Literature and Science in the Early Middle Ages. This project aims to investigate the interplay between early medieval science and the literary imagination. The project focuses on Anglo-Saxon England, which provides a fully developed and well-preserved vernacular literary record, beside a learned Latin literary culture. It aims to investigate an important reciprocal relationship at a transitional moment in Western culture: the ways scientific learning influenced the early medieval literary imagi ....Literature and Science in the Early Middle Ages. This project aims to investigate the interplay between early medieval science and the literary imagination. The project focuses on Anglo-Saxon England, which provides a fully developed and well-preserved vernacular literary record, beside a learned Latin literary culture. It aims to investigate an important reciprocal relationship at a transitional moment in Western culture: the ways scientific learning influenced the early medieval literary imagination, and how the literary imagination influenced early medieval science. Study of the relationship between science and literature provides an insight into how people have understood the world around them and their relationship with it, interpreted in the light of inherited knowledge and the imagination.Read moreRead less
The Spying Game: Australian Constructions of Espionage. The Spying Game will explore the human dimensions of espionage in the contexts of Australian history and culture. While technological aspects of spying and institutional histories of intelligence and security organisations have been prominent, very few scholarly investigations have been made of the cultures of espionage and the human dilemmas of spying. By investigating the ways in which spying has been understood and represented in Austral ....The Spying Game: Australian Constructions of Espionage. The Spying Game will explore the human dimensions of espionage in the contexts of Australian history and culture. While technological aspects of spying and institutional histories of intelligence and security organisations have been prominent, very few scholarly investigations have been made of the cultures of espionage and the human dilemmas of spying. By investigating the ways in which spying has been understood and represented in Australian society, and comparing these representations with international examples, I will contribute significant new knowledge and understanding of a burgeoning field of employment and activity during a period of crisis for the intelligence community and wider society.Read moreRead less
Autobiography of a People: Aboriginal Writing in Queensland, 1890s-1930s. As the recent "history wars" confirm, Australians today care deeply about the colonial past, because its legacies are "all around us and within" (as Oodgeroo noted). This project advances knowledge and conceptual understanding in the key areas of colonial race relations, Indigenous self-representation, and Indigenous literacy. Aboriginal autobiography is an especially effective tool for stimulating the empathetic imaginati ....Autobiography of a People: Aboriginal Writing in Queensland, 1890s-1930s. As the recent "history wars" confirm, Australians today care deeply about the colonial past, because its legacies are "all around us and within" (as Oodgeroo noted). This project advances knowledge and conceptual understanding in the key areas of colonial race relations, Indigenous self-representation, and Indigenous literacy. Aboriginal autobiography is an especially effective tool for stimulating the empathetic imagination, and bridging social, temporal and geographical distances between people. This research will strengthen the nation's social fabric by promoting inter-racial understanding, and by adding historical depth to present thinking about contemporary Aboriginal attitudes to literacy.Read moreRead less
Working Together: Indigenous and Non-indigenous Collaboration in Australian Film and Literature. As the first, comprehensive study of Indigenous and non-indigenous collaboration in film and literature this project will make an important contribution to Australian cultural history. It will provide filmmakers, educators and publishers with expanded theoretical findings about the nature of collaboration. In the most general sense, this critical analysis of one of the ways in which Indigenous and ....Working Together: Indigenous and Non-indigenous Collaboration in Australian Film and Literature. As the first, comprehensive study of Indigenous and non-indigenous collaboration in film and literature this project will make an important contribution to Australian cultural history. It will provide filmmakers, educators and publishers with expanded theoretical findings about the nature of collaboration. In the most general sense, this critical analysis of one of the ways in which Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians have and continue to 'work together' will contribute to the national project of Reconciliation.Read moreRead less
The Image of Thought: Literature as a way of thinking. The idea that the arts offer important ways of thinking has, to an extent, recently fallen from view. A failure to recognise the value of the arts as distinct modes of thought, which challenge us to think and feel, impoverishes the community. Scholarly activity can build foundations upon which renewed recognition of this value becomes possible. So too, academics have a duty to communicate with the general community. To this end, this project ....The Image of Thought: Literature as a way of thinking. The idea that the arts offer important ways of thinking has, to an extent, recently fallen from view. A failure to recognise the value of the arts as distinct modes of thought, which challenge us to think and feel, impoverishes the community. Scholarly activity can build foundations upon which renewed recognition of this value becomes possible. So too, academics have a duty to communicate with the general community. To this end, this project will include the endeavour to produce newspaper reviews propagating ideas developed through scholarship, and the promotion of the role of literature through the organization of public forums.Read moreRead less
From Local Stories to National Identity: Competing National Myths in Chinese Nativist Fiction. China's continuous and rapid economic upsurge means it will play an increasingly greater role globally but its influence in our region will even be greater. Understanding China is imperative for Australia, which can only be achieved through understanding the core Chinese social and cultural values. It is vital for Australian policy-makers to know how cultural identification within China functions and h ....From Local Stories to National Identity: Competing National Myths in Chinese Nativist Fiction. China's continuous and rapid economic upsurge means it will play an increasingly greater role globally but its influence in our region will even be greater. Understanding China is imperative for Australia, which can only be achieved through understanding the core Chinese social and cultural values. It is vital for Australian policy-makers to know how cultural identification within China functions and how the Chinese government uses culture (among other means) to hold the vastly different regions together. Cultural understanding demands an appreciation of literature, the importance of which in Chinese cultural life is often underestimated outside China.Read moreRead less
From Local Stories to National Identity: Competing National Myths in Chinese Nativist Fiction. The project investigates the creation, reception and significance of competing national myths in Chinese nativist fiction. It explores the paradox that nativist writers, on the one hand, are committed to the abstract idea of a single Chinese nation, while, on the other hand, they aspire to create distinctive local cultural identities. Why do regional literatures compete in identifying with the cultural ....From Local Stories to National Identity: Competing National Myths in Chinese Nativist Fiction. The project investigates the creation, reception and significance of competing national myths in Chinese nativist fiction. It explores the paradox that nativist writers, on the one hand, are committed to the abstract idea of a single Chinese nation, while, on the other hand, they aspire to create distinctive local cultural identities. Why do regional literatures compete in identifying with the cultural centre? How do different local tales represent the regional and the national? By answering these questions, this project will expand Chinese regional studies into the literary sphere and contribute to the theoretical understanding of Chinese cultural nationalism.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100329
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$331,720.00
Summary
A Global Comparative Study of Contemporary Iranian Literature. This project will be the first comparative study examining Iranian literatures and their circulation on a global scale, in Iran and in the Iranian diaspora in Australia, the United States of America and Western Europe. It aims to explore how literature circulates in a globalised world and how national and global literary practices are connected. The Iranian example is significant as a case study of a rich culture affected by politica ....A Global Comparative Study of Contemporary Iranian Literature. This project will be the first comparative study examining Iranian literatures and their circulation on a global scale, in Iran and in the Iranian diaspora in Australia, the United States of America and Western Europe. It aims to explore how literature circulates in a globalised world and how national and global literary practices are connected. The Iranian example is significant as a case study of a rich culture affected by political change, decentralisation and diasporic spread.Read moreRead less
The scientific ape: the evolution of the animal fable after Darwin. This project will contribute to national and international debates over the understanding of human nature, the human propensity for violence towards other beings and the possibility of mutually supportive relations with our natural environment. By demonstrating literature's capacity to intervene meaningfully into conceptual debates about the literary representation of animals, it will enhance Australia's international scholarly ....The scientific ape: the evolution of the animal fable after Darwin. This project will contribute to national and international debates over the understanding of human nature, the human propensity for violence towards other beings and the possibility of mutually supportive relations with our natural environment. By demonstrating literature's capacity to intervene meaningfully into conceptual debates about the literary representation of animals, it will enhance Australia's international scholarly profile in the emerging field of animal studies. It will also contribute to the international renown of Australian scholarship in traditional literary studies by producing the first theoretically informed reassessment of the literary genre of the fable.Read moreRead less
A study of the writings of Alan Paton, a major literary and political figure. The outcome of this project will constitute an important contribution to the current debate in Australia and other Western countries about ethical responses to violence. Alan Paton is a major South African literary and political figure who faced extremism both from his country's government and its opponents. The proposed study of his letters will be an important addition to the literary corpus of one of Africa's fore ....A study of the writings of Alan Paton, a major literary and political figure. The outcome of this project will constitute an important contribution to the current debate in Australia and other Western countries about ethical responses to violence. Alan Paton is a major South African literary and political figure who faced extremism both from his country's government and its opponents. The proposed study of his letters will be an important addition to the literary corpus of one of Africa's foremost thinkers and writers, and will constitute an advance upon and contribution to the body of knowledge about the cultural history of Africa in the twentieth and twenty-first century. The project will raise the profile of Australian scholarship in the field of African literature and history.
Read moreRead less