AustLit

'For all its dated idealism, I want to suggest that the late nineteenth century as it appeared to Ward, and also to Palmer, still has its uses as a pivotal moment for the broad integrity of the Australian story. It was a time of apotheosis in more ways than Ward imagined. It was an era when collective self-understanding was refashioned at a new and more elevated level, when the particular became generalised and when partial experiences were drawn together to create an ideal. But this was very much a multifaceted process. The period has been examined from a number of angles, usually with the idea that it was one of high creativity, when foundations were laid for the construction of the Australian psyche, national identity and so forth (all of which might be seen as aspects of the 'Australian Settlement'). But also, and more profoundly, the period is vital for what it shows about the operation of intelligence and imagination on physical circumstances. Ward himself concentrated on the bush ethos and on rural workers, his so-called 'nomad tribe'. Others have written about the visual representation of the landscape. Prose and poetry have also been well examined. Technological inventions have been accounted for to some extent railways and telegraph lines, water engineering, agricultural machinery, meat refrigeration and so on, which taken altogether were certainly extraordinary. They too were inspired mainly by rural life and productivity.'

Source: Article abstract.