Major Movements in Contemporary Prose (ENGL6937)
Semester 1 / 2012

Texts

y separately published work icon Indelible Ink Fiona McGregor , Carlton North : Scribe , 2010 Z1679611 2010 single work novel (taught in 4 units)

'Marie King is a 59-year-old divorcée from Sydney's affluent north shore. Having devoted her rather conventional life to looking after her husband and three children - who have now all departed the family home - she is experiencing something of an identity crisis, especially as she must now sell the family home and thus lose her beloved garden. On a folly she gets a tattoo.

'Marie forges a friendship with her tattoo artist, Rhys, who introduces her to an alternative side of Sydney. Through their burgeoning connection, Marie's two worlds collide causing great friction within Marie's family and with her circle of rich friends.' (From the publisher's website.)

y separately published work icon Warra Warra : A Ghost Story John Scott , Melbourne : Text Publishing , 2003 Z1015731 2003 single work novel horror (taught in 2 units)
y separately published work icon Praise Andrew McGahan , North Sydney : Allen and Unwin , 1992 Z563591 1992 single work novel (taught in 16 units) 'Praise is an utterly frank and darkly humorous novel about being young in the Australian of the 1990s. A time when the dole was easier to get than a job, when heroin was better known than ecstasy, and when ambition was the dirtiest of words. A time when, for two hopeless souls, sex and dependence were the only lifelines.' (from back cover)
Trainspotting!$!Welsh, Irvine!$! !$!!$!
Rings of Saturn!$!Sebald, Winfried Georg!$! !$!!$!
One Hundred Years of Solitude!$!Marquez, Gabriel Garcia!$! !$!!$!
Eva Luna!$!Allende, Isabel!$! !$!!$!
If On A Winter's Night A Traveller!$!Clkavino, Italo!$! !$!!$!
y separately published work icon The Bone House Beverley Farmer , Artarmon : Giramondo Publishing , 2005 Z1227831 2005 selected work essay (taught in 1 units)
y separately published work icon Child's Play David Malouf , New York (City) : Vintage , 1999 Z943097 1981 single work novella (taught in 5 units) 'In the streets of an ordinary Italian town, the people go about their everyday lives. In an old apartment block above them, a young man pores over photographs and plans, dedicated to his life's most important project. Day by day, in imagination, he is rehearsing for his greatest performance. Yet when his moment comes, nothing could have prepared him for what happens. . .' (Source: Publisher's website)

Description

This unit introduces students to the rationale, principles and techniques of a selection of four major movements in contemporary prose (largely but not exclusively fiction), the particular movements in any one semester being dependent upon the expertise of the staff available. Sample components: the postmodern novel; ecritures feminines; magic realism; metafiction; contemporary realism; narrative non-fiction; ficto-criticism; the feminist detective; contemporary Australians; cyberfiction; life writing. Each movement is taught by way of two exemplary texts, one Australian and one drawn from other writing in the English language.

Assessment

1x4500wd essay (100%)

Other Details

Offered in: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003
Current Campus: Camperdown/Darlington
Levels: Postgraduate
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