The romanticism of contemporary theory : institution, aesthetics, nihilism

"Justin Clemens presents a valuable study of the links between Romanticism and contemporary theory. The central contention of this book is that contemporary theory is still essentially Romantic - despite all its declarations to the contrary, and despite all its attempts to elude or exceed the limits bequeathed it by Romantic thought." "This study will be of interest to literary theorists, philosophers, political theorists, and cultural studies scholars."--BOOK JACKET.

Weaving textual tapestries: weaving the 'Italian woman-writer' into the social fabric

A tapestry is a fabric in which multicoloured threads are interwoven to produce a pictorial design. The design of a tapestry often seems three-dimensional with layers of interwoven images of people and events from various times past and present. I use the tapastry as a motif or metaphor to describe the bordering and interweaving of my 'multiple lifeworlds' (Cope & Kalantzis 8) as an Italian Australian woman, academic, writer and social activist. Within and between each .of these worlds are points of tension and confluence, questions and emotions that motivate my own research and writing, and motivate my work with young people to articulate their own 'multiple lifeworlds' through writing
and art.

Australian women artists and domesticity in the twentieth century

The professionalism of women artists around the turn of the century coincided with the growing expectation that female members of the family should do the housework formerly done by domestic servants. The Women's Art Register was the research base for the compilation of a twentieth century history of Australian women artists and their attitude towards domesticity and housework. The authors work as located within this artistic tradition is also discussed.

Patterns of coronary heart disease mortality over the 20th century in England and Wales : possible plateaus in the rate of decline

Background
Coronary heart disease (CHD) rates in England and Wales between 1950 and 2005 were high and reasonably steady until the mid 1970s, when they began to fall. Recent work suggests that the rate of change in some groups has begun to decrease and may be starting to plateau or even reverse.

Methods
Data for all deaths between 1931 and 2005 in England and Wales were grouped by year, sex, age at death and contemporaneous ICD code for CHD as cause of death. CHD mortality rates by calendar year and birth cohort were produced for both sexes and rates of change were examined.

Results
The pattern of increased burden of CHD mortality within older age groups has only recently emerged in men, whereas it has been established in women for far longer. CHD mortality rates among younger people showed little variation by birth cohort. For younger women (49 and under), the rate of change in CHD mortality has reversed in the last 20 years, indicating a future plateau and possible reversal of previous improvement in CHD mortality rates. Among younger men the rate of change in CHD mortality has been consistent for the past 15 years indicating that rates in this group have continued to fall steadily.

Conclusion
Although CHD mortality rates continue to drop in older age groups the actual burden of coronary heart disease is increasing due to the ageing of the population. The rate of improvement in CHD mortality appears to be beginning to decline and may even be reversing among younger women.

A warrior nation

Under Prime Minister John Howard, Australia today appears to have turned away from Asia, returning to a Western oriantation. Has racial invasion fear, once expressed in the 'White Australia' policy, been the determinant of relations with Asia? I argue, in contrast, first, that invasion fear preceded race fear and, second, that Australia was unlucky, in coming to nationhood during the eras of Social Darwinism and New Imperialism, scaling ideas of race citizenship into its national formation. It was unlucky to associate national 'manhood' with Gallipoli and war, making the national tradition expeditionary nationalism, or ANZAC. War is central in national memory and public patriotism, primarily because war has been carried out overseas rather than through fighting on Australian soil, and the devastation of Australian cities. Even after the retreat of Western empires in Asia, and of racial ideology, why has this romantic and foolish view of war as an expression of the nation persisted? Paradoxically, Australians romanticise war even though, after 1788, there has been no other invasion of a continent which is harder to invade than it is to defend.