ENH2150

Australian urban fictions

(ART)

M Ackland and R Gerster

8 points + 2 hours per week + Second semester + Clayton

Synopsis: This subject examines the representation of urban life in twentieth-century Australian literature. Redirecting Australian cultural debate away from its traditional emphasis on 'the bush', the subject investigates how the fictionalised city has acted as a focus for cultural redefinition and as a catalyst for literary innovation. The selected texts represent a range of modes used to construct the city: popular fiction, social realism, autobiography, social satire, the urban picaresque and the urban dystopia, and recent postmodernist fiction.

Assessment: Written (2500 words): 40% + Test (2 hours): 30% + Seminar paper (1500 words): 20% + Seminar participation: 10%