FF:AJ18083 Contemporary Australian Lit - Course Information

AJ18083 Contemporary Australian Literature

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

Tue 13:20–14:55 G32

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 (in Czech)

This course focuses on recent Australian fiction and foregrounds the diversity of themes which present Australia as an 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. Reading assignments include novels and short stories by David Malouf, Peter Carey, Doris Pilkington, Alf Taylor, Brian Castro, Hsu-Ming Teo, Gail Jones, Ania Walwicz, Kate Grenville, Tim Winton, as well as theoretical essays and journal articles by leading Australian critics such as Stephen Muecke, Bill Ashcroft, Kay Schaffer, Paul Carter, Aileen Moreton-Robinson, Sneja Gunew and others. Students will be expected to read the assignments, 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 (in Czech)

• Week 1: September 18 orientation week Week 2: September 25 reading week: Kate Grenville, The Secret River (2005) Week 3: October 2 Defining Australia in Writing: History and Place Kate Grenville, The Secret River (2005). interview with Kate Grenville Paul Carter, “Spatial History” and “Naming Place”, from The Road to Botany Bay in The Post-colonial Studies Reader, pp.375-377, 402-406. Week 4: October 9 Aboriginal Voices I: The Stolen Generations Doris Pilkington, Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence (1996). Aileen Moreton-Robinson, “Telling It Straight” from Talkin’ Up To a White Woman, pp.4-15. Kay Schaffer and Sidonie Smith, “Indigenous Human Rights in Australia: Who Speaks for the Stolen Generations?” from Human Rights and Narrated Lives: The Ethics of Recognition, pp. 85-121. response paper due Week 5: October 16 Aboriginal Voices II: Contemporary Urban Experience Alf Taylor, “The Last Drop” and “Charlie” from Long Time Now (2001). response paper due Week 6: October 23 Australian Myths I: Bush and Outback extracts from films Walkabout (1971) and Film Australia’s Outback (2002); Roslyn D. Haynes, “Introduction”, from Seeking the Centre: The Australian Desert in Literature, Art and Film, pp. 1-7. Sue Rowley, “Imagination, Madness and Nation in Australian Bush Mythology” from Text, Theory, Space, pp. 131-144. no response papers this week! Week 7: October 30 Australian Myths II: Ned Kelly – Outlaw or Hero? Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang (2001). extracts from the film Ned Kelly (2003). response paper due Week 8: November 6 Postcolonial Australia: Resistance and Complicity screening of The Tracker, dir. Rolf de Heer (2002) Week 9: November 13 Postcolonial Australia: Resistance and Complicity discussion of The Tracker Marcia Langton, “Out From the Shadows”, in Meanjin, pp.55-64. Fiona Probyn, “An Ethics of Following and the No Road Film: Trackers, Followers and Fanatics”. Australian Humanities Review 37 (2005). response paper due Week 10: November 20 Women and Gendered Space/Place I “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”). extracts from the film Picnic at the Hanging Rock (1975) response paper due Week 11: November 27 Women and Gendered Space/Place II Gail Jones, Sixty Lights (2004). Sue Kossew, “Introduction: Place, Space and Gender.” Writing Woman, Writing Place: Contemporary Australian and South African Fiction, pp. 1-15. response paper due Week 12: December 4 The Other Australia: Writing Multiculturalism I Merlinda Bobis, “White Turtle” from White Turtle: A Collection of Short Stories, pp.27-52. Ania Walwicz, “Wogs” and “New World”, from The Macmillan Anthology of Australian Literature, p.207, and Poems from Dispalced Persons. Sneja Gunew, “Denaturalizing Cultural Nationalisms: Multicultural Readings of ‘Australia’”, from Nation and Narration, pp. 99-120. response paper due Week 13: December 11 The Other Australia: Writing Multiculturalism II Brian Castro, Birds of Passage (1982). Wenche Omundsen, “Writing as Migration: Brian Castro, Multiculturalism and the Politics of Identity”, from Speaking Positions: Aboriginality, gender and Ethnicity in Australian Cultural Studies, pp.158-165. response paper due Week 14: December 18 final essay proposal due video or film extracts, TBA evaluation of the course

Assessment methods (in Czech)

Assignments: readings: read the texts, both primary and secondary, assigned for each class and be prepared to discuss them in class; all the materials (novels, short stories and articles) are available in the ELF (the password is ‘outback’) where you can download them; response papers: 1 page critical and analytical response to assigned readings, either fiction or a theoretical essay; 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 title suggesting your point and a “works cited” addendum if you include other source than the primary text; deadline Mondays 12pm by email; final essay proposal: 1 page topic proposal for your final essay; do include a title proposal and annotated bibliography of at least three relevant academic sources; deadline Monday Dec 17, 12pm by email; final essay: do read final essay guidelines available on the department website; follow MLA for formal aspects (references in the text, paraphrasing, citations, bibliography format); 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; deadline for final essays will be specified during the semester; Evaluation: attendance and contribution to discussions: 20% response papers: 30% final essay proposal: 10% final essay: 40%

Language of instruction

English

• Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2007, recent)
  
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