AustLit

'This paper considers the Australian preoccupation with the national image abroad. It has been argued that nations continually perform their identity for an international audience. By focusing on Australian responses to British reportage on Australia, it is possible to see how Australia's identity was created, debated and defended under the often critical gaze of the British press.

The way in which Australian governments chose to represent Australia in Great Britain was complicated by their frequent attempts to anticipate how the British saw Australia and Australians; as well as attempting to represent not only how Australians and expatriates saw Australia, but to accommodate how they wished Australia to be portrayed in London.' (Author's abstract)