Cultural Cringe: Are Australians the Plebeians of the Western World?
CIS Lecture
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Jens Schroeder, Miranda Devine & Dr James Curran
Running time: 88 mins
Does Australia, as a New World country, have a tendency to veer towards mediocrity as a way of assuring equality? Do we have a habit of “dumbing down?” Are our intellectual, artistic and cultural standards less exacting than those of our European contemporaries? Does our lack of an aristocratic elite make great art and literature an Australian impossibility?Jens Schroeder, a visiting sociologist and academic from the University of Film and Television Studies "Konrad Wolf" in Potsdam, Germany, will examine cultural cringe with a focus on past and present European condescension, and a look at domestic and international prejudices. Post-lecture commentary will be from Sydney Morning Herald columnist Miranda Devine and Sydney University historian Dr James Curran.
