Writing a history of literary criticism is undoubtedly challenging in that it requires the writer’s expertise in two aspects: how to unify both theoretical and practical criticism; and how to objectively accurately and comprehensively give a succinct account of key information in the face of a vast amount of literature. Peng addresses these issues by pursuing a narrative pattern which includes a macro-level portrayal of social and cultural contexts, a meso-level analysis of literary events and cultural debates, and a micro-level interpretation of four individual critics’ ideas about Australian literature in every phase of the development.
The initial four units are organised into the initial phase (1901–1940s), the phase of professionalisation (1950s–1960s), the phase of internationalisation (1970s–1980s), and the phase of diversification (1990s–). The treatment of cultural debates and literary events elucidates Australian literary and cultural trends Peng argues that these events and debates demonstrate that Australia has always been…