Erstes Arbeitstreffen des DFG Netzwerks 'Energie und Literatur: Texte, Theorien und Methoden aus komparatistischer und kulturwissenschaftlicher Perspektive' am 16.-17.5.2024 in Kollaboration mit MESH

Location: Erich Auerbach Institute for Advanced Studies, Library, 3rd Floor, Weyertal 59 (Back Building) 50937 Cologne

Contact: victoria.hercheuni-koeln.de

There will be a guest lecture by Prof. Paul Arthur (Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia) on January 12, 2023 from 14:00-15:30. Prof. Arthur will discuss the topic "Tracing Lives and Lines of Power from Slavery Pasts."

The lecture will take place in Lecture Hall C in the Hörsaalgebäude. We welcome everyone interested in attending.

For further questions, please contact victoria.hercheuni-koeln.de.

New publication: Dr. Victoria Herche's monograph The Adolescent Nation: Re-Imagining Youth and Coming of Age in Contemporary Australian Film is out now. See here for further information.

Deeply rooted in Australia’s construction as a young nation, ‘coming of age’ has been the defining narrative of Australia’s national cinema. This book provides the first study which systematically explores the ‘coming of age’ theme in Australian feature films produced since the turn of the millennium, foregrounding how films use a range of diverse (his)stories to respond to the centrality of this theme.

Rather than focussing on ‘coming of age’ mainly in its portrayal of a (successful) maturation process, this study explores the possibilities inherent in what is conceived of as a ‘permanently’ transitional ‘coming of age’ process, providing a crucial starting point for the re-definition of national fictions. A range of cinematic genres, including the road movie, crime film, sport film, romance and musical, is used to challenge and (to varying degrees) destabilise the national myth of Australia as a youthful, egalitarian society with a chance and ‘fair go’ for everyone.