achievements of Enlightenment modernity have been questioned or are perceived to be under threat, it is also worth re-examining the egalitarianism underlying the ideals if sometimes not the practice of Georgian sociability. This research will also enhance Australia's overseas reputation in the field of eighteenth-century and Romantic studies.Read moreRead less