The dictionary is a living, breathing and evolving record of how language is wrapped up in who we are as Australians. It is vital we protect it.
Articles on Australian culture
Displaying 1 - 20 of 48 articles
This year’s list will likley not just reflect what we consider “Aussie” music – but also challenge it. And that’s a good thing.
The terms ‘gritty’ and ‘real’ have come to characterise Aussie teen drama. Invisible Boys is no exception, and will give you something to challenge your worldview.
More than 100 years ago, a master pearl diver in Broome set up what is now the world’s oldest still-running open-air cinema.
A national anthem is supposed to reinforce a nation’s identity. Are we fine with singing Advance Australia Fair for another 50 years?
What did Australians do online in the 1990s? Shared bioinformatics data, made cyberfeminist zines, cruised the information superhighway …
The contemporary Aussie shoey is really about defiance - claiming victory against the odds.
Set at a long, beery election night party, David Williamson’s classic play is laced with unfinished sexual encounters, fist fights and drunken accusations. It feels remarkably fresh today.
Hip-hop got its start as a political artistic force in the streets of Bronx. In the age of coronavirus, that same force has taken to the internet.
COVID-19 has shown up a mind-bending contradiction. On one hand, the arts are entwined with our daily lives. Yet culture has disappeared from federal policy. Something has gone fundamentally wrong.
Clive James’ brilliant career began as an undergraduate at the University of Sydney in 1957, where he first honed his skills as a performer and writer.
Around 300 termite mounds dressed as people can be found along the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory. They sport all manner of accessories from bras to hard hats to beer cans.
The ABC documentary, How Australia Got Its Mojo, purported to tell the story of advertising agency Mojo. But the real story is more complex.
The mythical Australian bloke is white, straight, and able-bodied – he’s Crocodile Dundee. But where does this legend come from, and what is his future?
Margaret Fulton built a long-lasting career on the provision of sound, trustworthy cookery advice.
Renewed interest in mid-century modern houses is more about substance than style. They represent the emergence of a new spirit and a coming of age in postwar Australia.
Folklore is everywhere and a valuable part of our national heritage. But it is undervalued by our government.
The performing arts is the canary in the coalmine of the gig economy.
Community proposals for public swimming pools are popping up all over the country. But individuals need to work with governments to ensure these projects actually get off the ground.
Coined in a science-fiction novel in 1995, the Anglosphere has become Australia’s cultural (and political) obsession. That leaves us blind to other perspectives.
Top contributors
-
Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, Monash University
-
Professor of Creative Arts, Griffith University
-
Professor of Linguistics, Monash University
-
Associate Professor in Media, University of Technology Sydney
-
Distinguished Professor of Economics, Macquarie University
-
Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology
-
Professor of Theatre Studies, The University of Melbourne
-
Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University
-
Research Project Director at the Department of Economics, Macquarie University
-
Senior Research Fellow, Victorian College of the Arts, The University of Melbourne
-
Foundation Member of the First Year College, Victoria University
-
PhD candidate, The University of Melbourne
-
Honorary Fellow of the School of Languages and Linguistics, The University of Melbourne
-
Professor Emeritus of Media and Culture, Griffith University, Griffith University
-
Senior Lecturer in English Literature, Charles Sturt University