LANG 2036 Modern Australian Poetry and Poetics

Credit Points 10

Legacy Code 101978

Coordinator Kate Fagan Opens in new window

Description This subject examines Australian poetries of the 20th and 21st centuries in context of parallel events in international poetry. It looks at histories and definitions of poetic 'innovation' and asks how Australian poetry has dealt with different waves of modernism. It studies dialogues between local and international avant-gardes, and surveys new poetic genres emerging in online environments. The subject aims to enrich students' critical understanding of poetry and poetics, and where relevant, to enhance their own creative writing practice. Topics addressed include poetic tradition and counter-tradition; form and experiment; colonialism, exile and belonging; literary communities; critical histories; digital and e-poetries.

School Humanities & Comm Arts

Discipline Literature

Student Contribution Band HECS Band 1 10cp

Check your fees via the Fees page.

Level Undergraduate Level 2 subject

Equivalent Subjects LGYB 0215 - Poetry and Poetics LGYA 0927 - Poetry and Poetics

Restrictions

Successful completion of 40 credit points of study in currently enrolled program.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of modern and contemporary Australian poetries and poetics
  2. Analyse links between Australian poetries and those of other countries
  3. Critically engage with a range of poems and poetic texts
  4. Apply key theoretical perspectives relevant to modern and contemporary poetry and poetics

Subject Content

Content will draw from, or elaborate upon, a number of the following topics:
- Histories of innovation in Australian poetry of the 20th and 21st centuries
- Ecology, colonialism, place and 'landscape' in Australian poetry, including the poetics of Indigenous resistance
- Imagism in Anglo-American modernist poetries and its expression in Australian poetries
- International avant-gardes of the 20th century including French symbolism, futurism, objectivism, Latin American surrealisms, the New York School and Language Poetry
- Australian avant-garde movements and retreats including The Jindyworobak movement, Angry Penguins and The Ern Malley hoax
- Histories of poetry criticism and the transformation of the modernist critical 'enterprise'
- Literary and cultural histories of the 20th century
- The politics of poetic form
- New romanticism, postmodernism and the Generation of '68
- Urban Australian identities, migrant poetics and Collective publishing ventures
- Australian poetries in the early 21st century including digital poetics, online sampling, poetry blogs, e-poetries and poetry apps

Assessment

The following table summarises the standard assessment tasks for this subject. Please note this is a guide only. Assessment tasks are regularly updated, where there is a difference your Learning Guide takes precedence.

Type Length Percent Threshold Individual/Group Task
Short Answer 800 words (4 x 200 word entries) 35 DEFAULT
Essay 1800 words (3 x 600 word essays) 65 DEFAULT

Prescribed Texts

  • Subject Reader (to be compiled by subject coordinator), available for purchase at UWS Connect Books