AustLit logo
Australian Popular Culture (AUST2000)
Semester 1, Semester 2 / 2012

Texts

y separately published work icon Being Australian : Narratives of National Identity Catriona Elder , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2007 Z1418401 2007 single work criticism (taught in 6 units)

Catriona Elder explores the origins, meanings and effects of the many stories we tell about ourselves, and how they have changed over time. She outlines some of the traditional stories and their role in Australian nationalism, and she shows how concepts of egalitarianism, peaceful settlement and sporting prowess have been used to create a national identity.
(Publisher's blurb)

y separately published work icon Dispossession, Dreams & Diversity: Issues in Australian Studies David Carter , Frenchs Forest : Pearson Education Australia , 2006 Z1258484 2006 multi chapter work criticism (taught in 12 units) This work introduces key topics and questions about Australia as a society, a culture and a nation. It contains a useful chapter on Australian modernities, which deals in part with literature in the early to mid 20th century.
AUST2000 Australian Popular Culture Course Reader!$!!$!!$!!$!
y separately published work icon Culture in Australia : Policies, Publics and Programs Tony Bennett (editor), David Carter (editor), Cambridge : Cambridge University Press , 2001 Z911662 2001 anthology criticism (taught in 3 units)

'Culture in Australia, published in 2001, offers an incisive and up-to-date examination of the forces that are reshaping Australian cultural priorities, policies and practices at the start of the twenty-first century. Drawing on the work of some of Australia's leading cultural analysts, its concerns range broadly across the cultural sector encompassing art and heritage institutions, publishing, broadcasting, tourism, museums, the music industry, film and youth cultures. These are placed in the context of the major national and international forces that are redrawing the cultural landscape in contemporary Australia. Engagingly and accessibly written, Culture in Australia offers a challenging introduction to current debates and dialogues focused on the need to imagine new culture futures for an increasingly diverse and mobile people.' (Publication summary)

Description

AUST2000 Australian Popular Culture explores various aspects of popular culture in Australia with particular emphasis on the period from the 1960s to the present. The course examines the production and consumption of popular culture and how the function of specific forms (such as bush leisure, beach-going, popular music, cinema, magazines, and sport ) contribute to concepts of indivdual and national identity - that is, to what it means to be Australian.

This course provides theoretical approaches and case studies that are collectively designed to equip students with the various ideas and theoretical approaches that will enable them to critically analyse the ways that popular culture functions.

Assessment

Participation; essay; major essay.

Supplementary Texts

Bennett, Tony, and David Carter. Eds. Culture in Australia: Policies, Publics and Programs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001

Bonner, Frances. Ordinary Television: analysing popular TV. London: Sage, 2003.

Booth, Douglas. Australian beach cultures: the history of sun, sand and surf. London:

Frank Cass, 2001

Cunningham, Stuart, and Graeme Turner. Eds. The Media and Communications in

Australia, Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, 2002

Huntsman, Leone. Sand in our souls: the beach in Australian history. Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2001.

McKee, Alan. Australian Television: A Genealogy of Great Moments. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2001.

O'Regan, Tom. Australian National Cinema. London: Routledge, 1996.

Turner, Graeme. Making it National: Nationalism and Australian Popular Culture. St Leonards: Allen and Unwin, 1994

McKay, Jim. No pain, no gain? : sport and Australian culture New York ; London ; Sydney : Prentice Hall, 1991

Other Details

Offered in: 2011, 2010, 2009
Current Campus: St Lucia
Levels: Undergraduate
X