Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: A, University of Malta, course: Australian Novel, language: English, abstract: The following essays deals with the treatment of class in "A Fringe of Leaves" by Patrick White and "The Conversations at Curlow Creek" by David Malouf.

"Despite Johnno's assertion that Brisbane was absolutely the ugliest place in the world, I had the feeling as I walked across deserted intersections, past empty parks with their tropical trees all spiked and sharp-edged in the early sunlight, that it might even be beautiful ... " Johnno is a typical Australian who refuses to be typical. His disorderly presence can disturb the staleness of his home town or destroy the tranquillity of a Greek landscape. An affectionately outrageous portrait, David Malouf's first novel recreates the war-conscious forties, the pubs and brothels of the fifties, and the years away treading water overseas.

From the image of a small boy entranced by his mother's GI Escort, yet still hoping for the return of a father 'missing in action', to the portrait of an adult writer trying to piece together a defining image of his late father, these outstanding stories conjure up with sharp intensity the memories and events that make a man. These powerfully vivid stories range over more than a century of Australian life, from green tropical lushness to 'blacksoil country', from scrub and outback to city streets - evoking dark shadows beneath a bright sun, and lives shaped by the ghosts of history and the rhythms of unruly nature.

This is the story of Michael Dwyer, Hugh Vesty Byrne, Martin Burke, Arthur Devlin and John Mernagh.

Each house, like each place, has its own topography, its own lore. A complex history comes down to us, through household jokes and anecdotes, odd family habits, and irrational superstitions, that forever shapes what we see and the way in which we see it. Beginning with his childhood home, David Malouf moves on to show other landmarks in his life, and the way places and things create our private worlds. Written with humour and uncompromising intelligence, 12 Edmondstone Street is an unforgettable portrait of one man's life.

?[Praeg] applies the notion of ?sacrificial violence?, as developed by Girard, to the genocide in Rwanda, necklace burnings in South Africa, and the phenomenon of family murders. He shows how there is an underlying logic tying these together, while at the same time resisting a unifying (modernist) discourse which attempts to eradicate the differences. This is an extremely interesting, at times fascinating, text. It is very well written and ... [the] insights gained leave no option but to rethink the manifestation of violence fundamentally.? ? Paul Cilliers Department of Philosophy, Stellenbosch University

An indispensable reference for the study of Australian literature.

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,7 (A-), Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel (English Seminar), course: Hauptseminar: Postcolonial Texts from the Terranglia, language: English, abstract: [...]The main focus of the following paper will lie on the mental consequences of being in exile, mainly portrayed in the protagonist - or main consciousness- Michael Adair. Furthermore I will propose to consider the notions of estrangement that can be found in Adair as well as in Carney, the differences between life in their home country Ireland and their new (temporary) home Australia from the colonial point of view.