Abstract
Since the early 1980's and the promotion of multiculturalism as a formal policy by the Australian Government, there has been remarkable changes in Australian culture. One of these changes has been the emergence of a new category of Australian literature - that of "multicultural writing". Two major reasons for this emergence have been: (1) the significant increase in funds given to ethnic writers by the Australian Council since the 1970's; (2) the increased awareness of members of migrant and ethnic minority communities of their own languages and cultural backgrounds. The increase in such writing has also led to increase in such writers being politically or socially active, which in turn has had a significant effect on Australian mainstream society. This paper provides an introduction to multicultural writing in Australia taking into account its problems and its future role, not only in Australian literature but also in Australian society in general.1) Definition of Multicultural writing. There is, as yet, no clear definition of "multicultural writing". In this paper, I define "multicultural writing" as the writing of people for whom English is not their first language and/or whose themes reflect their migrant experiences, ethnic background and cultural conflicts (including Aboliginal writers). 2) Multicultural writing and the Australian Government. Since 1973, the Literary Arts Board of the Australian Council has been active in providing financial help to authours and publishers, which has helped promote the works of many ethnic writers. 3) Examples of Ethnic Writers. Writers whose first language is not English: Rosa Capiello and Dimitris Tsaloumas. Writers who are of ethnic minority heritage: Angelo Loukakis and Sally Morgan. 4) Multicultural Writing and Ethnic Feminism. Many works dealing with the problems of sexism, racism, and class faced by ethnic minority women in society have been published (e.g. Sneja Gunew) 5) The Effect of Multicultural Writing on Anglo-Celtic Writing. Almost all recent books on Australian literature (both history and criticism) contain chapters on feminists and multicultural writers and writings. Such inclusion foresees a change in the categorization of Australian literature from 'Commonwealth' or 'post colonial' to 'poliethnic' or 'omnicultural'. 6) Multicultural Writing and Language. While English is still the dominant language in Australian society, there is now opportunity for writers to write in languages other than English. This in turn has the potential of encouraging linguistic diversity in Australia. Translation should be made much account of. Discussion: Some Problems and Future Possibilities. At this stage it is still not certain whether the influence of multicultural writing will result in the subclassification of Australian literature (e.g. Italo-Australian or Greco-Australian literature), or the incorporation of such literature into mainstream literature thereby changing the entire character of mainstream literature. Further, there is a danger that multicultural writing, with its sometimes political emphasis, may be used by and for certain groups for their own purposes, and thereby restrict the range of themes and topics covered. Despite this, multicultural writing has performed and can continue to perform an important role in facilitating communication and transfer of information from people of one cultural group to those of another group. This in turn facilitates multiculturalism generally. Finally, this study has important implications for homogeneous societies such as Japan who are trying to promote their own literature to other cultures, as well as for those faced with the possibility of greater cross-cultural interaction.
