--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I returned home soon afterwards, it…" description: "\"“When I returned home soon afterwards, it was with a newly awakened sense of what Australian literature was good for: helping us define ourselves in re..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/george-williamson-124263_australia_when-i-returned-home-soon-afterwards-it_1679768.jpg" --- # When I returned home soon afterwards, it was with a newly… ![“When I returned home soon afterwards, it was with a newly awakened sense of what Australian literature was good for: helping us define ourselves in relation to an Anglo past and American present, for example, or airing the wounds suffered by indigenous Australia, or inhabiting those new frictions…” quote by George Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/george-williamson-124263_australia_when-i-returned-home-soon-afterwards-it_1679768.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/george-williamson-124263_australia_when-i-returned-home-soon-afterwards-it_1679768.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/923/george-williamson-124263_australia_when-i-returned-home-soon-afterwards-it_1679768.jpg) > ““When I returned home soon afterwards, it was with a newly awakened sense of what Australian literature was good for: helping us define ourselves in relation to an Anglo past and American present, for example, or airing the wounds suffered by indigenous Australia, or inhabiting those new frictions that result from our expanding cultural pluralism. Above all, it could teach us to dwell more easily in a landscape that did not accord with the metaphors and myth-kitty that was our northern inheritance.”” [George Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-williamson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Australian literature helps define identity amidst colonial and modern influences. **In simple terms:** Literature shapes cultural identity. Key Takeaway Read diverse Australian works. Themes identity culture colonialism literature Mood thoughtful reflective Type analytical educational When to use this quote - education - community dialogue - creative writing - heritage preservation Key Concepts history postcolonial studies sociology Questions to Reflect On - How does literature reflect identity? - What gaps remain in representation? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on literature may ignore lived experience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Australia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/australia/) [Australian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/australian/) [Australian Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/australian-literature-945236/) [Australian-literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/australian-literature/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Inhabiting New](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inhabiting-new-945237/) [Literature Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature-good-579864/) [Returned Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/returned-home-288954/) [Sense Australian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-australian-945238/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I am not opposed to e-readers. Any technology that encourages the reading of literature is a good thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/i-am-not-opposed-to-e-readers-any-technology-that-encourages-the/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [The novel succeeds on terms exclusive to literature. A good film succeeds on terms exclusive to the cinema. That's why so many bad novels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-payne/the-novel-succeeds-on-terms-exclusive-to-literature-a-good-film/) [Alexander Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-payne/) > [“In one sense, at any rate, it is more valuable to read bad literature than good literature. Good literature may tell us the mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/in-one-sense-at-any-rate-it-is-more-valuable-to-read-bad-literature-2/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [It is essential to naturalist doctrine that literature, to be good, must, finally, be the author's experience worked out literally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-essential-to-naturalist-doctrine-that-literature-to-be-good/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“Neither exhortations to virtue nor the argument of approaching death should divert us from literature; for in a good mind it excites the love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/petrarch/neither-exhortations-to-virtue-nor-the-argument-of-approaching-death/) [Petrarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/petrarch/) > [I am certain that there are two things in life which are dependable: the delights of the flesh and the delights of literature. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/i-am-certain-that-there-are-two-things-in-life-which-are-dependable-2/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [Literature, at least good literature, is science tempered with the blood of art. Like architecture or music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/literature-at-least-good-literature-is-science-tempered-with-the/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [Great literature should do some good to the reader: must quicken his perception though dull, and sharpen his discrimination though blunt, and mellow the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/great-literature-should-do-some-good-to-the-reader-must-quicken-his/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [Pornography is writing that seeks primarily, even exclusively, to bring about sexual stimulation. This can be done crudely or delicately. In the former case…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/pornography-is-writing-that-seeks-primarily-even-exclusively-to-bring/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [I think The Magicians takes these conventional ideas from this Christian literature of good vs. evil and it sort of shakes it up and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hale-appleman/i-think-the-magicians-takes-these-conventional-ideas-from-this/) [Hale Appleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hale-appleman/) > [“In one sense at any rate it is more valuable to read bad literature than good literature. Good literature may tell us the mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/in-one-sense-at-any-rate-it-is-more-valuable-to-read-bad-literature/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [What good is a writer if he can't destroy literature? And us... what good are we if we don't help as much as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/what-good-is-a-writer-if-he-can-t-destroy-literature-and-us-what-good/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [I think if you're impregnated with good literature, with good culture, you're much more difficult to manipulate, and you're much more aware of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-if-you-re-impregnated-with-good-literature-with-good-culture/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [“One of the reasons I wanted to write this column, I think, is because I assumed that the cultural highlight of my month would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/one-of-the-reasons-i-wanted-to-write-this-column-i-think-is-because-i/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [“Few landscapes have been so deeply known. And fewer still have been so lightly inhabited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/few-landscapes-have-been-so-deeply-known-and-fewer-still-have-been-so/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) ## More Australia quotes > [I've always been of the idea that is doesn't really matter where you are geographically - with 'Lonerism,' we made half the album in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-parker/i-ve-always-been-of-the-idea-that-is-doesn-t-really-matter-where-you/) [Kevin Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-parker/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I wanted to have a peaceful married life with my wife, so we both moved to Sydney in Australia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rahul-roy/i-wanted-to-have-a-peaceful-married-life-with-my-wife-so-we-both/) [Rahul Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rahul-roy/) > [It will be nice to play against Australia. It's a great country, and football is getting bigger and bigger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-mata/it-will-be-nice-to-play-against-australia-it-s-a-great-country-and/) [Juan Mata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-mata/) > [We don't have any sailors in Australia, we have rowers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lexcen/we-don-t-have-any-sailors-in-australia-we-have-rowers/) [Ben Lexcen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lexcen/) > [I think that prosecuting some college kid because she shared a file is a lot like sending somebody to Australia 200 years ago for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iggy-pop/i-think-that-prosecuting-some-college-kid-because-she-shared-a-file/) [Iggy Pop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iggy-pop/) > [Sydney CBD is the eastern city, Parramatta is the central city and Badgerys will be the third city in greater Sydney.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gladys-berejiklian/sydney-cbd-is-the-eastern-city-parramatta-is-the-central-city-and/) [Gladys Berejiklian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gladys-berejiklian/) > [No matter what day we celebrate Australia Day, let's celebrate it together and give thanks to the original inhabitants of this vast country. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-barnes/no-matter-what-day-we-celebrate-australia-day-let-s-celebrate-it/) [Jimmy Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-barnes/) > [As a young kid you stay up late to watch the Ashes, getting told off for not being in bed, and dream of making…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonny-bairstow/as-a-young-kid-you-stay-up-late-to-watch-the-ashes-getting-told-off/) [Jonny Bairstow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonny-bairstow/) > [I love coming out to Australia, if it weren't so far away I would go all the time. I've worked with a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erick-morillo/i-love-coming-out-to-australia-if-it-weren-t-so-far-away-i-would-go/) [Erick Morillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erick-morillo/) > [What I appreciated was the fact that the script delved into how Australians were - and still are - condescended to by the English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-rush/what-i-appreciated-was-the-fact-that-the-script-delved-into-how/) [Geoffrey Rush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-rush/) > [Okay the names 360, I run around tipsy. My fellas in Australia all sit with me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/360/okay-the-names-360-i-run-around-tipsy-my-fellas-in-australia-all-sit/) [360](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/360/) > [Coal is the moral choice, particularly for the developing world... The model for the world right now should be Australia. Australia gets it. Scientifically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-morano/coal-is-the-moral-choice-particularly-for-the-developing-world-the/) [Marc Morano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-morano/) > [I want to be part of the team that wins a Test series in England and Australia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautam-gambhir/i-want-to-be-part-of-the-team-that-wins-a-test-series-in-england-and/) [Gautam Gambhir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautam-gambhir/) > [I was brought up in a Christian home in Australia with a father who was very bold about his faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ham/i-was-brought-up-in-a-christian-home-in-australia-with-a-father-who/) [Ken Ham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ham/) [Browse all 1,907 Australia quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/australia/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When I returned home soon afterwards, it was with a newly awakened sense of what Australian literature was good for: helping us define ourselves in relation to an Anglo past and American present, for example, or airing the wounds suffered by indigenous Australia, or inhabiting those new frictions that result from our expanding cultural pluralism. 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