Re: Does Australia have a culture?
This whole non-existant Australian culture debate is the product of left wing acdemics trying to make the whole concept too complex..
The fact remains that culture does not have to be defined by material assests such as food, dress or decorative features. When an overseas visitor comes ot Australia, very rarely to they understand parts of our language, humour and obsessions. Further, even in comparing the way Australians generally live, the kind of nonchalante, laconic, 'she'll be right' approach to life, foreigners find that very different and often difficult to comprehend.
Our history is another aspect that sets Australia apart from other major nations. How many other nations formed a viable and thriving nations out of the combination of penal and free settlement? The life and culture of those who resided in those times has derived of much of the way in which Australian life has been shaped. The distinctiveness of our literature, art and thinking has all been influenced by the history that preceded it. Even todays music and film and television industry produces uniquely Australian productions; all we have to do is look at how many programmes play upon the traditional Australian portrayal (The Castle, Muriels Wedding, Blue Heelers, Home and Away, John Williamson...etc etc.. this list is expansive and could go on and on) . Like it or not, this is all part of culture; culture in the sense of living, not prescribed by some academic definition.
Now that does not mean that every Australian conforms to those features, as is the case in any country. But it is a distinctive trait of Australian living that sets it apart from the rest of the world. I for one have had many friends and relatives who have received a massive culture shock in even going to England. The difference in they way they live and generally do things really is extremely different despite what many say..
There has been a huge debate over the existence of Australian values and the like. However, the academics seem to be contradicting themselves yet again. So often, their definitions of culture incorporate the 'learning of specific values and norms' through socialisation and other means. Yet whenever this debate seems to arise, they reject this philosophy and attempt to prove that values and beliefs are distinctly universal and common to all cultures; the usual contradictory and absurd assumptions by the world of social scientists and commentators.
