The ‘Australian Girl’ and the domestic ideal in colonial women’s fiction

The vast majority of novels and periodicals read by colonial Australian girls were written and published in Britain. ‘Daughters of the Southern Cross’ were more likely to have access to the Girl’s Own Paper by subscription or to imported fictions that had proven popular with British girl readers than any locally produced depictions of girlhood. From the 1880s, however, Australian authors produced several milestone fictions of girlhood for both adult and juvenile audiences. Rosa Praed's An Australian Heroine (1880) and Catherine Martin’s An Australian Girl (1890)  gave voice to the lived experience of Australia for young women, and their publication in Britain contributed to an emergent reciprocal transpacific flow of literary culture.

Two canonical Australian novels that focus on the maturation of girl protagonists who live on bush homesteads were also published in this period. Ethel Turner’s Seven Little Australians (1894) and Miles Franklin’s My Brilliant Career (1901) feature intelligent girls who are not able to be effectively socialised to embrace domesticity. Turner’s Judy Woolcot is distinct among her six siblings as a plucky girl who instigates trouble, while Franklin’s aspiring writer Sybylla Melvyn is informed that ‘girls are the helplessest, uselessest, troublesomest little creatures in the world.’

The 1890s saw an agricultural depression in Australia that only fuelled the urban perpet-uation of the idealised and nationalistic bushman myth in literary and popular culture. The ubiquity of the myth problematised any attempt to situate women heroically within the nation outside of the home. British fictional imaginings of Australian girls lauded their lack of conformity and physical abilities and often showed them bravely defending the family property with firearms. In contrast, Australian domestic fiction, this chapter argues, is unable to accommodate bracing female heroism, postulating ambiguous outcomes at best for heroines who deviate from the feminine ideal.

Judy’s grandmother describes her ‘restless fire’ as something that ‘would either make a noble, daring, brilliant woman of her’, or ‘would flame up higher and higher and consume her’. Turner does not allow Judy’s unconventionality to prosper. Instead, she is killed by a falling gum tree while saving the life of her brother, leaving the future fulfilment of the domestic ideal to her sister, Meg, whose subsequent story occupies Little Mother Meg (1902). Franklin’s Sybylla expresses her inability to be content with the simple pleasures of keeping a home, and this informs her decision to reject a marriage proposal from a wealthy suitor. The novel’s indeterminate conclusion does not allow fulfilment of Sybylla’s writing aspirations, situating her outside the feminine ideal yet not affirming the merits of her desire to reject married life.

While Sharyn Pearce suggests that Judy’s tragic end follows a narrative pattern that sup-ports the glorification of male heroes and renders ‘over-reaching women’ as ‘noble failures’, the novel might also productively be read within the context of other fictions featuring girl protagonists of the period, such as Praed and Martin's novels. This chapter makes the case that Turner and Franklin’s thwarted heroines critique the containment of Australian girls to the banalities of the home by exposing the negative and uncertain outcomes for those who desire the freedoms and aspirations permitted to boys and men. Unlike British fictions that champion adventurous girls, these Australian fictions critique the continuation of gendered restrictions in the colonies by proposing that girls who desire excitement and independence ‘should have been…boy[s]’ (as Sybylla’s mother remarks).

Colonial museology and the Buddhist chronicles of Sri Lanka: agency and negotiation in the development of the palm-leaf manuscript collection at the Colombo Museum

The roles of colonial museums in South Asia have been understood in terms of the dissemination of museology within the British Empire. This has often underplayed the participation of local intellectuals in the formation of museum collections, and thus has not recognized their agency in the creation of knowledge and of longstanding cultural assets. This article addresses this in part through an historical case study of the development of the palm-leaf manuscript collection at the Colombo Museum in nineteenth century Ceylon. The article focuses on the relationships between Government aims, local intellectuals and the Buddhist clergy. I argue that colonial museology and collecting activity in Ceylon ought to be understood as a negotiated process and a number of reasons for this are discussed. This article contributes to an area of museological research that is exploring the roles of indigenous actors in colonial collecting and museum practice in South Asia and broader geographical contexts.

The propaganda strategies adopted by the Colonial British during the Malayan Emergency, 1948-1960 as applied in newspaper coverage: A case study

The ongoing discussions on the fluid boundaries between ‘propaganda’ and ‘persuasion’ have emerged in numerous studies, the most prominent being Jowett and O’Donnell (2006). Sharing their views, Herman and Chomsky (1988) argued on the repercussions of only using elite sources in media reports due to their capacity to mobilise the masses for a single cause and shape elite opinions, due to the absence of alternative or opposing viewpoints. This case study examined the nature of propaganda strategies adopted by the colonial British during the Malayan Emergency that proved to be highly effective. This study consisted of two separate elements. First, it extends the discussion on propaganda by examining the significance of ‘race’ used as a crucial element within the discourses of anti-communism, as a legitimate rationale to mobilise forces, primarily within a Malayan context. Second, it investigated how propaganda strategies such as the forced resettlement of the ethnic Chinese, strategies used in framing the insurgents, and psychological warfare operated as powerful mechanisms to shape propaganda communication. A comparative content analysis of two mainstream English newspapers – namely The Times (London) and Straits Times (Singapore) – was conducted to identify trends in reporting used. Juxtaposing this method was the administration of in-depth interviews with ex-service personnel who had actively served in Malaya during the Malayan Emergency. The findings of this research reveal a significant correlation between ‘race’ and the constructs of communism. The results also indicate that psychological strategies adopted by the British in the form of deeds and news production proved to be highly effective.

Popular imperialism, Scottish identity, and William Wallace in an Australian colonial city

The narrative of William Wallace holds a prominent position in the current conception of England as a negative referent for Scotland’s national identity—its binary “Other”, against which Wallace valiantly fought. This article considers a contrasting understanding of Scottish national identity from the late-nineteenth century, and explores the events surrounding the unveiling of a statue of William Wallace in Australia during the year of 1889. It illuminates how settlers interpreted this national hero in such a way that demonstrated loyalty to the Union and Empire, and accommodated a convergence of English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh migrants in a British colonial city. The article highlights how statues, the ceremonies surrounding them, and their public reception help us to investigate the symbolic, ritualistic, and performative dimensions of identity formulation. It considers how public monuments, providing a sense of authority to particular groups, can marginalise others by acting to settle cultural competition, and will reflect on competing interpretations of the statue at its unveiling.

Transforming narratives of colonial danger: imagining the environments of New Zealand and Australia in children's literature, 1862–1899

Nineteenth-century British children’s literature set in Australia and New Zealand fixates on the dangers of colonial environments. This chapter examines four British novels of the period, observing the ways in which they manifest elements of ecological imperialism and environmental racism in order to depict successful settlement. It compares these novels with fantasy fictions by Australian and New Zealand children’s authors that constitute more complicated attempts both to understand and co-exist with the natural environment. The chapter proposes that by the 1890s earlier British anxieties had dissipated in popular Australian and New Zealand fiction, in which child protagonists were newly charged with the ability to interpret and control nature.

Intense predation of non-colonial, ground-nesting bird eggs by corvid and mammalian predators

Context Loss of eggs to predators is a major cause of reproductive failure among birds. It is especially pronounced among ground-nesting birds because their eggs are accessible to a wide range of predators. Few studies document the main causes of clutch fate of ground-nesting birds. Aims The main objective of the present study was to identify the major egg predator of red-capped plovers (Charadrius ruficapillus). We also investigated the effectiveness of the following two primary strategies available to the plovers to avoid egg predation: (1) the placement of clutches under vegetative cover and (2) avoiding predators by nesting outside the peak season of predator occurrence. Methods Remote-sensing cameras were deployed on plover nests to identify egg predators and nests were monitored over four breeding seasons to document reproductive success and fate. An experiment using false clutches with model eggs investigated the influence of nest cover on the risk of egg predation throughout the year. Line-transect surveys were conducted to estimate the abundance of egg predators in and around the wetlands. Key results The little raven (Corvus mellori) was the major egg predator identified in 78.6% of red-capped plover clutches and in 92.4% of false clutches that were camera-monitored. The hatching success of plover eggs was not influenced by nest cover (P≤0.36), but model egg survival in false clutches improved significantly with the presence of nest cover (P≤0.02). The abundance of little ravens increased during the plover breeding season and was highly negatively correlated with false clutch survival (rpearson≤-0.768, P≤0.005). Conclusions Little ravens were the major predator of red-capped plover eggs and their abundance increased significantly during the plover breeding season. Any influence of nest cover on hatching success of eggs may have been masked by the extremely high rate of egg loss associated with the increased little raven abundance during the plover breeding season. Implications The high rate of egg predation is likely to have negative consequences on the local red-capped plover population, suggesting management is warranted. Little raven populations have expanded and, thus, their impact as egg predators needs to be investigated especially on threatened species. Journal compilation

Business strateBusiness strategies under conditions of uncertainty: The rise of mutual life insurers in colonial Australiagies under conditions of uncertainty

The early development of Australian life insurance was marked by the failure of stock companies to successfully establish a market presence. Mutual insurers emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in response to this gap in supply. The underlying rationale behind their establishment differed but the business model adopted proved remarkably successful. Mutual life insurers dominated the market for life insurance for nearly a century. This chapter investigates mutualism as a business strategy that addressed particular problems associated with doing business in a small and underdeveloped economy. Business and social networks were important facilitators of new business. In addition, most mutual life insurers had a social/philanthropic charter and they were able to utilize this to build business. An outcome of this mix was the emergence of a particular type of entrepreneurship that fostered innovative product development and cemented the role of mutual insurers as market leaders.. The Variety, Choice, Governance, and Regulation of Organizational Forms 2.

Gender inequality and education: changing local/global relations in a ‘post-colonial’ world and the implications for feminist research

This chapter explores the relationship between education reform and gender equity, both within and between nation states. Utilising feminist critical policy analysis and post-colonial theory, it examines how education reform over the past decade has impacted on gender equity and how educational reform is itself gendered. It considers the nature of gender restructuring, maps significant shifts in gender equity policy in the wider context of educational and social inequality debates and, through an analysis of recent research on gender identity, schooling and leadership, argues that gender can no longer be privileged when identifying and responding to educational inequality. Key assumptions underpinning how social change and education reform deliver equity are questioned, concluding with feminist theorising about how social justice may inform equity policy and practice in culturally diverse educational contexts.

Reflections of environmental management implementation in furniture

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of environmental management initiatives in the furniture retail area. The specific aim is to present reflections of participants implementing environmental initiatives in an Australian furniture retailer, Living Edge, in alignment with a secondary snapshot of environmental initiatives from other furniture retailers. Design/methodology/approachPrimary reflections from the retailer’s manager and external consultant, both involved in the implementation of environmental initiatives, are enriched with secondary review of environmental management system trends and examples from regions active in the designer furniture sector, including Europe, Southeast Asia and North America. FindingsAn integrated view has been distilled around environmental impact in the furniture supply chain and consumer pressure to minimise the impact. Stakeholders require furniture retailers to improve efficiency and profitability amid the countervailing market demand for environmental sustainability. Retailers may seek competitive advantage through effectively applied and communicated environmental management. The voluntary adoption of systems, international standards and innovative practices that conserve natural resources are amongst the key to success. A live case example of Australian experience is added to the knowledge base for the global retail furniture industry. Research limitations/implicationsOne Australian retailer is exemplified to highlight the lived experiences of implementing environmental initiatives. The secondary global review presents a cross-section rather than an in-depth analysis of furniture sector retailers. Originality/valueThere are limited Australian perspectives of designer furniture and its intersection with environmental issues, thus, the paper addresses this gap in the literature and adds to informed practice in a global industry.