ABSTRACT

This unique book on neurocognitive interpretations of Australian literature covers a wide range of analyses by discussing Australian Literary Studies, Aboriginal literary texts, women writers, ethnic writing, bestsellers, neurodivergence fiction, emerging as well as high- profile writers, literary hoaxes and controversies, book culture, and LGBTIQA+ authors, to name a few. It eclectically brings together a wide gamut of cognitive concepts and literary genres at the intersection of Australian literary studies and cognitive literary studies in the first single-author volume of its kind. It takes Australian Literary Studies into the age of neuroawareness and provides new pathways in contemporary criticism.

part I|31 pages

Cognition and Literary Culture

chapter 1|15 pages

Up for a Cha(lle)nge? 1

A Case for Cognitive Australian Literary Studies

chapter 2|14 pages

Do Judge a Book by Its Cover!

Attraction and Attachment in Markus Zusak's The Book Thief

part II|31 pages

Cognition and the Mind

chapter 3|14 pages

Gazing Inward and Outward

(Trans)Formation in C.J. Koch's Bildungsroman Protagonists and Readers

chapter 4|15 pages

Australian High-Functioning ASD Fiction in the Age of Neurodiversity

Graeme Simsion's Rosie Trilogy

part III|28 pages

Cognition and the Body

chapter 5|14 pages

The Erotics of Writing and Reading Australian Fiction

Linda Jaivin, Frank Moorhouse, and John Purcell's Art of Dealing with Dirt

chapter 6|12 pages

Brains in Pain and Coping Bodies

Trauma, Scars, Wounds, and the Mind–Body Relationship in Western Australia Aboriginal Literature

part IV|35 pages

Cognition and Emotions

chapter 7|17 pages

Angry Gay Men

Rage, Race, and Reward in Contemporary Australian Advocacy Fiction

chapter 8|16 pages

No Time for Outrage? The Demidenko Affair

Literary Representations, Criticism, and Moral Emotions in The Hand That Signed the Paper