THE ROUTLEDGE COMPANION TO AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE

In recent years Australian literature has experienced a revival of interest both domestically and internationally. The increasing prominence of work by writers like Christos Tsiolkas heightened through television and film adaptation as well as the award of major international prizes to writers like Richard Flanagan and the development of new high-profile prizes like the Stella Prize have all reinvigorated interest in Australian literature both at home and abroad. This Companion emerges as a part of that reinvigoration considering anew the history and development of Australian literature and its key themes as well as tracing the transition of the field through those critical debates. It considers works of Australian literature on their own terms as well as positioning them in their critical and historical context and their ethical and interactive position in the public and private spheres. With an emphasis on literature’s responsibilities this book claims Australian literary studies as a field uniquely positioned to expose the ways in which literature engages with produces and is produced by its context provoking a critical re-evaluation of the concept of the relationship between national literatures cultures and histories and the social function of literary texts.