'Going OS for the OE: Aussies, Kiwis, and Saffas in Contemporary London'

Publisher:
Monash University ePress
Publication Type:
Chapter
Citation:
Crawford Robert 2009, ''Going OS for the OE: Aussies, Kiwis, and Saffas in Contemporary London'', in NA (ed.), Monash University ePress, Melbourne, pp. 16.1-16.18.
Issue Date:
2009
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Much is known about British migration to Australia1 but little about the reverse phenomenon. To date, the handful of studies investigating this movement have tended to focus on the artistic rite-of-passage travels and exploits of well-known Australians. These range from the singer Nellie Melba and the poet Henry Lawson at the turn of last century to those equally notable Australians of more recent times who have followed in their footsteps, perhaps most famously represented by the larrikin intellectual storming of London in the 1960s by that cultural 'gang of four' Barry Humphries, Germaine Greer, Rolf Harris and Clive james.' \'7hilst it is difficult to overlook articulate and prominent individuals who may flaunt and, dare it be said, even make a profession out of their expatriate Australian 'identity', the focus on them leaves the vast bulk of Australians in Britain under-examined. These almost forgotten Australians include the middleclass tourists and soldiers of the first half of the century, and lesser and greater artists, writers, the people and public figures for whom Britain was a chapter in their life and a stage in their development. Perhaps more importantly, we should include those ubiquitous and often little known professionals, dentists, nurses and teachers, the backpacker bar workers and labourers, and today's merchant bankers, IT consultants and accountants.
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