Study notes
Did my seminar presentation for 'Australian Classics' today - the first person in my group to do so. Wasn't especially connected to the text, Henry Handel Richardson's 'The Getting Of Wisdom'; I just wanted to get it out of the way early.
Think I did ok - gabbled a bit, but got a lot of 'recognition of point' nods from Phil, which is always a good sign. Took the tack of looking at the Federation era, when the book was set (1880s) and writen/published (1910), and the 1970s when the movie was made/released (1977), comparing the social concerns of the two times; what does it mean to be Australian, what is the Australian voice, rural vs urban, issues of feminism, male/female relations, ideals of the classless society vs the reality of Australian life, fear of the 'Yellow Peril', issues with Imperialism and the need to maintain Australian identity against the larger 'other' (British/American), the cultural cringe, individualism vs conformity, etc.
Think I did ok; lost probably half of the seminar with the 70s analysis as most of them weren't born in the seventies (hell, I hate to say this, but a third at least of them weren't born in the 80s) but still think I made an impact with Phil, and hopefully will get decent marks. Now I just need to pull my thoughts more tightly together, and sort out my referencing for handing up my report on it next week.
Interesting thing I realised: the Seventies were *the* decade for Australian movies talking about Australia, and what it means to be Australian, but in looking through the lists of movies made in that decade, the only movies that were about what it was to be an Australian woman were set in the past. Almost as though looking at women as human beings was too scary to do in the modern context, and could only be contemplated through the lens of history.
But there we are, first piece of assessment for the year done.
Think I did ok - gabbled a bit, but got a lot of 'recognition of point' nods from Phil, which is always a good sign. Took the tack of looking at the Federation era, when the book was set (1880s) and writen/published (1910), and the 1970s when the movie was made/released (1977), comparing the social concerns of the two times; what does it mean to be Australian, what is the Australian voice, rural vs urban, issues of feminism, male/female relations, ideals of the classless society vs the reality of Australian life, fear of the 'Yellow Peril', issues with Imperialism and the need to maintain Australian identity against the larger 'other' (British/American), the cultural cringe, individualism vs conformity, etc.
Think I did ok; lost probably half of the seminar with the 70s analysis as most of them weren't born in the seventies (hell, I hate to say this, but a third at least of them weren't born in the 80s) but still think I made an impact with Phil, and hopefully will get decent marks. Now I just need to pull my thoughts more tightly together, and sort out my referencing for handing up my report on it next week.
Interesting thing I realised: the Seventies were *the* decade for Australian movies talking about Australia, and what it means to be Australian, but in looking through the lists of movies made in that decade, the only movies that were about what it was to be an Australian woman were set in the past. Almost as though looking at women as human beings was too scary to do in the modern context, and could only be contemplated through the lens of history.
But there we are, first piece of assessment for the year done.