Review Caring Cultures: Sharing Imaginations: Australia and India

The reading of Australian literature from international perspectives is vital, not only for the publication and promotion of Australian literature overseas, but also for the maintenance of a robust and energetic discipline that is both national and global in its reach. India, increasingly, is a contributor to this international network of scholarly engagement, with at least four anthologies of critical essays on Australian literature published in New Delhi in as many years. The present collection of papers, Caring Cultures: Sharing Imaginations: Australia and India, adds to this growing body of work. Several of its essays offer fascinating views on Australian writers and their texts, particularly in regard to Indian connections and influences within Australian literary works, and in drawing comparisons between Indian and Australian writers. The contributions, however, vary considerably in quality. Not all dazzle; some are questionable in argument or lacking in analysis. Also, even though copy-editing issues usually close a review, I must say from the outset that the frequency of copy error in this volume is a major annoyance.