Australian culture, between complex and suspicion?

Résumé du document

In his review of My life as a fake, Blake Morrison makes the following observation:
“Carey is fascinated by what the hoax says about Australian culture – both its “terror of being out of date” and its suspicion of European-style bullshit […].” Do you agree with Morrison's point about the tension in Australian culture between, on the one hand, anxiety in the face of European cultural achievement and, on the other hand, suspicion of its elitist pretensions ? Drawing on what we have discussed this semester on the wider issue of “Australian identity”, do you think Australian culture is particularly vulnerable to the impact of Ern Malley-style hoaxes? The Ern Malley affair, in the 1940s, made Australia the laughing stock of the UK and the US. It confirmed the image of Australia as a second-rate culture, both for the outside world and for Australians themselves, who felt ashamed of their own cultural cringe and their lack of national identity and culture. More than sixty years later, can this tendency still be observed in Australia? Is it true, as Blake Morrison wrote, that Australian culture is characterised by a “terror of being out of date” and a suspicion of “European-style bullshit”? Is this tension linked to the difficulty of building an Australian nation and identity? This essay will examine those issues by analyzing to what extent Australia is a fragile culture (I), and by deducting the two consequences of this lack of self-worth: the development of an inferiority complex towards England (II), and the attempts to create a specific Australian identity in order to combat this feeling of inferiority (III).

Extraits

[...] Furthermore, as they are politically and diplomatically rather weak, they feel compelled to entrust their security to stronger powers. In the second half of the 20th century, thus, they have become close allies of the US but maybe “vassals” would be a more appropriate term, as Australia appears as a diplomatic compared to the US - which is another reason for Australia's lack of self- confidence. The fragility of Australian culture explains the persistence of an inferiority complex towards British culture. [...]

[...] This shows that this inferiority complex towards British culture still exists today. In order to compensate for this inferiority, Australians have created a strong and specific national identity, based on typically Australian myths, as well as on the rejection of elitism, meritocracy and morals considered as values reminiscent of British “superiority”. First, Australians have created myths and symbols likely to form the basis of a national identity. In the 1958 The Australian legend, Russel Ward presented the “typical Australian” according to the way Australians viewed themselves. [...]

[...] Many Australian intellectuals, like Sidney Nolan or Patrick White, denounced the Australian parochialism and materialism. Donald Horne, in The lucky country (1964), described Australians as a “second-rate people”. Many Australian intellectuals studied overseas, or permanently left the country and migrated to the UK or to the US (Robert Hughes, Germaine Greer, Clive James), as if Australia could not be a ground for talent and culture. It is true that they were likely to have more success and more coverage overseas than in Australia. [...]

[...] Australian culture, between complex and suspicion? In his review of My life as a fake, Blake Morrison makes the following observation: “Carey is fascinated by what the hoax says about Australian culture both its “terror of being out of date” and its suspicion of European-style bullshit [ Do you agree with Morrison's point about the tension in Australian culture between, on the one hand, anxiety in the face of European cultural achievement and, on the other hand, suspicion of its elitist pretensions ? [...]

[...] It revealed that many Australians, though being city- dwellers, identified with the stereotyped bushman. Thus, powerful myths like the bush (or more contemporarily, the beach) have been used by Australians as templates for identity-building. In the same way, official commemorations (Anzac day) and monuments (the War memorial in Canberra) have allowed to reiterate the idea of the existence of an Australian nation. More recently, new channels of identification have appeared, such as the multicultural and tolerant image of Australia conveyed by popular events like Sydney's gay and lesbian Mardi gras and the success of the movie Priscilla, queen of the desert (1994). [...]