Introduction to Australian Literature

A brief overview of Australian literature focussing on some of its central themes. Also a guide to reading literary texts. Focuses on short stories, novels and poetry.

ENGL1100 Introduction to Australian Literature provides a general introduction to the study of Australian literature. In addition to surveying texts from a range of genres and periods, students will be introduced to critical reading skills and to significant themes in Australian cultural history.

The course comprises three sections:

1. An initial look at nineteenth century texts (exclusively poetry and short stories) to acquaint students with the basic issues addressed in the literature of this period: convictism, men's rural working lives, women's lives, conflict with indigenous peoples etc.

2. A survey of the literature of the the twentieth century using short stories, novels, poetry and a sampling of indigenous texts to focus on a number of issues: black-white relationships, women's lives, competing ethnicities within Australian culture, etc.

3. A brief look at short stories and poems which might foreshadow issues in Australian literature in the twenty-first century.

Texts: 

Prichard, Katharine Susannah Coonardoo : The Well in the Shadow 1928 Novel

Hergenhan, Laurie [ed.] The Australian Short Story : An Anthology from the 1890s to the 1980s 1986 Short story

Anderson, Jessica Tirra Lirra by the River 1978 Novel

Carey, Peter True History of the Kelly Gang 2000 Novel