Kursinformation

This lecture course will introduce students to the manifold historical, cultural and literary interactions between China and Australia. Ethnic Chinese account for the largest Asian immigrant group in Australia; they have engaged with and shaped Australian culture and society for almost two centuries. Beginning with the arrival of Chinese people on the Goldfields of New South Wales and Victoria in the 19^th century, the lecture course will identify contributions of Chinese migrants to Australia's economy, cityscapes, art and literature. We will consider visual representations (paintings, sketches and photography), institutions (exhibitions and museums, e.g. the Museum of Chinese Australian History, Melbourne), places (e.g. the growth of Sydney's Chinatown) as well as a range of texts (newspaper articles, caricatures) and literary works: short stories, novels and memoirs from the publication of the first Chinese-Australian novel, The Poison of Polygamy(1906-10), to the present day.