024412 English Study 2: Images of Australia, the Place and the People - Literary Representations in Prose, Poetry and Drama
Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a
particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Subject level:
Undergraduate
Result type: Grade, no marksDescription
This subject introduces students to a broad study of Australian literature within a context of the 'literature of place'. Students read and view a wide range of contemporary texts which are used as a focus for other related texts of different historical periods. Students explore shifts in the focus of Australian literature over time; concepts such as Australia as an alien place; as the place of 'exiles at home'; the bush mystique and the dream of paradise; Aboriginal and multicultural Australia; literary representations of the Australian male ('mates' and the 'dinkum Aussie') and female (a crisis of identity for 'the drover's wife'); mindscape and landscape; and the notion of a 'subjective Australia'. A wide range of texts is discussed including significant Australian art and musical works, however, there is particular reference to the selected texts. Students are expected to read and view widely; write in different forms; and develop and demonstrate a range of literary concepts and research skills in the field of literature and literary theory.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| a. | Identify, explain and evaluate themes, concerns and issues of Australian literature relevant to the texts studied in this subject; |
|---|---|
| b. | Identify, explain and evaluate understandings of indigenous narratives, appropriation, and representations of indigeneity; |
| c. | Identify and critique the literary, social and historical processes which produce texts; |
| d. | Identify and evaluate texts and their appropriateness for a specific Stage of learning in a school-based context; |
| e. | Compose and critique a range of language forms, features and texts to express ideas, information and emotions clearly, effectively and appropriately; |
| f. | Apply appropriate academic writing and referencing conventions. |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject engages with the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs), which are tailored to the Graduate Attributes set for all graduates of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
- Operate professionally in a range of educational settings, with particular emphasis on their specialisation (GTS 1, 2) (1.1)
- Analyse and synthesise research and engage in inquiry (GTS 3) (2.1)
- Make well-informed contributions to contemporary debates pertinent to education (GTS 3) (2.2)
- Respect and acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories, policies and priorities and their implications for education and inclusion (GTS 1, 2) (4.1)
- Communicate effectively using diverse modes and technologies (GTS 2, 3, 4) (6.1)
- Exhibit high-level numeracy and literacies (GTS 2) (6.2)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
This subject addresses the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes:
1. Professional Readiness
1.1 Operate professionally in a range of educational settings, with particular emphasis on their specialisation (GTS 1, 2)
2. Critical and Creative Inquiry
2.1 Analyse and synthesise research and engage in inquiry (GTS 3)
2.2 Make well-informed contributions to contemporary debates pertinent to education (GTS 3)
4. Indigenous competencies
4.1 Respect and acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories, policies and priorities and their implications for education and inclusion (GTS 1, 2)
6. Effective Communication
6.1 Communicate effectively using diverse modes and technologies (GTS 2, 3, 4)
6.2 Exhibit high level numeracy and literacies (GTS 2)
Teaching and learning strategies
This subject will be delivered online in Spring 2020. The online workshops will incorporate a range of strategies including short presentations, videos, discussion of readings and student groupwork. Independent student reading, writing and reflection will complement these strategies. Students will be expected to demonstrate high levels of active and collaborative interaction and independent research and reading into examples of texts appropriate for their own learning and relevant to the subject. Students are provided with ongoing formative assessment advice based on their written and oral responses to their study of the texts.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Essay
| Objective(s): | a, c, e and f | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight: | 40% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 1500 words | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 2: Resource: ‘Literary Podcast’ and script
| Objective(s): | b, c, d, e and f | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight: | 60% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | Script length – 1200 words Podcast length – 10 minutes (maximum) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Minimum requirements
Attendance at online workshops is important in this subject because it is based on a collaborative approach which involves the exchange of ideas with other students and the lecturer; activities including writing workshops; and student groupwork.
Required texts
Required Texts (required each week)
Kinsella, John, The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry, Penguin Books: Camberwell, Victoria.
Mears, Gillian, Foal's Bread, Allen & Unwin: Sydney, NSW.
Murphy, Tommy, 2010, Gwen in Purgatory, Currency Press: Strawberry Hills, NSW.
Winton, Tim, 2008, The Turning, Penguin Books: Ringwood, Victoria.
Suggested Readings
This is a suggested list of readings. The essential texts areindicated in the weekly readings. [Some of the ‘classic’ texts are published in many editions; any edition is suitable].
Anderson, Jessica, 1994, One of the Wattle Birds, Penguin, Ringwood, Victoria.
Bedford, Jean, Sister Kate.
Farmer, Beverley, The House in the Light.
Ginibi, Ruby Langford, 1994, My Bundjalung People, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia.
Gow, Michael, Away.
Gray, Robert, 1985, Selected Poems, Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
Hope, A.D., Collected Poems, 1930-1970.
Hospital, Janet Turner, 1995, Collected Stories, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia.
Kable, Jim (ed). 1990, An Arc of Australian Voices, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
Klein, Colleen, 1988, A Space for Delight, Erewon, Sydney.
Krimmer, Sally and Lawson, Alan (eds) 1980, Portable Australian Authors. Barbara Baynton, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia.
Malouf, David, 1976, An Imaginary Life.
Martin, A. 2001, Beyond Duck River, Hodder, Sydney.
Niall, B and I. Britain (eds) 1997, The Oxford Book of Australian Schooldays, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
Morgan, S. 1987, My Place, Freemantle Arts Centre Press, Freemantle.
Prichard, Katherine Susannah, 1929, Coonardoo, Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
Spender, Dale (ed). 1988, The Penguin Anthology of Australian Women’s Writing, Penguin, Ringwood, Victoria.
Williamson, David, 1996, Heretic, Dead White Males, Emerald City, Up for Grabs etc.
White, Patrick, The Tree of Man, Voss etc.
Winton, T. 1991, Cloudstreet, Penguin Books, Ringwood, Victoria.
Winton, T. 2001, Dirt Music, Picador, Sydney.
References
Adam-Smith, Patsy. 1981, Outback Heroes, Lansdowne Press, Sydney.
Adelaide, Debra (ed.) 1988, A Bright and Fiery Troop. Australian Women Writers of the Nineteenth Century. Penguin, Ringwood, Victoria.
Ashcroft, Bill, Griffiths, Gareth and Tiffin, Helen. 1989, The Empire Writes Back. Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literature. Routledge, London.
Clark, M. 1993, History of Australia, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Vic.
Dixson, M. 1999, The Imaginary Australian, UNSW Press, Sydney.
Ferres, Kay (ed.) 1993, The Time to Write. Australian Women Writers 1890-1930, Penguin, Ringwood, Victoria.
Ferrier, Carole (ed.)1985, Gender, Politics and Fiction. Australian Women’s Novels, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia.
Ferrier, Carole 1992, As good as a Yarn with You, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Fiske, John, Hodge, Bob and Turner, Graeme. 1991, Myths of Oz: Reading Australian Popular Culture, Allen and Unwin, North Sydney.
Gibson, Ross. 1984, The Diminishing Paradise. Changing Literary Perceptions of Australia. Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
Gunew , Sneja and Mahyuddin, Jan (eds) 1988, Beyond the Echo: Multicultural Women’s Writing, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia.
Gunew, Sneja, 1994, Framing Marginality. Multicultural literary studies, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.
Hart, Kevin 1992, Australian Writers. A.D.Hope, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
Healy, Chris, 1997, From the Ruins of Colonialism: History as Social Memory, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and Melbourne.
Hodge, Bob and Mishra, Vijay. 1991, Dark Side of the Dream. Australian literature and the post-colonial mind, Allen and Unwin, North Sydney.
Hollindale, P. 1997 [1988], Ideology and the Children’s Book, The Thimble Press, Stroud, Glos.
Hooton, Joy. 1990, Stories of Herself when Young. Autobiographies of Childhood by Australian Women, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne.
Hope, A.D. 1974, Native Companions. A Collection of Essays and Comments on Australian Literature 1936-1966, Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
Johnston, R. R 2003, “‘All the world’s a Stage”: Children’s Literature as performance,’ Children’s Literature and Childhood in Performance, Pied Piper Publishing, Staffordshire, pp. 57-67.
Johnston, R. R 2003,‘Summer Holidays and Landscapes of Fear: Towards a Comparative Study of ‘Mainstream’ Canadian and Australian Children’s Books’, Canadian Children’s Literature 109-110, pp.87-104.
Johnston, R. R 2003, ‘Carnivals, the Carnivalesque, The Magic Puddin’, and David Almond’s Wild Girl, Wild Boy: Towards a Theorising of Children’s Plays’, Children’s Literature in Education, 34:2, pp.131-146.
Johnston, R. R. 2003, ‘Relevant or not? Literature, Literary Research and Literary Researchers in Troubled Times,’ Diogene 198: 50, pp.25-32.
Johnston, R. R 2002, ‘Childhood – A Narrative Chronotope’, in R. Sell (ed) Children’s Literature as Communication, John Benjamins Amsterdam/Philadelphia, pp.137-157.
Johnston, R. R. 2002, ‘Teacher-as-artist, researcher-as-artist: creating structures for success,’ in Crossing the Boundaries, G. Bull and M..Anstey (eds), Prentice Hall, French’s Forest, NSW.
Johnston, R. R. 2001, ‘The Sense of “Before-Us”: Landscapes and the making of mindscapes in recent Australian children’s books,’ Canadian Children’s Literature, No. 104, 27:4, pp.26-46.
Johnston, R. R. 2001, in Winch, G., Johnston, R. R., Holliday, M., Ljungdahl, L., March, P., Literacy: Reading, Writing and Children’s Literature, Oxford University Press, Melbourne. [Second edition 2004]
Johnston, R. R. 2000, ‘The Literacy of the Imagination,’ Bookbird 38:1, pp.
Johnston, R. R. 1999, ‘Children’s literature advancing Australia.’ Bookbird Vol 37, No 1, Special Issue: Children’s Literature of Australia and New Zealand, pp.13-18.
Johnston, R. 1998, ‘Time-space: history as palimpsest and mise-en-abyme in children’s literature.’ Orana. Australian Library and Information Association, pp.18-24.
Johnston, R. R. 1998, ‘Thisness and everydayness in children’s literature: the ‘being -in-the-world proposed by the text.’ Papers 8,1. April, pp.7-18.
Johnston, R. R. 1997, ‘Children’s Literature - The Missing Link?’ The Literature Base, Vol. 8, Issue 3.
Johnston, R. R. 1997, ‘Reaching beyond the word: religious themes as “deep structure” in the Anne books of L. M. Montgomery.’ Canadian Children’s Literature 88, pp.25-35.
Johnston, R. R. 1996, ‘Connecting and Community: How to encourage your child to become a reader’ Real Books for Real Kids, Australian School Library Association NSW Inc., Parramatta.
Johnston, R. R. 1995, ‘Of Dialogue and Desire: Children’s Literature and the needs of the reluctant L2 Reader.’ The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 293-303.
Johnston, R. R. 1995,‘Shaping Words and Shape-Shifting Words – The Special Magic of the Eighties.’ Children’s Literature in Education: An International Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 211-217.
Ker Conway, J. 1989, The Road from Coorain, Minerva, Australia.
Knightley, P. 2000, Australia: Biography of a Nation, Jonathan Cape, London.
Kramer, Leonie (ed) 1981, The Oxford History of Australian Literature, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
McLaren, John. 1989, Australian Literature. An Historical Introduction. Longman Cheshire, Melbourne.
Modjeska, Drusilla 1981, Exiles at Home: Australian Women Writers 1925-1945, Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
Narogin, Mudrooroo 1990, Writing from the Fringe, Hyland House, Melbourne.
Niall, Brenda 1988, Martin Boyd. A Life. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.
Park, R. 1973, Ruth Park’s Sydney, Kemalde Pty Ltd, Australia.
Pierce, Peter 1993, The Oxford Literary Guide to Australia, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
Robinson, D. N. 1997. The Great Ideas of Philosophy, published in Audio, The Teaching Company, Springfield, Virginia, USA.
Schaffer, Kay 1988, Women and the Bush: Forces of Desire in the Australian Cultural Tradition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, New York.
Webby, E. (ed) 1989, Colonial Voices. Letters, Diaries, Journalism and other Accounts of Nineteenth Century Australia. University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia.
Journals
Australian Literary Studies
Island
Meanjin
Overland
Sydney Studies in English
References
SUGGESTED ADDITIONAL VIEWING, READING, CRITICAL REFERENCES AND JOURNALS (OPTIONAL)
Suggested additional films
Adapted from the novel by Nevil Shute, A Town Like Alice
Adapted from the novel by Joan Lindsay, Picnic at Hanging Rock
Adapted from the novel by Roger McDonald, 1915
Adapted from the novel by Melina Marchetta, Looking for Alibrandi
Adapted from the novel by Peter Carey, Bliss
Adapted from the novel by Doris Pilkington, The Rabbit Proof Fence
Adapted from the novel by Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding
Adapted from the novel Our Sunshine by Robert Drewe, Ned Kelly (starring Heath Ledger)
Adapted from the novel by Tim Winton, In the Winter Dark
Suggested additional readings
Anderson, Jessica, One of the Wattle Birds.
Bedford, Jean, Sister Kate.
Farmer, Beverley, The House in the Light.
Ginibi, Ruby Langford. (1994). My Bundjalung People. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.
Gow, Michael, Away.
Gray, Robert, 1985, Selected Poems. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
Hope, A.D., Collected Poems, 1930-1970.
Hospital, J. T. (1995). Collected Stories. University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia.
Krimmer, S. and Lawson, A. (Eds) (1980). Portable Australian Authors. Barbara Baynton, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.
Malouf, D. (1976). An Imaginary Life.
Martin, A. (2001). Beyond Duck River. Sydney: Hodder.
Niall, B and I. Britain (Eds) (1997). The Oxford Book of Australian Schooldays. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Morgan, S. (1987). My Place. Freemantle: Freemantle Arts Centre Press.
Prichard, Katherine Susannah, 1929, Coonardoo, Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
Williamson, David, Heretic, Dead White Males, Emerald City, Up for Grabs etc.
White, Patrick, The Tree of Man, Voss etc.
Winton, T. (1991) Cloudstreet, Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin.
Winton, T. (2001) Dirt Music. Sydney: Picador.
Winton, T. (2005) The Turning.
Suggested additional Critical References
Adam-Smith, P. (1981). Outback Heroes. Sydney: Lansdowne Press.
Adelaide, Debra (Ed.) (1988). A Bright and Fiery Troop. Australian Women Writers of the Nineteenth Century. Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin.
Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G. and Tiffin, H. (1989). The Empire Writes Back. Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literature. London: Routledge.
Clark, M. (1993). History of Australia, Carlton, Vic: Melbourne University Press.
Dixson, M. (1999) The Imaginary Australian. Sydney: UNSW Press.
Ferres, K. (Ed.) (1993). The Time to Write. Australian Women Writers 1890-1930. Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin.
Ferrier, C. (Ed.) (1985). Gender, Politics and Fiction. Australian Women’s Novels. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.
Ferrier, C. (1992). As good as a Yarn with You. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fiske, J., Hodge, B. and Turner, G. (1991). Myths of Oz: Reading Australian Popular Culture. North Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Gibson, R. (1984). The Diminishing Paradise. Changing Literary Perceptions of Australia. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
Gunew, S. and Mahyuddin, J. (Eds) (1988). Beyond the Echo: Multicultural Women’s Writing. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.
Gunew, Sneja, 1994, Framing Marginality. MulticulturalLliterary Studies. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
Hart, K. (1992). Australian Writers. A.D.Hope. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Healy, C. (1997). From the Ruins of Colonialism: History as Social Memory, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and Melbourne.
Hodge, B. and Mishra, V. (1991). Dark Side of the Dream. Australian literature and the post-colonial mind. North Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Hollindale, P. (1997) [1988]. Ideology and the Children’s Book. Stroud, Glos.: The Thimble Press.
Hooton, J. (1990). Stories of Herself when Young. Autobiographies of Childhood by Australian Women. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Johnston, R. (2004). ‘Renewing Stories of Childhood: Children’s Literature as a Creative Art’, Change and Renewal in Children’s Literature, T.van der Walt (ed), Contributions to the Study of World Literature, Number 126. Praeger Publishers, Westport, Connecticut, pp.9-15.
Johnston, R. R. (2004). Australia’ in International Companion Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature (Second edition) Peter Hunt (ed), Routledge, London. pp. 960-983.
Johnston, R. R. (2004).‘South Seas and Fabled Oceans: Australian Voyager Literature for Young People.’ Litteratures d’emergence et mondialisation, (ed. Sonia Faessel et Michel Perez), Editions In Press, Paris, pp.148-160.
Johnston, R. R 2003, “‘All the world’s a Stage”: Children’s Literature as performance,’ Children’s Literature and Childhood in Performance, K. Reynolds (ed), Pied Piper Publishing, Staffordshire, pp. 57-67.
Johnston, R. R. (2003). ‘Carnivals, the Carnivalesque, the Magic Puddin’, and David Almond’s Wild Girl, Wild Boy: Towards a Theorising of Children’s Plays.’ Children’s Literature in Education (United Kingdom and United States), 34 (2), pp.131-146.
Johnston, (2003). R. R. ‘Summer Holidays and Landscapes of Fear: Towards a Comparative Study of ‘Mainstream’ Canadian and Australian Children’s Books,’ Canadian Children’s Literature, 109-110, pp.87-104.
Johnston, R. R. (2002).'Teacher-as-artist, Researcher-as-artist: Creating Structures for Success.' M. Anstey and G. Bull (eds), Crossing the Boundaries, Pearson International, Australia, Sydney, NSW, pp. 311-327.
Johnston, R.R. (2002). 'Childhood: A Narrative Chronotope’, R. Sell (ed), Children' s Literature as Communication, Benjamins, The Netherlands, pp. 137-157.
Johnston, R. R. (1996) 'Connecting and Community: how to encourage your child to become a reader.' Real Books for Real Kids. Australian School Library Association NSW Inc. pp.2-10.
Johnston, R. R. (2003). ‘Carnivals, the Carnivalesque, the Magic Puddin’, and David Almond’s Wild Girl, Wild Boy: Towards a Theorising of Children’s Plays.’ Children’s Literature in Education (United Kingdom and United States), 34 (2), pp.131-146.
Johnston, (2003). R. R. ‘Summer Holidays and Landscapes of Fear: Towards a Comparative Study of ‘Mainstream’ Canadian and Australian Children’s Books,’ Canadian Children’s Literature, 109-110, pp.87-104.
Johnston, R. R. (2003).‘Relevant or Not? Literature, Literary research and literary researchers in troubled times,’ Diogenes 198, 50 (2), International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies with the Support of UNESCO, Sage Publications, pp.25-32.
Johnston, R. R. (2002). 'The sense of "Before-us": Landscape and the Making of Mindscapes in Recent Australian Children's Books,' Canadian Children's Literature, No. 104, Vol 27:4, pp.26-46.
Johnston, R. R. (2000). 'The literacy of the imagination.' Bookbird, 38, 1, pp. 25-30.
Johnston, R. R. (1999). 'Children's literature advancing Australia.' Bookbird, 37, 1, Special Issue: Children's Literature of Australia and New Zealand, pp.13-18.
Johnston, R. R. (1998). ‘Time-space: history as palimpsest and mise-en-abyme in children’s literature.’ Orana. Vol.34, No.3. Australian Library and Information Association, pp.18-24.
Johnston, R. R. (1998). 'Thisness and everydayness in children's literature: the 'being -in-the-world proposed by the text.' Papers 8,1. April, 1998, pp.7-18.
Johnston, R. R. (1997). 'Reaching beyond the word: religious themes as "deep structure" in the Anne books of L. M. Montgomery.' Canadian Children's Literature 88, 1997, pp.25-35.
Johnston, R. R. (1997). 'Children's Literature – the Missing Link?' The Literature Base. Vol 8, Issue 3.
Johnston, R. R. (1995).‘Shaping Words and Shape-Shifting Words – The Special Magic of the Eighties.’ Children’s Literature in Education: An International Quarterly, 26, 4, pp. 211-217.
Ker Conway, J. (1989), The Road from Coorain, Australia: Minerva.
Knightley, P. (2000). Australia: Biography of a Nation. London: Jonathan Cape.
Kramer, L. (Ed) (1981). The Oxford History of Australian Literature. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Modjeska, D. (1981) Exiles at Home: Australian Women Writers 1925-1945. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
Narogin, M. (1990). Writing from the Fringe. Melbourne: Hyland House.
Pierce, P. (1993). The Oxford Literary Guide to Australia. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Schaffer, K. (1988). Women and the Bush: Forces of Desire in the Australian Cultural Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Spender, Dale (ed). 1988, The Penguin Anthology of Australian Women’s Writing, Penguin, Ringwood, Victoria.
Webby, E. (Ed) 1989, Colonial Voices. Letters, Diaries, Journalism and other Accounts of Nineteenth Century Australia. University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia.