After postmodernism: literary theory, culture and the new HSC English syllabus

Abstract

Postmodernism appeared as a unit of study in the New South Wales Higher School Certificate for the first time in 2001. The inclusion of postmodernism is part of a new English syllabus described as “a major reconceptualisation and expansion of the study and teaching of English” in New South Wales. The new English syllabus involves crucial issues about literary theory, culture and education. The definition of texts has been extended to include film, media and multimedia texts, and the definition of English studies has been changed to combine traditional literary studies with new theoretical views of meaning and texts.