3. Kath and Kim: a representation of Australia's prevailing cultural cringe
UOSM2017 Portfolio: Representation
Australia’s ‘cultural cringe’ prevails, nearly 75 years after the term was coined. This attitude of inferiority inflects the nation’s cultural markers, resulting in a commodified nationalism that is self-deprecating in nature. Popular media ‘exports’, such as Kath and Kim, have a tendency to portray aspects of Australia’s culture that whilst humorous, are ultimately perceived as undesirable. The projection of such tropes reflects Australia’s identity crisis; that their culture exists elsewhere.
A. A. Phillips devised the term ‘cultural cringe’ to “define the penchant for Australians to see their artists and writers’ work as inferior to anything from overseas” (The University of Melbourne, 2021). ‘Overseas’ specifically refers to the UK; being Australia’s ‘founders’, their culture and its outputs were upheld as a superior model that people strived to emulate. As Australia has matured and diversified as a nation, the notion of the UK’s superiority is perhaps less prescribed to. However, though the UK is not upheld to the same extent as before, Australia’s ingrained colonial past continues to taint national identity markers; the flag is emblazoned with a Union Jack, King Charles is the head of state, and governance systems are borrowed from our founders. A general feeling of cultural deficiency also blemishes national attitudes, extending beyond Britain to encompass the rest of Europe and America, too. Such deficiency manifests itself; in a fervent desire to travel to Europe, Tall Poppy Syndrome, or tendency to ‘cut down’ anyone who dare declare themselves superior, and media output, which portrays less desirable minutiae of Australian culture.
‘Kath and Kim’ was an Australian sitcom, popular in the early 2000s. Its success lied in its humour; the audience was ‘in on the joke’, watching characters clearly typecast as ‘bogan’ who are blissfully unaware, and even actively rejecting, this status. A bogan is a uniquely Australian proposition unlike potential equivalents, for example a ‘chav’, as this status is not rooted in class (a common term being ‘cashed up bogan)’. Understanding this concept using signifiers, such as saying ‘youse’ or drinking copious amounts of beer, is impossible because such markers are “transposable to any number of Australian subcultures” (Sullivan, 2016). Thus, bogan is an indefinable concept, perhaps even a spectrum all Australians are on. It is used to index interlocutors yet has no definable traits. Ultimately, a “bogan is whatever you think it is” (Sullivan, 2016), its function being “a term… to quarantine aspects of Australian cultural life… that we’re embarrassed about,” (Campbell, 2006). The prevalence of ‘bogans’ in Australian media thus exemplifies prevailing cultural cringe; the national media most consumed and upheld is overtly self-depreciating in nature.
Figure 1: 'Roots' (2007), Kath and Kim, Series 4, Episode 6. Channel 7. 23 September, 19:30.
The Kath and Kim clip epitomises modern manifestations of cultural cringe. To only be ‘Australian’ is insufficient; there is a desire to have origins, and thus cultural background, elsewhere. The clip begins with Kim talking about Karen. Sharon’s English half-sister, played by Matt Lucas, is the antithesis of classy, making Kim’s musings about her sophistication humorous. Kim’s admiration is positioned as comical, yet her saying “You know, you can really see…where we come from” (Kath and Kim, 2007) encapsulates the outlook that as our originator, England’s culture is “classier” and thus superior to Australia’s. Kel’s later disappointment upon finding no nobility in his family tree, thus rendering him “uninteresting” similarly displays the enduring idea that the Australian identity is inadequate. This is juxtaposed by Kath’s excitement upon discovering she is an ‘Aborigine’ and has “roots here that are a thousand years old”. Although Australians cringe at their identity, to be Indigenous is a form of authentication, providing heritage that transcend problematic colonial origins. A nation’s status as an imagined community means it is a horizontal spectrum of belonging, and to have generational connection to Australia increases the perceived legitimacy of this identity.
Returning to the concept of commodified nationalism, Kath and Kim have become signifiers of Australia’s ‘brand’, despite signifying aspects of society most do not wish to identify with. In this way, Kath and Kim (and similar markers) are a form of Othering. Such markers “gratify viewers by the sense of an Australia that remains heroically provincial… but would never identify themselves” (Moss-Wellington, 2016) with such representations. This is thus a unique, almost apologetic, form of nationalism. It could be argued that the US had similar colonial origins to Australia’s, and yet patriotism has historically been a core tenet of their society. Explanation for this less flattering use of signifiers is a product of a lack of “concrete definition for what an Australian is, which leads us into an identity crisis” (Sullivan, 2016). Such crises are seen in Kim’s admiration for the English, contrasted by Kath’s excitement at her Indigenous heritage. Australia has developed as a nation, many being proud of their identity, yet cultural cringe still permeates the nation’s psyche; the idea that culture belongs elsewhere is ingrained. Our media perpetuating undesirable stereotypes is a way of pandering to such ‘superior cultures’; we are resigned to our lack of culture and use humour to make up for such shortfalls and to assert global relevance.
Through the cultural marker of Kath and Kim, Australia’s self-conscious culture is revealed. Perceived to be embarrassing, humorous, yet unapplicable to most, the media perpetuates cultural markers, such as the bogan, because there is a general attitude that Australian culture is not something to be proud of. The identity crisis born from our colonial past has created a cultural cringe which continues to prevail and define our national brand and signifiers.
Appendix
Kath and Kim (2007). [Screenshot of ‘Karen’]. Available at: [Netflix.com]. (Accessed 9 May 2024).
Word Count: 945
Citations
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Campbell, M. (2006) Perhaps there’s a little bogan in everyone, The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/national/perhaps-theres-a-little-bogan-in-everyone-20060608-gdnpim.html (Accessed: 09 May 2024).
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Edmonds, P. (2015) Tilting at windmills: The Literary Magazine in Australia, 1968-2012. Adelaide, South Australia: The University of Adelaide, University Of Adelaide Press.
Moss-Wellington, W. (2017) Our suburban contempt, Overland literary journal. Available at: https://overland.org.au/2016/11/our-suburban-contempt/ (Accessed: 09 May 2024).
Phillips, A.A. (1950) ‘The Cultural Cringe’, Meanjin , pp. 299–302.
Sealey, A. and Carter, B. (2004) Applied Linguistics as social science. London: Continuum.
Sullivan, V. (2016) No worries: Bogans, cultural cringe and the great australian anxiety, Kill Your Darlings. Available at: https://www.killyourdarlings.com.au/2014/12/no-worries-bogans-cultural-cringe-great-australian-anxiety/ (Accessed: 09 May 2024).
Walsh, R. (1985) ‘Australia Observed’, Daedalus, 114(1), pp. 421–438.
‘Roots’ (2007) Kath and Kim. Melbourne, Victoria: Channel 7.