Published In

Ilha do Desterro: A Journal of English Language, Literature in English, and Cultural Studies

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2016

Subjects

Postcolonialism in literature, Manuscript studies, Australian literature, Postcolonialism

Abstract

Scholars of Australian literature have engaged more frequently and enthusiastically with book history approaches than nearly any other postcolonial nation’s literary scholars. Several Australian scholars have suggested that book history has taken over where postcolonial studies let of. In their choice of subject matter, however, Australian book historians reinforce the very constructions of literary value they purport to dismantle, similar to how scholars of postcolonial studies have been critiqued for reinforcing the construction of colonial identities. hus, this article looks to the intellectual history of postcolonial studies for examples of how it has responded to similar critiques. What is revealed is a surprising, and heretofore untold, relationship between book history and postcolonial studies, which focuses on their transnational potential versus their ability to remain irmly grounded in the national.

Description

Copyright 2016 The Author(s). This article was published as open access.

DOI

10.5007/2175-8026.2016v69n2p117

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/17449

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