Journal of the European Association for Studies of Australia, Vol. 10, No. 1 2019
Editorial
This issue of JEASA presents articles submitted for the general issue in 2019 by both European and Australian scholars of Australian studies. The first two provide analyses of contemporary literary texts, while the last three articles are devoted to current debates on issues of migration, representations of rural Australia, and current politics in tertiary education.
Jean-François Vernay’s article “Forever in the Postcolonial Process of Growing Up: Change and Changelessness in Christopher Koch’s Bildungsroman-Inspired Novels” discusses the elements of change and transformation (or a lack of both) in Koch’s novels The Boys in the
Island, Across the Sea Wall, The Doubleman, and Lost Voices.
Nataša Kampmark explores two recent children’s novels, The Goat Who Sailed the World by Jackie French (2006) and Captain Cook’s Apprentice by Anthony Hill (2008), to show how children’s literature can play a significant role in providing counter-perspectives to foundational national narratives, such as that of Captain Cook’s landing in Botany Bay and thus “discovering” Australia.
Fabiane Ramos’ article “Pondering Hierarchy of Oppressions in Australia: The Case of Refugees and Their Mode of Arrival,” is both scholarly and personal reflection on distinctive ways in which migrants enter Australia, i.e. differences between those who arrive by boat and those who arrive by plane, and contemplates what consequences the mode of arrival has for approaching these two groups in various discourses.
Mitchell Rolls discusses the ways in which many current Australian debates, including those presented on ABC RN, tend to silence voices from rural Australia, in spite of the continuing centrality of the land, particularly the quintessential bush, in evoking national belonging and identity. Rolls proposes a better understanding of the “lifeworlds” of people living in rural Australia which often negotiate, in intricate and nuanced ways, Australia’s past and present.
Finally, Carol Pybus and Terry Moore draw attention to the precarious situation at some Australian universities which in the past years implemented various policies to redress the lack of control by Indigenous people of Indigenous-related content in educational curricula. They argue that such policies can become counterproductive as in some cases they undermine one of the main tertiary education’s objectives—that of equity.
Enjoy reading new issue of JEASA!
Martina Horakova
general editor