Sir Walter Scott in the western district, 1836-1851

A survey of 30 early settlement squatters in Victoria, using their letters, diaries and memoirs to compile a regional history of colonial readers. The resulting reader-responses support the emerging interpretations of Affective Reading, rather than more conventional strategies of literary criticism (New Historicism and Discourse Analysis).

Collaborative authorship in film production: Walter Murch and film editing

Filmmaking is frequently cited as the most collaborative of all arts, yet for the most part, mainstream and scholarly literature have received films as the creative voice of just one artist – the director. The reasons for this are many: general ignorance of how films are made; the hijacking of film theory by literary theory, and the continuing popularity of the myth of the Romantic Artist as solitary genius are some of them. The case for collaborative authorship has gained momentum since the 1980s as studies on the production of individual films, actors, production companies and the history of the film industry as a whole have proliferated and drawn attention to the disparities between how films are perceived and how they are actually made. This article analyses collaboration in film production culture through examination of the role of the film editor. Concentrating specifically on the film/sound editor and mixer Walter Murch, it examines his role as a collaborative author in his early work with director Francis Ford Coppola and his later work with English director Anthony Minghella.

"I feel I can no longer endure": Families and the limits of Commitment in Australia, 1914-1919

Civilian endurance has again become a significant issue in understanding the nature of the First World War, especially since so much emphasis has returned to questions of consent and commitment in making and sustaining the conflict. Fundamental to that enquiry is an acknowledgement of the reality and legitimacy of the sentiments that drove individuals and communities to support the war. By extension, this also implies a need to understand the limits of that commitment, and of the capacity to endure the strains of war. This chapter probes civilian endurance through an examination of Australian families’ experiences of war and separation. It argues that persistent anxiety over loved ones at the front consumed individuals’ emotional resources and, even among the most patriotic Australians, tested commitment to the war.