Australian Children’s Literature EDU21ACL Week 10 - Lecture 1 Beneath the Southern Cross I stand, A sprig of wattle in my hand, A native of my native land, Australia, you bloody beauty!! Numerous Australian cricket teams, of recent times © La Trobe University, David Beagley 2006

The love of field and coppice, Of green and shaded lanes, Of ordered woods and gardens Is running in your veins; Strong love of grey-blue distance, Brown streams and soft, dim skies - I know but cannot share it, My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains, I love her far horizons, I love her jewel sea, Her beauty and her terror - The wide brown land for me.

The stark white ring-barked forests, All tragic to the moon, The sapphire-misted mountains, The hot gold hush of noon, Green tangle of the brushes Where lithe lianas coil, And orchids deck the tree-tops, And ferns the warm dark soil. Core of my heart, my country! Her pitiless blue sky, When sick at heart, around us, We see the cattle die - But when the grey clouds gather, And we can bless again The drumming of an army, The stealthy soaking rain. My Country - Dorothea McKellar

A sense of identity Key to much of Australian cultural and social exploration of the last century are two questions: Where am I? Who am I? Where am I? - the sense of place is integral to defining Australia as distinct from elsewhere Who am I? - once place is determined, then the reaction of people to it creates and shapes character

A sense of identity I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy Ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall, And the foetid air and gritty of the dusty, dirty city Through the open window floating, spreads its foulness over all. And in place of lowing cattle, I can hear the fiendish rattle Of the tramways and the buses making hurry down the street, And the language uninviting of the gutter children fighting, Comes fitfully and faintly through the ceaseless tramp of feet. From Clancy of the Overflow – AB Paterson

We keep returning to “What is Australian?” Is it … written IN Australia set IN Australia written BY an Australian aimed AT an Australian audience refer TO Australia written ABOUT Australia REQUIRE Australia as a key aspect REFLECT Australian society and values

What do we learn, therefore, about Australia from Just Annoying Horrendo’s Curse Kath and Kim/The Castle/Crackerjack The Glass House/The Panel/Rove Humour generally

What do we learn, therefore, about Australia from Tiff and the Trout The Bamboo Flute No Gun for Asmir Hitler’s Daughter Dougy NIPS XI

What do we learn, therefore, about Australia from Deep Water Ash Road Storm Boy Tomorrow when the war began Adventure stories

What do we learn, therefore, about Australia from Runestone Dragonkeeper Sabriel Shædow Keeper Snugglepot and Cuddlepie The Magic Pudding Fantasy worlds

This here is the wattle It’s the emblem of our land. You can stick it in a bottle Or hold it in your hand. The Philosophy Department of the University of Wooloomooloo Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Episode 22