Australian literary publishing and its economies, 1965-1995. Australian literature is an essential aspect of Australian culture but its viability is currently under threat, both in the marketplace, and in tertiary and secondary education, where its coherence and relevance as a discipline has diminished over the past decade. Because it explores the different inputs that make for a vital literary culture, some of them intangible or discrete in their operation, the project will contribute to a bett ....Australian literary publishing and its economies, 1965-1995. Australian literature is an essential aspect of Australian culture but its viability is currently under threat, both in the marketplace, and in tertiary and secondary education, where its coherence and relevance as a discipline has diminished over the past decade. Because it explores the different inputs that make for a vital literary culture, some of them intangible or discrete in their operation, the project will contribute to a better understanding of how this culture works, and to a renewed confidence in its ability to sustain itself by commercial and non-commercial means.Read moreRead less
Local canons: institutional authority and the category of the literary in Australian secondary-school English syllabuses, 1901-2001. Does literature still have a role to play in contemporary Australian culture and society? Is there any national benefit from the study of Shakespeare? Patrick White? Is literary study irrelevant, and out of touch with contemporary culture? These are contentious and important questions. This research, in seeking a deeper and more detailed understanding of the variab ....Local canons: institutional authority and the category of the literary in Australian secondary-school English syllabuses, 1901-2001. Does literature still have a role to play in contemporary Australian culture and society? Is there any national benefit from the study of Shakespeare? Patrick White? Is literary study irrelevant, and out of touch with contemporary culture? These are contentious and important questions. This research, in seeking a deeper and more detailed understanding of the variability of the category of literature in Australian school education over the past century, promises to make an important contribution to long-standing and still vital national and international debates over the canon: debates that tell us a great deal about our region and the world.Read moreRead less
Mass-market fiction and the shaping of cultural identities in eleven Australian communities, 1880-1950. This project analyzes the circulation of commercial mass-market novels and stories in eleven non-metropolitan towns and cities between 1888 and 1950, in order to determine the role of mass culture in the shaping of cultural identities in Australia during a crucial period of its history. Developing innovative research methods based in book history and bibliography, literary studies, and cultura ....Mass-market fiction and the shaping of cultural identities in eleven Australian communities, 1880-1950. This project analyzes the circulation of commercial mass-market novels and stories in eleven non-metropolitan towns and cities between 1888 and 1950, in order to determine the role of mass culture in the shaping of cultural identities in Australia during a crucial period of its history. Developing innovative research methods based in book history and bibliography, literary studies, and cultural history, the project will reevaluate received explanations of Australia's cultural past, challenge assumptions about mass culture and its impact on local cultures, and advance research methods in book history and literary studies.Read moreRead less
America Publishes Australia: Australian Books and American Publishers, 1890-2005. Research into the commercial and cultural links between American publishers and Australian writers will reveal a new dimension of the nation's relationship to its most important cultural trading partner. By focusing on a neglected area of Australian publishing history, the project will also contribute significantly to our understanding of the changing circumstances within which Australian writers and publishers hav ....America Publishes Australia: Australian Books and American Publishers, 1890-2005. Research into the commercial and cultural links between American publishers and Australian writers will reveal a new dimension of the nation's relationship to its most important cultural trading partner. By focusing on a neglected area of Australian publishing history, the project will also contribute significantly to our understanding of the changing circumstances within which Australian writers and publishers have worked. Publishing remains under-researched compared to other cultural industries in Australia, despite its significance both culturally and economically.Read moreRead less
The transition from print to electronic textuality in the scholarly editing of Australian literature: practice and theory. Scholarly editions of Henry Lawson's While the Billy Boils and colonial poet Charles Harpur's Complete Poems will afford access to authenticated texts of classic works of Australian literature. The editions complete the Academy Editions of Australian Literature series, a long-term project of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. The analysis of versions will allow a newl ....The transition from print to electronic textuality in the scholarly editing of Australian literature: practice and theory. Scholarly editions of Henry Lawson's While the Billy Boils and colonial poet Charles Harpur's Complete Poems will afford access to authenticated texts of classic works of Australian literature. The editions complete the Academy Editions of Australian Literature series, a long-term project of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. The analysis of versions will allow a newly informed study of the works. The Academy Editions series makes a staged transition to electronic delivery with these editions. The new methodology will lay the groundwork for future projects, and the text-authentication method may have further application. The State Library of New South Wales website will make fruits of the scholarship available to a wider public.Read moreRead less
Brought to book: Textual-editorial studies and the methodology of book history with a scholarly edition of Charles Harpur's complete poetry. Australia will possess reliable access for the first time to accurate versions of all of the verse of our most important colonial poet, Charles Harpur. Study of his manuscripts and publishing history will reveal the poet's place in society as a cross-section of Imperial-colonial relations. A Harpur website with collaborative interpretation will serve as a m ....Brought to book: Textual-editorial studies and the methodology of book history with a scholarly edition of Charles Harpur's complete poetry. Australia will possess reliable access for the first time to accurate versions of all of the verse of our most important colonial poet, Charles Harpur. Study of his manuscripts and publishing history will reveal the poet's place in society as a cross-section of Imperial-colonial relations. A Harpur website with collaborative interpretation will serve as a model for future projects. There will be benefits for students and the wider public through free electronic access to facsimiles and transcriptions of Harpur's manuscripts. Print-on-demand technology will ultimately allow coursebooks for student syllabuses to draw on the material.Read moreRead less
New critical editions of Henry Handel Richardson's Australian novels:The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (1917-29), The Young Cosima (1939), and Niels Lyhne (1896). The aim is to produce, for the first time, complete and accurate texts of the writings of Henry Handel Richardson, the best known early twentieth-century Australian novelist. The outcome will be critical editions of the highest international quality, and the current proposal concentrates on what has been called the "great Australian Nove ....New critical editions of Henry Handel Richardson's Australian novels:The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (1917-29), The Young Cosima (1939), and Niels Lyhne (1896). The aim is to produce, for the first time, complete and accurate texts of the writings of Henry Handel Richardson, the best known early twentieth-century Australian novelist. The outcome will be critical editions of the highest international quality, and the current proposal concentrates on what has been called the "great Australian Novel", The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (3 volumes, 1917 to 1929), and two additional books, in order to complete the new edition of her entire works (six novels, 1400 letters, two volumes of music), of which eight volumes have already been published, in what has been called "the mother of all works of Australian literary scholarship" (The Age, 7 July 2000).Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354701
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
The Print Cultures Network: Print Culture and National Culture in a Globalised Economy. This Network will bring together researchers from a range of disciplinary/professional backgrounds and specialists in the deployment of frontier technologies in information management. Building on expertise in literary history, publishing, editing and bibliographical studies the Network will establish collaborations between researchers in the emerging interdisciplinary fields of book history, print culture, p ....The Print Cultures Network: Print Culture and National Culture in a Globalised Economy. This Network will bring together researchers from a range of disciplinary/professional backgrounds and specialists in the deployment of frontier technologies in information management. Building on expertise in literary history, publishing, editing and bibliographical studies the Network will establish collaborations between researchers in the emerging interdisciplinary fields of book history, print culture, publishing studies and new generation information management. Its connective thematic will be the dynamics between print culture/the print economy, national cultures and global structures of production and consumption. Its unique feature will be its generative interaction with the multi-institutional collaboration already existing in the AustLit Gateway - (www.austlit.edu.au). Read moreRead less