The theme of civilization in Manning Clark's History of Australia

This article reinterprets Manning Clark's A History of Australia as a critique of European civilization in Australia. Clark was preoccupied with the idea of civilization; it was the central theme of his six-volume History. Civilization in Australia was originally composed of three beliefs impor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:History Australia 2017-01, Vol.14 (1), p.82-98
Main Author: Berryman, Jim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
A History of Australia
civilization
historiography
Manning Clark
progress
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This article reinterprets Manning Clark's A History of Australia as a critique of European civilization in Australia. Clark was preoccupied with the idea of civilization; it was the central theme of his six-volume History. Civilization in Australia was originally composed of three beliefs imported from Europe: Protestantism, Catholicism and the Enlightenment. Their conflict and interaction would shape Clark's narrative account of Australian history, which he told as the coming of civilization to a barbarous land. However, Clark's 'Whig' view of history was plagued by internal contradictions. Although Clark accepted the inevitability of progress, he was deeply sceptical of its benefits. Clark's doubts about material progress were most fully realised in his critique of bourgeois liberalism, especially its civilizing mission to recast Australia as a provincial Britain.
ISSN:1449-0854
1833-4881
DOI:10.1080/14490854.2017.1286706