AustLit

'P.R.Stephensen( 1901-1965) was one of the forerunners of Australian nationalist literary and cultural criticism.His Foundations of Culture in Australia: An Essay Towards National Self Respect, which is widely acclaimed as the most influential critical essay of the 1930s, fully embodied the spirit of the age in that historical period.In this monograph, Stephensen came up with three requirements for developing Australian national culture.First and foremost,he advocated the principle of "locality" to help develop national cultures independent of that of the mother country. He laid stress on the definition the model of national literature,thinking it would help to differentiate between "authentic" and "fake" Australian national literature,and help to prop up serious works which concentrate on the true life of the people living there. He also pointed out that the main cultural forces should also include the publishers as well as writers and intellectuals: the mission of writers is to create works good enough to nourish the spiritual life of their nation, while the duty of intellectuals and publishers is to sponsor and support the former’s work. P.R. Stephensen’s views on Australian national culture have an enduring effect on different stages of the development of nationalism.'

Source: CAOD.