Bush, City, Cyberspace: The Development of Australian Children’s Literature into the 21st Century (Literature and Literacy for Young People)

Aimed at academic, professional and general readers, Bush, city, cyberspace provides a snapshot of the state of Australian children's and adolescent literature in the early twenty-first century, and an insight into its history. In doing so, it promotes a sense of where Australian literature for young people may be going and captures a literary and critical mood with which readers in Australia and beyond will identify. The title of the work is intended to capture the fact that the field has changed dramatically in the century and a half that 'Australian children's literature' has existed, from the bush myths and heroism that inform the past and the present, through the recognition that the vast majority of authors and readers live in cities, to the third wave of 'cyberliterature' that incorporates multimedia, hypertext, weblinks and e-books - none of which lessens the enduring enthusiasm of practitioners and readers for books. Bush, city, cyberspace is not meant to be an encyclopedic volume. Rather, well-known, recent and/or award-winning works have been emphasised, with the addition of others where these help to illuminate particular points. The book is similar in coverage and approach to Australian Children's Literature: An Exploration of Genre and Theme, written by the same three authors and published by the Centre for Information Studies in 1995. In the intervening period, much has changed in the field, notable examples including the blurring of the dividing line between 'quality' and 'popular' literature; the blending of genres; the rise of a truly indigenous literature; the demise, to a significant extent, of 'Outbackery' in fiction; the acceptance of multiculturalism as the norm; and the advent of the literature of cyberspace, with new methods, and the sheer speed, of communication between writer and reader. All these trends, and others, are reflected in this work Aimed at academic, professional and general readers, Bush, city, cyberspace provides a snapshot of the state of Australian children's and adolescent literature in the early twenty-first century, and an insight into its history. In doing so, it promotes a sense of where Australian literature for young people may be going and captures a literary and critical mood with which readers in Australia and beyond will identify. The title of the work is intended to capture the fact that the field has changed dramatically in the century and a half that 'Australian children's literature' has existed, from the bush myths and heroism that inform the past and the present, through the recognition that the vast majority of authors and readers live in cities, to the third wave of 'cyberliterature' that incorporates multimedia, hypertext, weblinks and e-books - none of which lessens the enduring enthusiasm of practitioners and readers for books.

Bush, city, cyberspace is not meant to be an encyclopedic volume. Rather, well-known, recent and/or award-winning works have been emphasised, with the addition of others where these help to illuminate particular points. The book is similar in coverage and approach to Australian Children's Literature: An Exploration of Genre and Theme, written by the same three authors and published by the Centre for Information Studies in 1995. In the intervening period, much has changed in the field, notable examples including the blurring of the dividing line between 'quality' and 'popular' literature; the blending of genres; the rise of a truly indigenous literature; the demise, to a significant extent, of 'Outbackery' in fiction; the acceptance of multiculturalism as the norm; and the advent of the literature of cyberspace, with new methods, and the sheer speed, of communication between writer and reader. All these trends, and others, are reflected in this work. Content: Front matter , Pages i-iii Copyright , Page iv Dedication , Page v Acknowledgements , Page viii Foreword , Pages ix-x Preface , Pages xi-xiii Introduction , Pages xv-xvii Chapter 1 - The origins of Australian children's literature , Pages 1-10 Chapter 2 - On being Australian: The Gallipolli legend , Pages 11-21 Chapter 3 - Migration and national identity , Pages 23-36 Chapter 4 - White voices/black voices: Indigenous children's literature , Pages 37-50 Chapter 5 - The role and significance of the natural environment , Pages 51-61 Chapter 6 - Negotiating the maze of life 1: Focus on the family , Pages 63-73 Chapter 7 - Negotiating the maze of life 2: Additional dilemmas for today's children and adolescents , Pages 75-88 Chapter 8 - Future histories of Australia , Pages 89-102 Chapter 9 - The hero and the quest: From Dot and the kangaroo to Dragonkeeper , Pages 103-116 Chapter 10 - Popular fiction for the cyber-generation , Pages 117-130 Chapter 11 - Australian children's poetry , Pages 131-144 Chapter 12 - Australian picture books , Pages 145-157 Bibliography , Pages 159-174 Index , Pages 175-182 Provides a snapshot of the state of Australian children's and adolescent literature in the early twenty-first century, and an insight into its history, promoting a sense of where Australian literature for young people may be going. Written by the same three authors published for information studies in 1995 Provides a comprehensive analysis of Australian children's literature from its earliest examples in the mid-19th century to those of today. Discusses novels, short stories, picture books and poetry for children and adolescents.