Emerging from the rubble of postcolonial studies: Book history and Australian literary studies

Scholars of Australian literature have engaged more frequently and enthusiastically with book history approaches than nearly any other postcolonial nations literary scholars. Several Australian scholars have suggested that book history has taken over where postcolonial studies left off. In their cho...

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Main Author: Henningsgaard, Per
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2016
Online Access:https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/2175-8026.2016v69n2p117
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58294
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author Henningsgaard, Per
author_facet Henningsgaard, Per
author_sort Henningsgaard, Per
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Scholars of Australian literature have engaged more frequently and enthusiastically with book history approaches than nearly any other postcolonial nations literary scholars. Several Australian scholars have suggested that book history has taken over where postcolonial studies left off. In their choice of subject matter, however, Australian book historians reinforce the very constructions of literary value they purport to dismantle, similar to how scholars of postcolonial studies have been critiqued for reinforcing the construction of colonial identities. Thus, this article looks to the intellectual history of postcolonial studies for examples of how it has responded to similar critiques. What is revealed is a surprising, and heretofore untold, relationship between book history and postcolonial studies, which focuses on their transnational potential versus their ability to remain firmly grounded in the national.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-582942019-02-15T03:54:12Z Emerging from the rubble of postcolonial studies: Book history and Australian literary studies Henningsgaard, Per Scholars of Australian literature have engaged more frequently and enthusiastically with book history approaches than nearly any other postcolonial nations literary scholars. Several Australian scholars have suggested that book history has taken over where postcolonial studies left off. In their choice of subject matter, however, Australian book historians reinforce the very constructions of literary value they purport to dismantle, similar to how scholars of postcolonial studies have been critiqued for reinforcing the construction of colonial identities. Thus, this article looks to the intellectual history of postcolonial studies for examples of how it has responded to similar critiques. What is revealed is a surprising, and heretofore untold, relationship between book history and postcolonial studies, which focuses on their transnational potential versus their ability to remain firmly grounded in the national. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58294 10.5007/2175-8026.2016v69n2p117 https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/2175-8026.2016v69n2p117 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ fulltext
spellingShingle Henningsgaard, Per
Emerging from the rubble of postcolonial studies: Book history and Australian literary studies
title Emerging from the rubble of postcolonial studies: Book history and Australian literary studies
title_full Emerging from the rubble of postcolonial studies: Book history and Australian literary studies
title_fullStr Emerging from the rubble of postcolonial studies: Book history and Australian literary studies
title_full_unstemmed Emerging from the rubble of postcolonial studies: Book history and Australian literary studies
title_short Emerging from the rubble of postcolonial studies: Book history and Australian literary studies
title_sort emerging from the rubble of postcolonial studies: book history and australian literary studies
url https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/2175-8026.2016v69n2p117
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58294