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y separately published work icon Cultural Interfaces anthology   criticism  
Issue Details: First known date: 2004... 2004 Cultural Interfaces
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Cultural Interfaces is a collection of twenty papers by international as well as young research scholars engaged in Australian Studies in India. These were presented at the First International Conference of the Indian Association for the Study of Australia (IASA). With contributions from Bruce Bennett, Jennifer Strauss, Dennis Haskell, Satendra Nandan, David Kimber, Fran Siemensma, Parimal Roy and Marianne Robinson, Y. Yagama Reddy and Quentin-Stevenson Perks amongst many others, this volume reflects a dynamic engagement of ideas, both from a literary and a socio-political perspective, in the areas of history, culture, art, trade and education. The interfaces these essays provide, the interdisciplinary ethos they promote, are a much-needed new dimension to the study of Australian culture, society and polity in India. The present collection is set to meet precisely that objective.'

Notes

  • A collection of selected papers originally presented at the First International Conference of the Indian Association for the Study of Australia (IASA). The conference was held at the University of Madras, Chennai, 9-11 January 2002.
  • Contents indexed selectively.

Contents

* Contents derived from the New Delhi,
c
India,
c
South Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,:Indialog Publications , 2004 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Crossing Cultures: Australia and the Asia Pacific, Bruce Bennett , single work criticism
Bennett establishes Australia's ambivalence about its own place in the world and then examines how this 'context of a colonial and post-colonial culture in Australia' has affected the perception of Asia and the Pacific. Considering Australia's relationship with Asia, as depicted in her national literature, Bennett focuses particularly on the writings of Christopher Koch, Nicholas Jose and Brian Castro. In conclusion, Bennett states that although Australia will continue to be influenced by Europe and North America, an 'enhanced interaction with Indo-Asia-Pacific countries is already generating and will generate further beneficial changes to Australian culture and society.'
 (p. 1-17)
Note: Includes bibliography
Voice of Australia: Who Speaks for the Aborigine?, Anjali Gera Roy , single work criticism
Roy examines the 'legitimacy of the speaking subject' and concludes that 'If the speaking status of the aboriginal writer is legitimised merely by identity markers like whiteness and blackness, non-aboriginal writers like Wositzky would naturally be denied entry. However, they could claim speaking rights by speaking space of writing. Mudrooroo or Morgan are no more privileged than Wositzky in articulating primordial aboriginal identities. On the other hand, finding a vantage point in the discursive space of orality can help them archive, if not recover, aboriginal voice.'
 (p. 18-29)
Note: Includes bibliography
Re-Imagining the Australian Nation-Space : Voices from Aboriginal Australia, S. K. Sareen , Susan Thomas , single work criticism
Sareen and Thomas 'look at some of the dimensions of the concept of an/several Aboriginal nation(s), its implications and ramifications with special reference to how it can and has been used to revise the history, politics and culture of these peoples in relation to the structures and discourses of the Australian nation.' Reference is made to some Aboriginal Australian writers, including Sally Morgan, Doris Pilkington and Ruby Langford Ginibi.
 (p. 30-40)
Note: Includes bibliography.
Red Ochre in the Moonlight : Cultural Self-Inscription in Kim Mahood's Craft for a Dry Lake, Anita Balakrishnan , single work criticism
Balakrishnan argues that, in Craft for a Dry Lake, Kim Mahood 'turns away from the myth of the outback associated with her father and her childhood idealisation of it, and envisions a syncretic identity that partakes of both the white settler and Aboriginal traditions that constitute her heritage. Secondly, the notion of the child as an emblem of the self that remains deep within the individual recurs, so the autobiographical narration of childhood becomes a way of giving meaning to the self. Mahood, in Craft for a Dry Lake negotiates between these versions of subjectivity in her quest for authentic, albeit syncretic selfhood.'
 (p. 41-48)
The Mythical, Mystical Bush, Dennis Haskell , single work criticism
Haskell discusses the 'two opposing strands of thought' evident in Australian culture - either a scorn or lament about differences from Europe and about difficulties imposed, versus a nationalistic celebration of difference and difficulty.' He also comments on the 'limited influence of organised religion' in the development of Australian cultural life.
 (p. 49-59)
Note: Includes bibliography
(Re)constructing Aboriginality : Scripting Ecological Poetics in Kim Scott's True Country, Divya Anand , single work criticism
Anand argues that Kim Scott's True Country 'offers a rich scope to initiate an eco-aesthetical study aimed at reconstructing the virtually extinct paradigms of aboriginal life.'
 (p. 60-69)
Note: Includes bibliography
A Re-Vision of Australian Culture in Louis Nowra's The Golden Age, Usha Kalyani , single work criticism
'This paper examines Nowra's The Golden Age, which presents a complex and searching dramatisation of Australian culture. As it makes bold cultural statements about Australia's convict and Aboriginal heritage, it addresses the larger issues of what is culture and how one could aspire for it. '
 (p. 70-76)
Note: Includes bibliography
Absences, Silences and Dreams in David Malouf's Dream Stuff, V. Padma , single work criticism
In examining the stories contained in the collection Dream Stuff, Padma concludes that most of them 'can be seen as a movement towards a deeper awareness and realisation of the inherent "human-ness" in all relationships - something every multicultural society needs to move towards ...'
 (p. 77-83)
The Australian Ghazal: Reading Judith Wright, Anisur Rahman , single work criticism
Rahman argues that in writing 'The Shadow of Fire' sequence, Wright exhibited a 'major variation on the style of her later poetry. In writing her ghazal she has written a new kind of poem, and in writing that poem she has evolved a new ghazal.'
 (p. 84-92)
Note: Includes bibliography
Island as Metaphor in A. D. Hope's Man Friday, Malati Mathur , single work criticism
Mathur states that 'The most interesting point in this poem, I feel, is the way in which the island concept is structured to weave in and out of our consciousness as a metaphor.' The island functions 'as a metaphor for the human mind itself.' Mathur concludes that the poem evolves into 'a powerful post-colonial comment on the soul-destroying effects of an assumption of superiority based on race and colour.'
 (p. 93-99)
Note: Includes brief bibliography
The Return of the Oppressed : Re-Writing the Female Self in Lilian's Story and Joan Makes History, Mridula Jose , single work criticism
Examining the female protagonists in two of Grenville's novels, Jose concludes that 'Storytelling is one of the strongest strategies used by Grenville. The story replaces what happens, and having control over the story provides control over the truth. It is the one who tells the story, who is made immortal. Grenville has control, very much like her protagonists Lilian and Joan. It is in the act of "telling" and "voicing" their stories, that Grenville is able to avenge those who have tradtionally been rendered voiceless.'
 (p. 100-106)
Note: Includes brief bibliography
Racist and Colonial Consciousness: Reading Judith Wright and Sally Morgan, Harpreet Pruthi , single work criticism
Pruthi asserts that 'Australian women's writing [...] tends to tread on problematic grounds as it ends up confining itself to the very limits imposed and demarcated by the patriarchal-colonial-monolithic institution of literature as politics and politics as literature.'
 (p. 107-117)
Note: Includes bibliography
Always a Labour Woman: Mary Gilmore's Life of Poetry and Politics, Jennifer Strauss , single work criticism
Strauss traces the various phases of development in Mary Gilmore's life and examines how these developments are reflected in her poetry.
 (p. 118-134)
Note: Includes bibliography
Islands in an Archipelago: The Writer and the Multicultural World, Satendra Nandan , single work criticism
Nandan examines aspects of hegemony, identity and responsibility as they relate to Fiji, India and Australia.
 (p. 135-152)
Note: Includes bibliography
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Last amended 17 Jan 2020 10:02:36
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