Germany in China: Colonial Interactions, Qingdao 1897-1914. The project will assist in increasing Australia's knowledge base about both colonialism in general and social change in China; to add to Australia's international reputation as a major center of research on China; and to provide additional information on local development in Qingdao, a major growth area in East China, that assists those engaged in government and business relations.
Ethnoecology and the State in Regional China. This project will enhance Australian knowledge about diversity amongst Han Chinese communities in the way that they have adapted to their environment, a diversity that underpins the responsiveness of Chinese populations to environmental transformation in the contemporary period. It will also strengthen Australia¡¯s reputation as a centre for the study of regional cultures within the Chinese landmass, provide additional insights into the lower Yangzi ....Ethnoecology and the State in Regional China. This project will enhance Australian knowledge about diversity amongst Han Chinese communities in the way that they have adapted to their environment, a diversity that underpins the responsiveness of Chinese populations to environmental transformation in the contemporary period. It will also strengthen Australia¡¯s reputation as a centre for the study of regional cultures within the Chinese landmass, provide additional insights into the lower Yangzi delta, which is one of the most affluent regions of China today, and build up Australia¡¯s capacity to train postgraduates with an understanding of China¡¯s great regional diversity.Read moreRead less
A Typological Study of the Sound Systems of the New Guinea-Melanesia Area. This project aims to complete the first detailed cross-linguistic study of the sound systems of the New Guinea Melanesia area. More than one quarter of the world's languages are spoken in this region which remains very little known from a linguistics perspective. Results of this study should have important ramifications for our understanding of: (1) the nature of languages in the region, and of language in general (2) ph ....A Typological Study of the Sound Systems of the New Guinea-Melanesia Area. This project aims to complete the first detailed cross-linguistic study of the sound systems of the New Guinea Melanesia area. More than one quarter of the world's languages are spoken in this region which remains very little known from a linguistics perspective. Results of this study should have important ramifications for our understanding of: (1) the nature of languages in the region, and of language in general (2) phonological description and theory (3) phonological description and theory (4) linguistic diffusion and influence in an area that extends from Eastern Timor to Vanuatu and New Caledonia.Read moreRead less
The Jihadi, Revolutionary and Anti-war Fiction in Afghanistan, 1978-2007. Afghanistan is a key area of global security concerns. An analysis of three decades of jihadi, revolutionary and anti-war literature (1978-2007) will provide an understanding of how different political groups, particularly the jihadis, utilised literature to further their interests. Australia needs to understand the underlying cultural debates that persist in Afghanistan in order to engage effectively with regional securit ....The Jihadi, Revolutionary and Anti-war Fiction in Afghanistan, 1978-2007. Afghanistan is a key area of global security concerns. An analysis of three decades of jihadi, revolutionary and anti-war literature (1978-2007) will provide an understanding of how different political groups, particularly the jihadis, utilised literature to further their interests. Australia needs to understand the underlying cultural debates that persist in Afghanistan in order to engage effectively with regional security and counter-terrorism. Despite media controls, the jihadis promoted their cause through published literary sources, imitating the growing Islamic literature of the Middle East. Literature, with its compelling metaphors and allusions, remains one of the main forms of furthering or opposing Islamist goals in Afghanistan.Read moreRead less
Imagining histories of love: the making of textual worlds in Taiwan romance fiction. This project examines the crucial question of how romantic love is imagined in contemporary Chinese societies. It innovates by analyzing the images of love presented in Taiwan romance fiction, a major genre of unstudied texts that provides knowledge of the emotional worlds of tens of millions of people worldwide. Its novel methodology approaches romantic narratives as documents of a history of love, producing ne ....Imagining histories of love: the making of textual worlds in Taiwan romance fiction. This project examines the crucial question of how romantic love is imagined in contemporary Chinese societies. It innovates by analyzing the images of love presented in Taiwan romance fiction, a major genre of unstudied texts that provides knowledge of the emotional worlds of tens of millions of people worldwide. Its novel methodology approaches romantic narratives as documents of a history of love, producing new concepts of Taiwan and Chinese society and history in which love is envisioned as the central experience of human life. Major outcomes will be a substantial monograph, an edited volume and several scholarly articles.Read moreRead less
Mediated Mobility: India's Low Caste Revolution in the Media Age. In recent years Australia has shown a keen interest in India's evolution as a global power. This project seeks to deepen our national understanding by focusing on a key socio-cultural dimension of this evolution: the emergence through multiple media of lower caste voices in democratic politics and cultural practices in India. Through its study of lower castes' innovative use of print, electronic and digital media in effecting soci ....Mediated Mobility: India's Low Caste Revolution in the Media Age. In recent years Australia has shown a keen interest in India's evolution as a global power. This project seeks to deepen our national understanding by focusing on a key socio-cultural dimension of this evolution: the emergence through multiple media of lower caste voices in democratic politics and cultural practices in India. Through its study of lower castes' innovative use of print, electronic and digital media in effecting social and political change in this era of technological innovation and economic growth, the project highlights both the possibilities and limits of India's growth. Significantly, it contributes to building Australia's research capacity in the study of India and South Asia, an area in critical need of renewal.Read moreRead less
The new medical body in contemporary Chinese imaginaries. Advances in organ transplant, blood transfusion, and related practices not only affect understandings of the human body in medical and scientific communities, but in society at large. This project will analyse contemporary Chinese literature, cinema, art, and popular media to better understand the impact of medical innovations on Chinese culture.
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
The Young Lu Xun and his early work written in Japan. This project undertakes a ground-breaking investigation in the field. It will contribute to better understanding of China, its language transformation, intellectual history, cultural trends relevant to economic growth; and will help raise Australia's scholarly profile, enhance our capacity to interpret and engage in regional and global discourse.