Texts

Translations, Friel
y separately published work icon Harland's Half Acre David Malouf , London : Chatto and Windus Hogarth Press , 1984 Z81132 1984 single work novel (taught in 3 units)

'Born on a poor dairy farm in Queensland, Frank Harland's life is centred on his great artistic gift, his passionate love for his father and four brothers and his need to repossess, through a patch of land, his family's past. The story spans Frank's life; from before the First World War, through years as a swaggie in the Great Depression and Brisbane in the forties, to his retirement to a patch of Australian scrub where he at last takes possession of his dream. Solitude and society, possession and dispossession, the obsessive and often violent claims of family life and love, illuminate the imagination of the artist and the larger world of events. This is an ambitious novel, presented simply and poetically; the narrative is absorbing, full of incident, and peopled with characters of formidable humour and power.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Vintage reprint).

y separately published work icon The End of Seeing Christy Collins , Sydney : Seizure , 2015 8937389 2015 single work novella (taught in 1 units)

'Determined to discover the truth about the disappearance of her partner, Nick, Ana sets out to re-trace the route he took as a photojournalist on the other side of the world - a journey that saw him presumed dead, on a ship wrecked off the coast of Italy. But Ana doesn't believe Nick is dead. In his photos, in the messages her memories of him seem to carry, and in her growing suspicion about his own need to disappear, she is increasingly sure he is alive somewhere. As she tracks his journey, she begins to witness the world that Nick saw through his camera - a world in which disappearance is not unexpected. ' (Publication summary)

Description

This unit offers students the opportunity to study and compare selections from colonial era writings with more recent texts created after colonial lands achieved independence. Attitudes towards race, conflict, religion and justice are examined in the texts selected. Students will also examine ways in which post-colonial literary theory may be applied to texts to produce rich interpretations.

Other Details

Current Campus: St Patrick's (Melbourne)
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