y separately published work icon Australasian Journal of Popular Culture periodical issue   peer reviewed assertion
Issue Details: First known date: 2014... vol. 3 no. 1 March 2014 of The Australasian Journal of Popular Culture est. 2012 Australasian Journal of Popular Culture
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Contents

* Contents derived from the , 2014 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Editor’s Letter : The Undecidable Lightness of Writing Crime, Alistair Rolls , single work criticism (p. 3-8)
Why Crime, Barry Maitland , single work criticism
'In this article, the author, an established crime novelist, examines what distinguishes the crime novel form and some of the ways in which it has been regarded by both past and present authors and critics, and with reference to his own practice.' (Publisher's abstract)
(p. 9-17)
Gendering the Genre : Three Australian Women Writers and their Debut Crime Fiction Novels, Rachel Franks , single work criticism
'The creators and consumers of crime fiction have changed dramatically since the genre, established in ancient times to define legal and moral codes and indicate the consequences for breaking those codes, first started to gain widespread popularity as a form of entertainment in the eighteenth century. One of the most significant of these changes can be seen in the slow but steady rise of the female as consumer, creator and character. There are many ways to explore some of the gendered changes within the crime fiction genre, one of which is to examine novels written by women who have chosen female protagonists to tell their stories. Ostensibly quite different texts, Miles Franklin’s Bring the Monkey (1933), June Wright’s Murder in the Telephone Exchange (1948) and Elizabeth Antill’s Death on the Barrier Reef (1952) are three debut crime novels that share some striking similarities. In addition to all three novels featuring female first-person narrators, these stories also tell tales of very violent crimes and contribute to documenting some of the shifts in views on gender, female friendship, marriage and class within what has become the world’s most popular genre.' (Publication abstract)
(p. 57-71)
Crime on the Airwaves : The Carter Brown Mystery Theatre, Toni Johnson-Woods , single work criticism
'In the mid-1950s, Carter Brown Mystery books were selling in the millions in Australia; their robust humour and simple plots made them ideal fodder for radio adaptation. The Carter Brown Mystery Theatre did not make a great impact upon Australian radio per se, but it was popular enough to be onsold overseas. This article explores the Carter Brown Mystery Theatre as an exemplar of recuperating an unexplored area of the Australian radio industry: popular crime serials. Finally, it posits a ‘grammar’ of radio.' (Publication abstract)
(p. 73-93)
What’s Broken in Peter Temple’s The Broken Shore?, John West-Sooby , single work criticism

'Crime fiction, in its various forms, has produced many remarkable and memorable characters. But beyond the interest we might take in the individual destinies of the protagonists crime novels arouse in us a more fundamental and deep-seated desire: the yearning for order to be reestablished following the scandalous transgression of society’s laws and conventions. Dysfunction and rupture, and the quest for their repair, are thus defining features of the crime genre. In Peter Temple’s 2005 novel The Broken Shore, however, disorder and disruption extend to every facet of society, and are even reflected in the prose itself. By examining the omnipresence of rupture in the novel, this essay seeks to provide a greater appreciation both of Peter Temple’s vision of Australian society and of the originality of his approach to the conventions of crime fiction.' (Publication abstract)

(p. 95-104)
Smoking in Arcadia, or Barry Maitland’s Embodied Folly : Re-opening the Case of The Malcontenta, Alistair Rolls , single work criticism
'This article reveals the multilayered structure of Barry Maitland’s second Brock and Kolla mystery, The Malcontenta (1995). In particular, it will be shown how the concept of hospitality is reflexively staged, as is the concept of the novel’s paratextual skin and sub-dermal liminal zones, in order to set up any number of border crossings and transgressions. To this end, the work of the Yale School of deconstructionists is used to demonstrate how each border crossing suggests an alternative reading of the text. Multiple instances of mise en abyme will be exposed as, respectively, the authority of detective, author and reader is challenged. Certain red herrings will be elevated to the status of alternate solutions and, finally, a suggested alternate murderer will be installed from outside the more obvious candidates on offer.' (Publication abstract)
(p. 105 -119)
The Author and the Criminal, Courtney Collins , single work prose (p. 129-132)
[Untitled], Carolyn Beasley , single work review
— Review of The Richmond Conspiracy Andrew Grimes , 2012 single work novel ;
(p. 139-143)
[Review] The Broken Shore, Rachel Franks , single work review
— Review of The Broken Shore Peter Temple , 2005 single work novel ;
(p. 139-143)
X