Nineteenth century humorists In the United States and Australia

Abstract

"During the nineteenth century the United States and Australia were similar in two respects: both were relatively new English-speaking entities on the world scene; both experienced gold rushes at about the same time. Dialect in Australia tended to be more uniform than in the U.S. where speech could vary by region, by country of origin, by race, or by profession. In many cases, writers in both countries found humor in quirks of speech. This paper explores how Australian and American humorists compared in their use of the gold rush and of various dialects. The Australians are Henry Lawson, Andrew Barton (Banjo) Patterson and Edward Dyson . The Americans are Bret Harte, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and Artemus Ward (Charles Farrah Browne). Ward differs from all the other humorists here, in that instead of reveling in humor involving gold or gold miners, he took his humor TO the miners working in the American west, primarily California. His work will provide a finale for this paper."--Pages 1-2.