Oh yes. I know that Oz is still a monarchy which is why I'm
disappointed. I hope not to be disappointed before I dies - I see the
bones of a decent republic if only you chose to take it -
It may be that I "see" WS "true" legacy eventually it's just at the
moment I can't see past "his" legacy in this country and my own tribal
legacies, my own hopes for the future, my own hope for freedom and,
possibly, England. It maybe I give it all up and go to France and
never speak English again.
I hear you taking traditions come as you please, given the freedoms
you say you have. I just don't see it in operation.
Roger
On 12/14/05, Alison Croggon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi Roger
>
> I thought it was about cultural barnacles.
>
> Here, of course, WS has a certain cultural place, but doesn't carry the
> nationalistic/establishment charge he is given in England. Perhaps that's
> why Baz Lurhman's Romeo + Juliet is such a fun contemporary take on the
> play; he didn't have to struggle through years of ingrained piety.
>
> I'm not trying to persuade you of anything. I'm just puzzled. It seems
> self-defeating to write him off if you're interested in what language can do
> and be.
>
> On 14/12/05 10:38 PM, "Roger Day" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > At the back of my head is the idea of re-inventing England as a
> > Republic. S is an obstacle to me. For me Australia is one of those
> > country that represents something of an inkling of what an
> > English-speaking republic might be like,
>
> Roger, you do realise Australia is still a monarchy? That politics here is
> so bankrupt that the powers that be don't even pretend to hide their
> contempt for the electorate? That it's been this way for years, certainly
> since the early 80s, when I was an industrial relations reporter and began
> to see how corrupt the system was - and this the left wing, which was very
> disillusioning... There's a certain nihilism at the heart of Australia that,
> every time I come home, I try to define. I have sometimes, in my
> nightmares, thought that Australia is a kind of cultural/political petri
> dish, which other places will follow if they're not careful. Don't get me
> wrong, there are things I love about this place - but they're all the things
> that seem to be getting utterly done in the neck.
>
> One of the great freedoms of being a writer here is that we can take what we
> like without being oppressed by Great Traditions (the downside of that is of
> course a shallow anti-intellectualism). Which leaves us free to love
> Shakespeare, if we want to.
>
> Cheers
>
> A
>
> Alison Croggon
>
> Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
> Editor, Masthead: http://masthead.net.au
> Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com
>
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