The Australian Tradition: Studies In A Colonial Culture
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Tanning and foxing
What does it mean to be Australian? A. A. Phillips confronts this deceptively simple question head-on in The Australian Tradition: Studies in a Colonial Culture, a landmark work of cultural criticism that charts the defining characteristics of a nation still wrestling with the shadow of its colonial origins. Through a series of incisive essays, Phillips examines the literature, values, and social attitudes that distinguish Australian identity, most famously articulating the concept of the Cultural Cringe — the colonial tendency to measure local achievement against an implicitly superior European standard — a phrase that would permanently enter the Australian cultural lexicon. Phillips writes with the conviction of a scholar and the accessibility of a public intellectual, drawing on Australian literature and society to argue that a genuinely distinct and worthy culture had taken root in the antipodes, one deserving of recognition on its own terms. His prose is assured and analytical, wielding close reading and broad cultural observation in equal measure. A foundational text for anyone seeking to understand the psychological and literary underpinnings of modern Australia, The Australian Tradition raises questions about cultural confidence, national authenticity, and the long reach of empire that remain as provocative today as when they were first posed.
Author: A. A. Phillips
Format: Hardback
Genre: Australian history
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Tanning and foxing
What does it mean to be Australian? A. A. Phillips confronts this deceptively simple question head-on in The Australian Tradition: Studies in a Colonial Culture, a landmark work of cultural criticism that charts the defining characteristics of a nation still wrestling with the shadow of its colonial origins. Through a series of incisive essays, Phillips examines the literature, values, and social attitudes that distinguish Australian identity, most famously articulating the concept of the Cultural Cringe — the colonial tendency to measure local achievement against an implicitly superior European standard — a phrase that would permanently enter the Australian cultural lexicon. Phillips writes with the conviction of a scholar and the accessibility of a public intellectual, drawing on Australian literature and society to argue that a genuinely distinct and worthy culture had taken root in the antipodes, one deserving of recognition on its own terms. His prose is assured and analytical, wielding close reading and broad cultural observation in equal measure. A foundational text for anyone seeking to understand the psychological and literary underpinnings of modern Australia, The Australian Tradition raises questions about cultural confidence, national authenticity, and the long reach of empire that remain as provocative today as when they were first posed.