Australian English as a Mirror for National Identity Construction

Abstract

The rationale for this contribution rests on two objectives. The text, which is meant to be expository in nature, is bound to sketch a short history of Australian English against Schneider’s Model of Postcolonial English Evolutionary Scenario, and further on, it aims to depict the status quo of Australian English today as an index for identity construction. And it is also meant to provide the reflective line along with the presentation of relevant aspects in question in terms of the union between spatial and temporal dimensions, thus fulfilling the aspect of English as transported (in its numerous regional and social brands) and transformed into the brand of English in the new territory, also ‘travelling’ and working its way across the landscapes and the history of new discursive formations accompanying the rise of the new Antipodean identity. I trust these two motivations will merge into a single line as the text develops. It is assumed that language is an organic entity that evolves uniquely in the environment of multiple factors, such as climate, landscape, flora and fauna, indigenous populations and language contact situations, political and social contexts, ideologies, technological progress, lifestyles, etc. All of these resting on the dynamism between the external and internal factors, such as the new setting versus the old country, the new setting versus new external influences, etc. The abundance of variables cutting across the geographical spaces and social spaces along with the historical dimension provide the fertile ground for the emergence of unmatched uniqueness, which gains its utmost quality in the realm of multiple semiotic modes, visual art, music, literary expression among others, all resting on social codes whose growth and development deserves a separate treatment, beyond purely linguistic considerations, and yet not divorced from them. This contribution concentrates on language alone.