/lit/ - Literature

>>19864765
>Why don't we hear more about the books from the land down under?
Some reasons are: Australians have a notorious tall poppy syndrome, a pretty low population, and a generally anti-intellectual culture with a provincial inferiority complex in many parts of life. As a consequence, serious Australian literature probably doesn't get the critical mass of audience and appreciation needed to be discussed and celebrated outside of small networks of people and interested individuals, so it doesn't permeate into the Australian public and build up enough interest, excitement, or momentum to reach global awareness. (I think there can also be a mutual hatred, pettiness and resentment from Australian writers and artists as well, who have their own ossified sense of class snobbery and bad attitudes toward the unappreciative Australian public or whatever. Just an impression I get.)

Another point is that a uniquely Australian culture took some time to develop, and has almost always had to struggle with the existence of vastly more powerful countries who speak the same language and wield more cultural clout even in Australia among the Australian people, as well as writers and artists. Look early enough and Australian writers will be following European and British traditions as classicists and the like. Look late enough and it's copy/pasting American cultural conflict templates into the Australian context. An Australia with greater confidence in itself culturally would be good to see, but a complex thing to change.