This unit explores questions about how literature functions as the social memory of a nation. How does it register the making of place and identity in a newly encountered world? How was the conflicted terrain and violence of the colonial enterprise negotiated textually? How does literature conjure the enduring myths of Australian identity? The unit makes accessible much of the fascinating but little known writing of 19th century Australia. It looks closely at a range of different kinds of writing from the beginning of European settlement through to Federation, including work by colonial officers, convict men and women, bush poets, women suffragists, Aboriginal petitioners and popular playwrights as well as contemporary rewritings.
