AUSTRALIAN CULTURE

UI 326

Fall 2005Robert Zeller

Demographics

• Population of about 20 million• Most people live in Sydney, Melbourne,

Brisbane, Adelaide, or Perth (most urbanized country in the world)

• Pre WWII: non-indigenous population mainly Anglo-Celtic

• Immigration: post WWII from Europe, last few decades from Asia-Pacific

States & Territories

• New South Wales (capital Sydney)• Victoria (Melbourne)• Queensland (Brisbane)• Tasmania (Hobart)• South Australia (Adelaide)• Western Australia (Perth)• Northern Territory (Darwin)• Australian Capital Territory (Canberra—

national capital)

Political Mapland area approx. = continental U.S.

New South Wales

Victoria

Queensland

Tasmania

South Australia

Western Australia

Northern Territory

Australian Capital Territory

Some questions:

• What do we mean by the term culture?

• In what ways can we study it?

• In what ways might you expect Australian culture to be distinctive? Why?

Some Key Dates in Australian History

40,000+ years B.P.: Arrival of first humans1770: James Cook maps east coast of continent, claims it for

Britain1788: Arrival of first fleet1851: Discovery of gold1853: End of convict transportation to eastern colonies1866: End of convict transportation (to W.A.)1901: Federation1914-1918: World War I (Gallipoli, 1915)1939-1945: World War II1975: Sacking of Whitlam government1992: Mabo decision

Course Organization

• The Convict Era• Colonialism, Nationalism, and National Myths• Australia in the World Wars• Aboriginal Australia• The Natural World• Women in Australia• Art and Architecture• Popular Culture and Sport• Australia and the Pacific

Films

1. The Man from Snowy River

2. Gallipoli

3. Rabbit-Proof Fence

4. My Brilliant Career

5. The Castle

Reading

• Rental text: Goodwin and Lawson, eds., The Macmillan Anthology of Australian Literature

• Purchase text: Macintyre, A Concise History of Australia

Other Reading—on the Web site

• Hughes, The Fatal Shore• Paterson, “The Man from

Snowy River”• Facey, A Fortunate Life• Moorehead, The Fatal

Impact• Vandenbeld, Nature of

Australia• White, “A Natural History of

Vegemite”

Assignments

• 4 summaries• 1 collaborative project—

presentation & paper or Web

• 1 research paper• 2 exams• ? quizzes• Final—in-class & take-

home

For next time:

• Get texts

• Read, in the anthology, the accounts by Dampier and Cook: how did these explorers see Australia? What did they pay attention to?

• Read chapter 1 in the Macintyre text: how many different kinds of history does he discuss?