Australian Literature: Fiction into Film
Outcomes: Students are able to read and critique a range of contemporary Australian narratives, filmic and written; gain knowledge of the connections and differences between book and film narrative; recognise and analyse dominant ideological (and formal) structures in the unit narratives (and others) in relation to a history of Australian narrative and of Australian society; enhance writing, research and oral skills; and understand the central place of narrative in Australian culture.
Content: In recent years Australian films have had an exciting impact on the way Australians see themselves and on the image of Australia in the world at large. Many such films are based on Australian novels, a different form of narrative. This unit focuses on several Australian novels and the films which have been made from them. It examines the relationship between the two genres, both through the way in which each uses the narrative techniques available to it and through the differences that occur in the transmission of the book into the film. The unit also considers how both novels and films represent issues that are central to contemporary Australian society, for example, the significance of the landscape; gender and race relations; sex, money and work; and the beach, city and suburbs.
This comprises formal written work and tutorial participation.
Supplementary assessment is not available in this unit except in the case of a bachelor's pass degree student who has obtained a mark of 45 to 49 and is currently enrolled in this unit, and it is the only remaining unit that the student must pass in order to complete their course.
