Abstract
As soon as distinctive linguistic features started appearing in Australia, Australian English (AusE) was placed very low in the hierarchy of Englishes with its perceived informality, egalitarianism, swearing, and convict heritage, and it took a long time till it was perceived as a variety in its own right - even by Australians themselves. This linguistic insecurity is closely related to the construction of national identity and to this day Australia suffers from cultural cringe.
National identity is, therefore, still an important topic of Australian literature. This paper explores to what degree AusE features are represented through time based on Schneider's Dynamic Model, followed by a discussion of metalinguistic commentary that reveals prescriptive ideology and its meaning in the novels of contemporary writers Peter Carey and Hsu Ming Teo.
Keyword analysis of a small corpus of selected canonical novels has revealed that the distribution of 'Australianisms' across 4 periods roughly corresponds to the characteristics of each period as per Schneider's model and the corresponding historical events, with their highest concentration found in the Nativization period, when language was used as a tool in advocating independence, and in the Differentiation period, when AusE has achieved full linguistic independence. The numbers are much lower in the Exonormative stabilisation period, when British identity along with BrE was the norm, and in the Endonormative stabilisation period, which was characterised by cultural cringe.
Exploration of both Carey and Teo and the metalinguistic commentaries support these findings. Carey's novels discuss the power dynamics between the British and Australians throughout the 20th century and explore the way Australians tended towards the Broad or Cultivated end of the spectrum based on their cultural identification with either country, with metalinguistic commentaries employed as part of Carey's critique of Australian culture.
Teo's novel discusses the migrant versus white Australian experience and reveals how migrants now contend with AusE norms. In all novels the adherence to language norms plays a significant role in the construction of identity.
References: Burridge. Kate. "The History of Australian English." In Louisa Willoughby, Howard Manns (eds.).
Australian English Reimagined. London: Routledge, 2019. 175-192. 1 Peter Carey, Illywhacker (London: Faber and Faber, 1985) 27.
Carey, Peter. Illywhacker.
London: Faber and Faber, 1985. - My Life as a Fake. London: Faber and Faber, 2003.
Schneider, Edgar W. Postcolonial English: Varieties Around the World.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Teo, Hsu Ming.
Behind the Moon. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, 2005.