AustLit logo

AustLit

Elizabeth Braithwaite Elizabeth Braithwaite i(A70174 works by)
Gender: Female
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 The Perfect Place to Set a Novel about the End of the World? Trends in Australian Post-Nuclear Fiction for Young Adults Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Bookbird , vol. 53 no. 2 2015; (p. 22-29) '"Australia has a fascinating yet contradictory nuclear history," writes Jeffrey Lantis, and this ambiguity can be seen in the post-nuclear young adult fiction produced in that country. British, American and German speculative fiction for young readers set after nuclear disaster tends to suggest reasons for the disaster, and by implication, to position readers towards acting to stop the disaster happening in the real world. By contrast, Australian writers of both fantasy and speculative fiction tend to be less concerned with the cause of the disaster than with how the nuclear apocalypse can be used to explore a range of cultural issues which may appear to have little or nothing to do with nuclear disaster. Working with the notion of apocalypse as both revelation and, more popularly, as a violent "end event" (Curtis), this paper explores why young adult post-nuclear fiction produced in Australia tends to be different from that produced in Britain, the USA and Germany, and demonstrates how the nuclear disaster is used in a selection of Australian young adult post-disaster fiction to address cultural issues, particularly those dealing with Australia's Indigenous population, and with the contemporary treatment of refugees.' (Publication summary)
1 [Review] A Confusion of Princes Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Winter vol. 20 no. 2 2012; (p. 24-25)
— Review of A Confusion of Princes Garth Nix , 2012 single work novel
1 [Review] Days Like This Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Summer vol. 19 no. 4 2011; (p. 15)
— Review of Days Like This Alison Stewart , 2010 single work novel
1 Untitled Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Winter vol. 19 no. 2 2011; (p. 7)
— Review of Black Glass Meg Mundell , 2010 single work novel
1 Post-Disaster Fiction for Young Adults : Some Trends and Variations Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , vol. 20 no. 1 2010; (p. 5-19) 'Taking as its central question: 'What narrative functions does the disaster in young adult postdisaster fiction have?', this paper explores how the genre is utilised to make comment on a range of issues, and argues that there are three connected sub-genres within young adult post-disaster fiction, with the disaster having a different function in each, and the nature of the comments made by each of these sub-genres tending also to be different.
Stephens considers that: 'The main distinguishing feature of the genre is that its texts are set in a fantasy future which exists some time after the world we know has been destroyed by a cataclysmic disaster, usually caused by human actions' (1992, p.126).
This paper broadens this definition to include texts in which the disaster actually happens but in which the focus is on life after the disaster. It understands fantasy to include speculative fiction which seeks to portray pre-disaster life as similar to the implied young adult reader's, as well as works of high fantasy in which the disaster has made Earth into a kind of secondary world (see Sands 1998, p.232), and focuses on novels in which the disaster has clearly been caused by humans in some way' (Authors abstract).
1 [Review] Wardragon Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Spring vol. 16 no. 3 2008; (p. 44-45)
— Review of Wardragon Paul Collins , 2008 single work novel
1 [Review] Master of the Books Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Summer vol. 15 no. 4 2007; (p. 16)
— Review of Master of the Books James Moloney , 2007 single work novel
1 Untitled Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : on Books for Young Adults , Winter vol. 15 no. 2 2007; (p. 44-45)
— Review of The Hiveborn Paul Collins , 2006 single work novel
1 Untitled Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Autumn vol. 14 no. 1 2006; (p. 38)
— Review of The Skyborn Paul Collins , 2005 single work novel
1 Will Buster and the Gelmet Helmet by Odo Hirsch Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Winter vol. 13 no. 2 2005; (p. 29)
— Review of Will Buster and the Gelmet Helmet Odo Hirsch , 2004 single work children's fiction
1 The Notion of Quest Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 269 2005; (p. 61-62)
— Review of Angel Fever Isobelle Carmody , 2004 single work children's fiction ; Drowned Wednesday Garth Nix , 2005 single work children's fiction ; Treasure Hunters of Quentaris Margo Lanagan , 2004 single work children's fiction ; Tremada Kathy Hoopmann , 2004 single work children's fiction
1 Young Heroes in Fantastic Settings Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 261 2004; (p. 60-61)
— Review of Winter Door Isobelle Carmody , 2003 single work children's fiction ; Shædow Master Justin D'Ath , 2003 single work novel ; Grim Tuesday Garth Nix , 2004 single work children's fiction
1 Untitled Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Summer vol. 11 no. 4 2003; (p. 48)
— Review of Hapless, Hopeless, Horrible Joshua Wright , 2003 single work children's fiction
1 [Review] Mister Monday Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Summer vol. 11 no. 4 2003; (p. 45)
— Review of Mister Monday Garth Nix , 2003 single work children's fiction
1 Untitled Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Spring vol. 11 no. 3 2003; (p. 50)
— Review of Circles of Stone Pamela Rushby , 2003 single work novel
1 Untitled Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Spring vol. 11 no. 3 2003; (p. 43-44)
— Review of The Earthborn Paul Collins , 2003 single work novel
1 Schools of the Future : Analysing the Present Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2001 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , August vol. 11 no. 2 2001; (p. 36-44)

In this analysis, Elizabeth Braithwaite looks at four novels which construct a futuristic images of school life and education, including The Inheritors by Jill Dobson (Dobson was born in England but came to live in Australia in 1972). She identifies three consistent themes regarding notions of truth, the power of language and communication and the negative effects of trying to fit into society and examines them under the headings of 'the function of schools in futuristic societies', the importance of school as 'place', representations of teachers in futuristic texts and how representations of futuristic schools comment on the reader's present (p.36). Braithwaite claims that despite the differences between the four texts they have one common factor and that is '...their main aim is still socialisation' and furthermore, the reader is positioned to accept that '...young people must take responsibility for their own lives and be prepared to take risks to find out what truth means for them' (pp.42-43).
1 MIRV, MARV and FOBS: Language and Significances in a Selection of Post-Nuclear Texts for Young Adults Elizabeth Braithwaite , 2000 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , August vol. 10 no. 2 2000; (p. 35-44)

Braithwaite is interested in the use of language in texts with a post-nuclear setting and how through a number of techniques, 'language in the nuclear debate frequently encodes power relations whereby those who massage the conventional meanings of language attempt to influence others, often by promoting an ideological position which can be difficult for the reader to oppose' (35). Braithwaite closely analyses five texts, including The Obernewtyn Chronicles by Isobelle Carmody, which focus on the survival and personal development of the protagonist and/or central characters and in which language is presented as 'a means by which the central characters attempt to excercise power over the world in which they find themselves' (35). For Braithwaite, 'the fascination with language, names and meaning in post-nuclear fiction invites readers to examine how individuals perceive their own realities and how consensus reality can be both questioned and taken for granted' (43). Braithwaite asserts that 'the reader who realises this duality will be in a stronger position both to engage with the text and to examine the ideological positions (both overt and covert) which are being presented'(43).
X