Bode, Katherine, and Osborne, Roger (2026) Patterns of reuse: Towards a history of fiction in twentieth-century Australian newspapers. In: Engren, Jimmy, Jarlbrink, Johann, and Lundell, Patrik, (eds.) Histories of Content Reuse in the Periodical Press: Sharing Culture, Virality and Media Transfer from the 17th to the 20th Century. De Gruyter, Berlin, Germany, pp. 113-143.

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Abstract

[Extract] With few exceptions, Australian literary history would lead us to believe that periodical fiction in this country followed the pattern of the major Anglophone markets of Britain and the United States of America, where such publishing and the syndication agencies that largely enabled it are understood as nineteenth-century phenomena. 1 Key to this temporality, especially in Britain, were changes in the book trade, including the decline of expensive multi-volume editions (intended for circulating libraries) and the presence of cheap paperback books. 2 More specifically in these countries, periodical fiction is understood to have moved from newspapers to magazines in the twentieth century, becoming the province of experimental or avant-garde literary writers and readers. 3 Accordingly, discussion of Australian newspaper fiction is almost entirely focused on the nineteenth century, including in the recently published Cambridge History of the Australian Novel. 4 A small number of accounts of twentieth- century periodical fiction focus on literary magazines. 5 This chapter examines the persistence of fiction in Australian newspapers until at least the 1950s and explores the position taken by works of Australian writers within the broader context of syndicated fiction imported mostly from Britain and America.

Item ID:	89069
Item Type:	Book Chapter (Research - B1)
ISBN:	978-3-11-164090-7
Keywords:	Australian literature; Periodicals; Serialisation; Newspaper; Print technologies; Computational Literary Studies
Copyright Information:	© 2026 the author(s). This is an open access publication distributed under the terms of the CC 4.0 license BY.
Funders:	Australian Research Council (ARC)
Projects and Grants:	ARC SR200200521
Date Deposited:	09 Jul 2026 07:20
FoR Codes:	47 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 4705 Literary studies > 470502 Australian literature (excl. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander literature) @ 40% 47 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 4705 Literary studies > 470528 Print culture @ 40% 46 INFORMATION AND COMPUTING SCIENCES > 4610 Library and information studies > 461001 Digital curation and preservation @ 20%
SEO Codes:	28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280116 Expanding knowledge in language, communication and culture @ 100%
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