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About the content
This course is a short introduction to the rich and distinctive world of Australian literature, a world of ancient and modern forms of writing about a vast and varied continent. Explore the work of writers who have responded imaginatively to the unique landscapes of Australia and to its remarkable human history.
Syllabus
Week 1 literature & country
Lesson 1
Lecture 1.1 intro: literature & country (course details)
Lecture 1.2 literature & country (Tim Winton and different coasts)
Lecture 1.3 literature & country (D. H. Lawrence, Kangaroo)
Lesson 2
Lecture 1.4 Central Australia (intro to Hermannsburg & T. G. H. Strehlow)
Lecture 1.5 Central Australia (Songs of Central Australia)
Lecture 1.6 Northern Australia (‘Little Eva at Moonlight Creek’ song cycle)
Lesson 3
Lecture 1.7 Sydney (Farm Cove, Watkin Tench)
Lecture 1.8 Sydney (Barron Field)
Lecture 1.9 Sydney (Charles Harpur)
Week 2 crime & punishment
Lesson 1
Lecture 2.1 intro: crime & punishment (Australia as Hell)
Lecture 2.2 crime & punishment (‘Moreton Bay’)
Lecture 2.3 crime & punishment ('A Convict's Tour to Hell')
Lesson 2
Lecture 2.4 intro: crime & punishment (Port Arthur, Tasmania)
Lecture 2.5 crime & punishment (Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life)
Lecture 2.6 crime & punishment (Richard Flanagan, Gould's Book of Fish)
Lesson 3
Lecture 2.7 crime & punishment (Ned Kelly, 'Jerilderie Letter')
Lecture 2.8 crime & punishment (Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang)
Lecture 2.9 crime & punishment (Peter Temple, The Broken Shore)
Week 3 explorers, frontier & settlement
Lesson 1
Lecture 3.1 intro: explorers, legends, frontier
Lecture 3.2 explorers (Ludwig Leichhardt in literature)
Lecture 3.3 explorers (interlude, discussion)
Lesson 2
Lecture 3.4 explorers (Patrick White, Voss and the literary classic)
Lecture 3.5 explorers (Patrick White, Voss)
Lecture 3.6 explorers (Patrick White, Voss)
Lesson 3
Lecture 3.7 frontier & settlement
Lecture 3.8 frontier & settlement (David Malouf, Remembering Babylon)
Lecture 3.9 frontier & settlement (Kim Scott, That Deadman Dance)
Week 4 home & away
Lesson 1
Lecture 4.1 intro: home & away (A. D. Hope, ‘Australia’)
Lecture 4.2 home & away (Richardson, The Fortunes of Richard Mahony, colonial times)
Lecture 4.3 home & away (Martin Boyd, The Cardboard Crown, Anglo-Australian families)
Lesson 2
Lecture 4.4 home & away (Judith Wright, the Moonbi Range)
Lecture 4.5 home & away (Judith Wright’s New England)
Lecture 4.6 home & away (Judith Wright, pastoralism and ecology)
Lesson 3
Lecture 4.7 home & away (Christina Stead and expatriate life)
Lecture 4.8 home & away (Christina Stead, ‘Sea People,' For Love Alone)
Lecture 4.9 home & away (Christina Stead, ‘Sea People,' For Love Alone)
Week 5
Lesson 1
Lecture 5.1 summary, assignments etc.
Lecture/discussion 5.2 summary-discussion Philip Mead and Claire Jones
Week 6
Assignments due & peer assessed
Instructors
- Claire Jones - English and Cultural Studies
- Philip Mead - English and Cultural Studies
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