HUMANITIES 111

Australian literature is the written or literary

work produced in the area or by the
people of the Commonwealth of
Australia and its preceding colonies.
During its early Western history,
Australia was a collection of British
colonies, therefore, its literary tradition
begins with and is linked to the broader
tradition of English literature.
However, the narrative art of Australian
writers has, since 1788, introduced the
character of a new continent into
literature—exploring such themes as
Aboriginality, mateship, egalitarianism,
democracy, national identity, migration,
Australia's unique location and
geography, the complexities of urban
living and the "beauty and the terror" of
life in the Australian bush.
The literature of Australia characteristically
expresses collective values. Even when
the literature deals with the experiences of
an individual, those experiences are very
likely to be estimated in terms of the
ordinary, the typical, the representative. It
aspires on the whole to represent
integration rather than disintegration. It
does not favour the heroicism of individual
action unless this shows dogged
perseverance in the face of inevitable
defeat. Although it may express a strong
ironic disapproval of collective
mindlessness, the object of criticism is the
mindlessness rather than the conformity.
LITERARY PIECES
Quintus
Servinton (1830), an
autobiographical novel
written by the convict
Henry Savery, was the
first locally published
novel. It was printed in
Hobart, Tasmania, in
1830.
Marcus Clarke's For the
Term of His Natural
Life (1874).
Clarke, a British-born
journalist working in
Melbourne, used his
study of historical
records in Tasmania to
provide the background
for this book.
The romantic figure of the
bushranger is the focus
of Robbery Under
Arms (1888),
published by Thomas
Browne under the pen
name of Rolf Bolderwood.
Browne, a former gold
commissioner and
magistrate in the
goldfields of New South
Wales, wrote factually
about the life he knew but
romanticised his
bushranger hero, Captain
Starlight.
Catherine Helen
Spence's Clara
Morrison (1854)
offers a realistic
description of
domestic life in
South Australia.
Katherine Susannah
Pritchard sought to
capture the colour
and variety of
Australian life
in Black
Opal (1921)
sources:
http://www.australia.gov.au/about-
australia/australian-story/austn-novels