This research was published as part of an externally funded project included in the ANROWS Register of Active Research (RAR). The research project has either concluded and/or a research output has been made available and has been added to the ANROWS library. Please visit https://www.anrows.org.au/register-of-active-research/ for more information on the RAR.

Project title: Rethinking the Victim: Gendered Violence in Australian Women’s Writing

Project description:

This project, the first to examine gendered violence in Australian literature, argues that literary texts by Australian women writers offer unique ways of understanding the social problem of gendered violence, bringing this often private and suppressed issue into the public sphere. It draws on the international field of violence studies to investigate how these writers challenge the victim paradigm and figure women’s agencies. By including white, Indigenous and minority women writers in its case studies, and by interviewing selected writers, it will shed new light on the role of gendered violence in the diverse and interconnected cultural histories of the nation and will significantly extend the parameters of the Australian literary canon.

Project contact
Prof. Sue Kossew
Monash University

Funding Body
Australian Research Council

Project start & End Dates
July 2014 – August 2018