Through Australian eyes : colonial perceptions of Imperial Britain

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Title:

Through Australian eyes : colonial perceptions of Imperial Britain

Author:

Hassam, Andrew.

ISBN:

9780522849516

Personal Author:

Hassam, Andrew.

Publication Information:

Carlton South, Vic. : Melbourne University Press, 2000.

Physical Description:

ix, 220 p., [16] p. plates; 23 cm.

Abstract:

Takes an innovative look at the development of Australian identity, by examining experiences outside Australia. The book draws on unpublished diaries and letters by Australians visiting Britain, to explore how colonial Australians developed a sense of "Australian-ness" while maintaining the cultural identities and values of the "old country".

Subject Term:

National characteristics, Australian.

Australians -- Great Britain.

National characteristics -- Great Britain -- Colonies.

Geographic Term:

Great Britain -- Foreign public opinion, Australian.

Australia -- Relations -- Great Britain.

Great Britain -- Relations -- Australia.

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168015721174	305.824041 H353T 2000	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

In the last quarter of the nineteenth-century, around 200,000 visitors from Australia landed in Britain. As members of the colonial elite, they sailed to the Old Country to experience their Britishness: they toured Westminster Abbey; they visited graves of parents; they threw snowballs at Christmas. As one visitor expressed it on arrival in London in 1889: 'Spotted St Paul's in the distance & felt at home'. Yet colonial Australians visiting 'Home' often struggled to identify with the place and culture they found. Their surprised and surprising reactions, and shifting sense of identity, are instantly recognisable today, and make for fascinating reading. Using unpublished diaries and letters, this book offers a unique and cross-disciplinary approach to cultural history. It considers both British and Australian national identities as the products of cultural displacement.