Print this page This is Who We Are - Australian Novels 1940-1959

Not surprisingly the novels written from the time of the Second World War were increasingly willing to grapple with the harsher realities of Australian life, and the writers themselves were more likely to write with a political consciousness of the world around them.  At the same time, there was an explosion of literature for children, and an increase in Australian publishers and literary organisations that provided a professional depth to what was being created.  Fiction was not as self-consciously Australian, so much as exploring authentic aspects of life as Australians experienced it.

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face / Online

COURSE OUTLINE

Context, creation, plot, themes, and legacy of:

• 1940 – 1949: Kylie Tennant (1941), James Aldridge (1942), Morris West (1945), Alec Coppel (1947), Ruth Park (1948), Alan Moorhead (1948), Jon Cleary (1949), Alan Marshall (1949)
• 1950-1959: Frank Hardy (1950), Dal Stivens (1951), Charlotte Jay (1952), Tom Hungerford (1952), Nevil Shute (1953), Darcy Niland (1955), Elizabeth Harrower (1957), Nino Culutto (1957), Nancy Cato  (1958), Thea Astley (1958), Randolph Stow (1958)
• Children’s: Ruth C Williams (1950), Ivan Southall (1950), Joan Phipson (1953), Patricia Wrightson (1955), Nan Chauncy (1957), Elyne Mitchell (1958)
• Australian born: Elizabeth von Arnim, P L Travers

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Outline the lives of these writers
2. Discuss the themes and characteristics of their most important works
3. Discuss the context and significance of those books in the evolution of Australian literature