Australian English Literature?

1. Why is there a term: Australian-English Literature?

The term "Australian-English Literature" represents a 'kind' of English literature that is located in Australia and written by Australians. You may question "why is Australia involved when it comes to English literature.

Well, we need to talk about the relation between Aussie and England and United Kingdom in a broader sense to answer such a question.

2. What is the relation between Australia and England in term of literature?

Australia and things within it are closely related to England as well as the UK in general. We cannot forget the fact that Australia was a British colonial continent before becoming a Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, a dominion of the British Empire.

Since the time of the "First Fleet", initiating the Western history of Australia, the Australian-English literature' history has started. British 'migrants' coming in to Sidney for the first time didn't not only bring convicts but also their culture, including the literary tradition.

Webby in The Cambridge Companions to Australian Literature states that "Books arrived in Australia in 1788 with Governor Phillip and the first shiploads of convicts, officials and marines, as did paper, pens and ink." (2009:34)

Such all tools simply had a role in starting literacy in the continent that led to the emergence and then development of Australia-English literature.

The term "Australia-English Literature" also is used to distinguish between Pre-colonial Indigenous Australian Literature and all 'post-colonial' Australian Literature written in English by Australians of any race.

Reference

Webby, Elizabeth (Editor). 2009. The Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Pierce, Peter (Editor). 2000. The Cambridge History of Australian Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

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