2024-03-29T15:41:28Z
http://ro.uow.edu.au/do/oai/
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:tharts-1000
2009-02-08T22:06:28Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:tharts
publication:arts
publication:theses_doctype
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Council approaches to implementing sustainability - a case of re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic?
Dunn, Carmel
2008-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
School of Social Sciences, Media and Communication
Dunn, Carmel, Council approaches to implementing sustainability - a case of re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic?, BA(Honours) thesis, School of Social Sciences, Media and Communication, Faculty of Arts, University of Wollongong, 2008. http://ro.uow.edu.au/tharts/1
Australian councils are unacceptably slow and ineffective in their implementation of
sustainability, judging by a review of the literature and from personal experience in
local government. The purpose of this study is to investigate the ways councils go about
implementing sustainability as this may hold the key to their ineffectiveness.
In the absence of any other study or technique, I developed a model for assessing a
council’s approach to implementing sustainability. The model was developed using the
Ecological Footprint as the primary sustainability assessment tool, and it was designed
to assess a council’s approach to implementing sustainability in terms of three key
aspects: 1) the behaviours the council targets for change; 2) the behavioural change
methods the council uses; and 3) the clarity and holistic nature of the council’s
approach. The model was then applied to three councils in NSW that had been recently
commended for their implementation of sustainability.
The model gives a score for effectiveness out of 20; the three councils’ scores were 6,
4.5 and 2. The main reason for these low scores was that the councils failed to address
the behaviours and lifestyle characteristics of their residents that are having the greatest
negative impact on the Earth’s ecological processes. Furthermore, the councils failed to
prioritise their actions, and they favoured behavioural change methodologies that are not
generally successful at instigating pro-environmental behavioural change.
The major implication of these findings is that the ways councils currently go about
implementing sustainability need to be further investigated, and possibly overhauled,
because they are essentially ineffective.
https://ro.uow.edu.au/tharts/1
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-1730
2009-08-12T03:32:59Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:theses
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Returning to the Scene of the Crime: The Brothers Grimm and the Yearning for Home
Clack, Maureen
2006-01-01T08:00:00Z
2009-08-11T07:00:00Z
Master of Arts (Hons)
School of Journalism and Creative Writing - Faculty of Creative Arts
Almost two hundred years ago, in 1812, two German brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, collected folk stories, and revised and published them in a book of fairy tales. The publication, Grimm's Fairy Tales, remains amongst the best sellers in contemporary western children's literature despite increasing feminist concerns that the tales deliver outdated and inappropriate patriarchal messages. This thesis seeks to discover what other messages are contained in the tales that are enticing and strong enough to over-rule the well supported feminist warnings. Considering that most support for the tales praises their value in regard to the psychological development of children, and acknowledging the psychological premise that childhood experiences determine later adult behaviour, this paper proposes that events in the Grimm Brothers' own childhood dictated the themes of the tales and the messages they contain. After establishing the connection between fairy tales and the crime fiction genre and then providing a forensic reading of the tales, a less emotive reading which isolates the various parts of the story and sifts through the details for hidden evidence, this paper will show that the death of their father in Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's early years, and the consequent loss of the family home and social status, together with the responsibility that these events placed on their young shoulders, provided the reoccurring theme of the tales: the attempt by a young protagonist to regain or replace a lost home, and to re-establish a family. A similar forensic review of artwork by several contemporary visual artists who have used childhood as a theme for their work further demonstrates that childhood trauma can be a catalyst for creative practice. The works investigated in this paper were selected from two contemporary exhibitions: Scene of the Crime, Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center, Los Angeles, 1997; and Mixed-up Childhood, Auckland Art Gallery, 2005. In addition to these works several of Louise Bourgeois' sculptures and drawings which, by her own admission, refer to unhappy childhood memories are compared and contrasted with the works constructed by Javier Lara Gomez, who created happy and peaceful 'homes' from memory and longing whilst an inmate in Sydney's Long Bay maximum security prison. Reflecting the Grimm's creative endeavours and the practice of the visual artists whose work is discussed in the paper, the artworks in the accompanying exhibition, Defective Stories, investigate the conflicting construct of home as a haven and home as a site of trauma, in fairy tales and our own childhood experiences. By launching a forensic investigation into the role of the home in Australian society from the early days of colonial settlement to the present, a period of approximately two hundred years which corresponds to the lifetime of Grimm's Fairy Tales, the paper will also demonstrate that the psychological need for a safe haven is inherent in all humans, child or adult. Furthermore, it will explain how a capitalist society that depends on consumption for survival exploits this need through the exaggeration of external dangers and the promotion of products that promise security. Adults are enticed to invest in larger, safer homes, which are increasingly self contained and ensure protection from the supposed threats of an alternative society while the financial and emotional pressures of such existence create a bubbling pot of tension within those walls; children are cajoled by fairy tales that convince them they are able to secure and defend their own safe haven (and themselves) in a threatening world when the adult population fails them.
Clack, Maureen, Returning to the Scene of the Crime: The Brothers Grimm and the Yearning for Home, M.A. thesis, School of Journalism and Creative Writing, University of Wollongong, 2006. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/730
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/730
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-1870
2014-08-14T01:22:10Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:theses
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The mathematical background of primary teachers in the Illawarra Region, 1962-1981
Snow, Dianne
1982-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.)
Department of Education
<p>Concern with the educational preparation of teachers in Australia is not a new phenomenon. The Western Australian Jackson Report of 1897 (1), the Victorian Director of Education's Report of 1902 (2) , and the New South Wales Knibbs-Turner Report of 1904 (3), all indicated that the prevailing pupil-teacher system of education was inadequate, and recommended that teachers be trained professionally in institutions provided specifically for that purpose. With the establishment of permanent teachers' colleges in all Australian States by 1915 (4), it became clear that certain educational standards were required from. any person preparing to teach in Government schools. The fact that these educational standards may alter over time does not vitiate the general concern with the quality of the preparation of teachers (5).</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/870
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-1871
2019-09-09T01:53:27Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:theses
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publication:arts
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People at the polls: a geographical analysis of a local government election, Wollongong, 1974
Hermann, Robert James
1976-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.)
Department of Geography
<p>This thesis examines the pattern of voting of the 1974 Wollongong City Council Local Government Election. The analysis is conducted at three levels; first, overall, in which the effect of socio-economic factors upon the party vote at each booth is considered; second, within the Wards, in which the local context of voting is reviewed; and thirdly, the issue level.</p>
<p>Multiple correlation and regression analysis was used in an attempt to understand the pattern of variation in the relative magnitude of the party related vote. Residuals from the analysis suggested the operation of ward based factors, thus in Chapter 4 the scale of the analysis was changed in an attempt to determine whether or not local effects noted in the literature of electoral geography could be discerned. Because of data and system problems, however, this analysis could not be conducted in a way that gave results capable of being added to those from the previous analysis. Instead, the local effect was sought at the intra party intra ward level and among the votffiobtained by independents. At both levels local effects were found to exist, although there appeared to be other systematically operating factors within some wards that affected the voting response surface.</p>
<p>The thesis then turns to an examination of some well marked inter ward variations in the nature of local effects. One of the most important factors contributing departures from a regular local effect was found to be the 'common ticket' electoral strategy which results in a candidate gaining almost uniform support across the ward. Local factors influencing the flow of information could still be seen to affect these results and three case studies of this situation are included. Re-examination of the support for 'party' candidates in other wards indicated that two other electoral strategies also influenced the pattern of support for candidates: the 'variable ticket' strategy used by the Labour Party, resulted in a 'step' like response surface, the modified 'variable ticket' strategy employed by the Liberal-Independents, resulted in a more gradual distance decay in candidate support.</p>
<p>The issues component was also examined. It would appear that the issue of environmental protection was influential in determining the pattern of voting in the ward.</p>
<p>The three components (the party vote, the local context vote and the issues vote) were found to be highly inter-related. Although it was not possible to integrate the findings from each level of analysis in such a way as to permit the conclusion that some given portion of the place to place variation in voting patterns could be accounted for by these components, it is argued that this thesis demonstrates clearly the range of factors that need to be considered in any electoral study, their often complex inter-relationships, and the necessity for more studies based upon detailed observation in the field.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/871
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-1876
2014-08-14T03:00:45Z
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A study of the attitudes and activities of the Church of England in the Illawarra during the First World War
Westwood, Susan
1980-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.)
Department of History
<p>The First World War was a period of great change and upheaval for Australians. The Church of England, however, presented an air of stability and normality in the parochial ministration of its duties. The clergy interpreted the war as having a spiritual meaning, rather than a mere affair between hostile nations. Scriptural attitudes to war were examined by the clergy and they believed that the 1914 war was a call from God to them, to turn the nation from its national sins to righteousness, so it could be used by God for His purposes. In this study of the Church of England during the war, the clergy's attitudes and activities will be examined - to the daily ministry of the parish churches, to the ministry to war needs, to the recruiting campaigns and conscription referendums, and to the Germans and the war itself.</p>
<p>Historians have had a tendency to disregard or treat in a cursory manner the parochial ministry of the church during the war. Yet the normal peacetime activities of the clergy and the churches were maintained as much as possible throughout the war years. Clergymen believed that the everyday life of the parish was a source of comfort and order in a world of change and despair.</p>
<p>Throughout the war, the clergy defined their ministry in spiritual terms rather than material, and were thus only supporters, not initiators, of the charitable war organisations. Comforting the bereaved and convincing the people of the need to turn back to God was regarded by the clergy as their specific war ministry. By 1917 some of the clergy believed that the nation should be prepared and repentant for the second coming of the Lord.</p>
<p>The recruiting campaigns were supported enthusiastically by the clergy, for they believed that a willingness to volunteer was a test of a man's faith in God. Although the clergy encouraged so many young men to volunteer for duty, the majority of ministers stayed behind and endured much soul-searching and public opposition because of this. The two conscription referendums held during the war were supported by the clergy, yet they were strangely silent in publicly voicing that support. The clergy may well have preferred their male parishioners to willingly volunteer for a just cause rather than be forced.</p>
<p>Clergymen accepted that the war was from God, sent as a warning and judgement on a sinful and unrighteous nation. The clergy believed that it was their duty to try to reveal to the people their national and individual sins, and to aim instead for righteousness. The national sins were vigorously denounced from the pulpit. These sins were the main moral issues of society, such as intemperance and sabbath desecration. As victory seemed far off, the clergy began to turn to varieties of millennialism for solace. Throughout the war, the clergy's sustaining belief was that the war was a call from God for righteousness and that blessings would be granted to the nation and its people.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/876
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-1877
2014-07-22T03:14:39Z
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publication:theses
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Illawarra Methodism in the nineteenth century: a comparative study of Wesleyan and primitive Methodism in Wollongong, 1838-1902
Tibbs, Phyllis
1981-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.)
Department of HIstory
<p>This thesis, a comparative study of Wesleyan and Primitive Methodism in the nineteenth century, is an exercise in religious and social history. Very little has been written on the religious and social history of the Illawarra region in the nineteenth century. Even Methodist historians have not explored the relationship between the Wesleyan and the Primitive Methodists in New South Wales. This thesis attempts to analyse Illawarra Methodism in the contexts of the history of Methodism and of Australian social history.</p>
<p>The thesis draws heavily on official church documents of Wesleyan and Primitive Methodism from the levels of the circuit (that is Wollongong), the District Meeting, the Conference or Assembly, and the General Conference as well as Connexional journals. There has been a higher survival rate for Wesleyan Methodist records than for Primitive Methodist ones, which has placed some limitations on the present study. Local newspapers have also proved valuable as a primary source. Diaries, an autobiography, preaching plans and written and oral recollections of past and present Methodists have given colour to the black and white of official church records and newspapers.</p>
<p>This thesis argues that colonial New South Wales inherited a divided Methodism, but not the reasons for the divisions, and, thus no further divisions occurred. The colonial environment diminished the differences between Wesleyan and Primitive Methodism particularly in the critical area of relations between clergy and laity, and thus opened up the possibility of re-union which occurred earlier and more easily than in Britain.</p>
<p>The structure of the thesis begins with a divided Methodism in nineteenth century Britain followed by its transposition into the New South Wales colonial environment, and the culmination of Methodist development in union in 1902 in Australia.</p>
<p>The history of, and the reasons for, the divisions within British Methodism are analysed in Chapter One. Chapter Two looks at Methodist (Wesleyan and Primitive) beginnings in New South Wales and then in Wollongong. The major part of this thesis is contained in Chapters Three and Four where an in-depth comparative study is made of several aspects of church and community life in the Wollongong Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist circuits. The final chapter examines a climax of Australian Methodist history: the movement towards union in 1902 together with some of its immediate results. Currie's model of ecumenical ism in an industrialised society is applied in a limited way to this example of church union.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/877
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-1875
2014-08-13T00:01:17Z
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publication:theses
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Unemployed youth in the urban Illawarra
Mehmet, Ron
1986-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.)
Department of Geography
<p>This thesis examines a number of aspects of youth unemployment in the Urban Illawarra, one of Australia's high-unemployment regions. A number of questions are posed:</p>
<p>Who are the young unemployed in this region? What sorts of lifestyles do they lead? How and how hard do they search for work? What do they think of their prospects of finding employment? What attitudes do they hold toward employers and toward the institutions with which they come in contact?</p>
<p>Answers were sought to these questions using data generated from interviews of 81 people aged 15-24 years, currently unemployed and belonging to the Community Youth Support Scheme which operates a number of centres within the region. Most of the respondents are not, by present-day standards, particularly highly educated and the majority can be said to be disadvantaged as far as work prospects are concerned. Nevertheless nearly all have had some experience of employment as well as of joblessness. Their current lifestyles focus on low-cost activities carried out in or near their homes, on participation in CYSS activities, and on looking for work. Most, apparently, want to work and are actively looking for employment, though there is evidence that some who have been jobless for long periods may be giving up the search. Many are pessimistic about their employment prospects, and many more have negative attitudes toward employers than are well disposed toward them. There is some hostility toward the Commonwealth Employment Service and the Department of Social Security, but most of the respondents are highly appreciative of the Community Youth Support Scheme.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/875
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-1878
2014-07-22T02:10:38Z
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publication:theses
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The Illawarra Trades and Labour Council in depression, recovery, and war, 1926-1945
Nixon, Shirley
1984-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.)
Department of History
<p>The Illawarra Trades and Labour Council, now known as the South Coast Labour Council, is a significant organisation in the social fabric of the Illawarra district. It is a body which does not confine itself to the protection of workers' wages and conditions as union organisations traditionally do. It also takes an active role in community debates about the social and political issues which arise, and is an avenue through which many local people seek to have perceived injustices corrected. This thesis is, in part, an attempt to discover the origins of this socially comprehensive role which the Labour Council adopts and which the community, by and large, expects of it.</p>
<p>This thesis attempts to show how the structures of the Australian trade union movement and the issues which concerned it were dealt with in the specific conditions of the Illawarra in the period 1926-45. It examines the economic conditions which provided the impetus to the formation of the I.T.& L.C., as well as the political motives of those who worked to bring it about.</p>
<p>Chapter One traces the source of workers' desire to organise, and the way in which compulsory arbitration expedited existing moves of workers towards consolidation in the formation of unions and councils of unions. The importance of the connection between the trade unions and their political party in establishing labour movement principles is noted, as is the brief manifestation of the first Illawarra Labour Council.</p>
<p>The foundation in 1926 of the I.T.& L.C. in response to the prospects of increased employment in the steel industry about to be established at Port Kembla, and the paradox of it having, in the event, increased not reduced unemployment in the Illawarra is demonstrated in Chapter Two. In Chapter Three the difficulties which constrained the Labour Council and forced its discontinuation in 1931 are analysed. How social problems of the district, the methods used by the people who worked to counter the unsympathetic official attitudes to the problems of the unemployed, and the influence of the Communist Party's organisations for implementing a United Front of all working class organisations laid the foundation of the I.T.& L.C.'s present day self concept is discussed.</p>
<p>Chapter Four examines the implications for Illawarra workers in the recovery after the Depression, and in the Hoskins steelworks expansion plans. The matters brought before the I.T.& L.C. after its re-establishment in 1935 are shown to be of both industrial and social concern. The influence on the labour movement's activities of the C.P.A.'s United Front policies is demonstrated.</p>
<p>Chapter Five traces the development of industrial workers' confidence as the recovery continued. The direct action which two major unions of the I.T.& L.C. took, and the council's maintenance of interest in social issues is shown. It also deals with the reluctance of the Australian and Illawarra labour movement to accept the contingencies proposed by the conservative Federal Government to deal with a wartime situation, and its change of heart when the Curtin government came to office in 1941. The strong commitment of unions to the war brought by Germany's invasion of Russia was not merely an I.T.& L.C. phenomenon born of the esteem in which its Communist members were held, but reflected also the labour movement's attitudes including those of the A.C.T.U. The links between the I.T.& L.C. and other local bodies were maintained by the Labour Council's assistance to charities, hospital services and the Volunteer Defence Corps throughout the war. The role played by the successful strike of 1945 when the two steel cities, Wollongong and Newcastle, maintained 13,000 men on strike, and their families, in developing further local confidence in the I.T.& L.C. is explored.</p>
<p>It is concluded that the belief of Illawarra unionists that no effort should be spared to bring about unity to give strength to workers led them so to concern themselves to ameliorate the harshness of the Great Depression that people identified the I.T.& L.C. with actions which had given them dignity and strength. Their support for the I.T.& L.C. gave it dignity and strength in turn, and defined the role of the Illawarra unions' council as not merely to negotiate industrial matters, but to be a vehicle by which social and political protest could be made.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/878
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-1879
2014-07-22T04:07:11Z
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publication:theses
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An investigation of the response of the coal-mining community of Southern New South Wales to adversity during a period of economic depresssion between 1893 and 1897, in an endeavour to ascertain how unified that community was and the degree to which it provided an effective industrial force in support of the fledgeling political labour movement
Fraser, Donald Sinclair
1994-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.)
Department of History and Politics
<p>A general situation of economic depression between 1893-97 imposed conditions of harsh privation upon the coal mining community of the Illawarra. With employment increasingly intermittent, the Illawarra Miners' Association declined in effectiveness. The union's function of managing discontent became absorbed within the informal social response of the mining community. This essentially defensive response was founded upon a resilient group identity which had evolved from an inheritance of occupational adversity and social ostracism.</p>
<p>An explicit workplace grievance then provided the union with means to regain the initiative. In an essentially offensive response, the Miners' Association harnessed the influence of political labour to achieve the Coal Mines Regulation Act of 1896, one clause of which rendered culpable any neglect on the part of the colliery proprietor to accurately weigh the individual miner's production of coal, upon which his remuneration was calculated.</p>
<p>It is maintained here that because the old industrial organization of the miners' Lodges was essentially parochial and its inherent introversion antithetical to the wider concept of working-class solidarity, the coal-miners of the Illawarra were unable to seize the advantage gained for them by the new alliance of unionism and political labour. The thesis concludes that during the period 1893-97 the Illawarra coal-miners demonstrated a social cohesion which, paradoxically, prevented achievement of industrial unity in support of the labour movement.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/879
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-1883
2015-01-06T22:58:19Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:theses
publication:tharts
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publication:theses_doctype
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"Days of tears and longing": war, grief and memory in the Illawarra 1914-1925
Hawksley, Jennifer
2004-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.)
School of History and Politics
<p>The examination of bereavement during the First World War has been a relatively new contribution to the historiography of Australia's experience of war; however, many of these studies have primarily focussed on metropolitan areas and war widows. This thesis seeks to address three key areas of wartime bereavement - knowing, coping and remembering - from the perspective of parents and families in a rural region, the Illawarra, between 1914 and 1925. Local newspapers, letters, diaries, official documents and private records have been used to examine the experiences of the families of thirty-two men from the area who volunteered to join the First AIF, twenty-eight of whom did not return.</p>
<p>Traditional mourning rituals had centred on physical access to the bodies of the dead, knowledge of how and when they died and a grave site. During the war, the bodies of the dead were unavailable to the bereaved, the knowledge of how and when the men died was often limited (and in same cases was never known) and there was no grave site the bereaved could easily visit. Old forms of mourning were turned to new uses and new traditions were developed to allow the bereaved to make sense of the devastating, and unprecedented, human cost of modem trench warfare. For many parents, patriotism and faith in the validity of the war was not rhetoric. A belief in the nobility of sacrifice on foreign battlefields was one of the few ways sudden death on such a vast scale could be reconciled.</p>
<p>While many of the responses of the people of the Illawarra are reflective of wider trends, others were shaped by the particular characteristics of the region. Despite the inventiveness of new rituals of mourning, and the close support networks generated among the rural communities of the Illawarra, many of the bereaved of the Great War never fully recovered. For most, their loss defined, and diminished, the remainder of their lives.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/883
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-1884
2009-10-28T05:40:08Z
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publication:theses
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publication:arts
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The Illawarra Women's Health Centre: from conception to twenty years of operation
Miller, Melanie Anne
2005-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.)
School of History and Politics
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/884
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-1880
2014-08-12T01:44:28Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:theses
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The impact of the 1949 Coal Strike on the Illawarra community and its responses
Buchan, Alastair James Grant
1998-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.)
Department of History and Politics
<p>In 1949 coal was of vital importance to the Australian economy. Its use in the production of electrical power and gas meant that it played a crucial role in almost every aspect of the nation's industry. It was crucial to the operation of the country's rail transport system, and at this time it was playing an important part in domestic life, being used for heating, lighting and cooking. With this in mind it is not difficult to imagine the devastating effect the 1949 Coal Strike had upon the nation's economy, and the hardships it created for the Australian public, this thesis examines the effect of the 1949 Coal Strike upon the Illawarra Community and the labour movement of the region, and explores the responses to it.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/880
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-1881
2014-08-13T23:01:53Z
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publication:theses
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Health and disease as portrayed in the mass media
Nuttall, Julia Louise
1995-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.)
Department of Public Health and Nutrition
<p>The mass media plays a significant role in influencing lay perceptions, opinions and knowledge of health and disease. Given such a role, it is important to identify the theoretical frameworks within which health and disease are portrayed in the mass media. This research project investigated the portrayal of breast cancer in Australian print media in 1994.</p>
<p>The methodology employed was quantitative content analysis. Articles concerning breast cancer and issues relating to breast cancer were analysed and classified as aligned with the biomedical, lifestyle or political economy models of disease. The total number of articles that fell into each category was counted and a descriptive analysis of examples of articles from each model of disease was undertaken.</p>
<p>It was found that the biomedical model strongly dominated the portrayal of breast cancer in the print media. Eighty five percent of articles were classified into the biomedical model. The lifestyle model was an insignificant alternative (8%). The political economy model of disease was least represented, with only two percent of articles falling into this category. Five percent of the articles could not be considered as aligned with any model of disease.</p>
<p>The implications of this portrayal of health and disease in the mass media for public debate and lay understandings and related actions were discussed. Possible explanations for the mass media's representation of the biomedical model, and thus the marginalisation of other models, were given. Suggestions were made for advocates of the political economy model to promote a portrayal of health and disease in the mass media from a broader social and political perspective.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/881
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-1882
2014-07-27T23:10:08Z
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Post-war Portuguese migration to the Illawarra
Halilovic, Kerrie
2001-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.)
Department of History and Politics
<p>Objectives: This research arose from a proposal by the Portuguese Consulate General to study the Po1iuguese Community in the Illawarra. There has been one such analysis already completed which the researcher had access to: The Portuguese Community in the lllawarra, a report jointly published by the Illawarra Area Health Service and the South Coast Portuguese Association. This report states that it is the first survey of its kind on the Illawarra's Portuguese population and was initiated for two reasons. First, knowledge of and information about the Portuguese community lacked a satisfactory definition. Second, the survey was seen as a means of providing data that could be used in the planning of relevant health programmes for the Portuguese community. While this previous study was health based, this new research is an oral history of the Portuguese community in the Illawarra. It describes their feelings and experiences on arrival in Australia and in the Illawarra and how they managed with the language, different culture, and isolation. It also discusses their sense of communitY and the achievement of their original goals for such a drastic move from their homeland. Finally, assimilation and multiculturalism is discussed to see if these policies affected their aims and objectives. However, the researcher is aware that the small number of interviewees does not represent the whole community, and this was not intended. It was instead, used to show how these people felt and dealt with the problems that are associated with any migrant group in Australia.</p>
<p>Methodology: Nehvorking was used to obtain the ten interviewees. It was soon realised that it most the most efficient way to gain relevant information needed. The interviewees consisted of four women and six men ranging in age from 43 years to 68 years of age. It was generally recognised that the most relevant information on the migrants' experience was, as it were, 'in the heads of people'. An introductory letter and a list of questions were created and included at the end of this thesis on page 117. The interviewees gave up about one hour of their time in a place and time that suited them. The answers received are held at the University of Wollongong Library archives and the interviewees' names are confidential and therefore in their place numbers are used. The questions were in English and only two of the interviewees felt the need to have someone to interpret for them.</p>
<p>Overview: Though it is a cliche, Australia is a nation of migrants. Ever since white settlement, Australia has relied on importing people when required to increase population and the workforce. While immigration has been a central feature of Australian history since settlement, the post-I 945 immigration program was to change the face of Australian society. Today, one in three Australians is a direct product of post-war immigration. About four million migrants have entered Australia since World War II. These people can1e from such a diverse range of countries spanning all comers of the globe and it has resulted in Australia being one of the most ethnically diverse nations in the world. Before World War II, the Australian people were predominantly Anglo and Celtic in origin. This monoculture society was to change into a multicultural society in the space of less than four decades. Therefore, Australia as a receiving country of the large number of people from a diverse range of countries has become a major feature of its contemporary society and the Portuguese Community, although small, still played its unique part in this development.</p>
<p>In contrast, emigration is one of the main features of the human geography of Southern Europe, and indeed, of much of the Mediterranean Basin. The post war period, in particular the time between the late 1950s and early 1970s has seen an emigration boom, sparked off partly by the labour requirements of western world's industrial economies, combined with the continuing poverty of areas such as rural Spain, southern Italy and northern Greece and Portugal. Although most of these emigrants worked as guest workers in European countries such as France and Germany, a large portion made the gigantic step to immigrate to Australia. Therefore, how did the Portuguese feature in this post war immigration boom?</p>
<p>Constraints: The researcher encountered a number of constraints, which limited the scope of the research and its methodology. Major restrictions were related to the number of people interviewed. The time restraint allowed ten interviewees to be selected. There was an attempt to obtain two people from each year of the research, but time restraints prevented this. The quotes used throughout this study are in the person's own words, and the researcher has not used 'sic' as it was felt it would detract from the expression used.</p>
<p>There was a severe lack of information regarding the Portuguese in Australia and the Illawarra. This was especially noticeable since the census did not count the Portuguese born separately until 1976. Therefore, it was of only limited usefulness for this research as it had discounted 31 years of figures. Cross-tabulation, including relevant variables such as birthplace, are very limited for the Illawarra. Smaller ethnic communities are frequently subsumed under broader headings or, at worst, under a summary 'other'. Of the information available, it was mainly concentrated on community health, which was not immediately accessible and unrelated to this research.</p>
<p>Research at the Broken Hill Proprietary Limited Archives in Melbourne and National Archives of Australia in Canberra were both limited to the 30-year restriction clause. Therefore, research was only obtainable until 1970. BHPA however, stated they only had information until 1952 and unlike the National Archives; there was no index of available information for the researcher to access. This resulted in the researcher being dependent upon another person allocated by BHP A to decide if a certain bundle of papers were relevant to the thesis. The only information freely available was the different magazines and newspapers published by BHP. Added to the problems associated with BHPA the National Archives in Canberra recalled a large amount of information because of sensitivity regarding East Timor. In this case, the researcher had to wait for up to four months for this infonnation to be reclassified and unfortunately most of this was closed to viewing. Consequently, research for this thesis was extremely limited not only because of the reasons given above, but also since archival material was only available. Before 1970 and the census did not publish the relevant information until after 1970 before and after these times Government and private information was not existent.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/882
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-1885
2019-09-09T02:02:47Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:theses
publication:tharts
publication:arts
publication:theses_doctype
publication:document_types
Conspiracy aspects of the 1917 strike
Jurkiewicz, W.
1977-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.)
<p>The General Strike of 1917 began on the 2nd of August in the workshops of the New South Wales Railways and Tramways Department on the introduction of the Card System into the Service. Although the dispute was confined to the Department initially, it quickly spread by way of "sympathy" strikes to include unionists in all major industries in the State, and the major ports of the Commonwealth. Through the use of volunteer and "loyalist" labour and the assistance of the Federal Government and the employers, the Nationalist Government of New South Wales was able to defeat the strikers and impose harsh settlements. The railway section of the strike ended on the 10th September, but coalminers, seamen and watersiders did not return to work until mid October.</p>
<p>The Nationalist Government of New South Wales was quick to brand the strike a political "conspiracy", which set out to challenge the authority of the recently elected "win-the-war" Nationalist Government. It was alleged by the Nationalists that the conspiracy had been initiated by the revolutionary I.W.W. and supported by all dissident and disloyal elements of the labour movement, who had opposed conscription and were intent on thwarting the war effort. These sentiments were echoed by the patriotic press and endorsed by W.M. Hughes and the Nationalists in power in the Federal Parliament. The Nationalists, to crush the Conspiracy, and to assert the authority of their Government, set out to defeat the unions totally and unconditionally.</p>
<p>Allegations that the strike was the result of a political conspiracy within the labour movement were without foundation. Amongst trade unionists there was much discontent, as real wages fell and prices soared and other grievances remained unheard. The Card System was merely a catalyst for direct action, since it created fears of impending deterioration in working conditions and further exploitation of labour. Provocative actions on the part of the Nationalist Government provided further fuel for a potentially volatile industrial situation.</p>
<p>Counter-allegations were made by members of the labour movement to the effect that the Nationalists, together with employers, had deliberately engineered the strike to launch an attack on unionism. Certainly, in the violation of written agreements, first the Government and then the employers engaged in wholesale victimisation, refusing to re-employ workers in their old jobs and depriving them of their seniority and superannuation rights. Old unions were de-registered and new Government or employer-sponsored unions created in their place. In a later Royal Commission, several of the actions of the Government of New South Wales were found to be legally questionable. However, the notion of "conspiracy" remains tenuous.</p>
<p>The evidence shows that the Nationalists and the employers effected a savage attack on unionism, and the success of this probably influenced the decision to hold another Conscription Referendum. Whether or not this was a pre-meditated attack or, in fact, a conspiracy, is difficult to prove conclusively.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/885
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:tharts-1001
2013-01-25T04:08:39Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:tharts
publication:arts
publication:theses_doctype
publication:document_types
Television Nations: Imagined Communities in the Simpsons
Holland, Travis
2012-01-01T08:00:00Z
2013-01-24T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Communication and Media Studies (Honours)
School of Social Sciences, Media and Communication
Travis Holland, Television Nations: Imagined Communities in the Simpsons , Bachelor of Communication and Media Studies (Honours) thesis, School of Social Sciences, Media and Communication, Faculty of Arts, University of Wollongong, 2012. http://ro.uow.edu.au/tharts/2
<p>Since debuting in 1989, The Simpsons has become a much-loved and studied television program. In every episode, the series deals with a variety of issues in sharp self-conscious satirical style. This paper responds to a call from Michael Billig for academic work examining the appearance of banal nationalism in popular culture (1995). The study is strongly informed by the process of imagining nations identified by Benedict Anderson (1991). It also draws on work by Edward Said (1978) and Stuart Hall (1997). The method and form of imagining and representing nations in The Simpsons is established and analysed. The dominant presence of the United States is also addressed. It is argued that there are evident and inherent politics of exclusion in the practice of representing nations, and this practice extends to The Simpsons as it does to other media. This paper establishes seven elements of nation that can be found in The Simpsons: name; flag; territory/place; gastronomy; national days; historical events; and national institutions. These elements are mapped through a detailed content analysis supplemented by a structuralist discourse analysis. It is laid out in five chapters, covering an introductory section, a comprehensive literature review, a methodological outline, a results and discussion chapter, followed by a concluding section.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/tharts/2
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:tharts-1002
2013-12-17T03:24:52Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:tharts
publication:arts
publication:theses_doctype
publication:document_types
Capturing captivity: Australian prisons of the Great War
Smart, Julia
2013-01-01T08:00:00Z
2013-12-16T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Communication and Media Studies (Honours)
School of History and Politics
Julia Smart, Capturing captivity: Australian prisons of the Great War, Bachelor of Communication and Media Studies (Honours) thesis, School of History and Politics, University of Wollongong, 2013, 88p.
<p>Over 4000 Australian soldiers were taken prisoner during the course of the Great War. Their experiences have been largely unexplored. A small number of these men wrote about their experiences, and in doing so, they had to negotiate particular social and literary contexts. As such, their accounts were deliberately structured, retrospective texts. These accounts often reveal a tension between experiences and expectations, a tension that often resulted in exaggeration, embellishment and inaccuracy. This thesis approaches these memoirs, not as factual and historically accurate accounts, but as documents that are revealing in light of elements of exaggeration and selective representation. It focuses on key moments and themes within these narratives and argues that, irrespective of the accuracy of these memoirs, they reflect the diversity, depth and ambiguity of responses to captivity. These accounts fundamentally challenge assumptions of passivity and inactivity on the part of the captive that have tended to characterise literature examining the experiences of Australian soldiers taken prisoner during the Great War.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/tharts/3
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-5094
2014-07-17T23:22:35Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:theses
publication:tharts
publication:arts
publication:theses_doctype
publication:document_types
"Thoughtful feedback": public participation and the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator
Ross, Kerry
2004-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
School of Social Sciences, Media and Communication
<p>The introduction of genetically engineered crops has generated widespread public debate. In recognition of this, there are increasing calls for the public to participate in decisionmaking regarding their introduction. In Australia, the recently established Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) is responsible for the regulation of genetically engineered crops. In assessing the risks posed by the release of genetically engineered organisms into the environment the OGTR is obliged to incorporate public participation in its decision-making process. In 2003 the OGTR granted a licence to Bayer CropScience for the commercial release of Australia's first genetically engineered food crop, InVigor® canola. Despite assurances of public accountability and opportunities for community involvement key public stakeholders were critical of the OGTR process. This thesis evaluates the decision-making process of the OGTR by addressing the central question of whether the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator fostered genuine public participation in the InVigor® canola decision. This analysis is informed by a number of themes drawn from the STS literature that are specific to the issues raised in this case study. In the end, it is argued that rather than promote public participation the OGTR process marginalised such participation in a number of ways, despite the capacity to do otherwise.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/4087
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-5095
2014-07-17T23:47:14Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:theses
publication:tharts
publication:arts
publication:theses_doctype
publication:document_types
Our guys were very good. We were a very capable battery, in fact we were an arrogant bunch. We were good: Fire Support Patrol Base Coral 12 May to 6 June 1968, South Vietnam
Jamieson, Mark
2014-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
School of Humanities and Social Inquiry
<p>This thesis provides an account of the role played by seven veterans who fought in the Battle for Fire Support Patrol Base (FSPB) Coral, 12 May to 6 June 1968, in South Vietnam. The veterans interviewed are from 102 Field Battery Royal Australian Artillery and the First Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) Mortar Platoon. The veterans’ memories challenge the account given in On the Offensive: The Australian Army in the Vietnam War 1967-1968,1 the Official History series devoted to the Vietnam War. They believe the Official History is incorrect when it comes to four main matters: the intelligence provided to the units flying in to FSPB Coral, the positioning of the artillery batteries, two Final Preventative Fire tasks, and the use of splintex and ricocheting artillery. They also argue that the Official History has overlooked their role in the battle itself, one that was important in the overall outcome of the initial attacks launched by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/4088
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-5202
2014-12-08T01:02:21Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:theses
publication:tharts
publication:arts
publication:theses_doctype
publication:document_types
Culture, class & experience in the Australian Flying Corps
Molkentin, Michael W.J
2004-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
School of History and Politics
<p>The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was one of the world's earliest military air arms yet within Australian military history it has commanded only limited attention. The experience of the infantry in combat and the subsequent development of the digger myth and the Anzac legend (which was informed and shaped by the digger myth) have taken centre stage. But does the digger reflect the experiences of other units within the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF)? This thesis examines the Australian Flying Corps to answer that question in part.</p>
<p>This thesis is a social-military history of the AFC's combat aviators and mechanics, and sits within an Australian tradition of writing about war from below. It is a tradition that bases itself upon a lively discourse between the historian and the letters, memories and diaries of Australian soldiers. This thesis examines the social and cultural backgrounds of these men, the nature of, and how they responded to, a new type of warfare, one that was fought in the air. It argues that the history of the AFC challenges the notion of an AIF that was a socially and culturally homogenous force and that future studies of the smaller units within the AIF may well produce a richer historiography of the experience of Australian men in combat during the First World War.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/4195
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:theses-5318
2015-03-09T02:57:45Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:theses
publication:tharts
publication:arts
publication:theses_doctype
publication:document_types
‘Not like ordinary times’: aspects of Australian nurses’ experiences during the Great War
Hopkins, Jaclyn
2014-01-01T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts - Honours
School of Humanities and Social Enquiry
<p>The relationships formed between Australian military nurses and soldiers during the Great War played significant roles in these men and women’s lives, yet this non-professional aspect of the nurses’ experience of the war remains largely unexplored. Through relationships with the soldiers, the nurses were able to provide comfort and support to these men throughout the traumatic experience of war, often acting as temporary replacements for the absent family. The way in which these relationships operated, and the purpose they served, is examined through the various roles the nurses filled. These ranged from the romantic interest to mother, sister, confidante, moral guardian and diggeress. In examining the ways in which the nurses took on each role, it is clear that they frequently moved between them, often filling more than one at the same time. These roles were fluid, and therefore changed according to each situation and person. They were also complex, and the tendency to simplify them to meet popular expectations is addressed. By exploring the multi-faceted nature of these interactions, a more complete picture of the personal lives of the nurses is provided.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/4311
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:tharts-1003
2022-03-06T23:58:11Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:tharts
publication:arts
publication:theses_doctype
publication:document_types
Going against the flow: a sociotechnical network analysis of endemic acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in remote indigenous communities of Australia
Carter, Elizabeth Maree
2021-01-01T08:00:00Z
2022-03-06T08:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
School of Humanities and Social Inquiry
<p>Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) are autoimmune conditions caused by Group A Streptococcus (Group A Strep) infections. ARF/RHD are mostly eradicated from the Global North yet are endemic in many remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of Australia. The risk factors for ARF/RHD are similar to the material conditions of poverty, including overcrowded housing and poor access to health services. Despite extensive interventions, surveillance, and evaluation of these conditions over many years, an entrenched experience of illness persists due to a complex array of social, material, political, cultural, and economic factors. Using actor network theory (ANT) as a primary analytical lens I will examine processes leading to the current socio-technical network conformation of ongoing ARF/RHD. I focus on three nodes, each centring on a different element of this network: firstly, benzylpenicillin G (BPG) antibiotics used for prevention, secondly, echocardiograms (ECGs) used for diagnosis and screening, and finally, Group A Strep vaccines that are yet to be developed into a useable product. For each node I analyse the scientific, policy, and sociological literature by mapping and tracing associated human and non-human elements and considering how their configurations have changed over time. Further, I explore the contingent ways in which these nodes have become important elements in temporarily stabilised network conformations. Despite the persistent and embedded presence of ARF/RHD in remote Indigenous communities for many decades, the dynamic nature of the network reveals that this is not an inevitable inequality. Rather, there is vast potential for socially just change through local Indigenous-led approaches to holistic healthcare.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/tharts/4
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:tharts-1004
2022-04-06T23:57:49Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:tharts
publication:arts
publication:theses_doctype
publication:document_types
Out Of Sight… In Plain Sight: How everyday policing practices are reproducing the settler colonial state’s territorial claims
Tozer, Abby
2021-01-01T08:00:00Z
2022-04-06T07:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
School of Humanities and Social Inquiry
<p>In neoliberal Australia there has been an increase in the criminalisation and incarceration of Indigenous peoples. This thesis explores how everyday policing practices, like discretionary policing and surveillance, are covertly reproducing settler colonialism. To do so, I employ Brett Story’s (2019) concept of carceral space, which refers to the dispersal of carceral practices and power out of the prison and into public spaces. I utilise a case study approach to demonstrate how two ‘micro’ policing practices – offensive language offences and the practice of stop and searches – contribute to the discriminatory policing of Indigenous Australians. I demonstrate that these carceral practices have become systemic tools in the containment and incapacitation of Indigenous peoples’ as political subjects. To do so, I draw upon critical Indigenous studies scholars, settler colonial scholars, geographers and abolitionists. My aim is to shift the focus away from incarceration and toward the everyday over-policing practices designed to dispossess, manage and control Indigenous Australians in public spaces. In particular, I focus on the sites of police surveillance, criminalisation and arrest, which are often overlooked in the broader debate. I conclude that to overcome rising rates of Indigenous criminalisation and incarceration, the work of prison abolitionists must be heard. If settler Australia is serious about reducing rates of Indigenous imprisonment, the current criminal justice system – which is built on colonial violence – must be dismantled, with funds redistributed into social and economic support systems.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/tharts/5
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:tharts-1006
2023-08-07T01:53:01Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:tharts
publication:arts
publication:theses_doctype
publication:document_types
Narrativising Episodic Memory: From Memory Episodes to Micronarratives
Jag, Shaani
2023-01-01T08:00:00Z
2023-08-06T07:00:00Z
1702 COGNITIVE SCIENCE, 1799 OTHER PSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITIVE SCIENCES, 2203 PHILOSOPHY
Bachelor of Western Civilisation (Honours)
School of Liberal Arts
narratives
episodic memory
autobiographical memory
memory
<p>In the current literature on Episodic Memory (EM), mental representations are often assumed to stand out as the main view that promises to explain how we experience past personal events. However, proponents of Radical Enactive Cognition (REC) have argued that this view is empirically and theoretically inadequate due to issues with misremembering - failure to recall events in the past accurately - and the Hard Problem of Content (HPC) (Hutto & Myin 2013, 2017). This thesis aims to utilise REC’s already established framework and narrative formulations of memory to provide the tools needed to characterise episodic memory. The thesis turns to Narrativist Accounts (Gallagher 2008, 2003; Gallagher & Hutto 2008; Hutto 2016, Nelson & Fivush 2004; Rudd 2012; Schechtman 1996) and takes notice of the various capacities and requirements needed under these views and how they can serve as a model that can account for EM. However, under a Narrativist Account (NA), episodic memory is always embedded within autobiographical narratives. This raises the question of whether NAs can make room for any kind of episodic memory when conditions such as coherence, temporality and achievement of specific narrative capacities are required. By drawing from research on Dementia, Alzheimer’s, PTSD and Depression, along with non-pathological scenarios, this thesis demonstrates that stronger and moderate narrativist accounts do not provide room for explaining episodic memory. l propose that episodic experiences of the personal past can be seen in a different light when understood as Micronarratives. Micronarratives are marked out by being fixed or resistant to updating while identifying with a particular event in the past, even if it is not in the form of an accurate or true description. l defend that episodic memory, in this view, is not confronted with the same problems and offers a viable alternative.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/tharts/7
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:tharts-1007
2024-03-28T03:18:13Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:tharts
publication:arts
publication:theses_doctype
publication:document_types
“Marked in my book of life”: Imagining Embodied Female Selfhood in the Victorian Novel
Pike, Jasmin
2023-01-01T08:00:00Z
2024-03-27T07:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts in Western Civilisation (Honours)
School of Liberal Arts
Gothic
materiality
Bronte
<p>This thesis will take seriously the Victorian fascination with papery objects, bringing together contemporary models of materiality that centralise the ontological existence of the book as a physical <em>thing</em>, and studies on the domestic Gothic novel that emphasise the doubleness of female existence. While the incarceration of the Gothic heroine has been substantially addressed in scholarship, there remains a gap in the exploration of the material objects that furnish the Brontëan novel and the characters’ haptic engagement with these objects. With a focus on two novelists of the period, Anne Brontë and Charlotte Brontë, I will discuss two novels that are fascinated by the texture, form, and tactility of material objects—objects that function as embodiments of the creative self. By investigating the papery objects that circulate the Brontëan novel, I argue that the Gothic heroine imagines a life outside of the constraints of the domestic space through acts of creative production.</p>
<p>In the first section, I take Helen Graham’s diary-manuscript, and the surrounding criticism, as the starting point for an investigation of papery materials in Anne Brontë’s novel, The Tenant of <em>Wildfell Hall</em> (1848). Through a series of close readings, I will argue that Brontë’s novel formulates a spatial model that mimics female subjectivity, as the frame-tale narrative structure, ruinous architecture of Wildfell Hall, and circulation of textual materials, each manifest Helen’s selfhood, fragmented by the opposing forces of confinement / creation, and possessed / possessing. Through the dual acts of writing and artmaking, Helen establishes her status as a creative agent who both mediates her existence and imagines new life through creative activity.</p>
<p>In the second section, I will turn to Charlotte Brontë’s final novel, <em>Villette</em> (1853), to argue that the heroine navigates a life of suffering through actively performing her position as a writer. Lucy Snowe’s oblique mode of storytelling and appreciation of papery objects manifest her imagined self—as she insists on the doubled nature of her existence to avoid the closure of categorisation and claim control of her narrative trajectory.</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/tharts/8
oai:ro.uow.edu.au:tharts-1008
2024-03-28T03:26:54Z
publication:thesesuow
publication:tharts
publication:arts
publication:theses_doctype
publication:document_types
Dr. Faustus and free will: an alternative interpretation of Marlowe’s play
Weir, Geoff
2023-01-01T08:00:00Z
2024-03-27T07:00:00Z
Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
School of Liberal Arts
psychological
misquoting
angst
<p>Marlowe’s play <em>Dr. Faustus</em> has been the subject of widely differing interpretations, most of them focused on the justice or otherwise of God. Is it a conventional morality play in which, having turned his back on God and salvation, Faustus is rightly condemned to hell? Or is Faustus a tragic hero, unfairly condemned simply for pursuing the Renaissance dream of reaching for heaven through knowledge and learning?</p>
<p>This thesis suggests that, in contrast to these two main streams of interpretation which both see the play as essentially theological in nature, <em>Dr. Faustus</em> is primarily a psychological study of a man trying to obtain certainty and meaning in his life but failing dramatically on both counts, and the consequences of that failure in the form of his growing mental anguish. At the centre of his angst is the issue of free will: do we have any control over our own salvation? And if not then how should we live our life so as to give it meaning? Faustus’ unsuccessful attempts to answer these questions are closely examined using some philosophical concepts and theories relating to free will. This close analysis of the text suggests that the dismal failure of Faustus’ attempt to resolve all theological uncertainties concerning free will and salvation by denying the existence of both is the major cause of his psychological breakdown. This failure, along with Faustus’ failure to obtain agency and control in his life through the unconstrained pursuit of his passions following his pact with the devil, point to the main focus of the play: the portrayal of a man at war with himself, torn apart by metaphysical uncertainties and the inherent limitations of what it means to be “but Faustus, and a man.”</p>
https://ro.uow.edu.au/tharts/9