Australian Lit

Technoculture and hyperreality (information age society has moved past the industrial age.Baudrillard
-postmodernity defined by a shift into hyperreality in
which simulations have replaced the real. Technology
has become a central focus in many lives, and our
understanding of the real is mediated by simulations of
the real. Don DeLillo's White Noise - characters are
bombarded with a "white noise" of television, product
brand names, and clichs.)

British PoMo Authors

Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses
Julian Barnes, Flauberts Parrot
Ian McEwan, Atonement
Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor
Martin Amis, Times Arrow
Angela Carter, Wise Children
Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
John Fowles, The French Lieutenants Woman
Sarah Waters, The Little Stranger

American PoMo Authors

Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire
Thomas Pynchon, Gravitys Rainbow
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five
Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
Toni Morrison, Beloved
Paul Auster, The New York Trilogy
Don DeLillo, White Noise

Introduction to
Australian Literature
Australian literature literary work produced in the area or by the
people of the Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding colonies.
Australia was a collection of British colonies, therefore, its literary
tradition begins with and is linked to the broader tradition of English
literature.
Since 1788, the character of a new continent is introduced into
literature - exploring such themes as Aboriginality, mateship,
egalitarianism, democracy, migrant and national identity, distance
from other Western nations and proximity to Asia, the complexities
of urban living and the "beauty and the terror" of life in the
Australian bush

 First landing by Dutch explorers, beginning of 17th

century
First settled at the end of the 18th century, as a penal
colony of Great Britain.
First literary works by British explorers and officers
accounts of the settlement of Australia.

 As a British colony and later a Commonwealth state,

Australia profoundly influenced by Britain in all aspects
of society
AustLit since 19th century
First popular works novels about life on the frontier,
using vernacular language (Australian dialect)
Later in the 19th century Gothic novels, poetry, drama,
childrens literature, histories

Themes in AustLit
Relationship to Australia country often seen as
threatening and alien
Mateship - intensly loyal relationship of shared
experience, mutual respect and unconditional
assistance existing between friends (mates) in Australia
National identity what it means to be Australian
Patrick White and Peter Carey

 Since mid-20th century, AustLit emerges with a

distinctive voice of its own
Not least under the influence of extensive immigration
from Asia and Europe
Immigrants brought in elements of their culture and
identity to Australian literature

Significant and Contemporary

Australian Authors
Patrick White (Nobel Prize 1973), Riders in the Chariot
Elizabeth Jolley, Milk and Honey, Lovesong
Peter Carey (Man Booker Prize 1988, 2001), Oscar and
Lucinda, True History of the Kelly Gang
Thomas Keneally, Schindlers Ark
Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

Introduction to
Canadian Literature
Canada's dominant cultures were originally British and
French, as well as aboriginal. Since the 1970s, Canada
gradually became home to a more diverse population of
readers and writers. The country's literature has been
strongly influenced by international immigration,
particularly in recent decades.