An Australophile (or Ozophile [1] ) is someone with an appreciation or love of Australia, which may include its history, geography, language (especially Australian English), culture and popular media. While Australians may be classified as Australophiles because of nationalism or patriotism, non-Australians may also self-identify or be considered as Australophiles. The rise of Australophilia can be linked to the emergence of Australian films and tourism campaigns in the United States throughout the 1980s. [2]
The antonym for an Australophile is an Australophobe. [3]
Australophilia (or Australomania [4] ) did not exist in any documented form before 1901, as Australia was colonised in 1788 [5] and became a federation in 1901. [6] Its shorter national history is one reason that Australophilia is newer and less developed when compared to other national philias, such as Anglophilia and Francophilia. [7] Other reasons may include Australia's reliance on the United Kingdom's cultural identity, [8] the Americanisation of Australian popular media before the 1950s, [9] and the pressures of globalisation on Australian media. [10]
The rise of Australophilia in the international community during the 1980s was preceded by Australia's attempts to establish a recognisably Australian national identity, rather than one which relied on the United Kingdom or the United States. [11] Initiatives like the Australian Made campaign and the Fraser government's 1979 Advance Australia campaign allowed Australia to market its assets, like its native fauna and geography, on a global scale. [12] Australia's national identity became recognisably more Australian by the 1980s, but competing mythoi like the natural rural outback and man-made urban beaches caused misconceptions to arise in the Australian national identity. [13] Such misconceptions have remained as a result of popular media and advertisements, including tourism posters, Australian Olympic ceremonies and aircraft cabins. [14]
One early recorded use of the term Australophile is in Germaine Greer’s 1982 article on the rise of Australophilia, where she wrote about the difference "between me and the current generation of Australophiles". [15] While Greer was critical of Australophilia, describing Australia as "a land of lotus-eaters" [15] and Australophilia itself as "the flap and twitter of the current craze for things Oz", [15] the 1980s was a decade that saw the rise of Australophilia in the international community. This came from a surge in Americanised tourism campaigns and the success of Australian films in Hollywood (like Crocodile Dundee ), both of which specifically contributed to the growth of Australia's tourism industry and global interest in Australian culture. [16]
The rise of Australophilia has been fuelled by the spread of Australian stereotypes, especially linguistic and cultural stereotypes. While Australophilia in the early 21st century differs from the late 20th century, stereotypes regarding Australian culture, Australian English and other aspects of Australia have been prevalent since the 1980s. [17] Many of these stereotypes have led to misconceptions of Australia, such as the vulgarity of Australian English [18] and the Australian people (see: larrikin and ocker). [19]
One common linguistic stereotype includes the assumption that most Australians use words like "mate" and "bloody" in everyday conversation. [20] Another is the perception of Australian English as a casual and vulgar variant of the English language. [21] These have been reinforced by tourism campaigns and popular media promoting certain modes of Australian English since the 1980s, such as Paul Hogan’s popularisation of "g’day" [20] and Barry Humphries’ use of colloquial idioms [21] like "as dry as a kookaburra’s khyber". [20]
One common cultural stereotype includes the mythos of a mineral-rich but lazy Australian working class, connected to Donald Horne’s 1960s reference of Australia as "the Lucky Country". [22] Another is the misrepresentation of outback Australia and its wildlife for commercialisation, like the crocodile motifs in the Northern Territory. [23] Like linguistic stereotypes, these cultural stereotypes have been reinforced by tourism campaigns and popular media, resulting in the "distinctive way of life" popularising the Australian outback lifestyle in Crocodile Dundee [23] and the contemporary urban lifestyle shown in the Australian soap opera Neighbours . [24]
Non-Australian Australophiles show more positive interest in the Australian accent than Australian Australophiles, particularly in regards to the broad Australian variant. [25] One reason is the popularisation of the broad Australian variant and Australian slang by 1980s tourism advertisements and Australian popular media, like Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee. [22] Another reason is that the broad Australian variant is only spoken by one-third of Australians as of 1987 [22] and is seen as casual and vulgar to Australians who speak other variants of the Australian accent. [21]
At least 2000 words, definitions and phrases that originated from or are heavily influenced by Australian English have been included in the Oxford Dictionaries by 2015, including "selfie". [20] Some words, like "bush" and "larrikin", exist in broader English use but have a different or greater use in Australian English. [21]
The Australian accent is derived from the British and Irish accents, as most of its early settlers originated from London and Ireland, [21] and is attributed to working-class urban English dialects that were homogenised between the 1830s and 1880s. [26] [ page needed ] This can be seen in the adaptation of Australianisms from pre-existing English words, like "bushranger". [21]
Indigenous Australian languages have contributed to the use of Australianisms, including "kangaroo" and "boomerang". [21] These languages did not have much influence on Australian English before the 1980s, as non-English languages had little impact on the development of Australian English and Indigenous Australian languages were not taught in schools at the time. [21]
Australia features a diverse range of climates and terrains, but some are especially recognisable to Australophiles. While Australia has World Heritage Sites ranging from the tropics and reefs to rainforests and mountain ranges, [27] many Australophiles are especially interested in Australia's beaches and rural outback. [28] This interest has been fuelled by conservation efforts for some of Australia's natural assets, with more than three million people annually visiting the Greater Blue Mountains Area as of 2007, [29] and representation in popular media, like the Mad Max franchise. [30]
Australia's tourism industry has capitalised on the value of Australia's natural environment, with the Australian Tourist Commission identifying Australia's geographic diversity as one of its most recognisable assets. [31] Tourism Australia has also noted that its focus on the Australian outback in its 2006 "Australian invitation" campaign promotes Australophilia through its "single and compelling brand message". [31] This has created an Australian identity built on its ruralism rather than its urbanism, which exists at odds with Australia's status as one of the most urbanised countries in the world. [31]
Australia's national and world heritage sites are recognised for their outstanding universal value, with a majority of its world heritage sites listed as natural heritage sites as of 2004. [32] Some are national and world heritage sites, like the Sydney Opera House, [33] while others are national heritage sites that are internationally renowned, like Bondi Beach. [34] Some national heritage sites include, but are not limited to, internationally renowned landmarks, such as Uluru in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. [35]
Both Australian and non-Australian Australophiles enjoy Australia's beaches and its culture, [36] with popular beaches like Bondi Beach shaping Australia's national identity through their associations with surfing, suntanning, lifesaving and egalitarian living. [34] Many of Australia's famous beaches, like Bondi and Surfers Paradise, are located in or near major cities. [37] Australia's beaches cater to a culturally diverse population, including working-class and middle-class Australians and tourists, and provide beachgoers with a public yet casual experience of Australian society. [38] Though beach culture has changed since its inception in the 19th century, with fewer Australians visiting the beach as compared to the earlier 20th century, [39] commercialisation has ensured that tourists have continued to visit Australia's beaches. [40]
The Australian outback (not to be confused with the Australian bush) is an important and highly recognisable part of the Australian cultural identity. While Australians have historically shared exaggerated stories about the supposed horrors of the outback [41] and the outback remains an undefined portion of Australia's territory, [42] it covers the majority of Australia's landmass and has been likened to the American frontier. [43] Iconic symbols like kangaroos and ockers have emerged from the outback, which in turn have been commodified by Australian tourism advertisements. [31] Several Australian films have also used the outback to promote Australia to non-Australians, including The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Australia . [44]
The rise of Australophilia has also been fuelled by Australian celebrities and popular media, which in turn have been credited with the popularisation of Australian slang and culture since the 1980s. This includes films like Crocodile Dundee, [45] TV shows like Neighbours, [46] singers like Shannon Noll, [47] and actors like Hugh Jackman. [20]
Two Australian films credited with the rise of Australophilia throughout and immediately after the 1980s are Crocodile Dundee and Strictly Ballroom . [48] Crocodile Dundee is further credited with packaging the Australian outback and its wildlife as an exotic yet tameable commodity for non-Australian Australophiles to consume. [49] Like many films set in the Australian outback, Crocodile Dundee depicts the outback as an unknown entity that requires an outsider to explore and familiarise its audience with the Australian wilderness. [50] It was also filmed specifically for an American audience, with the eponymous character modelled off Davy Crockett and American concepts of individualism and manhood. [51] Conversely, Strictly Ballroom was set in a more urban locale that was "recognisably Australian, but… conceived by the film-makers as an imaginary location". [52] Rather than appealing to international audiences with shots of the Australian wilderness, Strictly Ballroom drew on Australian comedy and burlesque to showcase Australian culture. [53]
Several Australian films continued to promote the Australian wilderness and aspects of its culture to non-Australian audiences beyond the 1980s, including Australia and the Mad Max franchise. Like many Australian films set in the outback, Australia featured scenery from lesser-known localities to showcase the vastness of the Australian outback. [54] Unlike many Australian films, Australia featured in a multimillion dollar tourism campaign run by Tourism Australia in 2008, but its focus remained on depicting Australia's post-colonial history and the relationship between Anglo-Celtic settlers and Indigenous Australians. [55] While the Mad Max franchise engages with Indigenous Australian culture through its inclusion of the boomerang and the didgeridoo, this culture was evoked by non-Indigenous Australians and showcased a bleaker take on the relationship between Anglo-Celtic settlers and Indigenous Australians. [56] Rather than depicting Australia as a land of potential, like in Australia, the Mad Max franchise depicts the Australian wilderness as dangerous and untameable. [57]
Neighbours began airing in Australia from 1985 and in the United Kingdom from 1986, but it achieved greater success overseas than it did in Australia. [58] This is due to the fantasised Australian lifestyle Neighbours offered to international viewers that sold an idealised yet relatable and partially obtainable Australian way of life. [59]
While Baywatch was primarily filmed in California and Hawaii, two special episodes were filmed at Avalon Beach in November 1998. [60] Controversy arose as the Baywatch filming crew appropriated portions of Avalon Beach, which threatened its publicly accessible nature, and a series of community lobbying efforts resulted in the relocation of Baywatch to Hawaii. [61] Despite the Avalon community's opposition to the filming, the Australian film industry and Tourism New South Wales were two of several stakeholders who had anticipated the economic benefits of a potential filming deal with Baywatch. [62] The special episodes, titled Baywatch Down Under, were eventually aired in February 1999.[ citation needed ]
The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a number of climatic zones, including tropical and monsoonal climates in northern areas, arid areas in the "red centre" and semi-arid and temperate climates in southerly regions. The total population is estimated at 607,000 people.
The cinema of Australia began with the 1906 production of The Story of the Kelly Gang, arguably the world's first feature film. Since then, Australian crews have produced many films, a number of which have received international recognition. Many actors and filmmakers with international reputations started their careers in Australian films, and many of these have established lucrative careers in larger film-producing centres such as the United States.
The culture of Australia is primarily a Western culture, originally derived from the United Kingdom. The unique geography of Australia and the cultural input of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and other Australian people also influenced its culture. The British colonisation of Australia began in 1788, and waves of multi-ethnic migration followed. Evidence of a significant Anglo-Celtic heritage includes: the predominance of the English language, the existence of a democratic system of government drawing upon the British traditions of Westminster government, parliamentarianism and constitutional monarchy, American constitutionalist and federalist traditions, and Christianity as the dominant religion.
The culture of New Zealand is a synthesis of indigenous Māori, colonial British, and other cultural influences. The country's earliest inhabitants brought with them customs and language from Polynesia, and during the centuries of isolation, developed their own Māori and Moriori cultures. British colonists in the 19th century brought Western culture and had a dramatic effect on the indigenous inhabitants, spreading Western religious traditions and the English language. Over time, a distinct Pākehā or New Zealand European culture emerged.
Coober Pedy is a town in northern South Australia, 846 km (526 mi) north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. A blower truck is raised above the town sign, representing the importance of opal mining to the town's history. Coober Pedy is also renowned for its below-ground dwellings, called "dugouts", which are built in this fashion due to the scorching daytime heat.
Crocodile Dundee is a 1986 action comedy film set in the Australian Outback and in New York City. It stars Paul Hogan as the weathered Mick Dundee, and American actress Linda Kozlowski as reporter Sue Charlton. Inspired by the true-life exploits of Rod Ansell, the film was made on a budget of under $10 million as a deliberate attempt to make a commercial Australian film that would appeal to a mainstream American audience, but proved to be a worldwide phenomenon.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a 1994 Australian road comedy film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows two drag queens, played by Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce, and a transgender woman played by Terence Stamp, as they journey across the Australian Outback from Sydney to Alice Springs in a tour bus that they have named "Priscilla", along the way encountering various groups and individuals.
Paul Hogan is an Australian actor and comedian. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance as outback adventurer Michael "Crocodile" Dundee in Crocodile Dundee (1986), the first in the Crocodile Dundee film series.
Crocodile Dundee II is a 1988 action comedy film and the second of the Crocodile Dundee film series. It is a sequel to Crocodile Dundee (1986) and was followed by Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001). Actors Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski reprise their roles as Mick Dundee and Sue Charlton, respectively, here shown opposing a Colombian drug cartel.
Rodney William Ansell was an Australian cattle grazier and a buffalo hunter. Described to be from "the bush", Ansell became famous in 1977 after he was stranded in extremely remote country in the Northern Territory, and the story of his survival for 56 days with limited supplies became news headlines around the world. Consequently, he served as the inspiration for Paul Hogan's character in the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee. In 1999, he was killed in a shootout by policemen of the Northern Territory Police.
John Cornell was an Australian actor, director, producer, writer, and businessman. He was best known for his role as "Strop" on The Paul Hogan Show, and he was instrumental in the introduction of World Series Cricket in 1977.
John Meillon,, was an Australian character actor known for dramatic as well as comedy roles. He portrayed Walter Reilly in the films Crocodile Dundee and Crocodile Dundee II. He also voiced advertisements for Victoria Bitter beer. He appeared in several Australian New Wave films including Wake in Fright and The Cars That Ate Paris.
Surf culture includes the people, language, fashion, and lifestyle surrounding the sport of surfing. The history of surfing began with the ancient Polynesians. That initial culture directly influenced modern surfing, which began to flourish and evolve in the early 20th century, with its popularity peaking during the 1950s and 1960s. It has affected music, fashion, literature, film, art, and youth jargon in popular culture. The number of surfers throughout the world continues to increase as the culture spreads.
Kerala, a state situated on the tropical Malabar Coast of southwestern India, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. Named as one of the ten paradises of the world by National Geographic Traveler, Kerala is famous especially for its ecotourism initiatives and beautiful backwaters. Its unique culture and traditions, coupled with its varied demography, have made Kerala one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Several international agencies ranging from UNESCO to National Geographic have recognised the state's tourism potential. Kerala was named by TIME magazine in 2022 among the 50 extraordinary destinations to explore in its list of the World's Greatest Places. In 2023, Kerala was listed at the 13th spot in The New York Times' annual list of places to visit and was the only tourist destination listed from India.
The Arts in Australia refers to the visual arts, literature, performing arts and music in the area of, on the subject of, or by the people of the Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Indigenous Australian art, music and story telling attaches to a 40–60,000-year heritage and continues to affect the broader arts and culture of Australia. During its early western history, Australia was a collection of British colonies, therefore, its literary, visual and theatrical traditions began with strong links to the broader traditions of English and Irish literature, British art and English and Celtic music. However, the works of Australian artists – including Indigenous as well as Anglo-Celtic and multicultural migrant Australians – has, since 1788, introduced the character of a new continent to the global arts scene – exploring such themes as Aboriginality, Australian landscape, migrant and national identity, distance from other Western nations and proximity to Asia, the complexities of urban living and the "beauty and the terror" of life in the Australian bush.
Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee, played by Paul Hogan, is a fictional protagonist in the Crocodile Dundee film series consisting of Crocodile Dundee, Crocodile Dundee II, and Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles. The character is a crocodile hunter, hence the nickname and is modeled on Rod Ansell.
Australian comedy refers to the comedy and humour performed in or about Australia or by the people of Australia. Australian humour can be traced to various origins, and today is manifested in a diversity of cultural practices and pursuits. Writers like Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson helped to establish a tradition of laconic, ironic and irreverent wit in Australian literature, while Australian politicians and cultural stereotypes have each proved rich sources of comedy for artists from poet C. J. Dennis to satirist Barry Humphries to iconic film maker Paul Hogan, each of whom have given wide circulation to Australian slang.
Casuarina Coastal Reserve is a protected area in the northern area of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is on the traditional Country and waterways of the Larrakia nation.
The Gagudju Crocodile Hotel, also known as Kakadu Crocodile Hotel or just the Croc Hotel is a 3.5 star hotel located in Jabiru, Northern Territory, within Australia's Kakadu National Park. Owned by the Indigenous clans of the Gaagudju people, it was the first major tourism development in the National Park and is notable for its unique design in the shape of a crocodile. Since 2014, the hotel has been operated by the Accor group under the Mecure brand.