Despite being the only continent that is made up of one country, one of the driest places on Earth, and the home of the largest living organism, Australia is rarely heard of, seeming to reside in it’s own little corner of the world. Nevertheless, Bill Bryson’s very informative travel diary of Australia, In a Sunburned Country (304 pages), brings light to this remarkable country. He records his observations and opinions as he brings his readers along through the non-tourist trekked parts of Australia. He also combines humour and curiosity to create an entertaining, fact-filled book about the Down under.
Being a person who already adores Australia, Bryson may be a bit of a biased guide. However, he uses his extreme knowledge of the country’s
history to gain the admiration of the readers. Bryson travels by many different means of transportation to places like Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide, the Great Barrier Reef, Darwin, Alice Springs, Perth, and many other unexpected stops along the way. In each location, there is the recurring subject of lethal organisms, kind people, and several interesting and sometimes disturbing historical facts. He stresses, at many points, that Australia has more things that can kill you than anywhere else and the bizarre idea that many residents are not bothered by this. His text constantly overflows with the fascinating history, which, while informative, can be quite frightening, such as a couple being left at sea by a touring company. He touches on the compelling history of the Aborigines, Australia's native people, in regards to how cruelly they were treated, bringing awareness to some of the social problems lying under the surface of this country. Nonetheless, through Bryson’s travels his enthusiasm for the country and its people never seems to fade. Overall, this book was humorous and enlightening about our neighbors to the south west. In terms of its interest to me, I would give it a 7/10. While being on an interesting subject, the book lacked a strong plot and tended to be more of a list of facts, which resulted in the book seeming dull and unengaging. On the other hand, I enjoyed reading about his adventures during his travels and seeing his point of view on Australia. The book was a fairly easy read, with only a few challenging words throughout. I believe that anyone wanting to travel to Australia, or even with some time on their hand looking for something funny to read would enjoy this book. However, the book is only focused on Australia, so even if someone had a very strong interest in travel, this book might be slightly boring since it only focuses on one country, no matter how interesting it may be. After reading, I appreciate more deeply the people, locations and history of the country. With its enormity, much of the country is forgotten about, however, Bryson’s adventures through the many nooks and crannies allowed me to see how many interesting surprises lie within. Along with this, I developed a deeper knowledge about what it took for Australia to become the country it is today. All in all, this book was worth reading. Even though it lacked an engaging plot, it was very light hearted and was a pleasant, relaxed read. While Australia may not be on my top five travel list, I have definitely added it to my list of places to visit and hope to follow some of Bryson’s footsteps there one day.
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
Today, I will be telling my view on Australian texts. I will be analysing the text “The Exotic Rissole” by Tanveer Ahmed.
Without the use of stereotypical behaviours or even language is known universally, the naming of certain places in, but not really known to, Australia in ‘Drifters’ and ‘Reverie of a Swimmer’ convoluted with the overall message of the poems. The story of ‘Drifters’ looks at a family that moves around so much, that they feel as though they don’t belong. By utilising metaphors of planting in a ‘“vegetable-patch”, Dawe is referring to the family making roots, or settling down somewhere, which the audience assumes doesn’t occur, as the “green tomatoes are picked by off the vine”. The idea of feeling secure and settling down can be applied to any country and isn’t a stereotypical Australian behaviour - unless it is, in fact, referring to the continental
In Reading Tim Wintons hopeful saga, Cloudstreet, you are immersed in Australia; it is an important story in showing the change in values that urbanisation brought to Perth in the late 1950’s such as confidence and pride. But it was also a very anxious and fearful time period in terms of the Nedlands Monster and his impact in changing the current comfortable, breezy system Perth lived in. The role of women changed significantly with more women adopting more ambitious ideologies and engaging in the workforce something never seen before. But most of all it was important because it changed Australia’s priorities as a nation, it shaped the identity of individuals that we now see today, and it created a very unique Australian identity.
Both ‘The Drover’s Wife’ and ‘The Loaded Dog’ depict life as an Australian during the Colonial period. ‘The Drover’s Wife’ depicts the everyday life of a bush woman and her
The suburban house, as the film’s setting and sphere of action, is extraordinary partly because it is ‘next-door’ to an airport. The odd layout of this backyard is underlined because their suburb meets the kind of architectural cast-offs often found at the margins of big cities. This mix of the humble backyard with the international vectors of travel, tourism and international trade plays out in the film’s narrative which connects the domestic and the distant. The Castle displays many locations and landscapes easily identified as being unique of Australia- The ‘Aussy’ barbeque and patio setup, greyhound racetrack and poolroom, just to name a few. The neighbours of the Kerrigan’s are a symbol representing the multicultural diversi...
In Fog, Winton reveals distinctive Australian culture and identity by exploring the quintessential determination of Australian people in the face of hardships. Their determination is depicted through Lang's
...at these several events in our nation’s history have demoralised our reputation to other countries globally. To make us known as a better country to other nations, we’ve completely abolished the White Australia Policy, gave back the aborigines their freedoms and we were also the first country in the world to give women rights. Australia today in present day is now one of the most multicultural societies on Earth, and we definitely follow our values of mateship, acceptance and freedom.
Throughout the story, Lawson sufficiently shows responders the visual image of the experiences the “old man” encounters drastically shapes Lawson’s theme of hardships within the Australian bush. The use of vernacular and idiomatic language is the reflection of the harshness of the bush on the characters, as it also has the purpose of propelling the comedic element of the narrative, “come on, Brummy, yer ain’t as bad as yer might be… since yer slipped yer mind.” Lawson demonstrates the distinctively visual elements through the use of figurative language, as the audience feels a sense of pathos for the character’s friend’s death. Through the distinctively visual, Lawson thoroughly shows the readers that spending too much in the outback can cause disoriented and eccentric behaviour. The persona inevitably speaks in a monologic fashion to his dog “as though he understood English”, which further enhances Lawson’s character’s eccentric behaviour. The imagery of the “dried to a mummy by the intense heat of the western summer”, demonstrates to the audience the distinctly visual image of what the corpse would look like. Lawson effectively shown the audience the distinctively visual of what the harshness of the bush in “The Bush
The film Crocodile Dundee, set in both the barren Australian outback and the busy streets of America, contrasts life in the crowded and rushed city of New York and the relaxed and carefree town of Walkabout Creek. The landscape in Australia is shown through a variety of extreme long shots, to show the emptiness of the land, to portray the outback as isolated and ruthless. One location which is important in
Through numerous poetic techniques Paterson has shown that the Australian diversity is as diverse as the country itself. The Australian identity concerns the way Australia is viewed by other people. There are a variety of different aspects that contribute to this identity of Australia which include historical icons. Paterson recognizes how lucky we are to live on a land notorious for its diverse landscape. He is signaling that we are missing out and we need to cherish the great land we were given.
Albert Facey’s novel, A Fortunate Life depicts the life of an extraordinary man living in old Australia. Facey portrays many characteristics that would label him as being a ‘true Aussie battler’, but it is the deeper and more sensitive side of him that allows him to be labeled with the term – a legendary Australian.
So are we selling Australia’s true culinary experience or is this campaign selling a little bit of a white lie? Perhaps we are skimming over the fundamentals of what really sells Australia in our rush to cash in on the potential rewards. Perhaps Tourism Australia does not understand what creating a ‘fair dinkum’ representation really means.
In this context, the Aboriginal writer Sally Morgan’s My Place is a landmark in the history of Aboriginal literature and it has been one of the most successful Aboriginal works, both in Australia and on an international level. She (Sally Morgan) presents a story that is relatable to both Indigenous and non Indigenous Australians. She presents a book/history that forces both white and indigenous Australians to assess the past whether or not a correct Aboriginal history has been told in Australia. Morgan also confronts the indigenous reader with the idea of learning their past and accepting indigenous identity, even if it is painful. Consequently, Sally Morgan can be considered the pioneer of Aboriginal life stories of women writers; and over time, after her, many other women writers have used this literary genre as a form of denunciation of the brutalities and consequences of the Stolen Generations, exactly as she
Alec Derwent Hope (1907-2000) was one of Australian’s greatest poets and a critic. He touched lives of many through his works. He is recognized as one of the most influential poets of the twentieth century. He is praised for his biting satire, clarity of his language and sophistication of his poetic vision. He is also viewed as a satirical poet because several of his works criticizes the technology, conformity and the absurdity of modern life. His works ranged from satire to tender lyricism, and his poems are metaphysical, sensual, serious, frivolous, mocking, mystical and rational (Hulibandi, 2012). He was truly influenced by Australia undoubtedly. His poems reveal images of Australia and modern life. “Australia” is one of his poems written in an ABBA rhyme scheme. In this poem, Hope has mentioned about the present condition of Australia and his criticism of general Australian society. He has also written about the lack of culture and intellectual challenges to be found in Australian society. The poem reflects on Australia by how it is both a new and old country, geographically old and politically new, how it is both European colonial and an individual (Watson, n.d.).