Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Nationalism
Whatever their politics, many Queenslanders still embody the gritty, independent outlook
that was so potent in colonial thinking. At the end of the 19th century, Australian national-
ist writers and artists idealised the people of 'the bush' and their code of 'mateship'. The
most popular forum for this 'bush nationalism' was the
Bulletin
magazine, whose pages
were filled with humour and sentiment about daily life, written by a swag of writers, most
notably Henry Lawson and AB 'Banjo' Paterson.
While these writers were creating national legends, the politicians of Australia were for-
ging a national constitution.
Robert Hughes' bestseller
The Fatal Shore
(1987) is a highly readable if sometimes harrowing portrait of
Australian history, told through the experience of convicts, free settlers and the Indigenous peoples they
displaced.
