Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Australian 21st century'
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1
Lyssa, Alison. "Performing Australia's black and white history acts of danger in four Australian plays of the early 21st century /." Thesis, Electronic version, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/714.
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Thesis (MA)--Macquarie University (Division of Humanities, Department of English), 2006.Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in English in the Division of Humanities, Dept. of English, 2006. Bibliography: p. 199-210.
2
Mason, Anthony, and n/a. "Australian coverage of the Fiji coups of 1987 and 2000: sources, practice and representation." University of Canberra. Communication, 2009. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20090826.144012.
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For many Australians, Fiji is a place of holidays, coups and rugby. The extent to which we
think about this near-neighbour of ours is governed, for most, by what we learn about Fiji
through the media. In normal circumstances, there is not a lot to learn as Fiji rarely appears
in our media. At times of crisis, such as during the 1987 and 2000 coups in Fiji, there is
saturation coverage. At these times, the potential for generating understanding is great. The
reporting of a crisis can encapsulate all the social, political and economic issues which are a
cause or outcome of an event like a coup, elucidating for media consumers the culture, the
history and the social forces involved. In particular, the kinds of sources used and the kinds
of organisations these sources represent, the kinds of themes presented in the reporting, and
the way the journalists go about their work, can have a significant bearing on how an event
like a coup is represented. The reporting of the Fiji coups presented the opportunity to
examine these factors. As such, the aim of this thesis is to understand the role of the media
in building relationships between developed and developing post-colonial nations like
Australia and Fiji.
A content analysis of 419 articles published in three leading broadsheet newspapers, The
Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian and The Canberra Times, examined the basic
characteristics of the articles, with a particular focus on the sources used in these articles.
This analysis revealed that the reports were dominated by elite sources, particularly
representatives of governments, with a high proportion of Australian sources who provided
information from Australia. While alternative sources did appear, they were limited in
number. Women, Indian Fijians and representatives of non-government organisations were
rarely used as sources. There were some variations between the articles from 1987 and those
from 2000, primarily an increase in Indian Fijian sources, but overall the profile of the
sources were similar.
A thematic analysis of the same articles identified and examined the three most prevalent
themes in the coverage. These indicated important aspects of the way the coups were
represented: the way Fiji was represented, the way Australia's responses were represented,
and the way the coup leaders were represented. This analysis found that the way in which
the coups were represented reflected the nature of the relationship between Australia and
Fiji. In 1987, the unexpected nature of the coup meant there was a struggle to re-define how
Fiji should be understood. In 2000, Australia's increased focus on Fiji and the Pacific region
was demonstrated by reports which represented the situation as more complex and uncertain,
demanding more varied responses.
A series of interviews with journalists who travelled to Fiji to cover the coups revealed that
the working conditions for Australian media varied greatly between 1987 and 2000. The
situational factors, particularly those which limited their work, had an impact on the
journalists' ability to access specific kinds of sources and, ultimately, the kinds of themes
which appeared in the stories. The variation between 1987 and 2000 demonstrated that
under different conditions, journalists were able to access a more diverse range of sources
and present more sophisticated perspectives of the coup.
In a cross-cultural situation such as this, the impact of reporting dominated by elite sources
is felt not just in the country being covered, but also in the country where the reporting
appears. It presents a limited representation, which marginalises and downplays the often
complex social, cultural and historical factors which contribute to an event like a coup.
Debate and alternative ways of understanding are limited and the chance to engage more
deeply with a place like Fiji is, by and large, lost.
3
Nimmo, Heather. "Three plays : The other woman, Banana split, Awa' the crow road ; and an essay, Writing the end." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2005. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/645.
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The Other Woman is an eighty-minute stage play which asks the question: Do women really play the political game differently? A high-flying politician can't admit to a small mistake. A woman kills herself. Does her mother want justice or revenge? Banana Split is a ninety-minute comedy for two actors which investigates life after divorce, the connections between risk and reward, and the implications of doubling (or coupling). The play asks a number of questions: Is it riskier to stay or to go? Which is the more damaging to a relationship-nostalgia for a golden age or the fantasy of a perfect future? Awa’ the Crow Road is a half-hour play for radio. Two brothers are brought to Australia from Scotland, as children. Their father tells them;' We're here. We're Australian. We're not going back.' One brother goes back 10 Scotland. never to return. The other stays in Australia, never to leave. Thirty years pass. They meet again when their father is 'awa' the crow road'. The essay, Writing the end, examines selected literary and performance theory on endings from the perspective of the playwright who must write the end but avoid 'a strangulation'. Later sections of the essay use the endings of the three plays that make up the creative project, to illustrate more specific aspects of writing the end.
4
Kidson, Renee Louise. "Army in the 21st Century and Restructuring the Army: A Retrospective Appraisal of Australian Military Change Management in the 1990s." Thesis, Canberra, ACT : The Australian National University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/117069.
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Army in the 21st Century and Restructuring the Army:
A Retrospective Appraisal of Australian Military Change
Management in the 1990s
Abstract:
Army in the 21st Century (A21) and Restructuring the Army (RTA)
were two related force
structure initiatives undertaken by the Australian Army in the
1990s. A21 radically proposed
to abolish traditional divisional/corps structures, fielding
instead independent task forces with
embedded combat arms. The RTA trials tested A21 concepts over
several years; yet
A21/RTA was abandoned in 1999. What happened, why, and what
lessons does A21/RTA
offer?
This retrospective appraisal of A21/RTA is a case study of
attempted transformational change
in the Australian Army. The sub-thesis’ methodology features
interviews with over thirty
senior military, public service, academic and political leaders
of this era; and applies
organisational theory to interpret internal/external dynamics.
A21/RTA faced formidable strategy, resourcing and cultural
challenges. However A21/RTA
failed to achieve critical elements of successful change
management, including: a clear,
shared, credible vision; achieving early successes; providing
enablers (e.g. time and
resources) and supporting efforts for change; senior leadership
buy-in; and political
sponsorship. A21/RTA failed in technical feasibility and cultural
sensitivity terms. However,
A21/RTA successfully developed an evidence-based approach, an
enduring legacy
supporting Army’s capability resourcing in Defence’s
contested budget environment. Lessons
for future restructures focus leadership attention to elements
critical for successful
organisational change, emphasising culture.
5
Tuffin, Zoe. "Claiming Shakespeare for our own: An investigation into directing Shakespeare in Australia in the 21st century." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2014. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1285.
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Shakespeare has been performed on Australian stages for over two hundred years, yet despite this fact, in Australia we still treat Shakespeare as a revered idol. It seems that, as a nation of second-class convicts, consciously or not, we regard Shakespeare as a product of our aristocratic founders. However deeply buried the belief may be, we still think that the British perform Shakespeare ‘the right way’. As a result, when staging his plays today, our productions suffer from a cultural cringe.
This research sought to combat these inhibiting ideologies and endeavoured to find a way in which Australians might claim ownership over Shakespeare in contemporary productions of his plays. The methodology used to undertake this investigation was practice-led research, with the central practice being theatre directing. The questions the research posed were: can Australian directors in the 21st century navigate and reshape Shakespeare's works in productions that give actors and audiences ownership over Shakespeare? And, what role can irreverence play in this quest for ownership? In order to answer these questions, a strong reference point was required, to understand what Shakespeare, with no strings attached to tradition and scholarly reverence, looked and felt like. Taiwan became an ideal reference point, as the country is a site for unrestrained and strongly localised performances of the Shakespearean tradition. The company at the forefront of such Taiwanese productions is Contemporary Legend Theatre (CLT). Wu Hsing-kuo, the Artistic Director of CLT, creates jingju (Beijing opera) adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays, the most renowned of which is his solo King Lear, titled Li Er zaici.
The intention of the practice-led research was to use the ideas gathered from an interview with Wu and through watching a performance of Li Er zaici, to form an approach to directing Shakespeare in Australia today, which was free from the restrictions commonly encountered by Australians. The practical project involved trialling this approach in a series of workshops and rehearsals with eight actors over eight weeks, which ultimately resulted in a performance of an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.
Wu’s approach generated a sense of ownership over Shakespeare amongst the actors and widened their dominant, narrow concept of Shakespeare performances in Australia to incorporate a wealth of new possibilities. Yet, from this practical experiment, the strength and depth of the inhibiting ideologies surrounding Shakespeare in Australia was made apparent, as even when consciously seeking to remove them, they formed unconscious impediments. Despite the initial intention, a sense of veneration towards Shakespeare’s text entered the rehearsal process for Romeo and Juliet. This practice-led research revealed that as Australians we have an almost inescapable attachment to Shakespeare’s text, which ultimately begs the contrary question: in order to stage an irreverent and owned production of Shakespeare in Australia, how much of Shakespeare and his traditions must we abandon?
6
Gray, Nigel. "His story, a novel memoir (novel) ; and Fish out of water (thesis)." University of Western Australia. School of Social and Cultural Studies, 2009. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2009.0095.
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His Story takes the form of a fictive but autobiographically based investigation into the child and young adult I used to be, and follows that protagonist into early adulthood. It tries to show the damage done to that character and the way in which he damaged others in turn. As Hemingway said, We are all bitched from the start and you especially have to hurt like hell before you can write seriously. More importantly, the main protagonist is somebody who became concerned with, and cognizant of the main political and social events of his day. His life is set in its social context, and reaches out to the larger issues. That is to say, the personal events of the protagonist's life are recorded alongside and set in the context of the major events taking place on the world stage. The manuscript is some sort of hybrid of novel, autobiography, and historical and social document. As Isaac Bashevis Singer said, The serious writer of our time must be deeply concerned about the problems of his generation. In order to make His Story effective in sharing my ideas and beliefs, and, of course, in order to protect the innocent and more particularly, the guilty, it is created in the colourful area that is the overlap between memory and fiction. When we tell the stories of our lives to others, and indeed, to ourselves, we prise them out of memory's fingers and transform them into fiction. To write autobiography well, as E.L. Doctorow said, you have to invent everything, even memory.
7
Matters, Emily Helene. "AENEAS IN THE ANTIPODES The teaching of Virgil in New South Wales schools from 1900 to the start of the 21st century." University of Sydney. Classics and Ancient History, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/716.
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Aeneas in the Antipodes offers an Australian perspective on the teaching of Virgil�s poetry in the secondary school. The study examines practices in the State of New South Wales from 1900 to the early years of the twenty-first century. The changing role of Latin in the curriculum is traced through a historical account showing the factors which caused a decline in the status and popularity of the subject from the beginning of the century to the 1970s. This decline, not confined to Australia, stimulated the introduction of new teaching methods with different emphases which were, to some extent, successful in preserving Latin from extinction in schools. Against this background of change, Virgil remained the Latin author most frequently studied in the final year of school. Because this poetry was so consistently prescribed for public examinations, a detailed investigation is made of the questions set and of the examiners� comments on candidates� performance, as evidence of changes in expectations and hence, in teaching methods. The influence of trends in Virgilian scholarship is assessed by means of a review of all the officially recommended commentaries and secondary works. The growth of literary criticism from the 1960s is shown to have had a marked effect on syllabuses and examinations, and consequently on the approach taken in the classroom. The role of local professional organizations in supporting the teaching of Virgil has been documented, showing how the disappearance of official support for Latin teaching was to some extent counterbalanced by an increase in voluntary effort. The resources and methods used to introduce Virgil to comparative beginners are classified and reviewed. An assessment is also offered of approaches made to teaching Virgil in English at both junior and senior secondary levels. The final chapter reviews the changes brought about since 2000. Current teaching practices are documented through classroom observations and teacher surveys, substantiating the impression that while most students at the beginning of the twenty-first century are less prepared than their predecessors to translate Virgil independently, they are expected to attempt a far more sophisticated analysis of the literary features Note: For appendix 3-10 please see hardcopy edition.
8
Flynn, Warren. "Fragments of the moon (novel) ; and." University of Western Australia. School of Social and Cultural Studies, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0073.
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Fragments of the Moon is a novel set mostly in South Korea, examining relationships between people, interpersonal spaces, architectural spaces and landscape through a cross-cultural context. Matt, a graduate architect from Perth, Australia, finds himself increasingly vulnerable to cultural confusion as he adjusts to life away from his home and friends. Having initially assumed that Seoul's western facade echoes its social dynamic, Matt increasingly discovers that the Confucianism which underpins much of contemporary Korean society makes all relationships far more complex than his assumptions had allowed. Together with a Canadian student who is seeking to find the essence of a different Korea through her investigation of Buddhism, and through meeting diverse Korean characters, readers will discover several of the many facets of contemporary Korean culture. Readers will be encouraged to test the slippery surfaces on which familiar and unfamiliar attitudes to bodies, landscape and created spaces rest. 'Body, Space, Ideas of Home: Cross-cultural Perspectives' (thesis) The thesis examines the interaction of body space, architectural space, landscape, and emotional states in contemporary literary fiction from several cultural perspectives. Bodies, landscapes, and architectural spaces are shown to be devices through which contemporary authors with different cultural backgrounds have expressed character and explored ideas, especially thematic concerns related to cultural or cross-cultural confusion or understanding. Notions of 'feeling at home' and 'being alien' are investigated through the work of authors who either have a cross-cultural heritage (e.g. Jhumpa Lahiri a Bengali/American), or who write about a culture which is not their own (e.g. Dianne Highbridge, an Australian writing about Japan). Several chosen authors explore the relationships between the spiritual and the physical, the metaphysical and the corporeal. These elements are particularly highlighted when examining the narratives of Tim Winton (The Riders, 1994) and Simone Lazaroo (The World Waiting To Be Made, 1994); and two of Japan's most popular writers, Haruki Murakami (Norwegian Wood, 2000) and Banana Yoshimoto (Lizard, 1995). For some writers, this exploration of spaces forms the focal point of their work; for others, it is an important facet of their narrative world, which helps to ground their writing for contemporary readers whose own backgrounds must also influence their understandings.
9
Collins, Julie. "Ship of Fools." Thesis, University of Ballarat, 2008. http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/68152.
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The Ship of Fools is an ancient allegory that has long been a part of Western culture in literature, art and song... It has been chosen by many to comment on contemporary issues throughout history, highlighting the foibles of that society. The ship of fools however is also about our world, as a vessel, full of passengers of humanity, full of those who have no care what they do or where they are going... It is the 21st Century and we are all sailing on a Ship of Fools. We consume beyond reason, we want, and get the latest, newest, biggest things. We complain about interest rates and petrol prices, but consume beyond reason often with purchases on credit we don't really need.Master of Arts (Visual Arts)
10
Collins, Julie. "Ship of Fools." University of Ballarat, 2008. http://innopac.ballarat.edu.au/record=b1508425.
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The Ship of Fools is an ancient allegory that has long been a part of Western culture in literature, art and song... It has been chosen by many to comment on contemporary issues throughout history, highlighting the foibles of that society. The ship of fools however is also about our world, as a vessel, full of passengers of humanity, full of those who have no care what they do or where they are going... It is the 21st Century and we are all sailing on a Ship of Fools. We consume beyond reason, we want, and get the latest, newest, biggest things. We complain about interest rates and petrol prices, but consume beyond reason often with purchases on credit we don't really need.Master of Arts (Visual Arts)
11
Cooley, Shevaun. "Homing : poetry ; &, An essay on the poetic leap in the late work of R.S. Thomas." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2013. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/850.
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Homing, as a collection, speaks to the capacity and yearning to navigate our way towards something we might call home. In animal behaviour, this seems like an instinct, hard-wired to the body. It is something I envy. By comparison, the instinct, in human behaviour, feels muffled and complicated.
These poems move between two places in which I feel ‘at home’, whatever that means: the south-west of Western Australia, where I was born and raised, and the north-west of Wales, where I lived for a time, and find myself returning to, drawn not by blood, but by longing, and a deep affinity for the landscape. Without any real intention, in the writing of the poems I found I had a lot to say about rivers. In particular, I found myself repeating images of drifting and gripping, as if these two, opposing, compulsions also said something about how we try to find our way home. The poet Mark Doty speaks of a “fierce internal debate between staying moored and drifting away, between holdings and letting go.”1 It is as if the river, too, knows something of how to arrive, and yet its movement is much like that of these poems, pulled by new hungers, at times distracted, or slowed, or apparently lost. Drift. Grip. Perhaps it is, after all, another kind of instinct.
In the critical essay that accompanies the poems, I look at the poetic leap in the work of the Welsh poet and priest R.S. Thomas. I was initially compelled by a strange parallel between an actual physical leap of escape, enacted by Thomas, who leapt a graveyard wall in order to avoid speaking to the mourners to whom he had just ministered a funeral service, and the leap found in Italo Calvino’s essay on lightness. This leap is also one of escape, in which the poet-philosopher Guido Calvcanti places a hand on a grave and leaps lightly over it, in order to elude the taunts of some local louts. Calvino calls this act, “an auspicious image for the new millennium.”2
In poetry we find the leap in the act of making metaphor, in enjambment, even in a kind of concentration. In Thomas’s work, the leap is focused in the form of the raptor; a presence repeated through his oeuvre, carrying with it many of his chief concerns, about God, love, and the inherent ferocity of the natural world. In a close reading of those poems, and with the aid of thinkers as disparate as Helene Cixous, Roland Barthes, Simone Weil and Edward Said, this essay is an attempt to trace the ways the leap works in Thomas’s poetry. It is also an attempt to analyse and understand the way poetry itself works to move the reader, in all senses of the word.
1Doty, M. (2001). Still life with oysters and lemon. Boston: Beacon Press, p.7
2Calvino, I. (2009). Six memos for the new millennium. (P. Creag, Trans.) London: Penguin Classics, p.12
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Robb, Charles. "The Self as Subject and Sculpture." Thesis, Monash University, 2008. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/16903/1/16903.pdf.
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This paper analyses and contextualises the artist’s exploration of self-portraiture through the sculptural bust format.
Conventionally, the portrait bust epitomises an antiquated view of the human subject as fixed, finite and knowable. The classicistic allusion of the form seems the perfect embodiment of a pre-modern and hopelessly idealised view of subjectivity and its capacity to be represented. This paper will show how, despite these impressions, the portrait bust is in fact a highly volatile sculptural form in which presence and absence are brought into question. When used as a vehicle for self-portraiture the bust yields a spectrum of instability, both literal and metaphoric, that calls into question the clarity of notions of subject and object and challenges the ideas of authority and representation more broadly.
By providing an historical overview of the role of the portrait bust, this paper will map the field of content inherent to the portrait bust and discuss its application in contemporary self-portraiture. As the work of Mike Parr, Janine Antoni and Marc Quinn demonstrates, the classical certainty that permeates the bust format can indeed heighten the capacity of the form to represent uncertainty: an ambiguity that makes it a highly potent form for sustained studio investigation and experimentation.
This paper will provide an overview of this experimental scope and application, by discussing the author’s process of sculptural self-portraiture in relation to aspects of ‘likeness’, expression, truncation and reproduction that occur in the form.
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Smedley, Alison. "Developing the nurse professional and nurse education for the 21st century." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2006. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/333.
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The purpose of this portfolio was to establish what educational strategies would enhance the professional education for the nurse of the future. Through an examination of various contemporary educational theorists' work. a conceptual framework was developed using the concepts of Hargreaves (2003) as an overarching model to establish the current positioning of nursing and nursing education in the knowledge society. The preparation ofa nurse who can function effectively and efficiently within a rapidly changing health workplace relies heavily on educational preparation that includes the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate for the role. This portfolio has examined critical aspects of nursing and nurse education in relation to the development of these necessary areas for future nurse professionals.
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Baker, Kelvin. "From Pencil to Mouse: the 21st Century Animation House." Thesis, Griffith University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366780.
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The fast pace of change within the animation, computer game and post production industries has presented a problem for Vocational Education and Training (VET) programme developers who are finding it increasingly difficult to stay relevant and upto-date with the latest employability skill-sets in this industry sector. A comprehensive study of the Australian digital media industry -including the latest systems, software, technologies and production pipelines -is not readily available, making it difficult for Training Package developers to create up-to-date, flexible, meaningful and transferable qualifications.
In response to this problem, this research was undertaken to identify the needs and realities of work required for the production of digital content within the Australasian digital media and post-production industry sectors. Employability skill-sets and attributes have been recognized and categorized through a skills audit (quantitative data) of position descriptions and role statements advertised over a six year period. Progressive levels of skill, knowledge, problem solving and attitude have been applied to the researcher’s own studio production through an Action Research process.
This report documents the research and reports on findings identified through industry position descriptors making recommendations to support the integration of the new digital animation skills through a framework of progressive qualifications.Thesis (Professional Doctorate)
Doctor of Visual Arts (DVA)
Queensland College of Art
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Fok, Ping Sum (Teresa). "Understanding Stage Management in the 21st century in Australia: A Preliminary Survey." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2021. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2419.
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As a vocation that has been around for at least 150 years, stage management has gone through years of evolution in its scope of practice. From existing as a purely mechanical part of the theatre process to becoming vital co-creators in collaboration with Directors, Designers, and Playwrights, the roles and skills of a Stage Manager has expanded beyond the theatre into the events and entertainment industry that includes large sporting events, rock concerts, and corporate productions.
Academic research into Stage Management is presently in its infancy, with a dearth of published literature. This research contributes a timely and critical reflection of what it is to be a Stage Manager in Australia in the 21st century through presenting the findings of an online survey conducted from March to May 2020 by industry professionals. The survey was conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic developed, and therefore the impact of this event is not reflected in the working lives of the participants. However, the research does include a presentation of several approaches to blended learning in Stage Management in response to how the pandemic has affected the teaching of Stage Management during COVID-19.
This research showed that although the industry is dynamic and offers secure and consistent employment, there are areas of possible development in education and the management of work-life balance. The survey revealed that industry professionals on reflection would have liked more industry connections and opportunities for internships at an undergraduate level; whilst for mid-career workers, the development of a professional master's degree would be appropriate to cover areas of business management, new technologies, and intensive courses in a second language to further career progression and to open opportunities for the industry to internationalise within the region. 1
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Perkins, Sarah Elizabeth Biological Earth & Environmental Sciences Faculty of Science UNSW. "Evaluation and 21st century projections of global climate models at a regional scale over Australia." Awarded By:University of New South Wales. Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, 2010. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/44906.
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This thesis explores the ability of global climate models (GCMs) to simulate observed conditions at regional scales by examining probability density functions (PDFs) of daily minimum temperature (Tmin), maximum temperature (Tmax) and precipitation (P). Two new measures of model skill are proposed using PDFs of observed and modelled data. The first metric (Sscore) compares the amount of overlap between the two PDFs. The second metric (Tailskill) is the weighted difference between the PDF tails, where extreme events are represented. The resulting measures of skill are used to differentiate, at a regional scale, between weaker and stronger models. It is investigated whether the weaker models bias future projections given by multi-model ensembles, increasing the uncertainty in the range of projected values and the change from the 20th Century. The Sscore is demonstrated to be robust against inhomogenities found in highdensity Australian datasets, and is a simple and quantitative measure of how well each GCM can simulate all observed events. This methodology is executed for twelve Australian regions of varying climates for all Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 4th Assessment Report models for which daily data was available for 1961-2000. Across Tmin, Tmax and P some GCMs perform well, demonstrating that some GCMs provide credible simulations of climate at sub-continental scales. Projections of the annual and seasonal mean and yearly return values over the A2 and B1 emission scenarios are investigated. Models are omitted from an ensemble based on their ability to simulate the observed PDF at regional scales. The stronger models are generally in agreement with the change in mean values, particularly for Tmin and Tmax, though it is shown that they vary in their projections of the yearly return value at least twice as much as projections in the mean values. Lastly, a means-based evaluation method, the Sscore and the Tailskill are employed to differentiate between weaker and stronger models for projections in the 20-year return value of Tmin and Tmax. Weaker-skilled ensembles project larger increases in 20-year return values than stronger-skilled ensembles, such that in some regions for maximum temperature the ensembles are statistically significantly different. Demonstrably weaker models bias projections given by an all-model ensemble and should be excluded so the most reliable estimates of future climate can be obtained.
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Chamberlain, Daniel Luke. "Emerging Adulthood and Reflexive Modernity: Defining an Adult Identity in Early 21st Century Australia." Thesis, Griffith University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365721.
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Defining adulthood in contemporary Australian society has become an increasingly difficult task over the past few decades, particularly since the new millennium. This thesis argues that young people in contemporary Australia form their own definition of what it means to be an adult, using individualised measures of success which reflect the social, cultural and economic conditions of young people. The thesis uses the concept of emerging adulthood which posits the existence of an extended period of identity formation after the age of 18. The thesis argues that the characterizations of emerging adults are better able to frame the structural, social and cultural shifts in conceptions of adulthood that have occurred in the last 40 years, than the frameworks from the sociology of youth and the transitions theory. The thesis uses the ‘social generation’ framework to position young people within contemporary Australian society, and incorporates ‘emerging adulthood’ as a thick description of the conditions that shape the period of life during the late teens and early to mid twenties. 21 respondents were interviewed for this project, using a novel research method that mixed qualitative and social network techniques. The interviews focused on three aspects of emerging adulthood: the ways in which the respondents used their time, the managing of their personal communities, and their conceptions of adulthood, including their self-identification of adult status. The thesis found that the respondents’ work and study obligations constrained the ways in which they could spend their time, particularly when the activity would have required a substantial investment of time.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Humanities
Arts, Education and Law
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Bradley, Lynne M. "Found in translation: Transcultural performance practice in the 21st century." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2017. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/104124/1/Lynne_Bradley_Thesis.pdf.
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This practice-led PhD proposes Cultural Translation as a methodology for engaging with transcultural performance as innovative and ethical practice. The investigation draws upon the decade-long collaboration between Australian contemporary performance company Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre and Japanese Butoh company Dairakudakan. The study addresses questions regarding the transposition of cultural product; the ethics of cultural exchange; and artistic innovation in transcultural performance praxis. The study's findings include a cultural translation of Maro Akaji's Butoh training and devising. These methods profoundly influenced the creation of "In the Company of Shadows", the original performance work which constituted the core of this study.
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Baume, Georges Jean Roger. "Tourism and hospitality management education in Australia : development of a conceptual framework and model for the 21st century." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1999. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phb3471.pdf.
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Bibliography: leaves 305-335. Investigates the rapid expansion, growth, and perceived quality and viability of tourism and hospitality management education. Argues that there are doubts as to whether tourism and hospitality management education is changing according to the needs of industry and the requirements of future managers. An analysis of tourism and hospitality programs in Australian colleges and universities is conducted. Results from the analysis support the proposition for a change of direction in graduate tourism and hospitality management education, and demonstrate a general agreement in terms of content and structure.
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Strazzullo, Guy, University of Western Sydney, of Arts Education and Social Sciences College, and School of Contemporary Arts. "An intercultural approach to composition and improvisation." THESIS_CAESS_CAR_Strazzullo_G.xml, 2003. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/501.
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Experiences as a composer and performer in Australia involve a number of significant collaborations with musicians from diverse cultures and musical backgrounds. The musical result incorporates a number of world music elements in the form of drones, rhythms and the use of instruments such as modified guitars and the tabla. But it is distinctly different in content and approach from the generic term, World music, because it deals almost exclusively with music traditions where improvisation is central to collaborative processes. The application of the term ‘intercultural improvisation’ is a more useful descriptor of the process in which musicians from diverse backgrounds cross the boundaries of their music and step into ao zone of experimentation. This is explored through composition and improvisation that cross musical boundariesMaster of Arts (Hons.)
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Thompson, Susannah Ruth. "Birth pains : changing understandings of miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death in Australia in the Twentieth Century." University of Western Australia. School of Humanities, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0150.
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Feminist and social historians have long been interested in that particularly female ability to become pregnant and bear children. A significant body of historiography has challenged the notion that pregnancy and childbirth considered to be the acceptable and 'appropriate' roles for women for most of the twentieth century in Australia - have always been welcomed, rewarding and always fulfilling events in women's lives. Several historians have also begun the process of enlarging our knowledge of the changing cultural attitudes towards bereavement in Australia and the eschewing of the public expression of sorrow following the two World Wars; a significant contribution to scholarship which underscores the changing attitudes towards perinatal loss. It is estimated that one in four women lose a pregnancy to miscarriage, and two in one hundred late pregnancies result in stillbirth in contemporary Australia. Miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death are today considered by psychologists and social workers, amongst others, as potentially significant events in many women's lives, yet have received little or passing attention in historical scholarship concerned with pregnancy and motherhood. As such, this study focuses on pregnancy loss: the meaning it has been given by various groups at different times in Australia's past, and how some Australian women have made sense of their own experience of miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death within particular social and historical contexts. Pregnancy loss has been understood in a range of ways by different groups over the past 100 years. At the beginning of the twentieth century, when alarm was mounting over the declining birth rate, pregnancy loss was termed 'foetal wastage' by eugenicists and medical practitioners, and was seen in abstract terms as the loss of necessary future Australian citizens. By the 1970s, however, with the advent of support groups such as SANDS (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Support) miscarriage and stillbirth were increasingly seen as the devastating loss of an individual baby, while the mother was seen as someone in need of emotional and other support. With the advent of new prenatal screening technologies in the late twentieth century, there has been a return of the idea of maternal responsibility for producing a 'successful' outcome. This project seeks to critically examines the wide range of socially constructed meanings of pregnancy loss and interrogate the arguments of those groups, such as the medical profession, religious and support groups, participating in these constructions. It will build on existing histories of motherhood, childbirth and pregnancy in Australia and, therefore, also the history of Australian women.
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Neame, Rebecca Beachen. "Strengthening the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime in the 21st Century: Multilateral Approaches to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Social and Political Sciences, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/4274.
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In recent years, the multilateral approach to the nuclear fuel cycle has been promoted as a potential mechanism for strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime. The multilateral approach has the potential to gain international favour over what has become traditional practice – the indigenous development and control of nuclear facilities. This thesis explores the way in which four states have responded to the revived attention on multilateral approaches to the nuclear fuel cycle, within the framework of the norm life cycle. The varying levels of support reflect broader international opinion on this issue, as many developing states remain concerned that they may be required to forgo not only the “inalienable right” to peaceful nuclear energy, but also the prospective economic and technological benefits of indigenous development in order to participate. However, as the risk of further proliferation and nuclear terrorism comes to the fore of international agendas, facilitating multilateral control of the most sensitive aspects of peaceful nuclear energy may be the key to strengthening the non-proliferation regime in the 21st century.
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Irwin, Pamela Margaret. "The development of resilience in two cohorts of older, single women, living on their own, in a small rural town in Australia." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2015. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:e6820ead-3b23-4b87-8f68-ef4404a8c40c.
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Australian rural women are stereotypically perceived as stoic, self-reliant, and used to handling adversity. Since this iconic portrayal of resilience is traditionally (and contemporaneously) located in the harsh countryside, it is surprising that there are few articles examining this environment, person, and resilience nexus. This thesis addresses this omission by exploring the development of resilience in two cohorts of single, older women, living on their own in rural Australia. Accordingly, an ethnographic study was conducted in a small Australian town in 2012. Documentary evidence, participant observation, and interviews captured the separate and intersecting environment and person related contributors to resilience, mediated and moderated through situational relations over time. The results revealed the persistence and reinforcement of rural historical cultural stereotypes about older women, and the systematic exclusion of younger women retirees who chose to move to the town but did not fit these embedded cultural norms. When confronted with a societal attitude that socially constrains their social identity and role, and boxes them in, the older old women pragmatically accepted their situation, and successfully adapted to their new circumstances. For them, resilience is a reactive response to regain and maintain equilibrium in their lives. Conversely, the late middle-aged retirees were boxed out from actively participating and contributing to the community; for these women, resilience is equated to resignation and endurance. And as there is a symbiotic relationship between a town and its residents, this community represents a constraining force, both in terms of its stalled response to sociodemographic and structural change, and its passive indifference to the older women as exemplars of resilience. In effect, the community exerts an oppressive, dampening effect on the women's agentic resiliency; thus contradicting the prevailing literature where resilience is widely portrayed as a positive and active agentic concept.
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Wise, Gianni Ian Media Arts College of Fine Arts UNSW. "Scenario House." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. Media Arts, 2006. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/26230.
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Scenario House, a gallery based installation, is comprised of a room constructed as a ???family room??? within a domestic space, a television with a looped video work and a sound componant played through a 5.1 sound system. The paper is intended to give my work context in relation to the processes leading up to its completion. This is achieved through clarification of the basis for the installation including previous socio-political discourses within my art practice. It then focuses on ways that the installation Scenario House is based on gun practice facilities such as the Valhalla Shooting Club. Further it gives an explanation of the actual production, in context with other art practices. It was found that distinctions between ???war as a game??? and the actual event are being lost within ???simulation revenge scenarios??? where the borders distinguishing gaming violence, television violence and revenge scenarios are increasingly indefinable. War can then be viewed a spectacle where the actual event is lost in a simplified simulation. Scenario House as installation allows audience immersion through sound spatialisation and physical devices. Sound is achieved by design of a 5.1 system played through a domestic home theatre system. The physical design incorporates the dual aspect of a gun shooting club and a lounge room. Further a film loop is shown on the television monitor as part of the domestic space ??? it is non-narrative and semi-documentary in style. The film loop represents the mediation of the representation of fear where there is an exclusion of ???the other??? from the social body. When considering this installation it is important to note that politics and art need not be considered as representing two separate and permanent realities. Conversely there is a need to distance politicised art production from any direct political campaign work in so far as the notion of a campaign constitutes a fixed and inflexible space for intellectual and cultural production. Finally this paper expresses the need to maintain a critical openness to media cultures that dominate political discourse. Art practices such as those of Martha Rosler, Haacke and Paul McCarthy are presented as effective strategies for this form of production.
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Roche, Judith D. "The role of the artist at the beginning of the twenty-first century: An exploration of dialectical processes in art and science with particular reference to biologically based art." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2005. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1571.
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This thesis examines the role of the artist at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It focuses on the interaction between art and science in an exploration of the dialectical processes that may occur in that interaction. Researchers have recently developed techniques in stem cell technology and genetic modification that offer remarkable potential and bring possible advantages and disadvantages for scientists and the wider community. In response to these new technologies, scientists and artists have developed collaborative projects and, in some instances, artists have moved from the studio to the science laboratory to create work called sci-art, bio-art, or moistmedia. This new inter-disciplinary activity affords prospects of dialectical processes: it crosses many boundaries and disturbs some existing conventions and practices, and, for the artists involved, the access to innovative materials has moved their work into areas of new skills and concepts. The extent to which traditional artists and those with collaborative sci-art practices contribute to the debate on important social and cultural issues forms part of this study. The research data was gathered during semi-structured interviews with scientists and artists, of whom three scientists and five artists are involved in sci-art collaborations. Proposed dialectical processes identified in the data are outlined throughout the document. A discussion about the ways in which contemporary art and artists are located within the current social and cultural environment; the status accorded visual art education today; and the manner in which commentators and other members of the public regard the elements and functions of art, forms the initial framework. This is followed by an overview of biologically based art practices, worldwide, that provides a background for a discussion of sci-art collaborations. These collaborations are initiated by a wide range of individuals and organisations and, according to the participants, the intentions of the originator or funding body have the potential to influence the outcome of the collaboration. The research explores possible conflicts of interest between the parties involved in these interactions, and any perceived implications for creative freedom. This study also examines current attitudes towards the notion of creativity in science and art, the avant-garde, and the relevance of philosophy and theory in art practices. It discusses the extent to which technology influences the creative process, and highlights issues that augment, interrogate or philosophise about the role of the contemporary artist. The research found that, although the notion of Snow’s ‘two cultures’ still has supporters, there are more similarities than dissimilarities between scientists and artists. Although some instances of Hegelian dialectical processes were identified, the data residing in many of the participants’ responses called for a more post-structuralist, non-linear approach to the dialectic as described by Jervis (1998), Janesick (2000) and others. In this way, the data drew attention to many complex issues and tensions that emanate from the interaction between art, science, technology, government and commerce, and the interaction between artists and the culture and society in which they live at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
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Cusworth, Fran. "Boomtown wives: a novel and, The stage and backdrop: essay on the history of the Hopetoun-Ravensthorpe region, A great madness: essay on the social effects of WA's 21st century resources boom." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2008. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1849.
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This thesis comprises a novel entitled 'Boomtown Wives', and two essays entitled 'The Stage and Backdrop', and 'A Great Madness'. These works are about the Western Australian mining boom generally and the remote seaside town of Hopetotm in particular: my thesis explores how overseas demand for Australian commodities shapes the lives of a boomtown's residents. While this is a story with its micro focus on the personal, its broader focus is on a time of historic change, both national and international.
The current mining boom, while documented in the media, is yet to surface in Australia's contemporary literature. Its importance in our economic lives is barely reflected by its presence in our cultural lives. Mining towns and their surrounding environments have traditionally been used in the arts as symbols of alienation or loss, or depicted as part of a bygone era. I set out to write about how it is to live in a mining town now, in the midst of a boom. I didn't want to write about eccentric or displaced characters fleeing a mainstream life with which they couldn't cope. I wanted to write about the people I could see in the mining town where I lived: family people with dreams of getting ahead financially and professionally. I wanted to use the techniques of successful commercial fiction to write a dynamic and sometimes humourous story about three women's lives, and at the same time to capture the panicked greed of the resources boom.
In my story, people arrive in Hopetoun from all over the world with the hope of making their fortunes. Laetitia is married to a mine manager, fighting to earn trust and friendship in a town where her husband holds so much power. Cityslicker Jasmine is married to a mine recruitment supervisor, and has consented to this move in a bid to restore her husband's trust after her infidelity. Brigid is a struggling mother of three, trying with her tradesman husband Jack to clear crippling debts. The women join forces to open a cafe and as this sleepy town struggles to cope with the influx of mine workers, they fight to hold their marriages together and stay true to themselves. Tensions mount over an Aboriginal sacred site and a lost child, and the escalating boom drives mine workers to new extremes. This is a story about living amid the giddy heights of a resources boom, knowing that one day the bust will come.
The first essay, 'The Stage and Backdrop', examines the history of the Hopetoun-Ravensthorpe region, focusing on Aboriginal, mining and women's history. The second essay, 'A Great Madness', looks at the Western Australian mining boom of the early 21st century, and its influence on lifestyles and the economy, focussing in particular on the increased use of fly-in-fly-out workforces, labour shortages and overstretched infrastructure. Both essays illuminate ways that research into the history of mining and the Hopetoun region influenced the creation of my novel.
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Fozard, Roxanne. "Ghostcards of WA: An exhibition of oil paintings on linen – and – Repositioning the Denkbild: A painting investigation into deaths in custody in 21st century Western Australia: An exegesis." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2017. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2155.
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Having a personal connection through several family members to the life and work of Ngaanyatjarra Elder Mr Ward, I found his death in custody in outback Western Australia unsettling and incomprehensible. As the circumstances of his death were revealed, I became aware of glaring omissions in the telling of his story and the circumstances that led to his death. Through my engagement with the subsequent media reporting, official documents and personal conversations, I recognised a profound lack of understanding of difference and otherness within a shared history and space in Western Australia. The initial aim of my project was to investigate the incomprehensible through the lens of Ngaanyatjarra Elder Mr Ward’s death; however, ethically, this proved a difficult path to negotiate. Through my research, I came to understand that the continued use of the dominant language of the coloniser, which is embedded in social practices and academic discourse is, in part, continuing to perpetuate white privilege. The ethical problems raised inspired me to develop an approach, which although oblique, would nevertheless enable fresh insight into otherness and difference in a multi-cultural society. The particular concern of this practice-led research project is not to exploit the trauma of others but to raise awareness of this social space through my work, giving rise to new understandings and possible relations.
This research gathered key texts from Walter Benjamin and Theodor Adorno, to facilitate the transfer of the written form of Denkbild, a literary device manipulating the codes of language to visualise the process of thought, into a painting practice. The Denkbild (thought-image) is a Euro-centric genre of exploratory philosophical writing, crafted in response to a society witnessing tremendous change as a result of the devastating impact of WWI and WWII. Through this creative project, the challenge was to re-activate the Denkbild through painting and accompanying text to investigate deaths in custody and interrogate the connected issues of ethics, politics and inequality, which is written into the shared spaces of Western Australia. The Denkbild is then developed further with the addition of Henri Lefebvre’s threedimensional spatial application of dialectical thinking and the creative practice of selected Australian artists. Through this addition, the binary dialectical framework of the Denkbild is expanded to reflect contemporary thinking on the concept of space as a social product. This perspective emerges to enable fresh insight into Aboriginal understandings of space as representing an ‘eternal now’, such that a mutual understanding of space is manifested. My painting practice reflects and informs this transition, as I moved from the painting studio to selected locations to record information and experiences that developed my research position.
To achieve the project’s aims, I engaged in reflexivity and praxis as the methodological tools to guide my research. Through painting, my research extended across interdisciplinary fields including visual arts practices, philosophical history and literature, to interrogate a spatial dynamic, revealing marginalised insights and connecting interrelationships between sites. For the purpose of this research, the paintings, exhibitions and exegesis function on two levels: as an avenue into mediation of Western Australian culture and as a methodological approach to visual art practice. My research culminated in the exhibition, Ghostcards of WA 2017 at the Spectrum Project Space, ECU, Mount Lawley. This project is significant as it renews the Denkbild to further the unique relationship between conceptual and representational categories that binds together experience, object and practice to form an interrogative tool for critical inquiry. In the application of this method to a Western Australian context, new thinking is encouraged through the inclusive reading of space and the collapsing of misunderstandings perpetuated in historicism through a shared recognition of the inherent value of space/sites which— far from being incomprehensible, reactive, nostalgic and solipsistic—are comprehensible, active, prescient, abundant and social.
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Temperton, Barbara. "The Lighthouse keeper's wife, and other stories (novel) ; and Ceremony for ground : narrative, landscape, myth (dissertation)." University of Western Australia. English, Communication and Cultural Studies Discipline Group, 2007. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0005.
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The focus of this project is on poetry, narrative, landscape and myth, and the palimpsest and/or hybridisation created when these four areas overlay each other. Our local communities' engagement with myth-making activity provides a golden opportunity for contemporary poets to continue the practice long established by our forebears of utilising folklore and legendary material as sources for poetry. Keeping in mind the words of M. H. Abrams who said
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Albertson, Jennifer. "In two minds (novel) ; and A singular voice (dissertation)." University of Western Australia. English and Cultural Studies Discipline Group, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0105.
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Dedman, Stephen. "Techronomicon (novel) ; and The weapon shop : the relationship between American science fiction and the US military (dissertation)." University of Western Australia. School of Social and Cultural Studies, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0093.
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Techronomicon Techronomicon is a science fiction novel that examines far-future military actions from several different perspectives. Human beings have colonized several planets with help from the enigmatic and more technologically advanced Zhir, who gave spaceships and habitable worlds to those they deemed suitable and their descendants. The Joint Expeditionary Force is the military arm of the Universal Faith, called in when conflicts arise that the Faith decides are beyond the local government and militia and require their intervention. Leneveldt and Roader are JEF officers assigned to Operation Techronomicon, investigating what seems to be a Zhir-built defence shield around the planet Lassana. Another JEF company sent to Kalaabhavan after the murder of the planets Confessor-General loses its CO to a land-mine, and Lieutenant Hellerman reluctantly accepts command. Chevalier, a civilian pilot, takes refugees fleeing military-run detention camps on Ararat to a biological research station on otherwise uninhabited Lila. The biologists on Lila discover a symbiote that enables humans to photosynthesize, which comes to the attention of Operation Techronomicon and the JEF's Weapons Research Division. Leneveldt and Roeder, frustrated by the lack of progress on Lassana, are sent to Lila to detain the biologists, who flee into the swamps. Hellerman's efforts to restore peace on Kalaabhavan are frustrated by the Confessors, and his company finds itself besieged by insurgents. The novel explores individuals' motives for choosing or rejecting violence and/or military service; the lessons they learn about themselves and their enemies; and the possible results of attempts to forcibly suppress ideas.
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Cheney, Jacqueline Patricia. "The mythology of the uncanny : as theory and practice in Australian contemporary art." Phd thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/150841.
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A sensation raw and primal, unwelcome yet not wholly alien but peculiarly familiar, neither a penetrating roar nor shriek from the depths but a more eerily pervasive murmuring, without being discredited as irrational but instead being elevated within academia - the mythology of the uncanny persists.
This inquiry focusses on the phenomenon of the uncanny and its exemplification in the visual arts. Whilst extant literature relates uncanniness to the broader field of aesthetics, especially enlarged upon in literature, film-studies and architecture, it is a comparatively neglected topic in the context of visual arts. It is occasionally touched upon in texts concerning an artist's work, but usually very synoptically. Yet much art aligns to readings of uncanniness. For example, Sally Smart's evocatively uncanny work attracts descriptive smatterings about it without adequate enunciation against a critical theoretical framework.
Such a framework, newly developed here, takes into account Sigmund Freud's pivotal essay of 1919 whilst providing new interpretations of it and its subsequent plethoric discourse. Furthermore, this framework incorporates entirely different viewpoints, including Existentialist versions of uncanniness centred upon Martin Heidegger's and Jean-Paul Sartre's theories. Whilst being an evolution of the extensive discourse, my framework assimilates otherwise disparate notions of the uncanny effect and its sensations, then applies it contemporaneously.
In writing from the secularised worlds of Freudian psychoanalysis and Existentialism, religion, spirituality and mysticism are areas not intentionally ignored nor sidelined as unworthy of consideration. Nevertheless the scope of this dissertation required curtailing thereby making the exclusion of the non-secular a necessity. Psychophysical, neural and cognitive characteristics of viewers' sensory perception of artwork (in relation to evoking uncanniness) are other exclusions, and whilst I touch on various socio-political aspects of the uncanny, it likewise requires greater regard than what is allowed for herein.
This is essentially an interpretative analysis which applies a more broadly developed framework to six Australian artists whose work is persuasively uncanny: Ron Mueck, Patricia Piccinini, Sally Smart, Lawrence Daws, Pat Brassington and Bill Henson. These case-studies are structured into three chapters: the first concentrates on three-dimensional, figurative sculpture (Mueck and Piccinini); the next section looks at siting the uncanny in two-dimensional landscapes, specifically the locale of Australia, a land where the uncanny is said to loom large (Smart and Daws); whilst the final section focuses on uncanny 'filmic' surfaces or photo-based media (Brassington and Henson}. This form of analysis is founded on either the artist's self-identification with the topic and/or is based on consistent commentary about their artwork eliciting uncanniness, except Henson, who receives little discussion in relation to uncanniness, but, as demonstrated, epitomises it nonetheless.
Examining their art against a contemporary theoretical framework thus addresses a lacuna of critical, academic insight into the uncanniness of visual art, before drawing conclusions about some conceptual, technical and formal differences and similarities.
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Kocan, Peter 1947, University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, and School of Humanities and Languages. "The fable of all our lives : a novel." 2008. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/29359.
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Lahy, Waratah. "Painted objects : investigating the imagery of Australian iconic culture." Phd thesis, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/149626.
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Van, Langenberg Carolyn, University of Western Sydney, of Arts Education and Social Sciences College, and School of Communication and Media. "With tender contempt." 2000. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/31372.
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The novel Riverweed, which forms the substantial part of this thesis, is an experiment with strategies in writing across cultures and across time, from Australia to Malaysia, from 1997 to 1956. The method of writing the novel was,in the most part, informed by viewing the television dramas and films and reading the novels of the late Dennis Potter. Riverweed is a novel in five parts. The essay, with tender contempt : history, fiction auto/biography : writing across cultures, discusses many of the issues related to the research for the novel. The author had hoped to write a novel that crossed political and cultural borders in a seamless exploration of nostalgic love for a place - George Town, Penang. She believes she has written an Australian novel which includes in its imaginative sphere a migration from the loneliness of the mythologised paddock forward to nostalgia, understanding nostalgia as part of the anxious energy characterising the middle-class neuroses of civil society in both Australia and Malaysia.Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
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Perrin, Steve, University of Western Sydney, of Arts Education and Social Sciences College, and School of Contemporary Arts. "The plughole of time." 2003. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/30107.
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This thesis is comprised of a survey of all the varying influences behind the author's art making. All pre-occupations are included, the concepts of childhood memory; the use of imagination; the ability to comprehend and put together an old fashioned story in varying forms; as well as considering the notion of blurring historical and actual fact with personal elements of fantastical fiction. These themes have all been threaded delicately through the motif of time-travel, the author's personal favourite of literary genres. The main aim has been to make an attempt to re-create the feelings of childhood.Whilst embracing whimsy, the absurd and the time travel genre, this project hopefully shows a struggle and is an allegorical comment on the author as an artist, who having lost a little of his faith in the world and his abilities, becomes seduced by a new focus.Master of Arts (Hons) (Creative Arts)
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Taylor, Johnson Heather. "And the Word was Song: a novel." 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/47791.
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v. 1 [Novel]: And the Word was Song [Embargoed] -- v. 2 [Exegesis]: The return to mother: exegesis accompanying the novel: And the Word was SongThe novel manuscript And the Word was Song is a work in five parts, structurally (and very loosely) mirroring the first five books of The Old Testament. It is the story of Lily May, a young woman who travels around the world trying to find meaning in her life after her prostitute, heroin-addicted mother has died. Throughout her journeys, Lily May comes into contact with people who have issues with sex and / or addiction, always forcing her to remember her mother, a loving yet entirely flawed woman. Some of her fellow travellers are neglected children; some are street-smart gypsies; some are lovers; all are unknowingly Lily May’s mother substitutes. Through an impending birth, a return to her childhood home and an unexpected discovery of a half-sister, Lily May is able to end her journey and accept her mother for who she was: an imperfect woman who gave birth to her, then loved and cared for her the best that she could. The story is about spirituality, sexuality, love, addiction, acquiescence — and Elvis. Ultimately it is about mothers. The exegetical essay is a reflection on the journey from daughter to mother. I discuss the structuring of my novel manuscript and explore ways in which memory is accessed in the recreation of the maternal bond. Through an imaginary conversation with my mother about the legitimacy of psychoanalysis in re-evaluating mothers and maternity, I look at three concepts of mother substitution, considering ways in which the subconscious reconstructs the mother in the relationships women have. I deliberate on homecomings, both literary and personal, and consider the ethics of using my mother’s stories to further my own story.
Thesis (PhD) -- School of Humanities, 2006
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Mosely, Genevieve Kate Lydia. "Innovative futures: design in the Australian Curriculum." Thesis, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1400456.
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Masters Research - Master of Philosophy (Mphil)Building the innovative capabilities of students is recognised as a national priority for economic growth and productivity, particularly in the context of rapidly developing technologies that are radically changing traditional ways of living and working. Current education policy rhetoric in Australia emphasises Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as the key avenue for developing innovative capabilities and skills that are critical for an unpredictable future workforce. This policy rhetoric, however, overlooks the potential for innovative capabilities, including creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills to be developed through curriculum areas beyond STEM. Despite being overlooked in the policy space, design is increasingly recognised in the research literature as providing students with opportunities to develop creativity and imagination, and prepare them with the skills needed to face the challenges of a globalised future. However, there are stark limitations in the understanding of how design is represented in the Australian Curriculum, which provides key information for teachers about how to teach design in Australian classrooms. Using qualitative approaches, including content analysis and tools from Membership Categorisation Analysis, this study examines representations of design, including concepts associated with design, across the curriculum. The results illustrate that design and design thinking is represented in multiple ways across the Australian Curriculum and that curriculum documents in key learning areas present teachers with limited and potentially confusing representations of design. In exploring the complex incorporation of design in the Australian Curriculum and specifically within the Technologies curriculum the study examines the implications of these representations including for teachers’ pedagogies and students’ future aspirations.
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Harrow, Janet Gail. "Flight." 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/56815.
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Title page and synopsis only v.2; Title page, table of contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University of Adelaide Library.Abstract from Exegesis: As writers create stories within fragile and contested territories, they are often confronted by difficult ethical questions. When the lives of people from different cultures, races and genders intersect, whose story should be told? Does the person of white, European ancestry have the right to tell his/her part of that story? Does a man have the right to tell a woman's story? If so, from whose point of view? If not, should stories be peopled only with one's own race, one's own gender? Must a person of mixed identity write only about one race, one ethnicity? If so, which one? What is the responsibility of the writer to create stories of the world she/he observes and lives in rather than the ideal one in which most of us would like to live? How does the writer construct writing practices that embody theoretical and ideological values without privileging polemic over artistic integrity? These questions are not just philosophical for me as a writer. The answers determine what I will or will not permit myself to write, especially since I want to approach story-telling with a sensitive eye to the power of literature to show readers a world of diverse and intersecting experiences. This essay explores the responses to such questions by a number of highly respected international writers whose work has informed my writing. It also looks at the ethical use point of view as a strategy for entering the space of intersecting human experiences within contested geographic and political terrain.
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Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2006
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Cleave, Kaye L. "Gifts from Catherine." 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/56813.
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Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University of Adelaide Library.The memoir dealing with the 1st year following her daughter’s death, has developed from 5 personal essays on grief submitted for a Master of Fine Arts in Writing, University of San Francisco, 1992 and is intended to honour her daughter’s life and tell her own story. The exegesis: The ethics of life writing, grew out of the questions explored in the process of writing the memoir: What does it mean to write the ’truth’?; What must I consider when writing about others?; and, Should I reveal information that is regarded as secret or private?
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Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2006
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Cleave, Kaye L. "Gifts from Catherine." Thesis, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/56813.
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The memoir dealing with the 1st year following her daughter’s death, has developed from 5 personal essays on grief submitted for a Master of Fine Arts in Writing, University of San Francisco, 1992 and is intended to honour her daughter’s life and tell her own story. The exegesis: The ethics of life writing, grew out of the questions explored in the process of writing the memoir: What does it mean to write the ’truth’?; What must I consider when writing about others?; and, Should I reveal information that is regarded as secret or private?Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2006
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Kelen, Stephen Kenneth. "Writing the Goddess." 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/37730.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis comprises a creative work, the manuscript of a book of poems, Goddess of Mercy, and an exegesis, A Further Existence, which explores the creative, aesthetic, philosophical and other ideas and inputs that went into writing the poems. Goddess is a collection of idylls of the electronic age, narratives, dramas, fictions and meditations. The poems are various in style and subject matter. The exegesis begins with the author's earliest remembered experiences of poetry, considers a wide range of poetries and goes some way to proposing an open poetic that allows a writer versatility in approach to subject matter and writing style. Poems can transcend their time and place to create a 'further existence' where temporality is irrelevant. A diverse range of poems are examined -- from ancient Babylonian to contemporary Australian -- to determine the aspects of a poem that take it beyond daily speech. The usefulness and limitations of theory are considered. The art's mystical dimensions are not easy to analyse but are still worth thinking about: the mysterious spark or talent for poetry, how and where a poem occurs, epiphanies, 'being in the zone' and when all the words come rushing at once. The persistence of poetry is noted: poetry still manifests itself in public life through newspapers, sport, pop music, radio commentary, television, and politics, as well as in everyday living. Poetry adapts to new environments like the internet. Conversely, events in the 'real world' influence poetic thought and writing as evidenced by the barrage of poems and publishing in response to the US invasion of Iraq. Some recent Australian poems are explored with regard to establishing contexts and areas of interest for the practice of poetry in the opening years of the twenty-first century, with a view to establishing the contexts in which the poems in Goddess exist and the world they address.Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Humanities, 2005.
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Kelen, Stephen Kenneth. "Writing the Goddess." Thesis, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/37730.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis comprises a creative work, the manuscript of a book of poems, Goddess of Mercy, and an exegesis, A Further Existence, which explores the creative, aesthetic, philosophical and other ideas and inputs that went into writing the poems. Goddess is a collection of idylls of the electronic age, narratives, dramas, fictions and meditations. The poems are various in style and subject matter. The exegesis begins with the author's earliest remembered experiences of poetry, considers a wide range of poetries and goes some way to proposing an open poetic that allows a writer versatility in approach to subject matter and writing style. Poems can transcend their time and place to create a 'further existence' where temporality is irrelevant. A diverse range of poems are examined -- from ancient Babylonian to contemporary Australian -- to determine the aspects of a poem that take it beyond daily speech. The usefulness and limitations of theory are considered. The art's mystical dimensions are not easy to analyse but are still worth thinking about: the mysterious spark or talent for poetry, how and where a poem occurs, epiphanies, 'being in the zone' and when all the words come rushing at once. The persistence of poetry is noted: poetry still manifests itself in public life through newspapers, sport, pop music, radio commentary, television, and politics, as well as in everyday living. Poetry adapts to new environments like the internet. Conversely, events in the 'real world' influence poetic thought and writing as evidenced by the barrage of poems and publishing in response to the US invasion of Iraq. Some recent Australian poems are explored with regard to establishing contexts and areas of interest for the practice of poetry in the opening years of the twenty-first century, with a view to establishing the contexts in which the poems in Goddess exist and the world they address.Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Humanities, 2005.
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Taylor, Johnson Heather. "And the Word was Song: a novel." Thesis, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/47791.
Full textAbstract:
v. 1 [Embargoed] And the Word was Song : Novel -- v. 2 The return to mother: exegesis accompanying the novelThe novel manuscript And the Word was Song is a work in five parts, structurally (and very loosely) mirroring the first five books of The Old Testament. It is the story of Lily May, a young woman who travels around the world trying to find meaning in her life after her prostitute, heroin-addicted mother has died. Throughout her journeys, Lily May comes into contact with people who have issues with sex and / or addiction, always forcing her to remember her mother, a loving yet entirely flawed woman. Some of her fellow travellers are neglected children; some are street-smart gypsies; some are lovers; all are unknowingly Lily May’s mother substitutes. Through an impending birth, a return to her childhood home and an unexpected discovery of a half-sister, Lily May is able to end her journey and accept her mother for who she was: an imperfect woman who gave birth to her, then loved and cared for her the best that she could. The story is about spirituality, sexuality, love, addiction, acquiescence — and Elvis. Ultimately it is about mothers. The exegetical essay is a reflection on the journey from daughter to mother. I discuss the structuring of my novel manuscript and explore ways in which memory is accessed in the recreation of the maternal bond. Through an imaginary conversation with my mother about the legitimacy of psychoanalysis in re-evaluating mothers and maternity, I look at three concepts of mother substitution, considering ways in which the subconscious reconstructs the mother in the relationships women have. I deliberate on homecomings, both literary and personal, and consider the ethics of using my mother’s stories to further my own story.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2006
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Omarova, Amina. "The Australian Army in the 21st century: organisational adaptation to new conditions of military engagement: a complex adaptive system perspective." Thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/119518.
Full textAbstract:
Modern military engagements are characterised by complexity, dynamics and unpredictability that force armies as complex social bureaucratic systems to adapt to continuously changing conditions of war. This is an on-going vital matter since modern society has been under stress from recent military engagements in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria as well as current terrorist attacks in France and Belgium. We are seeking a way to describe and understand from a theoretical perspective both the operational conditions and the process of adaptation that the Australian Army needs to employ in response to external changes of these extreme kinds. In this regard Complex Adaptive System (CAS) theory offers an advanced method of understanding contemporary warfare and military organisations that will represent the core focus of the thesis; its main goal being to appraise organisational change in the Australian Army through the lens of CAS theory. The literature review on this topic identifies changes in contemporary warfare and characterises both modern military engagements and organisations as complex adaptive systems. Any army representing the defence of a nation state strives to be both capable and effective in its military engagements, most notably in conditions of war or hostilities against a known enemy combatant. The objectives of capability and effectiveness, often understood as ‘fit for purpose’, means that an army must always be in a state of readiness to change, not only to keep abreast of the methods and tools of warfare technology that continuously evolve but ideally to be strategically ahead of the enemy, whether in a classical battleground scenario or, as seems more likely, fighting an opponent who has the advantage of local knowledge, an element of surprise and other features of asymmetrical warfare providing them with the upper hand. Contemporary warfare, as described in the history books, has already moved beyond our capacity to understand and interpret the nature of conflict. Moreover, the lessons of military engagement for the Australian Army in recent years fighting insurgency in faraway lands point to a new level of complexity where unforeseen and unknown factors play a decisive part in determining success and failure in strategic planning and actual operations. Difficult though it may be, the Army has no choice but to embrace new ‘out of the box’ thinking and get to grips with the mysteries of CAS in order to adapt and remain effective. This leads us to the main research question that is: How does a modern professional army adapt, structurally and functionally, to the changing nature of military engagement, which is increasingly characterised by complexities arising outside of conventional operations? CAS theory can be seen as a promising perspective in appraising these complexities as it provides a number of characteristics that offer a better understanding of the nature of modern warfare and military organisations. To apply CAS theory to a real-life case of organisational change we have chosen the Conceptual Framework for Adaptation (CFA) since it provides a good descriptive model of CAS. Moreover, CFA, currently being developed by the Defence Science and Technology Group (DST Group) in Australia, is the most familiar framework for the Australian Army in the task of reviewing the complexities of both modern warfare and military organisations. For this reason, the thesis uses CFA as a methodological basis for appraising a case of organisational change. The findings will draw on ideas taken from CAS theory and CFA as a means to appraise organisational change. From a practical point of view, we have selected a recent case of organisational change that had been introduced into the Australian Army. In particular, in response to future environment complexities, the Australian Army has released Adaptive Campaigning and launched the Adaptive Army Initiative (AAI). This is an ambitious program that puts the whole organisation on an adaptive footing, claiming to be a restructuring of higher command and control arrangements by providing a systemic approach to adaptation across the entire Army. The review of the AAI aims to explore from a theoretical perspective, how the Army as a complex organisation, and given its multiple functions, levels of command and control, can actively manage this adaptation to a continuously changing environment. During the AAI review we conducted 19 face-to-face interviews that included 13 senior Officers, 3 mid-ranking Army Officers and 3 external to the Army people. We also recognise that organisational learning plays a crucial role in the way the Army adapts to external requirements. To cover this ground we conducted a review of the lessons mechanisms, Army Lessons Network (ALN); the focus being on the operational aspects (process, structures and roles) that make an organisation adaptable to changing conditions. Thus, the thesis describes how the change was designed and implemented as well as the outcomes that have been possible to track so far. Appraisal of the lessons processes in the Army, through the ALN review, helps us to understand the role of organisational learning as a mechanism of change. Both the AAI and ALN analyses demonstrate that the Army has developed characteristics of CAS. Taking into account the views of experienced senior Army Officers about their own self-generated initiative to drive and foster an adaptive, change-oriented culture, the thesis demonstrates the depth of understanding of the challenge of achieving ‘fit for purpose’ organisational performance as well as the important contribution of leadership, a supportive socio-culture and the lubrication of organisational learning. This is what the thesis has revealed and its special knowledge contribution is to obtain the insights from Army leaders as practitioners about what is going on in a modern army in a continuous process of transition. Indeed, gaining access to the thoughts of these truly professional soldiers has provided the thesis with unique and original insights into military operations. The thesis explores the development of a model of the Army as a complex adaptive system. It acknowledges that in the context of the practical orientation of the Army theory-building this is just the beginning of a long road-testing process. A serious attempt has been made to start the theory-to-practice process with an extensive exploration of leading ideas inspired and drawn from complex system thinking.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and Innovation Centre (ECIC), 2016.
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Norris, Craig Jeffrey, University of Western Sydney, of Arts Education and Social Sciences College, and of Communication Design and Media School. "The cross-cultural appropriation of manga and anime in Australia." 2003. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/13320.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis is an investigation into the cross-cultural appropriation of manga and anime by fans in Australia. I investigate the way in which fans embark on ‘identity’ projects through manga and anime to construct a space where issues of gender politics, identity and culture are explored. I argue that a key reason why many Western fans and scholars perceive manga and anime as ‘different’ is its ‘Japaneseness’. The two key problems addressed throughout the thesis are : how can we analyse the significance of the Japanese origins and context of manga and anime, and would the ‘identity projects’ that fans construct be possible without an appreciation of manga and anime’s 'Japaneseness?.' These questions are explored in terms of a number of key forms within manga and anime including cyberpunk, bishonen(beautiful boys), otaku(fans) and anime forms that have had their ‘Japaneseness’ softened. I discuss the way in which these manga and anime forms offer different spaces for fans, scholars and cultural industries to contest, rework and reiterate the cultural value of manga and anime.Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
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Bartlett, Anne 1951. "Knitting a novel : a retrospective view, and Knitting : a novel / Anne Bartlett." 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/22312.
Full textAbstract:
Includes the novel and exegetical essay.With: "Knitting a novel" in the back section of the volume bound upside down.
Bibliography: p. 92-97.
97, 244 p. ; 30cm.
Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Discipline of English, Creative Writing, 2006
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Walker, Malcolm. "The stone crown : a novel." 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/56818.
Full textAbstract:
Title page and prologue v.2; Title page, table of contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University of Adelaide Library."The stone crown is, in part, a contemporary reworking of the Arthurian legend." -- abstract, [v. 2], p. v.
http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1284280
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2007
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Dalley, Hamish. "Postcolonialism and the historical novel : allegorical realism and contemporary literature of the past in Nigeria, Australia and New Zealand." Phd thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/155168.
Full textAbstract:
The historical novel is one of the most prominent modes of contemporary writing in the former British Empire, yet the genre's postcolonial variant has not been the subject of critical analysis in its own right. This neglect can be explained by the dominance of a "resistance paradigm" in postcolonial studies, which tends to equate realism with naive mimesis and thus treats the historical novel as either a vehicle for imperialist ideology or a site of discursive conflict over the meaning of the past. As a result, the genre's epistemological and aesthetic complexities have been marginalised. This thesis responds to this neglect by critically analysing examples of the historical novel published since 2000 in Nigeria, Australia, and New Zealand. Historicised close analysis reveals that notwithstanding the anti-mimetic presumptions of much contemporary postcolonial criticism, and despite differences arising from contextual particularities, these texts are shaped by a common "realist impulse" that frames their narratives as defensible interpretations of the past. This ethical obligation to evidence-based interpretation has formal and epistemological consequences that manifest in an aesthetic framework I call allegorical realism. This term names a mode of representation in which fictional elements oscillate between ontological and conceptual registers in ways that simultaneously produce empathetically-unsettling relations to imagined individuals and interpretations of macro-historical change. This combination of affect and abstraction defines the genre as one based neither around assumptions about the transparency of language, nor overly pessimistic views that knowledge of the past is unachievable. I show that focusing analysis on allegorical realism allows critical attention to move away from its exclusive concern with textual resistance and instead explore how the genre is inflected by the various narratives it mediates and the specificities of postcolonial contexts. This research identifies three main variants of the contemporary postcolonial historical novel, each characterised by a different modulation of allegorical realism. Settler allegory comprises texts like Kate Grenville's The Secret River (2005) and Fiona Kidman's The Captive Wife (2006), in which colonists' alienation from occupied territory is reflected formally in the undercutting of allegorical procedures that align imaginary characters with their settings. Transnational historical novels, by contrast, stretch the spatio-temporal coordinates of allegorical realism to encompass processes taking place in global settings. This generates aesthetic effects that link apparently dissimilar novels like Witi Ihimaera's The Trowenna Sea (2009) and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun (2006). Finally, melancholy realism describes texts like Chris Abani's Song for Night (2007) and Richard Flanagan's Gould's Book of Fish (2001)-texts which disrupt the boundaries between past and present to unsettle postcolonial complacency. Tracing allegorical realism across these modes reveals how postcolonial concerns continue to recreate the genre, and how the oscillation of the allegorical signifier can challenge dominant accounts of historical change. The genre provides a significant archive for exploring how postcolonial literature is characterised by disjunctive temporalities irreducible to dominant narratives of modernity, while nonetheless being shaped by processes that link the globalised world.
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Lofts, Pamela. "A necessary nomadism : rethinking a place in the sun." Master's thesis, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/147113.
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Matthews, Amy T. "End of the night girl: a novel." 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/38745.
Full textAbstract:
v. 1 [Novel]: End of the night girl [Embargoed] -- v. 2 [Exegesis]: Navigating the kingdom of night: writing the holocaust'End of the Night Girl': Nothing seems to go right for Molly – she’s stuck in a dead-end waitressing job, she’s sleeping with a man she doesn’t even like, and she’s just been saddled with a swarm of goldfish and a pregnant stepsister. The chance discovery of an old photograph leads her into an act of creation, and brings her into contact with the ghost of a woman who has been dead for more than sixty years. Sixty years earlier, in Poland, Gienia’s family arranges her marriage to a distant cousin. Not long after her marriage to this stranger, the Nazis invade and she has to face life in the ghetto and the horrors of Auschwitz. End of the Night Girl is a complex fictional narrative in which the lives of these two women, ‘real’ and imagined, imagined and re-imagined, are inextricably combined. ‘Navigating the Kingdom of Night’: Critics, historians and Holocaust survivors have argued for decades over whether the Holocaust should be accessible to fiction and, if so, who has the right to write those fictions. ‘Navigating the Kingdom of Night’ addresses such concerns and analyses various literary strategies adopted by authors of Holocaust fiction, including the non-realist narrative techniques used by authors such as Yaffa Eliach, Jonathan Safran Foer and John Boyne and the self-reflexivity of Art Spiegelman. Through the course of the essay I contextualise End of the Night Girl by turning my attention to works that raise critical issues of authorial intent and the reader/writer contract; for example Jerzy Kosinski’s The Painted Bird and Helen Darville’s The Hand That Signed the Paper. How did I resolve my own concerns? Which texts helped me and why? Together End of the Night Girl and ‘Navigating the Kingdom of Night’, one creatively and one critically, explore these complex and controversial questions in a contemporary Australian context.
Thesis(PhD)-- School of Humanities, 2007