The Australian Legend, 1951-1980

Component identifier:

Series 12

Content Summary:

The Australian Legend was Ward's first substantial book and the one that put him at the forefront of Australian historians. Ward sought to define the national character or national mystique and to identify the traits of the typical Australian. Using ballads and other popular literary forms, he traced the emergence of these traits among the convicts, bush workers and itinerant workers. He asserted that their work, experiences and social practices encouraged nationalistic, democratic and egalitarian beliefs that flourished in the late nineteenth century and continued to characterize Australian life in modern times. The book has often been criticized, but it has been one of the most influential works of an Australian historian. The Australian Legend was published by Oxford University Press in 1958 and a second edition appeared in 1965. A new illustrated edition was published in 1978. The book was based on Ward's doctoral thesis ‘History of the Australian Pastoral Worker'. Most of the papers in this series were assembled when he was writing his thesis. They include extensive material on ballads and also papers of one of his supervisors, Margaret Kiddle. There are also reviews of the book and correspondence concerning later editions.

Immediate source of acquisition:

The bulk of the papers were purchased from Russel Ward in 1988. Following his death in 1995, a further five cartons of papers were donated by his family.

Names:

Russel Ward

Contents

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