Lest We Forget - Hyde Park Anzac Memorial
Danielle Pettit
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology Sydney
This chapter will investigate the correlation between the commemorations of Anzac Day in Australia and seeks to determine the extent to which the national day contributes to the overall Australian identity. The Hyde Park Anzac Memorial will be used throughout this paper to demonstrate the ways in which tradition and modernity influence an individual’s notion of the Australian identity and the role of Anzac Day in the development and nurturing of identity. Ultimately, this paper will argue the role Anzac Day plays in defining Australia’s identity is relative to the discourse employed in fabricating it.
INTRODUCTION
Whilst the annual presence of Anzac Day in Australian culture is evident, the degree to which its commemoration contributes to the formation of Australia’s national identity is a further intricate issue that has consequently been the topic of considerable scholarly debate. Crabb denotes that ‘the pursuit of national identity requires an emphasis on the features of an Australian “narrative” (1985, p.19). However, in the present time in which we live, a diverse range of nationalities, experiences and cultures, shapes Australian society thus complicating the concept of one common identity.
Implementing the Hyde Park Anzac Memorial as a case study, this chapter will endeavor to demonstrate the ways in which traditional and modern notions of discourse influence ones understanding of the role of Anzac Day in the construction of the Australian identity. Whilst the terms tradition and modernity have various meanings and interpretations, for the purpose of clarification, I will refer to them ba...
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...iconography to become a fully-fledged commodity (author). National identity involves many mythic structures. The most prevalent structure that ANZAC Day offers Australians is a secure point of identification through the stereotype of the ‘digger’. This national character only offers a single and very specific, stereotyped version of history, one that is dominated by white masculinity. The process of legitimising that particular ‘brand’ of identity is a combination of ‘buying into’ elements of mythic structures and ‘selling’ parts of yourself. People become more willing to give up parts of themselves so they can actively and visibly participate in the dominant discourse.
CONCLUSION
In the present in which we live, the commemoration of Anzac Day at he Hyde Park Memorial is formed on the backbone of modernity, however cannot be divorced from its traditional origins.
The 2014 Walkley Award winning documentary, "Cronulla Riots: the day that shocked the nation" reveals to us a whole new side of Aussie culture. No more she’ll be right, no more fair go and sadly no more fair dinkum. The doco proved to all of us (or is it just me?) that the Australian identity isn’t really what we believe it to be. After viewing this documentary
Then it was the outback pioneer, battling the bush to build a new nation prior to the First World War. The Anzac legend – bold and ferocious males, unwilling to bow to military discipline, never flinched in battle defined the evolution of the image of Australian masculinity. Professor Manning Clark in his opus A History of Australia imaged the bronzed and noble Anzac as males involved in sex orgies, having violent scuffles, and in Egypt burned belongings of local people, brawled, got drunk and rioted and patronised brothels. Hero and larrikin, ratbag and rebel, the Anzacs ... ...
The soldiers are remembered for maintaining courage and determination under hopeless conditions. The ANZAC legend owes much to wartime correspondents who used the Gallipoli landing to generate a specifically Australian hero. Among the many reports, which reached Australia, were those of Ashmead-Bartlett. His Gallipoli dispatches described Australians as a 'race of athletes ... practical above all', whose cheers, even in death, 'resounded throughout the night'. Ashmead-Bartlett helped in...
Aboriginal soldiers returned to their country where they had no citizenship rights, controlled by the government policies which prevented them from living in towns, socialising with other Australians and voting. This is evident in phrases such as, “He returned to the outback, no mates did he find. If he had a beer he was jailed and then fined,” and, “Confused and alone he wandered around, Looking for work though none could be found. The Anzac marches he badly neglected, Would show to his comrades how he was rejected.” This informs the reader about how the Aboriginal soldiers did not receive the same benefits as the European soldiers did, even though they made the same sacrifices during the
stage for the development of Australian cultural identity and the values, attitudes and beliefs of
Here is a question — how did the ANZAC legend develop? The legend of Anzac was born on 25 April 1915, and was reaffirmed in eight months' fighting on Gallipoli. Although there was no military victory, the Australians displayed great courage, endurance, initiative, discipline, and mate-ship. Such qualities came to be seen as the Anzac spirit. The ANZAC book written and illustrated in Gallipoli by the men of Anzac —- The Anzac book became the finest “trench publication” produced during the Great War, and was an instant bestseller when first released in 1916. Created by soldiers under enemy fire and in extreme hardship, the illustrations, stories, cartoons, and poems were intended as a Christmas and New Year diversion for soldiers facing a harsh winter in the trenches on Gallipoli.
During this time more steps were taken to develop a legend by giving the troops a form of National Identity and calling them The Anzacs. We know now that it is now a part of Australia’s cultural identity and origin on the battlefield.
anzacday.org.au. (2000). Being a historian: Investigating the Battle of Long Tan. Retrieved May 29th, 2014, from anzacday.org.au: http://www.anzacday.org.au/education/activities/longtan/longtan01.html
The Gallipoli campaign was a military disaster but it is still one of the most important conflicts in which Australia was involved. On 25th April 1915 between 4:30 and 6:30 am the Gallipoli Peninsula was invaded by British, Australian and New Zealand forces. This was to start the long, hard weeks in which the troops were fighting for ground that the enemy controlled in Turkey. They were attempting to gain a supply route to Russia to aid them in repelling the German and Turkish soldiers from their country. I will be discussing the willingness of Australians to volunteer for the war effort and the love and respect they had for their Mother Country, England. I will also discuss how the young, naive soldiers arrived at war not knowing what warfare entailed. They were shocked by the conditions and casualties. I will also discuss the bravery that was shown by the ANZACS in the most dangerous conditions. I will conclude with my reasons of why the Gallipoli campaign holds such value and importance in Australian history and ideology.
It is well known that Captain Arthur Philips landed in Australia on 26th of January and took over the land and is referred to as “invasion Day”. Yet little do people know, Captain Arthur Phillip didn’t land in Australia on 26 January. He first landed in Australia between the 18th and 20th of January 1788 in Botany Bay, however where he landed he couldn’t find fresh water so he then sailed into Sydney Cove on the 26th where he found a Tank Stream…..problem solved. Australia day today celebrates our diverse society, our remarkable achievements, our future as a nation and how we can make Australia a better
Australia is a relatively young country; only becoming a unified nation in 1901 (Commonwealth of Australia, 2012). A young country is no different from a young person; identity is an issue. Questions of who am I and where do I fit in the world are asked, and unfortunately not often answered until a tragedy occurs. National identity is a sense of a nation and its people as a connected whole. This feeling of cohesiveness can be shaped by many events in a nation’s history but none more so than war. War is a stressful, traumatic affair that changes forever, not only the people that go to it but the nation as a whole. Many consider the Great War Australia’s tragedy where we became a nation (Bollard, 2013) with our own modern identity.
Why should we celebrate the day where the war that killed over 8,000 soldiers began. Anzac day is useless, disgraceful and should not be celebrated. In the beginning of the Anzac day celebrations, the day was about commemoration soldiers who fought and died in the wars. Over years the event has turned into a selfish celebration to demonstrate nationalistic spirit, qualities and Australian identity. Because of the loss of understanding in Anzac day it is becoming a meaningless event. Many children from the newer generations of children would not know what Anzac day is or why we have it. World War 1 was brutal and the soldiers were living in terrible living conditions that caused many deaths because of quickly spread disease. We should not be celebrating the death of so many soldiers. ”The cultification of an imperialist invasion of a foreign nation that Australia had no quarrel with is against all deals of modern society” Said Scott McIntyre. This line quoted from Scott McIntyre outlines one of many people’s beliefs that the war goes completely against what us Australians are supposed to demonstrate in our everyday lives. As Australians we should be demonstrating qualities of respect, kindness and respect for one another, not only within Australia but towards people from other parts of the world rather than what we have done, fought in a war with another country for no logical reason and to come out of the war with no winner and carelessly murder thousands of innocent soldiers from all over the world. Anzac day isn’t only pointless but it is embarrassing and unfair. When celebrating Anzac day, we are celebrating the day the beginning of the war Australia lost began. It is not only unfair on the soldiers who have died, it is unfair for the families of these helpless soldiers to have to celebrate the death date of their loved ones every
Peter Weir’s 1981 film Gallipoli can in every sense of the phrase be called an ‘Australian classic’. The impact and effect this film has had upon the psyche and perspective of several generations of Australians has been significant. Whilst it can be argued that every Australian is aware of the ANZAC legend, and the events that occurred on the Turkish beaches in 1915, Weir’s film encapsulates and embodies a cultural myth which is now propagated as fact and embraced as part of the contemporary Australian identity. The film projects a sense of Australian nationalism that grew out of the 1970’s, and focuses on what it ‘means’ to be an Australian in a post-colonial country. In this way Gallipoli embodies a sense of ‘Australian-ness’ through the depiction of mateship and through the stark contrast of Australia to Britain. A sense of the mythic Australia is further projected through the cinematic portrayal of the outback, and the way in which Australia is presented in isolation from the rest of the world. These features combined create not only a sense of nationalism, but also a mythology stemming from the ANZAC legend as depicted within the film.
The first Anzac was acknowledged in London and referred as ‘the day Australia became a nation’
Reynolds, H. (2005). Nowhere People: How international race thinking shaped Australia’s identity. Australia: Penguin Group