A. S. PETRIKOVSKAYA, CULTURE OF AUSTRALIA IN THE 19th AND 20th centuries, MOSCOW: Vostochny. lit-ra, 2007, 253 p.

The reviewed monograph is the first comprehensive historical and cultural study of the origin, evolution and current state of Australian culture in the Russian scientific literature. At the same time, the author understands the phenomenon of culture in the broadest sense - as a spiritual component of the life of the nation as a whole, including, along with artistic creativity, also the problems of cultural and ethnic identity, the organization and state of cultural work in the country, the formulation of the education system, sports and science. Much attention is paid to the cross-cultural influences that are so significant in the history of Australian culture, the problems of interaction and interfacing of cultural traditions of the Anglo-Saxon and foreign communities of modern Australia, including the indigenous community of the country, as well as the connections of the cultures of the Australian people with the peoples of Oceania and Southeast Asia surrounding the fifth continent.

A. S. Petrikovskaya is a leading researcher in the Department of South Pacific Studies of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. A well-known literary and cultural critic, she is the author of a number of pioneering works on the cultural history of Australia.4 Her unique knowledge of the subject and broad artistic outlook allow her to freely navigate the works of Australian writers, artists, composers, figures of the national theater and cinematography. Cultural analysis of their work, which often reaches the level of art criticism, formed the basis of the reviewed monograph. A. S. Petrikovskaya uses statistical material illustrating the stages of cultural construction in the country, draws on a wide range of specialized literature: works of domestic and Australian researchers on the history of Australia and certain areas of its cultural and scientific life.

The author of the monograph proceeds from the fact that" the formation of national identity is an indispensable prerequisite for cultural self - determination " (p.236). That is why the maturation and evolution of the culture of white Australians, born on the far outskirts of the British Empire, is shown against the broad background of the historical development of Australians and Australia as a nation and state. The unification of migrant colonies and the creation of the Australian Union in 1901, participation in two world wars and regional conflicts of the twentieth century, the country's foreign policy reorientation from Great Britain to the United States, and finally the search for new partners in Asia and Oceania, which turned the country into one of the engines of Pacific regionalism-all these circumstances, as shown in the monograph, They continue to have a powerful impact on the evolution of cultural preferences of Australians, on the peculiarities of the spiritual life of Australian society.

And if at the initial stage of the existence of migrant colonies, cultural manifestations - literary and artistic creativity of real and former convicts-can only be considered as timid attempts to creatively comprehend their new situation in a distant and still foreign land, tinged with nostalgia for the lost British homeland, then in the second half of the XIX century, the situation begins to change. The rapid development of migrant colonies and the growth of the population lead to an expansion of cultural needs, to the urgent need to understand the new living conditions on the land that has become so familiar and native. Australian culture in this period is still nothing more than a provincial phenomenon.- ___

4 See: Kul'tura [Culture] / / Sovremennaya Australia. Spravochnik [Handbook], Moscow, 1976; Gosudarstvo i razvitie obrazovaniya v sovremennoi Australii (1945-1975) // Past and Present of Australia and Oceania, Moscow, 1979; Gosudarstvo i razvitie australiskoi nauki (1945-1975) / / Strany Yuzhnykh morei. (History, Economy, Ethnography, Geography), Moscow, 1980; Gosudarstvo i razvitie natsional'noi kul'tury v Australii (1945-1980) [State and Development of National Culture in Australia (1945-1980)]. (Literature and Society). Moscow, 1990; Russian Echo in the Culture of Australia, Moscow, 2002.
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the branching of the British culture, however, "the Anglo-European orientation was an organic continuation of traditions, and not a copy of the alien and alien... Under the new conditions, English, Scottish or Irish traditions were transformed, just as new words were added to the well-known motifs of folk songs " (p. 16, 17). In the young culture of Australia, from the very beginning, specific features of the Australian worldview are noticeable: love of freedom, respect for the hard work of the bushmen, egalitarianism, restraint in expressing feelings, combined with a willingness to help in difficult times. Already in this period of time, a high-quality and fairly democratic education system is being formed in the country: the availability of knowledge, concern for educating the people as an integral part of state policy will become one of the supporting structures of the cultural environment of Australia.

In the first decades of the 20th century, the process of cultural isolation of Australia from England developed, and Australians realized themselves as an independent nation. Participation in the First World War leads to the emergence of national myths and heroes. The heightened sense of equality and the desire for justice inherent in Australians lead to an increase in the social stream in literature and art, and the left intelligentsia is significantly influenced by socialist and, in the 1920s and 1930s, communist ideas. However, according to A. S. Petrikovskaya, in the pre-war period, " despite the spirit of independence... the Australian continued to think of himself as British" (p. 51). According to the author, the Australian culture shows signs of maturity and enters a new period of its development in the second half of the XX century. It was after the Second World War that Australia became a truly independent state, began to play a significant role in the world economy and politics, and, of course, was actively involved in the world cultural process. All these circumstances encourage the country to find its own voice in the cultural and spiritual life of humanity, and turn Australian culture into a fully formed and increasingly influential phenomenon in the world's cultural palette. At the same time, as A. S. Petrikovskaya emphasizes, the genesis and self - determination of Australian culture does not mean its complete break with the ancient and rich traditions of the British culture and - in a broader sense-with the spiritual heritage of all Anglo-Saxon nations. "Genetic kinship and ancient roots continue to nourish" the culture of Australia today (p. 236).

The author's conclusions and judgments are illustrated with rich factual material that visibly recreates the panorama of the country's cultural life. The list of cultural figures whose work has become the object of A. S. Petrikovskaya's close attention is more than impressive. Among them are artists W. Dobell, R. Drysdale, S. Nolan, A. Boyd, A. Tucker, J. Coburn, architects R. Grounds, W. Bunning, R. Giurgola (an American living and working in Australia), composers M. Sutherland, R. Meale, and many,many others. In Australia, Hollywood stars B. Beresford, P. Weir, M. Gibson, N. Kidman, J. Rush, C. Blanchett began their work. The author pays special attention to the development of literature - one of the main tools of artistic understanding of reality. The reader is offered an assessment of the work of writers K. S. Pritchard, W. Palmer, M. Clark, D. Cusack, A. Marshall, J. Wathen, P. White, M. Boyd, D. Maloof, poets A. Hope, J. Wright, D. Campbell, L. Murray, playwrights D. Hewett, D. Williamson, and others. Petrikovskaya seeks to determine the place of outstanding representatives of the artistic intelligentsia of the fifth continent in the spiritual life of Australian society, to identify their contribution to the formation of self-consciousness of the young nation.

The monograph deals not only with the achievements of artistic culture, but also with the Australian education system, the development of science, sports, and the media. The article examines the state of the museum business, which is increasingly characterized by interactive forms of organizing expositions. The policy of the Australian state in the field of culture is analyzed in detail. According to the author, this policy in general successfully combines the paternalistic concern of the state for the "transmission" of cultural achievements to the broad strata of the people with the encouragement of public and private institutions that take part in cultural work.

Two chapters of the monograph are devoted to the problem of expanding the cultural expansion of Australia to the neighboring countries of Oceania and Southeast Asia. In this case, Australia acts as a kind of" transfer link " between the world cultural fund and the developing countries of Asia and Oceania. This process, as A. S. Petrikovskaya emphasizes, also has a reverse effect.-

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New direction: Increasingly, Australia's Oceanic-Asian environment is influencing the spiritual life of Australians. The study of the mutual influence of the cultures of Australia and the peoples of Asia and Oceania allows the author of the monograph to draw a conclusion about the "supporting role of Australia in cultural processes" that occur in the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean. It forms "a cultural space unique in terms of natural data and historical heritage, where cultures of various origins and levels meet and interact" - Oceanic, European, and Asian (p.169).

The monograph pays special attention to the problems of preserving and developing the culture of the Australian Aborigines, ways of its coexistence and conjugation with the culture of the white majority. Since the mid-twentieth century, the principles of charity in the policy towards the indigenous population have been replaced by the principles of social responsibility, and the strategy of early assimilation of Aborigines has been replaced by a strategy of their integration into modern society. As a result, the number of Aborigines has increased, their living conditions have improved, and their educational level has slightly increased. The policy of preserving and developing traditional Aboriginal culture is fueled by commercial demand for their artistic works. At the same time, some aborigines are moving to modern forms of creativity in the field of literature, fine arts, and cinematography, but most indigenous people work in line with ancient traditions. Although the commercialization of traditional art sometimes leads to its simplification and deviation from the canons, Aboriginal artists "until recently still managed to create works of a high level, while preserving their art as an element of the cultural system" (p.133).

The chapter on Australian multiculturalism is extremely interesting. A. S. Petrikovskaya believes and proves with facts that the policy of multiculturalism pursued in modern Australia really provides numerous national communities of the country with rights and opportunities to preserve their national identity. This policy considers the state as a "family of ethnic groups" and is aimed at the coexistence and development of various national cultures. Thus, it acts as a tool for maintaining stability in the Australian society. The policy of multiculturalism certainly harmonizes interethnic relations and ensures a "soft", painless integration of these communities into the Anglo-Saxon Australian society. Of course, the implementation of multicultural attitudes is far from smooth, as they have, in a sense, "challenged the traditional Australian identity that goes back to British kinship" (p.153). At the same time, A. S. Petrikovskaya believes, "in the conditions of democracy... multicultural dialogue and mutual recognition are necessary conditions for the normal functioning of multiethnic societies (p. 154). This experience is also relevant for other states that have a multi-ethnic composition of the population with dispersed settlement of different national groups throughout the country, the author notes.

Special attention of the Russian reader will be drawn to the chapter devoted to Russian-Australian cultural relations. A. S. Petrikovskaya is not limited to recreating the history of acquaintance of the peoples of the two countries with each other's cultural achievements or telling about the palette of cultural relations between Russia and Australia in our days. It reveals the evolution of the perception of Australians in Russia (USSR) and Russians in Australia. For Russians, a natural interest in the geographical exoticism of the fifth continent gives way to a close attention to the social achievements of Australian society, which has managed to ensure a decent standard of living for its citizens and to significantly harmonize the relations of social groups and peoples living in this country. The attitude of Australians to Russia includes the traditional fearful amazement before the vast land of snow and bears, and a sincere interest in the great Russian culture, and divided Australian society disputes about the essence of the socialist experiment that Russia conducted on itself in the XX century.

The monograph notes the great contribution that the Russian emigrant community has made to the development of the cultural life of the Australian Union. Stanislavsky's system was introduced to the Australian theater community by A. Ribush, the artist D. Vasiliev was recognized as a classic of Australian fine art, the founder of Australian Russian studies, the founder of the Department of Russian language and Literature at the University of Melbourne.

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N. Kristesen (Maksimova). In the inter-war decades, f. toured in Australia. Shalyapin and A. Pavlova, whose magical art inspired the emergence of classical dance schools and the birth of the Australian National Ballet. In the post-war decades, cultural exchanges between Australia and the USSR (Russia) - "more or less regular and fruitful" - also took place at the state level. The peoples of the two countries "still have a desire for mutual recognition", but in the sphere of cultural interaction, as A. S. Petrikovskaya emphasizes, Australians and Russians still have "an uncultivated field for mutual manifestations" (pp. 224, 226).

I would like to note the high literary level of the text of the reviewed monograph, the imagery of the descriptions, and the ability of the author to talk in an accessible and at the same time without unnecessary simplifications about the problems of cultural studies and history that are very difficult to understand. The book is well illustrated: portraits and photographs of both representatives of the Australian artistic intelligentsia, as well as Russian cultural figures and scientists, whose destinies and creativity were more or less connected with Australia; color and black-and-white reproductions of paintings by Australian artists are presented.

It is regrettable only that A. S. Petrikovskaya showed excessive "economy" in the design of the scientific apparatus. Footnotes are made only in cases of direct citation. Meanwhile, the monograph contains a lot of interesting statistical material, for example, on the level of education of Australians (p. 81), on the formation of the budget of Australian science (p. 90), on Japanese investments in Australia (p. 170), etc. There are either no footnotes to the sources of this data at all, or they are given without specifying pages (footnote on p. 73 on the spread of computer literacy in Australia). There are some flaws in the book: for example, the Australian writer Jeanie Gunn mentioned on page 49 on page 222 is named after her husband Inis Gunn according to the English tradition; on page 201, the date of death (1943) of the Russian naturalist and explorer of Australia A. L. Yashchenko, who was arrested in 1937 and shot in 1938.

Perhaps the book should have included at least a brief overview of the work of Australian cultural figures who come from national diasporas that exist in this country (Greeks, Chinese, Russians, etc.). It would be interesting to know what place representatives of non-English-speaking creative intelligentsia occupy in the cultural life of the Australian Union. However, all these omissions are of a private nature and do not in any way affect the overall high assessment of the reviewed monograph. A. S. Petrikovskaya managed to convey to specialists in cultural studies, historians, sociologists and the widest circles of readers a huge array of information about the culture of Australia, the main stages and dynamics of its development, the role of artistic creativity in the self-discovery of the Australian nation. Her work will serve as a kind of guide for those who will undertake further research on certain areas of development of the cultural life of this country. This is a significant contribution to the development of domestic Australian studies.

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