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Australians have enjoyed British artists such as the Beatles, the Rolling
Stones, Pink Floyd and Adele. Australia has also always been an outdoors
nation, with a love for the beach and sport. This is reflected in Australian
pop music especially the surfer era of the 60s (eg BeeGees). Another
ongoing Australian past time is attendance at outdoor music festivals such
as The Big Day Out and dancing to music at parties while consuming
alcohol.
Popular culture as expressed through music has contributed to social
change in Australia. The whole idea of popular culture is that it is
constantly changing and evolving, influencing the culture around it. The
emergence of the American influence has contributed to the globalisation
and connecting of Australia with the rest of the western world. An example
of this is many Australian musicians moving to America to seek fame and
produce music. New technology has allowed the spread of Australian pop
music and changed the sound of pop music in Australia. The globalisation
of popular culture has been driven by T.V and now the internet has meant
popular culture has changed Australia from an isolated nation to one that
is connected and influenced by the rest of the world. Attitudes of
acceptance and equality have become more prominent over the last few
decades. The Aboriginal band Yothu Yindis popular song Treaty is an
example of this.
Q5 evaluate the impact of popular culture in shaping and
reflecting Australia in the post WW2 world
As stated in the popular song T.V. the drug of a nation, popular culture
both shapes and reflects society: is it the reflector or the director, does it
imitate us or do we imitate it?.
After WW2, Australian popular culture began to reflect American popular
culture due to the positive influence of America during the war. In the
1950s the American TV show I love Lucy featured a woman with short
hair. This shaped popular fashion in hair styles throughout Australia.
Another example of this is the super model Twiggy popularising mini
skirts. In sport, Australian attitudes to particular sports following WW2
have been shaped by migrant influence and globalisation eg increase in
soccer popularity.
Our dry sarcastic, humour together with a relaxed outlook on life, has also
shaped the perception of Australia. This is reflected in popular culture
such as our TV shows, for example Lano and Woodley. The drinking and
partying aspect of popular culture has shaped us into a nation renowned
for its drinking culture and alcohol. Aboriginal music broadening into
popular music has allowed our immense cultural history to be displayed to
the world. Australias high migrant population has brought many aspects
of foreign popular culture to Australia. Australia is, and is reflected as a
multicultural nation in the post WW2 world. Australia is also seen as a
beach, surf water nation, as reflected by our tourism industry. This is due
to the popular cultural activity of swimming, surfing and going to the
beach.
Today Australian society is heavily influenced by not only popular culture
of the USA and the UK, but of the popular culture of the world. Fashion,
ideas, experiences, music, technologies are all shared through global
communications and social networks. Previously Australias growth as a
nation was hindered and stifled by its geographic isolation, but now due to
changing technologies Australia is now contributing to and being
influenced by popular culture on a global scale.