Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101359
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Imagining diversity: race and ethnicity in popular fantasy. How do fantasy worlds represent and reconstruct real world approaches to racial and cultural difference? This project examines the ways reader and writers of popular culture think and talk about race and ethnicity, offering insight into contemporary discourses of diversity and an essential window into Australia's multicultural society.
Globalising Australian literature: Asian-Australian writing, Asian perspectives on Australian literature. Through the arts, and in particular through its literature, a nation defines its identity and aspirations. Literature is also a force for cultural diplomacy, leading to enhanced understanding and cooperation between nations and cultures. This study of literary interactions between Australia and Asia produces detailed knowledge of how cross-cultural influences shape the production, circulatio ....Globalising Australian literature: Asian-Australian writing, Asian perspectives on Australian literature. Through the arts, and in particular through its literature, a nation defines its identity and aspirations. Literature is also a force for cultural diplomacy, leading to enhanced understanding and cooperation between nations and cultures. This study of literary interactions between Australia and Asia produces detailed knowledge of how cross-cultural influences shape the production, circulation and reception of literary texts, and develops strategies for using this knowledge for national benefit: greater understanding of the forces shaping the nation's self-image and perceptions of Australia in the Asian region, models for cultural diplomacy enhancing Australia's reputation as a sophisticated and culturally diverse nation.Read moreRead less
Basil of Caesarea and the nexus of Greek, Latin and Semitic cultures in late Antiquity. In a period of heightening religious and cultural tension in Australia, this project seeks to explore a moment when Western and Semitic cultures worked together very well, only to yield in the following two centuries to increasing alienation that prepared the ground for Islam. In terms of international scholarship the project tackles an outstanding lacuna in late 4th century history: the Syrian chapter in the ....Basil of Caesarea and the nexus of Greek, Latin and Semitic cultures in late Antiquity. In a period of heightening religious and cultural tension in Australia, this project seeks to explore a moment when Western and Semitic cultures worked together very well, only to yield in the following two centuries to increasing alienation that prepared the ground for Islam. In terms of international scholarship the project tackles an outstanding lacuna in late 4th century history: the Syrian chapter in the dissemination of Basil of Caesarea's teaching on Christian monasticism. The collaboration with overseas scholars, and the high standard and solidity of projected outcome will confirm Australia's high reputation in ancient, Middle Eastern and Religious studies.Read moreRead less
Gifts of Friendship: intimacy and exchange in cross-cultural contact. This project will investigate an apparently contradictory phenomenon: the existence of explicit policies of friendship-making within Euro-American imperial exploration and colonial settlement. Focusing on the Pacific islands in the period 1767-1830, it will look at the interaction of European and Polynesian traditions and practices of friendship, particularly in relation to practices of exchange. The project will examine a hug ....Gifts of Friendship: intimacy and exchange in cross-cultural contact. This project will investigate an apparently contradictory phenomenon: the existence of explicit policies of friendship-making within Euro-American imperial exploration and colonial settlement. Focusing on the Pacific islands in the period 1767-1830, it will look at the interaction of European and Polynesian traditions and practices of friendship, particularly in relation to practices of exchange. The project will examine a huge body of archival evidence, which initial findings suggest will prove to be much more self-conscious and anxious about the ethical and ideological implications of cross-cultural friendship-formation than current understandings of the operations of colonial discourse would allow.Read moreRead less