Southern Land, Hardened Heart: the Possibility of Australian Neon Noir
Southern Land, Hardened Heart: the possibility of Australian neon noir Christopher Przewloka Bachelor of Fine Arts (Creative Writing) Creative Writing and Literary Studies (Hons) Creative Industries Faculty Creative Writing and Literary Studies Discipline Queensland University of Technology Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2016 Keywords Neon noir, hard-boiled, crime writing, genre, craft, Australian fiction, creative writing, practice-led research. ii Abstract Much can be learnt from dwelling in the dark underbelly of society, and it is for such reasons neon noir crime fiction has become one of the most enduring ways of analysing our culture at large. Evolving from the hard-boiled private detective stories found in early pulp fiction magazines, neon noir offers violent narratives that vivisect the social, historical, and political landscape, often blurring the line between fact and fiction. Thus neon noir eschews the romanticism of the classic hard-boiled model, and embraces something far more subversive: populist novels driven by contemporary cultural analysis. Despite both literary and commercial success in North America, Australian authors have often shied away from wholly embracing the neon noir style. This is somewhat perplexing, as Australia has had a long and enduring relationship with all forms of crime writing, especially hard-boiled—the progenitor of neon noir. So why do we shy away from the neon noir style in Australia? What are the difficulties, considerations, and possibilities of localising the form? Do the conventions of the sub-genre shift when placed in an Australian setting? This practice-led thesis consists of an Australian neon noir novel entitled Coffin’s Reach, and a 50,000 word exegesis that accompanies the creative work.
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