An Australian ethics of reading?

Book chapter


Nolan, Maggie. (2020). An Australian ethics of reading? In In Gildersleeve, Jessica (Ed.). The routledge companion to Australian literature pp. 171-178 Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003124160
AuthorsNolan, Maggie
EditorsGildersleeve, Jessica
Abstract

At the turn of the century, John Guillory made the grand claim that reading is ‘the principle ethical practice of modernity.’ For Guillory, the persistent gap between what he refers to as professional (or academic) and lay modes of reading is the key reason why we have not been able to recognise reading as an ethical practice. This paper explores this claim and teases out its implications through the lens of shared reading and suggests that the phenomenon of the book club may well be one of the principal ethical spaces of modernity. In thinking through this question, this paper outlines a range of arguments in relation to the ethics of reading and draws on recent theorisations of post-critique, which has also advocated a commitment to overcoming the distance between academic and lay readers.

What does it mean to be an ethical reader? Is it an attitude that one brings to a text, or is it a mode or practice of reading? If so, what would that practice look like? How does one become an ethical reader? Does it require disciplinary training, or does reading ethically pay no heed to literary features? Can an ethical relation to a text be established in advance – or does it emerge through the process and practice of reading? And, more pertinent to this collection, but also more speculatively, is there a national dimension to these questions – is there an Australian ethics of reading?

Page range171-178
Year2020
Book titleThe routledge companion to Australian literature
PublisherRoutledge
Place of publicationNew York
Edition1st
ISBN9781003124160
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003124160
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online23 Dec 2020
Publication process dates
Deposited18 Jun 2021
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8w3zv/an-australian-ethics-of-reading

Restricted files

Publisher's version

  • 91
    total views
  • 0
    total downloads
  • 0
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

Cathy Freeman, reconciliation and the burden of history
Nolan, Maggie. (2022). Cathy Freeman, reconciliation and the burden of history. Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies. 36(3), pp. 429-447. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2021.1998371
Introduction : The uses of Irish-Australian literature
McDonald, Ronan and Nolan, Marguerite. (2021). Introduction : The uses of Irish-Australian literature. Australian Literary Studies. 36(2), pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.20314/als.3eb21c884e
Reading fiction, talking reconciliation : Australian book clubs, book talk and the politics of history
Nolan, Marguerite Rose, Clarke, Robert and Brown, Rebekah. (2021). Reading fiction, talking reconciliation : Australian book clubs, book talk and the politics of history. In In Moser, Doris and Dürr, Claudia (Ed.). Über bücher reden : Literaturrezeption in lesegemeinschaften pp. 231-242 V&R unipress. https://doi.org/10.14220/9783737013239.231
Conceptualising Irish-Aboriginal writing
Nolan, Maggie. (2021). Conceptualising Irish-Aboriginal writing. Australian Literary Studies. 36(2), pp. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.20314/als.776fd12cac
Shifting timescapes and the significance of the Mine in Alexis Wright's Carpentaria
Nolan, Maggie. (2020). Shifting timescapes and the significance of the Mine in Alexis Wright's Carpentaria. Australian Literary Studies. 35(2), pp. 1-21. https://doi.org/10.20314/als.5910cfb010
Reading massacre : Book club responses to landscape of farewell
Nolan, Maggie. (2020). Reading massacre : Book club responses to landscape of farewell. Texas Studies in Literature and Language. 62(1), pp. 73-96. https://doi.org/10.7560/TSLL62104
Reading groups and reconciliation : Kate Grenville's The Secret River and the ordinary reader
Nolan, Marguerite and Clarke, Robert. (2014). Reading groups and reconciliation : Kate Grenville's The Secret River and the ordinary reader. Australian Literary Studies. 29(4), pp. 19 - 35.
XVII New literatures
Carpentier, Sally, Chakraborty, Mridula Nath, Daymond, Margaret, Holden, Philip, McNeill, Dougal, Nolan, Marguerite Rose, Raja, Ira, Rampaul, Giselle, Sharrad, Paul, Da Silva, Tony Simoes, Skeete, Geraldine and Whitehouse, Ian. (2014). XVII New literatures. Year's Work in English Studies. 93(1), pp. 1046 - 1212. https://doi.org/10.1093/ywes/mau015
Book clubs and reconciliation : A pilot study on book clubs reading the 'fictions of reconciliation'
Clarke, Robert and Nolan, Marguerite. (2014). Book clubs and reconciliation : A pilot study on book clubs reading the 'fictions of reconciliation'. Australian Humanities Review.
Reading The Secret River
Nolan, Marguerite and Clarke, Robert. (2011). Reading The Secret River. Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies. 17(2), pp. 9 - 25.
Who's a weird mob? Imagining assimilation in postwar Australia
Nolan, Marguerite Rose. (2009). Who's a weird mob? Imagining assimilation in postwar Australia. In In R. Summo-O'Connell (Ed.). Imagined Australia: Reflections around the reciprocal construction of identity between Australia and Europe pp. 265 - 276 Peter Lang Publishing.
Canvassing the issues: Indigenous Australians in higher education
Frawley, Jack, Nolan, Marguerite Rose and White, Nereda Dawn. (2009). Canvassing the issues: Indigenous Australians in higher education. In In J. Frawley, M. Nolan and N. White (Ed.). Indigenous Issues in Australian Universities: Research, Teaching, Support pp. 1 - 6 Charles Darwin University Press.
The demidenko affair and Australian hoaxes
Nolan, Marguerite Rose. (2007). The demidenko affair and Australian hoaxes. In In N. Birns and R. Birns (Ed.). A Companion to Australia Literature Since 1900 pp. 127 - 138 Camden House.
Bitin back: Indigenous writing in QLD
Nolan, Marguerite Rose. (2007). Bitin back: Indigenous writing in QLD. In In P. Buckridge and B. McKay (Ed.). By the Book: A Literary History of Queensland pp. 259 - 277 University of Queensland Press.
Elizabeth Durack, Eddie Burrup and the art of identification
Nolan, Marguerite Rose. (2004). Elizabeth Durack, Eddie Burrup and the art of identification. In In P. Knight and J. Long (Ed.). Fakes and Forgeries pp. 135 - 145 Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Dynamics of displacement: Doing postgraduate Australian studies in the UK
Nolan, Marguerite Rose. (2004). Dynamics of displacement: Doing postgraduate Australian studies in the UK. In In D. Carter, K. Darian-Smith and G. Worby (Ed.). Thinking Australian Studies pp. 224 - 234 University of Queensland Press.
Displacing indigenous Australians: Freud’s totem and taboo
Nolan, Marguerite Rose. (2003). Displacing indigenous Australians: Freud’s totem and taboo. In In J. Damousi and R. Reynolds (Ed.). History on the Couch: Essays in History and Psychoanalysis pp. 60 - 72 Melbourne University Press.
Identity crises and orphaned rewritings
Nolan, Marguerite Rose. (2003). Identity crises and orphaned rewritings. In In A. Oboe (Ed.). Mongrel Signatures: Reflections on the Work of Mudrooroo pp. 107 - 128 Rodopi.