AJ18083 Contemporary Australian Literature

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2009
Extent and Intensity
0/2. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Martina Horáková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Timetable
Thu 13:20–14:55 G22
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ09999 Qualifying Examination
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/15, only registered: 0/15
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This course focuses on recent Australian fiction and foregrounds the diversity of themes which present Australia as increasingly contested space of diverse histories, knowledges, ethnicities and cultural practices. In several units dedicated to multicultural and immigrant writing, Aboriginal counter-narratives, portraits of mythologized landscapes, history of colonization and nation-building, students will analyze narratives that critically explore Australian identities, and challenge the myth of a homogenous, white, gendered, Anglo-Saxon settler nation. Classes include mini-lectures, film clips, primary and secondary text analyses, and group and class discussions. Students will be expected to read the assigned texts, contribute to seminar discussions, write regular response papers and a final essay, incorporating key theoretical concepts framing the course and critical analyses into their work.
Syllabus
  • Week 1: Introduction to course policies, assignments and readings; Defining Australia in Writing: National Identity and “Australiannes”
  • Week 2: Defining Australia in Writing: History and Place; Kate Grenville, The Secret River (2005).
  • Week 3: Aboriginal Voices: The Stolen Generations; Doris Pilkington, Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence (1996).
  • Week 4: Aboriginal Voices: Contemporary Urban Experience; Alf Taylor, “The Last Drop” and “Charlie” from Long Time Now (2001).
  • Week 5: Australian Myths: Bush and Outback; extracts from Robyn Davidson’s Tracks and films Walkabout (1971), Japanese Story (2003) and Film Australia’s Outback (2002).
  • Week 6: Australian Myths: Ned Kelly – Outlaw or Hero?; Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang (2001).
  • Week 7: Postcolonial Australia: Resistance and Complicity; screening of The Tracker, dir. Rolf de Heer (2002).
  • Week 8: Postcolonial Australia: Resistance and Complicity; The Tracker, dir. Rolf de Heer (2002).
  • Week 9: Gendered Australia: Women and the Bush; “Drover’s Wife” short story cycle (Henry Lawson’s “The Drover’s Wife”, Barbara Bayton’s “The Chosen Vessel”, Murray Bail’s “The Drover’s Wife”, Barbara Jefferis’ “The Drover’s Wife”, Anne Gambling’s “The Drover’s De Facto”, Mandy Sayers “The Drover’s Wife”).
  • Week 10: Gendered Australia: Women and Space/Place; Gail Jones, Sixty Lights (2004).
  • Week 11: The Other Australia: Australian-Chinese Heritage; Brian Castro, Birds of Passage (1982).
  • Week 12: The Other Australia: Writing Multiculturalism; Merlinda Bobis, “White Turtle”; Ania Walwicz, “Wogs” and “New World”;
  • Week 13: Conclusion and Evaluation of the course
Literature
  • CAREY, Peter. True history of the Kelly gang. Pbk. ed. London: Faber and Faber, 2002, 424 s. ISBN 0571209874. info
  • Text, theory, space : land, literature and history in South Africa and Australia. Edited by Kate Darian-Smith - Liz Gunner - Sarah Nuttall. London: Routledge, 1996, xii, 263 s. ISBN 0-415-12408-5. info
  • GOODWIN, K. L. The Macmillan anthology of Australian literature. Melbourne: Macmillan Company of Australia, 1990, xxii, 629. ISBN 0333501594. info
  • SCHAFFER, Kay. Women and the bush : forces of desire in the Australian cultural tradition. Repr. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990, xv, 229. ISBN 0521368162. info
  • CARTER, Paul. The road to Botany Bay : an essay in spatial history. 1st publ. London: Faber and Faber, 1987, xxv, 384. ISBN 0571145515. info
Assessment methods
Assignments Guidelines:
readings: read the texts, both primary and secondary, assigned for each class and be prepared to discuss them in class; response papers: 1 page critical and analytical response to assigned readings; choose a specific theme, character(s), symbol, imagery, or a formal aspect from a given text and discuss it in two or three concise paragraphs; do include a creative title suggesting your point; final essay proposal: 1 page topic proposal for your final essay; do include a title proposal and annotated bibliography of at least three relevant sources; final essay: do read final essay guidelines available on the department website; follow MLA for formal aspects; work with reliable and scholarly sources only; get acquainted with what is meant by plagiarism and avoid it as this is considered unacceptable in any form;
Evaluation: attendance and contribution to discussions: 20%; response papers: 30%; final essay proposal: 10%; final essay: 40%;
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
Teacher's information
http://elf.phil.muni.cz/elf/course/view.php?id=878
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2006, Autumn 2007, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2011, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2015, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2009, recent)
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