Exploring Un-Australian Elements in Australian Literature

Running head: AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE
Australian Literature
Student’s name
University
Author’s note

AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE1
Literature serves as a window to look out in the great wide world, to things which one has
never heard of, to places where one has never set foot on, and to the people they have never met
before. It is a wonderland of new experiences, and of new information that makes a person
enrich and grow. Similar to world literature, Australian literature also consist of a great wealth,
giving the readers access of Australia’s rich heritage, along with a taste of the world unexplored
to them. The Aussie culture is quite a unique one, amalgamating the legacy of the colonial
settlers with that of Aboriginal history. It is the confluence of the two worlds that makes
Australia stand out among the world literature. And most certainly, literature plays an
instrumental role in acquainting people with their own culture.
However, in the contemporary timeframe, the country has developed its own flavour,
where many of the people are not directly aware of their European past; neither did they identify
the Aboriginal influence that has shaped their worldview in perceiving the outside world. With
the advent of globalization and development of information technology, the world has indeed
become a smaller place, where people easily get hold of foreign culture. Although to a limited
extent, literature still provides an opportunity to explore the world, and develop an understanding
about anything that is essentially “Un-Austrlian”.
The purpose of this essay is to explore literary representation of such a few items,
presented in the literary works of some stalwart authors, who introduced the Australia readers to
places and people beyond their regular lives, and take them to a world of adventure with new
experiences. There are several examples that could be presented in the given context. To start
with, the 1901 novel My Brilliant Carrier by Miles Franklin tells the story of a young girl,
Sybylla Melvin who aspires to go beyond her mundane life and become an author herself. In the
novel, there are certain problematic representation of the Irish nationality, where the authors

AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE2
somewhat stereotypes the characters she portrays and makes a stark distinction with an
Australian (Franklin 2007). Again, in Barracuda, Christos Tsoilkas tells the story of a young
boy, Danny Kelly, where he presents the city of Glasgow almost exotically. To an average
Australian, the life in the Scottish city is not a very familiar concept, and to his advantage,
Tsoilkas uses this lesser-known imagery to beautifully capture young Danny’s efforts to escape
his identity and his roots (Tsoilkas 2014). However, the most fascinating use of portrayals of
foreign images are found in Patrick White’s The Tree of Man, where he depicts the character of
Con the Greek against the background of regular Bush life in Australia; and further in No
Friends But The Mountain: Writing from Manus Prison, a captivating memoir of Behrouz
Boochani’s journey to Indonesia to Christmas Island that portrays Indonesia and Manus Islands
as a uncharted territory to the regular Australian readers. To explore the Unaustralian elements in
Australian literature, the present essay will critically explore the representations of such foreign
aspects, such as the Greek character and the setting of Indonesia and Manus Islands as portrayed
in the works of White and Boochani respectively.
It is essential to note that representation, in context of media and literature, is not
intended to provide accurate details of a particular object, place, time or people to let the readers
know more about it. Rather, representation essentially refers to the process of replacing one
element with another to signify a certain meaning. Representation in literature is important for
two main reasons, i.e. perception and inclusivity. Hence, the way a certain character or an object
is placed in a literary context, constructs the fundamental perception which the author intends
them to portray in (Patterson 2014). For example, the three witches in Macbeth does not
necessarily establish the prevalence of witchcraft or black magic at the particular timeframe,
rather it signifies the mystical, occult power of fate that drives Macbeth towards his destiny