Rethinking the Victim: Gender and Violence in Contemporary Australian Women's Writing (Routledge Research in Postcolonial Literatures)

Book Details:

• Author: Anne Brewster

• Brand: Routledge

• Edition: 1

• Binding: Hardcover

• Pages: 240

• Release Date: 14-03-2019

• EAN: 9781138092594

• Package Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches

• Languages: English

About The Book:

"Gender and Violence in Australian Literature" by Anne Brewster is the first comprehensive examination of gender and violence within Australian literary texts. This book argues that literary works by Australian women writers provide innovative ways to understand and engage with the social issue of gendered violence, often a private and suppressed matter. By examining how these texts bring gendered violence into the public sphere, the book challenges traditional notions of victimhood, giving space for a more nuanced exploration of women’s agency.

Drawing from international violence studies, the author investigates how Australian women writers, including Indigenous and minoritized voices, reframe the conversation around gendered violence. The book provides a theoretical context for contemporary literary works that address these urgent social issues and explores how these works confront and reconsider victimhood through a feminist lens.

Key Themes and Features:

• Literary Representations of Gendered Violence: The book focuses on how Australian women’s literature addresses themes of intimate partner violence, family violence, violence against Indigenous women and girls, and political violence, among other topics.

• Feminist Perspective on Victimhood and Agency: Brewster challenges the conventional victim paradigm by examining how women’s literary works express agency within violent contexts.

• Inclusive Analysis: The book is unique in that it juxtaposes mainstream Australian women’s writing with that of Indigenous and minoritized women, providing a broader understanding of Australia’s diverse settler, Indigenous, and diasporic histories.

• Interdisciplinary Approach: The text integrates the field of violence studies with literary analysis, offering insights into the intersection of literature, feminism, and social issues.

Why This Book is Important:

• Re-examining Victimhood and Agency: This work provides an essential rethinking of how victimhood and agency are portrayed in literature, particularly in relation to gendered violence.

• Contemporary Relevance: With the ongoing political and social currency of gendered violence in Australian society, this book offers valuable insights into the literary reflections of this pressing issue.

• Focus on Indigenous and Minoritized Women’s Experiences: By including Indigenous and minoritized women’s literary works, the book offers a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of various cultural and historical experiences of violence.

"Gender and Violence in Australian Literature" is an invaluable resource for scholars and students of literature, gender studies, and Australian studies, providing a critical exploration of how gendered violence is represented and contested in Australian women’s writing.