Critique and creativity : the pedagogical nexus between literary studies and creative writing

This paper will explore the nexus between literary studies and creative writing on the basis of Stanley Aronowitz’s and Henry Giroux’s work on the democratic potential embedded in a critical literacy education, which provides ‘a language of critique’ and ‘a language of possibility’ (1993: 46). This paper argues that literary studies and
creative writing, as cognate disciplines focused precisely on languages of critique and possibility, are uniquely positioned to cooperatively enact this pedagogical agenda.

Scandalous texts : the anxieties of the literary

This thesis explores contemporary literary scandals in order to identify the cultural and literary anxieties revealed by controversial works. Examining how scandals emerge in relation to challenging representations of children, women, religion and authenticity, the thesis argues that literary controversies reveal concerns about the construction of identity, history and reality.

Literary praxis : engaging with texts in classroom settings

This article focuses on a small group of teachers as they reflect on the strategies they use to support their students in their efforts to interpret literary texts. We argue that the interpretation of literary texts within classroom settings is mediated in complex ways: by the social context of the classroom, the insti-tutional setting of the school (including its curriculum and organization), as well as mandated educa-tional policies. These dimensions shape the relationships between teachers and students as they engage in the ‘social exchange of meanings’ (Reid, 1984) that is prompted by the texts chosen for study. Stu-dents bring their own biographies to this exchange, drawing on their experiences outside school in order to make meanings from the texts they are required to read. Teachers, on the other hand, also bring their biographies with them into classrooms, including their beliefs about the value of a literary educa-tion. By exploring the reflections in which a small group of teachers of literature engage about their work, we ask questions about the value of a literary education, reaffirming its significance in the con-temporary world.

The value of circles and the dangers of straight lines

This article focuses on how respectful learning relationships based on reciprocity between a Anglo-western raised educator and South Sudanese Australian students and graduates in social work and welfare courses in a regional location have (re)shaped the development of a research process. A reflective critique is intertwined with a description of my search (as an experienced practitioner but new researcher) for an appropriate ethical cross cultural framework for researching and advocating with a small ethnic population in a regional location. This includes a description of the process of exploring the need for, and positioning of, changing and re-creating relationships between the ‘researcher(s)’ and the ‘researched’ as co-authors; co-researchers; collaborators and participants to address issues of selfdetermination and power in the context of cross cultural research, education and human rights. The motivation to research seems a pivotal part of ethics in cross cultural research. As an educator I became concerned that the courses I taught in, and my own teaching practices, were (unintentionally) discriminatory. There appeared to be a lack of acknowledgement and/or action regarding the ingrained Western whiteness permeated and privileged knowledge and approaches in the construction and delivery of courses. I did not think I was adequately responding to, recognising or incorporating the different knowledge’s, strengths and needs of South Sudanese Australian students and graduates. There was a lack of fit between the academic rhetoric of human rights and diversity and my/our educator practice. This article explores the ‘corralling’ effect of mainstream research culture with attention to its potential for seduction and corruption that tends to separate the passion from the researcher, the researcher from the researched, and the actual issue(s) of concern ….from everyone.

Book review: Richard Lance Keeble and John Tulloch (eds), Global literary journalism: exploring the journalistic imagination

Reviews a new book on international literary journalism and includes critical commentary on the Australian field of literary journalism.

Delight and revolution: literary studies, aesthetics and ideology

 A commissioned article for the special edition on the future of English as a discipline.

Literary conversations: an Australian classroom

Teachers listen attentively to the classroom conversations in which their students engage. This often involves delicate judgments about whether to stay silent or intervene. Should I move the discussion along by asking a question or making a comment? Or would it be better to allow the conversation to continue, however awkwardly the students might be expressing their insights? Awkward or not, there is value in providing opportunities for young people to find the words they need in order to converse with one another in classroom settings, building on each other’s sentences in an effort to jointly construct meaning and reach understanding.

Colonial feminism and Australian literary culture in Ethel and Lilian Turner's the Parthenon (1889–92)

The Parthenon is a unique example of a colonial Australian magazine published for girl readers by two aspirant writers, Ethel and Lilian Turner. In addition to its domestic content, typical of women's magazines, it also sought to contribute to nascent Australian literary culture. This article locates the Parthenon within the history of colonial women's publishing and literary culture, and situates its content within the context of the Woman Movement of the period. It reads the Parthenon's telling picture of young women's perceptions of colonial literary culture and of the need to balance literary aspirations with domestic responsibilities through the lens of the “expediency feminism” advocated by the Dawn, a women's magazine published by Louisa Lawson from 1888. The article argues that the Parthenon's superficially conservative opinion of women's supreme calling being in the home rather than the newspaper office or university library was in alignment with the arguments made by the Woman Movement to advocate for women's greater participation in the public sphere. The comparison of these contemporaneous monthly publications written and produced by women enables an understanding of the ways in which late nineteenth-century attempts to encourage women's careers and independence were grounded in domesticity.