Cinema and Civilisation: Science, Progress and Empire in Early Film

这项研究将探索早期电影在澳大利亚地区殖民地国家传播西方进步和科学技术理想方面的作用。关于印度尼西亚、印度支那、澳大利亚、巴布亚新几内亚、马来西亚和新加坡以及印度和北非的早期电影将被研究。这项研究将揭示澳大利亚的双重角色，既是文明使命的接受者，又是这种知识在自己的势力范围内的传播者。这样的理解将使人们更全面地理解澳大利亚及其地区“进步”、“科学”和“文明”等术语的相对含义。

This study will explore the role of early film in disseminating the Western ideals of progress, science and technology in the colonial nations of Australia's region. Early films made about Indonesia, Indochina, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and Singapore as well as India and North Africa will be studied. The study will reveal Australia's dual roles as a recipient of the civilising mission and later as a propagator of this knowledge in its own sphere of influence. Such an understanding will lead to a fuller comprehension of the relative meaning of terms such as 'progress', 'science' and 'civilisation' in Australia and its region.