Abstract: This article discusses the current status and the raison d’être of European Australian Studies. It begins with a short history of the evolution of Australian Studies in Europe with a focus on Denmark, which happens to have one of the longest records of Australian Studies. It then moves to consider the interconnections between Australian Studies and Commonwealth Studies/Postcolonial Studies in (continental) Europe, and points to different possibilities that have been available to European based scholars. The article finishes with some considerations concerning the future developments of EASA and European Australian Studies, suggesting the best way forward may lie in developing more European based perspectives on Australian Studies and urges the need to find ways of establishing more sustained collaborations across Europe, with a particular view to make the most of the interdisciplinary reality of European Australian Studies.
Keywords: past, present and future status of European Australian Studies, nation, multiculturalism.
Copyright © Lars Jensen 2009.This text may be archived and redistributed both in electronic form and in hard copy, provided that the author and journal are properly cited and no fee is charged.