AustLit
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Over the past two decades children’s picture books dealing with the Australian experience during the First World War have sought to balance a number of thematic imperatives. The increasingly sentimentalised construct of the Australian soldier as a victim of trauma, the challenge of providing a moral lesson that reflects both modern ideological assumptions and the historical record, and the traditional use of Australian war literature as an exercise in nation building have all exerted an influence on the literary output of a range of authors and illustrators. The number of publications over this period is proof of the enduring fascination with war as a topic as well as the widespread acceptance that this conflict has been profoundly significant in shaping Australian public and political culture and perceptions about national character and identity (Beaumont, 1995, p. xvii). As MacCallum-Stewart (2007, p. 177) argues, authors and illustrators must therefore balance notions of ‘respect’ for a national foundation myth with a ‘pity of war’ approach that reflects modern attitudes to conflict. Whatever their ideological commitment, many authors and illustrators respond to this challenge by adopting an approach that serves to indoctrinate readers into the Anzac tradition (Anzac refers to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps raised for war in 1914. It has become a generic term for Australian and New Zealand soldiers. The Anzac tradition established at Gallipoli, Australia’s first major military campaign, has been traditionally viewed as the nation’s founding.'
Source: Publication blurb.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
- Memorial 1999 single work picture book
- And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda 2015 single work picture book
- Boys in Khaki 2015 single work picture book
- My Grandad Marches on Anzac Day 2006 single work picture book
- In Flanders Fields 2002 single work picture book
- Only a Donkey 2007 single work picture book
- The House That Was Built in a Day : Anzac Cottage 2007 single work picture book