(The Left literary criticism of Australia)

The Left tradition in Australian literature dates back to the socialist movement of the 1890s, but the Left as a school of Australian literary criticism emerged largely in connection with the rise of Australian communist movement and Leftist literature. At its most active between the 1930s and 1950s, it registered the contributions of some well known writer-critics and influential communist officials. The core concept that the Leftists adhered to was "socialist realism" which called on writers to write optimistically about communism and realistically about life in order to educate the masses in the true spirit of socialism. The Leftists sought alliance with the Liberal nationalists on the basis of a common faith in realism but had to give up on its radical edge in its earlier insistence on socialist realism. In a debate on Patrick White, they broke up under the pressure from the alliance amongst themselves. After the 1960s, the Old Left was replaced by a New Left which, apart from participating directly in critical practices, inspired a host of literary critical schools based on the marginal literary communities. Working under the common rubric of multiculturalism, they later antagonized the mainstream conservatives whose resistance ultimately brought about their downfall