Romanticism and the Poetics of First World War Literature. This project asks how the poetics of nineteenth-century Romanticism informed the literature of the First World War. We build on recent research into the history of war and Romanticism to challenge the common view that the literature of the First World War marked a radical break with the past. We examine how this literature adapted and re-invented traditions of war literature. We probe critical questions of periodisation and war represent ....Romanticism and the Poetics of First World War Literature. This project asks how the poetics of nineteenth-century Romanticism informed the literature of the First World War. We build on recent research into the history of war and Romanticism to challenge the common view that the literature of the First World War marked a radical break with the past. We examine how this literature adapted and re-invented traditions of war literature. We probe critical questions of periodisation and war representation. The project will help inform understanding of the cultural memory of war in Australia. How we understand our war traditions are of critical importance as the nation undertakes its largest peace-time expansion of the Australian Defence Force (2022-) and redevelops the Australia War Memorial (2019-).Read moreRead less
Future fables: literature, evolution and artificial intelligence. The future of AI is a site of considerable philosophical and cultural anxiety in the West. Given the future of AI is currently only available to publics through literary or fictional tropes, it is vital that we investigate the historical evolution of these literary or fictional tropes of AI to understand its future direction. This project aims to understand (1) how the post-Darwinian literary imagination has shaped our current anx ....Future fables: literature, evolution and artificial intelligence. The future of AI is a site of considerable philosophical and cultural anxiety in the West. Given the future of AI is currently only available to publics through literary or fictional tropes, it is vital that we investigate the historical evolution of these literary or fictional tropes of AI to understand its future direction. This project aims to understand (1) how the post-Darwinian literary imagination has shaped our current anxieties about AI and (2) how literary and scientific writers after Darwin rethink the future of the human species by imagining the co-evolution of humans, animals and machines. Expected outcomes of the project include conceptual resources to understand the human-nonhuman relation and the future of AI.Read moreRead less
The couple: commitment and durability in the era of marriage equality. This project aims to examine the notion of the couple in the era of marriage equality. It is generally thought that couple longevity is an incontestable good socially, psychologically, and economically. The advent of same-sex marriage in Australia provides the occasion to reconsider why it is that general cultural benefits are thought to devolve from coupled intimacy alone. Rather than dismiss the value of marriage, either st ....The couple: commitment and durability in the era of marriage equality. This project aims to examine the notion of the couple in the era of marriage equality. It is generally thought that couple longevity is an incontestable good socially, psychologically, and economically. The advent of same-sex marriage in Australia provides the occasion to reconsider why it is that general cultural benefits are thought to devolve from coupled intimacy alone. Rather than dismiss the value of marriage, either straight or gay, this project looks at an archive of contemporary representations in which the couple form presents as a public good, not a private good. This anthropological study tests the supposed connection between intimate companionship and collective thriving.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100115
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$328,092.00
Summary
Living to tell, telling to live: Experience, narrative, and the self. A robust sense of self is crucial for our mental wellbeing. This sense of self, philosophical research shows, is constituted by our experiences and the socio-culturally shaped stories we tell about us. However, the fundamental role of these self-narratives remains poorly understood: are they merely retrospective accounts of our experiences, or can they influence them? By analysing the biological underpinnings of the human mind ....Living to tell, telling to live: Experience, narrative, and the self. A robust sense of self is crucial for our mental wellbeing. This sense of self, philosophical research shows, is constituted by our experiences and the socio-culturally shaped stories we tell about us. However, the fundamental role of these self-narratives remains poorly understood: are they merely retrospective accounts of our experiences, or can they influence them? By analysing the biological underpinnings of the human mind and defining the core features of self-narratives, this project will lead to a novel theory about the sense of self. This theory will enhance our understanding of the power of self-narratives and has the potential to provide theoretical foundations for future applied research on the self and its disturbances.Read moreRead less
Early modern women and the poetry of complaint, 1540-1660. This project aims to discover how early modern women used the widespread, powerful and diverse mode of complaint to voice expressions of protest and loss during the English Renaissance. The project will highlight women’s roles as writers, patrons and textual producers and consumers of the mode of complaint. The project expects to uncover how the imagined voices of the disempowered shaped the literary and political cultures of early moder ....Early modern women and the poetry of complaint, 1540-1660. This project aims to discover how early modern women used the widespread, powerful and diverse mode of complaint to voice expressions of protest and loss during the English Renaissance. The project will highlight women’s roles as writers, patrons and textual producers and consumers of the mode of complaint. The project expects to uncover how the imagined voices of the disempowered shaped the literary and political cultures of early modern England. Reconceptualising a mode in Renaissance literature will benefit Australia's standing at the forefront of research in early modern studies.Read moreRead less
The early woman writer, 1530-1660. This project aims to provide a literary history of women’s textual practice in the English Renaissance. This project will examine the scope, content and purpose of early modern women’s writing to make new discoveries about reading, writing and book use in the period when book production and distribution was first appearing on a larger scale. It uses digital technologies to create open-access digital forms of this writing to extend access to it, and also to furt ....The early woman writer, 1530-1660. This project aims to provide a literary history of women’s textual practice in the English Renaissance. This project will examine the scope, content and purpose of early modern women’s writing to make new discoveries about reading, writing and book use in the period when book production and distribution was first appearing on a larger scale. It uses digital technologies to create open-access digital forms of this writing to extend access to it, and also to further Australia’s position in both cutting edge digital scholarship and scholarship on the early modern period.
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Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180101150
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$332,202.00
Summary
Enlisting World literature. This project aims to generate new knowledge to understand relationships between national literatures and global reading patterns. It will focus on how world literature was used in the Cold War for global circulation by focussing on the English-language paperbacks produced by East German publisher Seven Seas. Expected outcomes include the first thorough history of a socialist Cold War book scheme with an international scope, drawing on rich archival sources.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101206
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$329,246.00
Summary
Provincial Poets and the Making of a Nation. This project aims to rediscover, document and analyse prominent regional voices swept aside by the powerful forces constructing national identity in nineteenth-century France in order to argue for a more positive view of provincialism and challenge the division between central and peripheral cultures. Expected outcomes of this project include a more inclusive and representative literary canon, a new awareness of the crucial role of regional poets in t ....Provincial Poets and the Making of a Nation. This project aims to rediscover, document and analyse prominent regional voices swept aside by the powerful forces constructing national identity in nineteenth-century France in order to argue for a more positive view of provincialism and challenge the division between central and peripheral cultures. Expected outcomes of this project include a more inclusive and representative literary canon, a new awareness of the crucial role of regional poets in the formation of the modern nation state, a new and advanced 'transregional' theoretical framework to revalue the potential of locality and place, as well as a wealth of novel evidence in support of public debates aimed at bridging the urban-rural divide in Australia, France and beyond. Read moreRead less
World Crime Fiction: Making Sense of a Global Genre. This project aims to generate new knowledge about the worldwide popularity of crime fiction by analysing the genre’s engagement with the major global challenges of our time, from climate change to the crisis of democracy. Using data from scholars and fans across all continents, and employing an innovative comparative methodology, it seeks to produce a new framework for analysing the global practice of crime fiction. Outcomes include a deeper u ....World Crime Fiction: Making Sense of a Global Genre. This project aims to generate new knowledge about the worldwide popularity of crime fiction by analysing the genre’s engagement with the major global challenges of our time, from climate change to the crisis of democracy. Using data from scholars and fans across all continents, and employing an innovative comparative methodology, it seeks to produce a new framework for analysing the global practice of crime fiction. Outcomes include a deeper understanding of the capacities of crime fiction to explore the complex relationship between crime, law and justice in various settings. The project will benefit Australia by creating new insights into the unique contribution of Australian, including Indigenous, crime writers to this truly global genre.Read moreRead less
Investigating literary knowledge in the making of English teachers. This project aims to create new understanding of the role of literary knowledge within subject English. English education is mandated in Australian schooling; however, subject content as well as teachers’ knowledge and pedagogical approaches are highly contested, particularly regarding the teaching of literature. Using a national survey, focus group interviews and a longitudinal study, the project aims to provide new understandi ....Investigating literary knowledge in the making of English teachers. This project aims to create new understanding of the role of literary knowledge within subject English. English education is mandated in Australian schooling; however, subject content as well as teachers’ knowledge and pedagogical approaches are highly contested, particularly regarding the teaching of literature. Using a national survey, focus group interviews and a longitudinal study, the project aims to provide new understandings of the literary knowledge that early career teachers need, of the impact of curricula and professional practice on disciplinary knowledge, and about the operation of literary studies across school and university. Significantly, it plans to use ‘literary sociability’, an innovative methodology, to generate empirical and conceptual perspectives on literary studies in Australia that will be of value internationally.Read moreRead less