Australian Literature and History B (LCS32)
Semester 1, Summer Semester / 2011

Texts

y separately published work icon Power Without Glory : A Novel in Three Parts Frank Hardy , Melbourne : Realist Printing and Publishing Company , 1950 Z512009 1950 single work novel (taught in 5 units)

'This is a tale of corruption stretching from street corner SP bookmaking to the most influential men in the land - and the terrible personal cost of the power such corruption brings. John West rose from a Melbourne slum to dominate Australian politics with bribery, brutality and fear. His attractive wife and their children turned away from him in horror. Friends dropped away. At the peak of his power, surrounded by bootlickers, West faced a hate-filled nation - and the terrible loneliness of his life. Was John West a real figure? For months during the post-war years, an Australian court heard evidence in a sensational libel action brought by businessman John Wren's wife. After a national uproar which rocked the very foundations of the Commonwealth, Frank Hardy was acquitted. This is the novel which provoked such intense uproar and debate across the nation. The questions it poses remain unanswered…' (Publication summary)

y separately published work icon Prelude to Christopher Eleanor Dark , Sydney : P. R. Stephensen , 1934 Z824226 1934 single work novel (taught in 22 units)

'Should a woman bear a child knowing that there are traces of insanity in her family? Linda Hainlin, niece of a famous biologist, was aware of the danger when she married Dr. Nigel Hendon, a practical idealist, whose creed was normality and the rational ordering of the world. This book tells how, years later, while temporarily deprived of her husband's sane companionship, Linda feels the oncoming of those homicidal impulses which presage madness. On this tragic theme, 'Prelude to Christopher' is written with strong literary art as a narrative of four days of crisis. The story goes back in memory to the happiness of Linda's love for Nigel, and forward in her frightened imagination to a future from which the strongest must flinch. Christopher, the unborn child, dominates terrific events in which he has no living part to play. The prelude to his birth is told with emotional power.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

y separately published work icon The Australian Short Story : An Anthology from the 1890s to the 1980s Laurie Hergenhan (editor), St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 1986 Z380969 1986 anthology short story (taught in 13 units)

Description

Continue your exploration of Australian writing, this time between 1930 and 1960 in the context of the three great national crises of those years: The Great Depression; The Second World War; and The Cold War. In this unit students read a selection of novels, poetry and short stories by writers including Eleanor Dark, Frank Hardy, Patrick White, Kenneth Slessor, John Manifold and Katharine Susannah Prichard. This unit examines the inter-relations between literary writing and reading, cultural institutions and political movements and ideologies in Australian history from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Assessment

Essay (34%)

Non-Invigilated Exam (66%)

Other Details

This Unit is coordinated through Griffith University.

The availability of this subject is Study Period 2 (30 May 2011 - 28 August) and Study Period 4 (28 November - 26 February).


Current Campus: Online
Levels: Undergraduate
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