ENM4370

Contemporary Australian poetry and fiction

Helen Thomson

12 points -2 hours per week -Second semester -Clayton

Objectives Students taking this subject should develop the capacity to read a range of contemporary Australian texts in the light of a broad knowledge of contemporary issues in Australian writing and criticism and with particular reference to theories of national identity, postcolonialism and canonicity.

Synopsis This subject will examine issues in contemporary Australian writing and criticism. In studying the fiction, questions of identity (national, gender, racial) will be raised, and the ways in which postmodern fiction interrogates the very concept of identity and destabilises existing definitions through a range of stylistic strategies will be explored.

Assessment Two essays (2500 words each): 30% each -Essay (4000 words): 40%

Prescribed texts

Astley T Beachmasters Penguin
Astley T It's raining in Mango Penguin
Gilbert K Inside black Australia: An anthology of Aboriginal poetry Penguin
Hospital J T The last magician UQP
Leonard J (ed.) Contemporary Australian poetry: An anthology Houghton Mifflin Australia
Lucas R and McCredden L (eds) Bridgings: Readings in Australian women's poetry OUP
Malouf D An imaginary life Picador
Malouf D Remembering Babylon Vintage
Modjeska D Poppy Penguin
Murray L Collected poems Angus and Robertson
Tranter J and Mead P (eds) The Penguin book of modern Australian poetry Penguin
Watson S The Kadaitcha song Penguin
Wright J Collected poems Angus and Robertson

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