English Extension

Political speechcraft acts as a societal sketch, representing broader cultural and historical concerns. Lachlan Staber’s critical response, ‘The Script of the Nation’ traces these lines, painting for his reader the clashes and commonalities in style, purpose, and effect of the formally spoken words of three U.S. Presidents.

Through the application of a metamodern lens, Staber’s analysis charts the uneven flows between spectacle and sincerity in the speeches of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald J. Trump. Through this, we are left with both a foreground of U.S. political discourse and a projection as to where audiences might be positioned next. His analysis uncovers the lurking danger of monologic thinking in a world of fleeting, minute attention spans.

In finality, this dissertation acts not only to inform but also to equip listeners with a critical ear, utilising a metamodern thought process to discern past trajectories and navigate the emerging trends of political speechcraft.

Fiction, at its best, reveals layers that were previously unknown to both author and audience. ‘The delicate art of a funeral zeibekiko’ is so much more than a story; it is excavation of heritage, hypocrisy, and healing.

This short fiction piece by Anthony Parissis draws together the dissonant voices of a Greek-Australian family, creating a mournful harmony around their fallen patriarch. This polyphonic approach leads to a textured narrative, woven with introspection on the challenges of diasporic identity and the weight of familial expectation.

It is more than a dirge, and not quite an elegy, with the core narration of the thoughtful Theo unpacking a complex childhood and paternal relationship. Ultimately though, this is as much a story of a defiant matriarch as it is that of a flawed father. The female voices of Evelyn, Alexandra, and the unnamed mother are where the story soars, with revealing testimony that uncovers grief, loss, and cultural inheritance.

Through his fictive archaeology, Parissis outlines a fractured family, held together by sacrifice, tradition, and flawed love. This dance is a delicate one, both for the Pavlidis family, and the author; it is one that is choreographed in perfect imperfection.