The Sun-Herald

Fascinated by the idea that botanic gardens and zoos qualify as cultural activities as they are a form of entertainment. Can that then be extrapolated to sitting in our gardens or watching our cats chew the furniture? And if that is culture just how cultured am I if I sit in my garden reading Austen whilst listening to Beethoven on my MP3?

• by Cat on May 31, 2008 at 09:01 PM

I would've thought that the measure of Australian culture is what we as Australians produce culturally - you know, cultural products - rather than how much money we spend and how we occupy our time.
E.g., a website, book or album may be produced by Australians and consumed by millions overseas - because this statistics data doesn't measure how much time and money is spent on these things overseas, they don't register as "Australian culture" on this scale. This is a scale of how Australians spend money in their free time.
I basically agree with the above posters as well.

• by Cath Stuart on June 01, 2008 at 09:30 AM

Actually, big-D David's right about this - culture is a blanket term covering the norms, values and beliefs that inform the actions of people in any society or group. "Big Brother" is culture just the same as Austen or Beethoven, not because it's as great or speaks to the eternal glory and yearning of the human spirit in the same way but because our actions - especially when we're paying good money to indulge in them - are pretty good indicators of our norms, values and beliefs. This is true whether we're watching Australian or American products. Cath's point is valid insofar as we're not talking about the culture of Australian people but of Australian artists (a term including singers, moviemakers, etc). Artists have the responsibility to tell stories in a way that reflect our experiences, aspirations and interests and do so in a way that increases our self-understanding. A lot of Australians do just that; you can't say Bryce Courtney's any worse than David Malouf just by virtue of being more populist. Popular culture is important because it's more influential, but individual culture - the groups you belong to and the things you love - are more important because it's real and not some imaginary average that we're meant to conform to or be embarrassed. Australian culture's a fiction - an imagined community - just like the culture of any other entire country (thankfully we no longer talk as if "Asian culture" meant anything). If you prefer Austen and Beethoven, go you good thing.

• by Nicholas on June 01, 2008 at 01:34 PM

I would define culture as being those things in a society that are considered sacred, and that as a result are celebrated.
Outside of the Anzacs, there doesn't appear to be all that much that we collectively consider sacred, for what else in our current lives (especially in the form of SYMBOLS- which are the signifiers of culture) do we identify with? The Beach? The Bush? The Southern Cross? Sport? Our history with indigenous culture has often been uneasy, given [it must be said] the shameful treatment they have recieved historically.
And Australia, being such a suburban success (particualrly post-WWII) with its knowledge of itself as 'the lucky country', we've nurtured a real unassumingness towards things. We are exceptionally unpretentious compared to much of the world, and are generally prepared to give everyone 'a fair go'.
And we are a democracy, one that is lauded around the world as being a resounding success. Part of being a democracy is being prepared to challenge old ways for the betterment of society - so we'll approve the building of tacky apartment blocks that are out of sync with the surrouding architecture, we'll deregulate the economy and allow personable family diners to be shafted out by McDonalds and co., we'll intensify regulations for alcohol consumption (challenging the Aussie cultural association with beer?), we'll allow sheep-shearers to be chastised by animal groups, we'll sit back and allow beachballs to be confiscated at cricket matches (the celebrated Aussie larrikinism?).

So for the sake of improvement, we've gone on culling all that once binded us, for the sake of improvement and betterment. And as Australians, we've been prepared to tolerate such change, often without realising what we're losing until its gone. And we've got a sarcasm that keeps us from getting too serious about it.

• by Sabb on June 01, 2008 at 10:04 PM

Culture is not defined by what events you attend but what values you hold in your heart like truthfulness, honesty, and compassion.
Its a great question, thanks for asking.
The perception pushed that we have none is false and scandalous in my mind. This false perception belittles Australians greatly and emboldens those that want to cause harm to it.

DD wonders: Who wants to cause harm to it?

• by John on September 19, 2008 at 11:56 PM