[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]
P. R. Stephensen (author) (1901-1965)
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.] § 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]
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.] § 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]
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.] § 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]
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.] § 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]
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.] § 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]
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.] § 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]
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.] § 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]
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.] § 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]
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.] § 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]
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.] § 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]
Section 1 [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]
Foreword [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]
The Foundations of Culture in Australia: An Essay towards National Self-Respect [by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]
[Editor: The Foundations of Culture in Australia: An Essay towards National Self-Respect (1936), by P. R. Stephensen, was a significant book which promoted ideas of Australian cultural nationalism. The 55 sections, or chapters, of the book are divided into three parts, which were … [Read more...] about The Foundations of Culture in Australia: An Essay towards National Self-Respect [by P. R. Stephensen, 1936]
Fecundity [by P. R. Stephensen]
[Editor: This is a short story from The Bushwhackers: Sketches of Life in the Australian Outback (1929) by P. R. Stephensen.] Fecundity Old Parkinson had eight sons. Or rather, Old Mrs. Parkinson had the eight sons, and Old Parkinson idealistically approved. He was far … [Read more...] about Fecundity [by P. R. Stephensen]
Napoo Singh [by P. R. Stephensen]
[Editor: This is a short story from The Bushwhackers: Sketches of Life in the Australian Outback (1929) by P. R. Stephensen.] Napoo Singh There was excitement when Napoo Singh died. The Singhs were a small community from India who lived very much by themselves, on a … [Read more...] about Napoo Singh [by P. R. Stephensen]
Gold fever [by P. R. Stephensen]
[Editor: This is a short story from The Bushwhackers: Sketches of Life in the Australian Outback (1929) by P. R. Stephensen.] Gold fever When Old Steve came into the township he had a heavy little canvas bag in his rolled swag. For more than six months he had been … [Read more...] about Gold fever [by P. R. Stephensen]
Ironbark [by P. R. Stephensen]
[Editor: This is a short story from The Bushwhackers: Sketches of Life in the Australian Outback (1929) by P. R. Stephensen.] Ironbark — How did Curley get his leg stiff like that? — Oh, that was years ago, Sonny, before you were born. He scraped his kneecap off on an … [Read more...] about Ironbark [by P. R. Stephensen]
The darnce [by P. R. Stephensen]
[Editor: This is a short story from The Bushwhackers: Sketches of Life in the Australian Outback (1929) by P. R. Stephensen.] The darnce Women in the Bush flowered early, and bore fruit at once, and withered quickly, and died slowly — all because the sun was hot, and food … [Read more...] about The darnce [by P. R. Stephensen]
Sorrow of Black Alf [by P. R. Stephensen]
[Editor: This is a short story from The Bushwhackers: Sketches of Life in the Australian Outback (1929) by P. R. Stephensen.] Sorrow of Black Alf The aboriginal blackfellows in the Bush knew how to die easily, because they were a dying race, particularly after the white … [Read more...] about Sorrow of Black Alf [by P. R. Stephensen]
The crawler [by P. R. Stephensen]
[Editor: This is a short story from The Bushwhackers: Sketches of Life in the Australian Outback (1929) by P. R. Stephensen.] The crawler A terror-full silence had fallen, chilling the hot afternoon. Young Mrs. Williamson, sewing on the verandah, had looked up suddenly … [Read more...] about The crawler [by P. R. Stephensen]
Strength of ten [by P. R. Stephensen]
[Editor: This is a short story from The Bushwhackers: Sketches of Life in the Australian Outback (1929) by P. R. Stephensen.] Strength of ten Easily the strongest man was Big Bill O’Reilly, the timber-getter. He would come into the township, cracking his great … [Read more...] about Strength of ten [by P. R. Stephensen]
Willy Ah Foo [by P. R. Stephensen]
[Editor: This is a short story from The Bushwhackers: Sketches of Life in the Australian Outback (1929) by P. R. Stephensen.] Willy Ah Foo We lads thought it particularly noble to steal peanuts from Willy Ah Foo, for the peanuts of Willy Ah Foo were not only remarkably … [Read more...] about Willy Ah Foo [by P. R. Stephensen]
Mounted on Edith [by P. R. Stephensen]
[Editor: This is a short story from The Bushwhackers: Sketches of Life in the Australian Outback (1929) by P. R. Stephensen.] Mounted on Edith It was seven miles to the Long Paddock from Hanson’s, so young Johnny Hanson, fourteen years old and cocksure, had plenty of … [Read more...] about Mounted on Edith [by P. R. Stephensen]
Death at sundown [by P. R. Stephensen]
[Editor: This is a short story from The Bushwhackers: Sketches of Life in the Australian Outback (1929) by P. R. Stephensen.] Death at sundown When the Rawlinson twins, Frankie and Harry, asked their father if they could go fishing along Deep Creek, their father … [Read more...] about Death at sundown [by P. R. Stephensen]