Cirrus@Austlit

This course is constructed around the discussion of written and filmic texts. Though it is articulated around the theme of Australian and Canadian novels, films, poetry & plays, it will also focus on a number of general critical issues and theories including genre & generic conventions, feminism, post-colonialism, post-structuralism and on the strategies which various writers & film-makers from both countries use to put forward such perspectives. The dominant focus of the subject will be to examine the ways that writing from minority groups have redefined the shape and space of Canadian and Australian creative works. This subject will be focused to spotlight Indigenous writers and writers of colour, and to deal directly with theory written by these cultural practitioners about their own work.

Extra Information:

Students will acquire the following information, and generic skills/competencies as a result of their participation in this subject: Commitment to independent learning intellectual development and critical analysis; coherent and extensive knowledge within a discipline; self-confidence combined with written and oral skills of a high level; ability logically to analyze issues and critically evaluate arguments; acknowledgment of individual responsibilities and obligations with a capacity to challenge assumptions of homogeneity.

Subject Objectives:

Students completing this course should be able to: 1. demonstrate a general knowledge of comparative theory; 2. critically analyse the texts chosen for study; 3. discuss the construction and representation of cultural concepts such as gender, 'race' and class in the context of speculative modes of production; 4. demonstrate an understanding of the way race, gender and idealogy function in the production of individual and national identity formation; 5. demonstrate a familiarity with genre analysis and its application to a range of texts.