Humour and Satire in Early North Queensland Writing

Abstract

Humour in literature is usually related to unease or tension in reality. In societies in decline it often takes the form of satire, highlighting the distance between people's ideals and their practice. In pioneering societies, such as North Queensland until about 1910, it tends to be light-hearted and simple, presumably because the physical conditions of life do not leave much time for concentration on interior states or social problems. In any case, the tone of such societies is usually optimistic, whatever the rights and wrongs of colonial expansion may be.