Song of the Ancient Jungle (1905) compiled by Patterson is a collection of ballads in this period, which mostly expresses the feelings of the insulted and oppressed, and is more democratic. The first book of poetry published in Australia is The First Fruits of Australian Poetry (18 19) by British official Barron Field (1786~ 1846), but it is not artistic.
Then came a group of native poets: William Charles Wentworth (1793~ 1872), Charles Thompson (1806~ 1883) and Charles Harper (1. Among them, Harper has outstanding performance. Influenced by British poets Milton, Wordsworth and Shelley, he is good at depicting scenery and narrating. Adam lindsay gordon (1833~ 1870), who followed closely, was quite famous at that time, but his artistic conception was not high, and he wrote "Jungle Ballad and Vaulting Horse" (1870) and so on. Henry Kendall (1839~ 1882) was a poet with high attainments in this period and was good at lyric poetry.
Novels appeared later than poems. The earliest novel-like work was quintus Sefton (1830) written by Henry savery (1794~ 1842) in prison. But around 1850, travel notes and memoirs became the main literary forms, which introduced the local customs of Australia and the life of colonists in Britain. Later, this form of work was closer to the novel. The most influential work is Henry Kingsley's Memoirs of Jeffrey hamlin (1830~ 1876). Max Andrew hislop Clark (1846~ 188 1) and Thomas Alexander Brown (1826 ~ 1965438+) were sentenced to life imprisonment. These works describe typical Australian life scenes, such as grazing roaming, exile of prisoners, chivalrous men, gold rush and so on. The most prominent is life imprisonment, and the author reveals the early colonial exile system in Australia according to historical data.
The literary achievements of this period, whether poetry or novels, were not outstanding, and were basically influenced by British writers and literary schools, and did not form their own Australian literary style. Most works are not exquisite in art, especially novels, which often focus on telling stories, ignoring the characterization and psychological description of characters.
From 65438 to the 1980s, Australia began to brew a federation, and the nationalist movement rose. The vigorous national democratic movement has brought a new look to Australian literature. 1880, the Bulletin magazine founded by J.F. Aki bould publicly put forward the slogan "Australia belongs to Australians", advocated radicalism, * * * and socialism, United a large number of writers, formed the "Bulletin School", and promoted the development of Australian national literature. As an editor, Joe Stephens (1865~ 1933) opened up a "red page", vigorously supported young writers, advocated the creation of short stories and "jungle ballads", and organized the publication of novels. Under his advocacy, many writers created enthusiastically, and many excellent works appeared, forming a prosperous creative situation. The creation of folk songs and short stories is particularly prominent.
Joseph Fulfi (1843~ 19 12) and henry lawson (1867~ 1922) are the two most influential writers in this period. Fulfi is a novelist and poet from a worker background. His novel This Life (1903) describes the jungle scenery and the miserable situation of the working people in the form of a diary, which has obvious democratic spirit, vivid and humorous language and rich flavor of life. Lawson writes both poems and short stories, and has published 14 works, such as poetry collection In the Wide Sky (1896) and short story collection When the water in the pot boils (1896). His poems are full of patriotic passion and express the people's strong desire to resist oppression and demand democracy and freedom. His novels reflect the life, thoughts and feelings of the lower classes, shape the image of ordinary workers and praise their excellent qualities. The works of these two writers are based on reality and have Australian characteristics. They have a great influence on the development of Australian realistic literature.
In addition, short story writers include: humorous writer Arthur Hoy Davies (1868~ 1935), William astley (1854 ~ 19 1) who reflects the life of exiles. Miles Franklin's autobiographical novel My Glorious Journey (1879~ 1954) was published in 190 1 year, which is regarded as "the first novel in Australia". Henry Gan Del Richardson (1870~ 1946) is a talented woman writer who is good at exploring the inner world of characters. Her trilogy The Destiny of Mahoney occupies an important position in the history of Australian literature.
Andrew Barton Patterson (1864~ 194 1) is a famous writer of folk songs. He collected, arranged and created a large number of ballads, some of which were widely circulated after being composed, and so far there are poems such as "Visitors from Snow River" (1895). Other famous poets are mary gilmore (1865~ 1962) and Christopher Brennan (1870~ 1932). The former's poems are obviously democratic, while the latter's poems show the influence of French symbolism.
Under the influence of poetry and short story creation, Australian national drama art has also developed. 1909 playwright William Moore (1868~ 1937) initiated the annual "Australian Drama Evening". Subsequently, Louis Essen (1879~ 1943) and Vance Palmer (1885~ 1959) and others * * * organized a group of "avant-garde actors". At the same time, there have been a number of dramas reflecting people's lives and struggles, such as Essen's The Time is Not Mature (19 12), Palmer's Dark Horse (1922) and Catherine Susanna prichard (1883 ~/kloc).