ABSTRACT

Charting a theme of exceptionalism, this article attempts to situate Australian studies within a west coast and Indian Ocean perspective. It looks in a westerly direction rather than the more prevalent Pacific-coast outlook of studies on Australia. Beginning by considering the journal Westerly, it follows networks of Australianists from The University of Western Australia mostly through the teaching of Australian literature and history, and especially the pioneering work of Bruce Bennett, John Hay, Tom Stannage and others, before speculating on generational renewal. The article discusses the zeitgeist created by the 1988 Australian Bicentennial and the Dawkins Revolution in higher education. It argues that Western Australian exceptionalism influenced the development of Australian studies here and that a distinct form of regionally based interdisciplinarity took root. The attempt to triangulate Australian studies through Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne in the early 2000s produced a remarkable series of publications through the Journal of Australians Studies. The article concludes on an optimistic note following the establishment of the Australian Studies Network at The University of Western Australia in 2019.

摘要

本文以例外论为主题，试图将澳大利亚研究置于西海岸和印度洋的视野中。它看起来是向西的方向，而不是更普遍的关于澳大利亚的太平洋海岸研究前景。首先考虑西风杂志，它主要通过澳大利亚文学和历史教学，尤其是布鲁斯·贝内特 (Bruce Bennett)、约翰·海 (John Hay)、汤姆·斯坦尼奇 (Tom Stannage) 等人的开创性工作，追踪西澳大利亚大学的澳大利亚人网络，然后再推测世代更新。本文讨论了1988年的澳大利亚双百周年纪念日和高等教育的道金斯革命所创造的时代精神。它认为，西澳大利亚例外主义影响了澳大利亚研究的发展，一种基于区域的跨学科的独特形式生根发芽。2000 年代初，通过珀斯、布里斯班和墨尔本对澳大利亚研究进行三角测量的尝试通过《澳大利亚研究杂志》发表了一系列非凡的出版物. 在2019年在西澳大利亚大学建立澳大利亚研究网络之后，本文得出了乐观的结论。