Dr Jacqueline Dutton - Research projects
Research projects
"Voyager avec Le Clézio: des tentatives de
fuite aux itinéraires utopiques", Récits du dernier
siècle des voyages: de Victor Segalen à Nicolas Bouvier, Paris:
Presses Universitaires Paris-Sorbonne, "Imago Mundi"
“Paradise Lost – Utopia Reclaimed. Writing the Wrongs of French Exploration
in the Antipodes”
This project aims to open new areas of cross-cultural research by introducing
the utopian paradigm as a frame of reference for analysing colonial and postcolonial
discourse. It will be argued that French writings on Australia have consistently
and primarily served as a means of expiating the reality of an unattainable desire
to discover or to colonise parts of the Terra australis. The study will claim
that it is the utopian paradigm which has allowed the French both to imagine
their own Australia in a positive, romanticised light and also to condemn the
Australia created in their absence with radically negative, dystopian overtones.
"Ukiyo — Utopia. Floating Between Worlds"
This is a comparative study of Japanese and French representations of
the ideal place in literature. It will involve the analysis of
projections of a parallel world, which can be found in the forms of
ukiyo (the floating world) in Japanese culture and utopia in French
culture.
"Inland Seas – Real and Imaginary"
This study considers the imaginary and mythical correlations between
hypothetical and real inland seas, in Australia, Japan, and Europe,
analysing the dynamic interplay and multicultural dimensions of this
geographical and cultural phenomenon.
ARC
DP0451385 Dr JL Dutton
Title: Paradise Lost - Utopia Reclaimed: Writing the Wrongs of
French
Exploration in the Antipodes
2004 : $50,000
2005 : $45,000
2006 : $34,000
Category: 4202 - LITERATURE STUDIES
Administering Institution: The University of Melbourne
Summary: When France's attempts to claim regions of Australia
failed, the dream of an Antipodean paradise was lost. In its breach
rose a new utopian frontier. Paradoxically, this anticipatory
perspective revives a form of utopianism previously established
in classical French-Australian writings. Whether framing an ideal
France australe or criticising a non-utopian British reality,
the ongoing role of utopianism in French-Australian (post)colonial
discourse may be analysed as a case study for cross- cultural encounters.
The findings, publishable in English and French monographs, will open up
new methods for understanding Australia's past, present and future relations
with one of its major cultural influences.
Comparative Utopias: Intercultural Imaginaries of the Ideal
1 - Comparative Utopias workshop (Click here to download the PDF)
2 - Summary of Workshop (Click here to download the PDF)
3 - Biographies (Click here to download the PDF)