Cirrus@Austlit

Henningsgaard discusses the emergence of regionalism as a concept in Australian literary studies and its development as a cultural framework for critical engagement. He particularly notes the upswing in attention to regionalism in the late 1970s and the 1980s (fostered in part by the work of Bruce Bennett), followed by a corresponding downturn during the 1990s.

Having focussed on this emergence and decline, Henningsgaard turns his attention to Australia's positioning of itself in the global context in the early twenty-first century. He argues that: 'Until Australia resumes constantly fostering its regional diversity - or recognizes its already existing achievements in regional diversity - it will always be viewed (both from within and without) as secondary and inferior, as homogeneous'.