Culture evolves and transforms all the time. One day something is taboo. The next it has become an icon.
One of the cultural phases that Australia has gone through has been this one. Whether you want to believe it or not, many Australians once shunned the idea that they were from convict stock. Yes, shocking as it may sound, most Australians, only decades ago would not buy into the idea that they may have had ancestors who were on the First Fleet.
A criminal ancestry no-one wanted to have. That changed of course when it all of a sudden became quite prestigious to be able to say one of your ancestors were on the “First Fleet”.
This turnabout in culture says something about how the changes in culture occur and develop. Why did we despise the idea only decades ago, only now to view it all as some sort of status symbol?
Australia is a really interesting country. We all know our roots. The country has prided itself on immigration and there are so many who have immigrated here and have a story to tell about it.
We are a new country. That is what sets us apart from so many others. There are immigrant stories, stories of people being shipped out from the UK and Ireland and stories of European successes.
I was talking the other day to a German backpacker who told me that everyone in Australia seems to know their history, whether it was Irish, English, European or even South American. For him, his heritage was kind of unknown. All he knew that it was German a long way back.
This statement alone gave me a lot to think about. Yes, we in Australia are young particularly compared to many European countries. We take for granted what all the immigration and the culture that has brought to us really mean.
Many people try to put the argument about the different cuisines that have been introduced into our culture. They are a welcome contribution to Australian society but I think our immigrant population has invested a lot more than good meals. They have made our country colourful, diverse and even eccentric. No country should shun that.
