Rosemary Sorensen From: The Australian September 18, 2010
THE books on the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards' first history book shortlist may not sound like populist works but it's interesting that they are all written by women.
Despite the weird situation where all five on the fiction shortlist are written by men, the fact women are getting into history publishing is, says shortlisted author Natasha Campo, the result of a fundamental change in what is considered good history.
It's not just about sociology and ethnology, Campo says, but about finding the stories behind the people and, even more important, looking at popular culture as part of the background to history. Campo's book, From Superwoman to Domestic Goddesses: The Rise and Fall of Feminism, was published by Swiss academic publisher Peter Lang International.
She says that was her only option after a glut of books on feminism (that is, a couple of others) put Australian publishers off taking on another, no matter how good it might be. She is up against Clare Corbould's Becoming African Americans (published by Harvard) and Rethinking Anti-semitism in 19th-Century France (Cambridge University Press). The awards are announced on September 28.
The Australian.
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