Cultural Studies Assignment: Australia's National Culture and Change

This essay delves into the complexities of Australia's national culture, examining whether a cohesive national identity exists, considering norms, behaviors, and beliefs. The author argues that while elements of a Western-derived culture, influenced by Britain, persist, the increasing immigration and adoption of modern cultures are leading to cultural shifts. The essay also addresses the question of whether 'old' culture is lost or adapted, exploring the impact of immigration on cultural traditions, language, and social norms. It highlights how modernization and the easy movement of goods and services have changed people's preferences and behaviors, shifting them away from older beliefs and practices. The essay references various sources, including the Cultural Atlas and academic research, to support its arguments and provide a comprehensive understanding of the evolving cultural landscape of Australia.

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First topic
Reflect on whether or not you think Australia has a national culture?
National culture set of norms, behaviour, belief, as well as customers that are real within the
inhabitants of a sovereign country. I think that Australia still has somewhere a national culture as
people of the country follow the norms and beliefs of their ancients, which is reflected in their
culture. The culture of Australia is majorly a western culture that is majorly derived from Britain.
I found that indigenous persons of the country were custodians of the property for approximately
60,000 years before it was populated. However, in the late 18th Century, the immigrants formed
the nation a panel colony and the culture of Australia dominated by western culture due to its
panel colony many people migrate from Europe and other countries (Cultural Atlas, 2019).
I believe that the country has a national culture or not is clear from the behaviours of the people
that show the norms and beliefs that they carry. I found that people in Australia right to fair go
irrespective of the person’s background that shows that the culture of the country that they treat
each member equal. This is the reason due to which the migrants and foreigners are surprised by
Australian people behaviour as they can easily set the basis of mateship (Cultural Atlas, 2019).
The culture of the country has made the people understand the people who are migrants. I think
that most of the Australians seem to have a very implicit preference for those people seems to be
the down-to-earth as well as straightforward. This shows that their behaviour is different from
the other counties people which is possible because of the essence of the culture in the people of
Australia (Reckwitz, 2018). However, considering the increasing number of immigrants in
Australia and the rise in the influence of western culture on people will make the people shift
towards the new modern culture. I found that youth of the country has started adopting modern

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culture due to which the national culture is replaced from the new modern culture. I found many
citizens remain uncomfortable with divergences from the western standard.
I found that indigenous people of the country of Australia that include Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people maintain the ancient culture in the country. In the previous time, the people
used to speak in the 250 distinct languages with more than 700 dialects spoken in more than 500
different nations that show the incredible diversity. I believe that in the present scenario there is
the presence of an extensive mix of the traditions, spiritualities as well as the customers among
the present Aboriginal population. These people maintain the cultural values and live with the
common philosophy based on spirituality, ecology as well as the consensual-communal
organisation (Milner, 2018). This makes me believe that there are people who follow the culture
on the day-to-day operations that make Australia as a national culture.
Second Topic
Do you think ‘old ‘culture is lost or is it changed to fit in with the new culture?
Yes, I believe that to some extent old culture is somewhere lost or it is changed to fit in with the
new culture. People in the present scenario are sharing their culture with the rise in the
immigration of the people from one place to another (Malik, 2018). I believe that the language of
the culture is an important means for the social change and the social relations that is because of
the immigration. I found that immigrations are key reasons for the transformation in the culture
of the nation by making the changes in the social culture, day-to-day operations, and many
others.

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I gained the knowledge about the culture that with the growth and development of the country
there is an increase in the opportunities with the country due to which the people engage in the
work due to which they spend their entire day in the companies where they perform their work.
The present generation has forgotten about the language as well as the traditions as they are
occupied with the things in their life that include their work, education and their social life’s.
I believe that people from different countries share their views and opinions due to which they
like to adopt the same as others. This change brings the change in their behaviour towards the
products that are easily witnessed with the change in their buying behaviour. I found that people
are more conscious about the purchase of the product in terms of food, clothing, education and
many other things. The modernisation has changed the views of the people when they found that
modern culture people are easily living their life with convenience then they started bringing
changes in the pattern of living and their norms (Milner, 2018). For instance; girls or people were
not supposed to go out but now in modern culture, they are working and going out to make their
careers. Thus, this shows that engagement of the people has brought the change in believes,
norms and culture of places.
In addition to this, the easy movement of the goods and services in the market has brought the
awareness about the products among the customers due to which the customers purchase those
products, which were not available to them, and they were not able to access it. This awareness
has brought changes in the culture as people shifted from their old beliefs to new ways
(Reckwitz, 2018). I think this can better be understood with the help of the example; in the
ancient time, people culture shows to make use of plant leaves, tulsi and many other herbs for the
treatment. However, in modern culture people consume medicine that shows the evolution and
development of the place that has affected the people preference.

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References
Baker, S., Robards, B., & Buttigieg, B. (2016). Introduction: Youth Culture Research in
Australia. In Youth Cultures and Subcultures (pp. 17-24). Routledge.
Cultural Atlas. (2019). Australian Culture. Retrieved from:
https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/australian-culture/australian-culture-core-concepts
Malik, K. (2018). Immigration and cultural loss. Retrieved from:
https://kenanmalik.com/2018/02/04/immigration-and-cultural-loss/
Milner, A. (2018). Cultural studies and cultural hegemony: comparing Britain and Australia.
In Again, Dangerous Visions: Essays in Cultural Materialism (pp. 298-318). BRILL.
Reckwitz, A. (2018). The invention of creativity: Modern society and the culture of the new.
John Wiley & Sons.