chapters

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 20 Painting the place Art, in Australia, provides a truer gauge of national growth in culture than does literature. Convictism and larrikinism never intruded into … [Read more...] about Section 20 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 19 “Archibald, certainly not!” “The Bulletin,” in the ’eighties and ’nineties, provided a rallying point for Australian literary nationalism. J. F. Archibald gathered … [Read more...] about Section 19 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 18 Convict writers I have spoken to an old man who had joined in the gold rush from Sydney to Bathurst and thence to Araluen in the 1850’s. I asked him about the … [Read more...] about Section 18 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 17 Flogging the lags Convictism, in Australian literature, has been mainly the prerogative of English-minded writers. “Yah, convict!” has been a form of retort to … [Read more...] about Section 17 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 16 Where are the antipodes? The effect of English culture upon Australian culture during the nineteenth century is well worth attempting to trace. I showed, in the … [Read more...] about Section 16 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 15 Decline and fall The history of all empires and cultures has been a history of rise, zenith, decline, fall. The changes occur slowly, in centuries rather than in … [Read more...] about Section 15 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 14 Prophecy fulfilled Wentworth, in the concluding stanza of his poem, had the audacity to suggest, in effect, that culture and power in the British Islands might … [Read more...] about Section 14 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 13 A patriotic prophecy Wentworth’s poem concludes with prophecies and hopes for the future of Australasia, a patriot’s prophecies and hopes, the intensely … [Read more...] about Section 13 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 12 The Austral muse William Charles Wentworth’s poem, on the other hand, contains the germs of our indigenous Australian literature. It begins passionately with what … [Read more...] about Section 12 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 11 Convicts and sinners Praed’s poem, characteristically English from the very beginning, opens with a description of a convict ship leaving England, while a busy … [Read more...] about Section 11 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 10 A poetry competition The two different cultures, English and Australian, found an early definition and contrast in the celebrated Prize Poem for the Chancellor’s … [Read more...] about Section 10 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 9 Sentimental exiles Throughout the nineteenth century in Australia, from the earliest writers, whether they were convict gentlemen or military gentlemen, or black … [Read more...] about Section 9 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 8 Birth of a new idea Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson may be regarded as typical pioneers of indigenous culture in Australia. Whatever their faults, their work has an … [Read more...] about Section 8 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 7 No place like home The culture of a country is the essence of nationality, the permanent element in a nation. A nation is nothing but an extension of the … [Read more...] about Section 7 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 6 Imported literature There are two elements in every nation’s culture — the imported and the indigenous. English literature, for instance, developed through … [Read more...] about Section 6 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 5 An Englishman’s view An Englishman resident in Australia, Professor G. H. Cowling, who is Professor of English Literature at the University of Melbourne, recently … [Read more...] about Section 5 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 4 Colony or nation What then of culture in Australia? Here is not a mere vicinity, but a whole continent, unique in its natural features, and unique in the fact of … [Read more...] about Section 4 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 3 Race and place What is a national culture? Is it not the expression, in thought-form or art-form, of the spirit of a Race and of a Place? The Ancient Greeks were … [Read more...] about Section 3 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 2 We are not Americans There is a parallel, but not a close similarity, between Australia and America. In both countries a continental wilderness, sparsely populated … [Read more...] about Section 2 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is a chapter from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] § 1 Genius of the place Australia is a unique country. All countries are unique, but this one is particularly so. Visitors, such as D. H. Lawrence, have discerned a … [Read more...] about Section 1 [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]

[Editor: This is the foreword from The Foundations of Culture in Australia (1936) by P. R. Stephensen.] Foreword This essay was written in three instalments: the first in June 1935, the second in July 1935, and the third in January 1936. It was originally intended for … [Read more...] about Foreword [The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]