French Connection

Description:


The French have been integral to the Australian story since European colonisation. Escaped convicts from New Caledonia, wool buyers from Lille, Roubaix and Tourcoing, gold-diggers, artisans, teachers and café owners, they were not always the crème de la crème.

French Connection provides a fascinating insight into how the culture of Frenchness influenced a new nation anxious to prove itself to the world. What did Australian colonists see when they looked to France? How much did the French presence in the Pacific loom over such ideas? And what did the French in Australia themselves make of it all?

Alexis Bergantz uncovers the little known and often surprising history of the French in nineteenth-century Australia and their role in creating a more connected and cosmopolitan nation.



‘Contributes significantly to our understanding of the making of Australia and of Australian mythology and history.’ — Iain McCalman

'In French Connection, Alexis Bergantz transcends ‘contribution’ or ‘ethnic’ history in explaining how Frenchness in Australia was among the ingredients of an antipodean culture that has been more cosmopolitan for much longer than most imagine. This superb cultural history is as stylish as the images of France and Frenchness that it so brilliantly interrogates.' — Frank Bongiorno AM, Professor of History, The Australian National University

'French Connections is a lively, spirited and historically informed account of the history and legacy of French–Australian relations. Bergantz deftly weaves together stories of individuals an