Culture and Customs of Australia

The first general introduction to the Australian continent, written by an Australian novelist with particular insight Many people have a superficial familiarity with the Australian continent. Particular images stand out: the Outback, sheep shearing, surfing, the Sydney Opera House, Aborigines and the Walkabout. Now students and other interested readers have a solid resource that describes the breadth of the evolving modern Australian society. Clancy's focus is on the Anglo-Irish and more recent immigrants, but the Aboriginal context is given as well. Readers will learn about the Australian identity, with its male mythology of the "Bush". "Mateship" is the core element of a myth of independent, self-sufficient, freedom-loving citizens in a harsh land. This myth is set against multiculturalism and feminism.