Medievalism and the Gothic in Australian Culture (Hardcover)

Senior Lecturer in English Stephanie Trigg

ISBN 10: 2503517021 / ISBN 13: 9782503517025

Edité par Brepols N.V., Turnhout, 2005

A propos de cet article

Hardcover. This collection opens up a new field of academic and general interest: Australian medievalism. That is, the heritage and continuing influence of medieval and gothic themes, ideas and cultural practices. Geographically removed from Europe, and distinguished by its eighteenth-century colonial settlement, Australia is a fascinating testing-ground on which to explore the cultural residues of medieval and gothic tradition. These traditions take a distinctive form, once they have been 'transported' to a different topographical setting, and a cultural context whose relationship with Europe has always been dynamic and troubled. Early colonists attempted to make the unfamiliar landscape of Australia familiar by inscribing it with European traditions: since then, a diverse range of responses and attitudes to the medieval and gothic past have been played out in Australian culture, from traditional forms of historical reconstruction through to playful postmodernist pastiche. These essays examine the early narratives of Australian 'discovery' and the settlement of what was perceived as a hostile, gothic environment; exercises of medieval revivalism and association consonant with the British nineteenth-century rediscovery of chivalric ideals and aesthetic, spiritual and architectural practices and models; the conscious invocation and interrogation of medieval and gothic tropes in Australian fiction and poetry, including children's literature; the transformation of those tropes in fantasy, role-playing games and subcultural groups; and finally, the implication of the medieval past for discussions of Australian nationalism. This collection is designed too open up a new field of academic and general interest: Australian medievalism. That is, the heritage and continuing influence of medieval and gothic themes, ideas and narratives in Australian culture. Geographically removed from Europe, and distinguished by its eighteenth-century colonial settlement, Australia is a fascinating testing-ground on which to explore the cultural residues of medieval heritage and tradition. These traditions take distinctive form, once they have been 'transported' to a different topographical setting, and a cultural context whose relationship with Europe has always been dynamic and troubled. Early colonists attempted to make the unfamiliar landscape of Australia familiar by inscribing it with European traditions: in contrast, modern gothic and medievalist re-enactment groups celebrate their own modernity and their separation from tradition by consciously embracing the medieval and the gothic as an opportunity for postmodernist pastiche or simulation. The contributors represent a range of scholarly disciplines and traditions. Their subject matter includes the early narratives of Australian discovery, and the settlement of what was perceived as a hostile, gothic environment; exercises in medieval revivalism contemporaneous with the British nineteenth-century rediscovery of chivalric ideals and aesthetic, spiritual and architectural practices and models; the conscious invocation of medieval and gothic tropes in Australian fiction and poetry, including some Aboriginal fiction and children's literature; the transformation of the medieval and the gothic fantasy literature, role-playing games and subcultural groups, and finally, theimplications of medieval and gothic tropes for discussion of Australian nationalism. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

N° de réf. du vendeur 9782503517025

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Medievalism and the Gothic in Australian Culture (Hardcover)
• Éditeur: Brepols N.V., Turnhout
• Date de parution: 2005
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 2503517021
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9782503517025
• Reliure: Hardcover
• État de l'article: new

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

This collection explores the cultural residues of medieval and gothic tradition in Australian culture.