{"id":3037,"date":"2012-05-10T10:01:10","date_gmt":"2012-05-10T00:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stumblingpast.wordpress.com\/?p=3037"},"modified":"2022-08-04T00:23:57","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T00:23:57","slug":"australian-literary-classics-why-should-we-read-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stumblingpast.com\/2012\/05\/10\/australian-literary-classics-why-should-we-read-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Literary Classics – Why should we read them?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"three<\/a>
Good reads – three old Australian books.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do we care enough about our Australian literary classics?\u00a0 Publisher, Michael Heyward, thinks our literary canon is sadly neglected<\/a>.\u00a0 He says that Australian literature is neglected in courses at Australian universities and many Australian novels which were celebrated in the past are now out of print. This discussion coincides with the re-publishing of thirty Australian classics by Heyward\u2019s company \u2013 Text Publishing.<\/p>\n

It is easy to agree with Heyward\u2019s concerns.\u00a0 Last year students at the University of Melbourne were so frustrated at the lack of Australian literature taught by the English Department that they organised for local authors to deliver weekly talks to the students about their work.\u00a0 Twenty of the fifty-three books that have won the Miles Franklin Award are now out of print<\/a>.\u00a0 We read more literature produced by authors from other nations than Australian literature.\u00a0 Think about your own reading.\u00a0 What percentage of books you read are Australian works?<\/p>\n

It is easy to agree with those who are troubled by this issue, but I don\u2019t think enough attention is being given to the central premise upon which this debate is founded.\u00a0 At the outset we need to ask ourselves, \u2018does it really matter whether we read Australian literature\u2019? \u00a0If we can\u2019t satisfactorily answer this question then no amount of reprinting Australian literature or university courses will attract increased interest in Australian literature.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is not about reading more Australian literature because it is Australian and we should support Australians.\u00a0 That type of argument leaves much unsaid.\u00a0 It leaves the impression that anything Australian is better than that produced by other nations \u2013 that we should support Australian work irrespective of quality.<\/p>\n

This debate is about the insights we can gain by listening to Australian story-tellers.\u00a0 A few years ago I noticed that I really enjoyed movies that were produced in other parts of the world aside from the United States and England.\u00a0 On reflection I realised that I found them refreshing and surprising.\u00a0 Everything was different to the mainstream English language movies I was used to – relationships between people were depicted differently, the stories they portrayed were different, the music was different.\u00a0 I realised how much the Hollywood formula had dulled my senses.\u00a0 I was subconsciously predicting plots, seeing the same characterisation of people from one movie to the next, encountering the cinematic techniques that I have experienced many times before, hearing similar soundscapes in most movies I watched.\u00a0\u00a0 I enjoy these movies but I have been soothed by sameness leading to a comfortable, but not a stimulating movie experience.<\/p>\n

Diversity is an essential ingredient if the arts are to be beautiful or challenging, if they are to stimulate debate.\u00a0 Each nation is different from the other.\u00a0 The world needs Australian stories, not because they are inherently better than those of other nations.\u00a0 The world needs Australian stories because they are different and therefore will promote thought and discussion, alongside the literature produced in other countries.\u00a0 Will the world read Australian stories if Australians have not written them, read them and discussed them?\u00a0 Will the world read Australian stories if we have not done some work in sorting out which are worth reading and which don\u2019t need further attention?<\/p>\n

In the comments on one of The Age <\/em>articles about this issue a reader going by the epithet, \u2018Killerpython\u2019, bluntly stated<\/a>, \u201c[a]s long as recognising Australian literature is primarily an exercise in trying to create an identity, I’ll remain uninterested\u201d.\u00a0 This is another assumption that can be read into this debate.\u00a0 Are we being urged to read more Australian literature so that we can agree on a list of national characteristics to which we should conform?<\/p>\n

I agree with \u2018Killerpython\u2019.\u00a0 I\u2019m not interested in reading more Australian literature in a bid to come up with a definitive view of what is Australian.\u00a0 Diversity does not stop at the national level.\u00a0 Every nation has a rich array of diversity within it.\u00a0 This may be diversity of gender, of beliefs, of ethnicity, of age, of language, of place, of\u2026.\u00a0 Yes, there will be some broad characteristics that people from each nation possesses because a nation is a group of people living together in one place, but I don\u2019t feel the need for us to provide a definitive list that can easily slide into a stereotype.<\/p>\n

With respect to defining which works should be regarded as part of Australian literary canon, Professor Nicholas Jose of the University of Adelaide remarked<\/a>, ”[i]t can become narrow, it can become coercive, and it can exclude people\u201d.\u00a0 One reason that I am sceptical about using literature as a means of understanding national identity is that we know that in the past English-speaking white men were much more likely to have the education and the opportunities to be published.\u00a0 Aborigines, Chinese and women were among some of the groups who struggled to be heard, let alone published, yet these people have had an important place in our society.<\/p>\n

While the Australian literature of the past is not a good guide to national identity we can gain some insights into the attitudes and the way some Australians lived in the past by reading these books.\u00a0 Memoirs, diaries and other non-fiction books are often used by historians.\u00a0 Think of Inga Clendinnen\u2019s nuanced reading of the journals and books written by those who were part of the founding of Sydney in Dancing with Strangers<\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0 Another example of the careful reading of Australian publications from the nineteenth century is Anna Johnston\u2019s The Paper War<\/em><\/a> which I reviewed recently.<\/p>\n

Ultimately the arguments I have presented above will not convince many general readers to read Australian literature.\u00a0 Helping to contribute to the diversity of the world\u2019s literature may not be a persuasive reason to read \u00a0an old or not so old Australian novel.\u00a0 Learning about Australian society in the past just doesn\u2019t interest some people.<\/p>\n

The most compelling reason that I can offer in favour of reading Australian literary classics is that they are really enjoyable to read.\u00a0 I read Darcy Niland\u2019s The Shiralee, <\/em>when I was in grade seven.\u00a0 While I struggled to finish any novel that we had to read for English, I found The Shiralee<\/em> a gripping, vibrant read.\u00a0 I loved Niland\u2019s use of language, his intimate portrayal of the relationship between a man and his young daughter.<\/p>\n

So make sure you include some Australian books in your reading.\u00a0 There are some gems that you won\u2019t be able to put down.<\/p>\n

Further Reading<\/h2>\n

The following is a list of articles about this issue which have been published in the Fairfax press.\u00a0 The Age <\/em> and the Sydney Morning Herald<\/em> seem to run the same articles in their books section.<\/p>\n