A. A. Phillips
Encyclopedia
Arthur Angel Phillips generally known as A. A. Phillips, was an Australia
n writer, critic and teacher, best known for coining the term "Cultural Cringe" in his pioneering essay The Cultural Cringe
, which set the early terms for post-colonial theory in Australia. He was educated at the Universities of Melbourne
and Oxford, and later taught at Wesley College
in Melbourne
.
The Cultural Cringe was first published in the Melbourne cultural affairs journal Meanjin
. It explored ingrained feelings of inferiority that local intellectuals struggled against, and which were most clearly pronounced in the Australian theatre, music, art and letters. Phillips pointed out that the public widely assumed that anything produced by local dramatists, actors, musicians, artists and writers was necessarily deficient when compared against the works of the British and European counterparts. The only ways local arts professionals could build themselves up in public esteem was either to follow overseas fashions, or, more often, to spend a period of time working in Britain. In some professions this attitude even affected employment opportunities, with only those who had worked in London
being treated as worthy of appointment or promotion. Thus the cultural cringe brought about over the early to mid 20th century a pattern of temporary residence in Britain for so many young talented Australians across a broad range of fields, from the arts to the sciences.
Phillips's influential and highly controversial essay served as the focus in his later book The Australian Tradition: Essays in Colonial Culture (1958).
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n writer, critic and teacher, best known for coining the term "Cultural Cringe" in his pioneering essay The Cultural Cringe
Cultural cringe
Cultural cringe, in cultural studies and social anthropology, is an internalized inferiority complex which causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to the cultures of other countries...
, which set the early terms for post-colonial theory in Australia. He was educated at the Universities of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
and Oxford, and later taught at Wesley College
Wesley College, Melbourne
Wesley College, Melbourne is an independent, co-educational, Christian day school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1866, the college is a school of the Uniting Church in Australia. Wesley is the largest school in Australia by enrolment, with 3,511 students and 564 full-time staff...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
.
The Cultural Cringe was first published in the Melbourne cultural affairs journal Meanjin
Meanjin
Meanjin is an Australian literary journal. The name - pronounced Mee-AN-jin - is derived from an Aboriginal word for the land where the city Brisbane is located.It was founded in December 1940, in Brisbane, by Clem Christesen...
. It explored ingrained feelings of inferiority that local intellectuals struggled against, and which were most clearly pronounced in the Australian theatre, music, art and letters. Phillips pointed out that the public widely assumed that anything produced by local dramatists, actors, musicians, artists and writers was necessarily deficient when compared against the works of the British and European counterparts. The only ways local arts professionals could build themselves up in public esteem was either to follow overseas fashions, or, more often, to spend a period of time working in Britain. In some professions this attitude even affected employment opportunities, with only those who had worked in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
being treated as worthy of appointment or promotion. Thus the cultural cringe brought about over the early to mid 20th century a pattern of temporary residence in Britain for so many young talented Australians across a broad range of fields, from the arts to the sciences.
Phillips's influential and highly controversial essay served as the focus in his later book The Australian Tradition: Essays in Colonial Culture (1958).