More handpicked essays just for you.
Introduction to aboriginal culture in australia
Essay aboriginal people of australia
Introduction to aboriginal culture in australia
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Australia is defined by its uniqueness and diversity. For instance, about 80 percent of its flora and fauna is unique to the continent. It is also the only country with its own continent. This uniqueness is what differentiate Australia from the other countries and has inspired Douglas Stewart, an Australian poet, in composing his poems. His exceptional use of poetic elements has give him the opportunity to show the historical side of Australia in ‘Cave Painting’. Whereas ‘The Tailor Fishermen’ demonstrates Stewart’s appreciation towards fishermen and the activity of fishing. Together, these two poems create a vision of distinctly Australia through various elements.
In ‘Cave Painting’, Douglas Stewart uses different poetic elements to show the historical side of Australia, especially the Aboriginal Australians. The first word ‘look’ is a vocative word that calls and instructs the reader in order to get their attention. ‘Dark’ and ‘black’ are examples of adjectives that expresses the
…show more content…
grim tone of the poem. In addition, it indirectly refers to the Aboriginal Australians. Repetition of the word ‘hands’ in ‘man’s hands, woman’s hands, child’s hands’ clearly portrays an image of a family. The word ‘hand’ itself represents life and death in a larger extend (‘for all humanity’). Besides showing the historical side of Australia, Douglas Stewart use poetic elements in ‘Cave Painting’ to summarise his experience of seeing the ‘hands’ (cave paintings) ‘hiding’ in a cave. This is done through the use of antithesis like ‘close/far’ and ‘alive/grave’ to create contrast as well as forming connections. He tells the reader that the paintings may appear ‘close’ to eye but actually they are ‘far’ historically (in time). It is not possible for hands with a living characteristic to be in a grave which is a place for the dead. Hence, the antithesis ‘like hands alive in a grave’ shows that they may have long gone but their values live on. While the word ‘infinity’ in ‘And flowed with the green river down to infinity’ tells that their human souls and paintings are everlasting. Another poem ‘The Tailor Fishermen’ demonstrates Douglas Stewart’s ability to describe the activity of fishing in Australia through the use of elements. The adjectives ‘green and silver’ and ‘dazzling white’ in the first line of the poem portrays the image of crashing waves on a beach, indicating that it is the time for the fishermen to catch the tailor fish. The simile ‘They know that this is a fish like the sea itself’ communicates the idea that the marine creatures have ‘blend’ together with sea and human. Furthermore, the marine creatures mentioned in the poem like ‘Portuguese Man-o-War’ shows his respect to nature. The fact that Douglas Stewart himself is a fishermen makes his appreciation towards fishermen understandable.
This appreciation can be clearly seen in the line ‘they practised an art that is used to mankind’. This line shows that Stewart regards fishing as an activity that can be practised and trained, also showing his respect towards fishermen. Art is defined as the expression of human creativity, usually in visual forms such as painting.Many people considered art as something beautiful, masterpiece and cannot be practised. Telling the reader that art can be practised shows Stewart’s great enthusiasm towards fishing. Fishing itself can be distinctly Australian. It is described as an activity that is ‘very Australian’. It is also one of many sports in Australia that interacts with nature. Australians, as we know, are very sporty that sport has become a culture there. In addition, Australians also form strong connections to their place (land), it is also where their identity are
shaped. In conclusion, Douglas Stewart has successfully capture a vision of distinctly Australian in ‘Cave Painting’ and ‘The Tailor Fishermen’. This is done through the use poetic elements such as antithesis in his poems. These texts also reveal about the Aboriginal Australians (‘Cave Painting’) and significance of fishing in a ‘sporty’ country (‘The Tailor Fishermen’).
“a verse for the cheated” discusses the effects of colonialism in Australia. The poem suggests the the European invaders or “tourists” arrive and are ignorant in respect to the Indigenous Australians.
Through the three pieces, the landscapes reflect a painting style is more often associated with European Romantic art, however, unlike the others, the central piece showcases the sky painted with miniscule dots, a technique common within Indigenous art (Lingard 2014, 44). However, the fact that the sky is the only piece of the composition painted with this technique and is placed in the background while more European inspired art and images are placed in the foreground is potentially symbolic of the marginalisation of Indigenous people and their culture in contemporary Australian society. Within Bennett’s own life, he was brought up without his Aboriginal heritage ever being spoken of, describing it himself as “overwhelming Euro-Australian” (McLean 1996, 20). Thus, within his artworks, a dotted circle at the top of each composition includes black footprints facing away from the circle, which matches his personal experience of Indigenous culture being ‘left behind’ in contemporary Australian society. The artist lived in a time where he was connected to a variety of Indigenous experiences including his own as well as the servitude of his mother, and thus through the combination of these varying art techniques, Bennett evokes both discord and further represents the marginalisation of Indigenous culture
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
Kent Monkman is an artist of ‘Aboriginal and Irish descent’ (Filgiano) who was commissioned to create a large scale Acrylic on canvas, measuring 72” x 108”.“The Academy” is a parody piece which makes reference to art created in the European tradition, alongside Aboriginal art and artifacts. It hangs in the Museum Gallery alongside some of the very pieces that are featured within it. It’s as though Monkman is playfully gossiping about his neighbors in the Gallery, both figuratively and literally. While his work is significant enough to hang in the Gallery alongside these other masterworks, Monkman makes a tongue-in-cheek observation that Academy work has historically been regarded as the only legitimate Fine Art. Traditionally, Aboriginal Art and Artifacts have been confined to separate exhibits or ancillary displays, but never alongside classical European pieces. The piece makes reference to a vast...
Indigenous Australian artist Gordon Bennett re-contextualises the work of Colin McCahon by borrowing and transforming key visual features. Bennett’s work challenges the viewer and gives them an alternative perspective of the culture and identity of Indigenous Australians. The quote by The National Gallery of Victoria states, “Often describing his own practice of borrowing images as ‘quoting’, Bennett re-contextualises existing images to challenge the viewer to question and see alternative perspectives.” This quote is clear through analyzing the visual features as well as the meaning behind the work of Gordon Bennett’s appropriated artwork ‘Self-portrait (but I always wanted to be one of the good guys)’ (1990) and comparing it to Colin McCahon’s
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.
The distinctively visual provides a means of which a composer can connect with his or her audience in order to create a clear, distinct visual image of other people and their worlds - conveyed through the use of visual or literary techniques in their media. Composers such as Henry Lawson and Dorothea Mackellar are able to effectively depict an image through an exceptional use of language and techniques that help shape our understanding of the Australian people and their world. In particular, Henry Lawson’s short stories ‘The Drover’s Wife’ and ‘The Loaded Dog’ and the Dorothea Mackellar Poem ‘My Country’ are able to effectively depict the unique environment of the Australian bush landscape.
The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan is a simple but revealing picture book that satirically depicts the historical tragedy of the past aboriginals during the first and last settlement of the Europeans and ridiculing the Europeans behaviour using animal illustrations. The book is set in an indigenous point of view with the specific use of words and illustrations, as the story is told and viewed by the unexpected arrival of an unknown species called “The Rabbits.” This gives the readers an insight of what the story will be about and by using such illustrations that portrays the two as animals will position the readers into showing the emotions felt by the indigenous and the destructive prowess of the Europeans.
The notions of the Australian voice as multifaceted and diverse, is insightfully expressed in Tim Winton's short story anthology The turning and the Drover's wife by Henry Lawson. Australian voice in literature often explores the quality inherent to the Australian identity of overcoming hardships. The stories Fog, On her knees, and The Drover's wife explore these hardships through the notions of mateship,and the importance of family in facing these challenges.
Reynolds, H. (1990). With The White People: The crucial role of Aborigines in the exploration and development of Australia. Australia: Penguin Books
This book is appropriate for three-to-five years of age children as the story is very engaging and children are exposed to the Aboriginal culture. The book is illustrated in oil paint in impressionism and the whole story is in double-page illustration, which shows the landscape of Cape York and Aboriginal people. The pictures use vibrant colours including forest green and many shades of brown and the kangaroos and the snake people have red eyes. Educators can guide children to discuss the information in the image which can help children to understand how these details support meaning construction (Spence, 2004). For example, educators can tell children that the kangaroos and snake people who have red eyes reveal that they are evil, so that children can understand that adding more details in both writing and speaking can provide more information for audiences and the explicit language is very effective in constructing the meaning. Educators can use toy snakes and toy kangaroos and other materials to retell the story with children or make a small display that shows part of the
Australia is a very unique place, along with our multiculturalism there is also a strong heritage surrounding us. At first thought of Australian heritage we think about such landmarks as Uluru, The Sydney harbour bridge and The Sydney opera house, The Great Barrier reef and other internationally recognised places. But our heritage goes much deeper than that; it is far more than outstanding icons. Along with these icons there are also unsung places like the old cattle stations, Aboriginal missions, migrant hostels, War memorials, our unique wetlands and the towns and cities we have built. Adding all of these things together, helps to tell the story of who we are and how we have shaped this land in the unique identity it has today.
There are many cultural aspects of the poem. In the poem, “the secrets of your dreaming” refers to the Aboriginal belief called the Dreamtime. The three lines, “while waters of tears carry ancient stories down your jagged crevasses”. In these lines, “Ancient stories” and “down your jagged crevasses” refers to the Aboriginals rituals of ancestral spirits that take place near cracks in the stone walls of Uluru, such as crevasses. The first line in the poem, “Isolated rock” refers
...atures that make Australia what it is today. He uses the words “sunlit plain”, “vision splendid” and “wondrous glory” to provide the reader with an image that represents Australia’s reminiscent landscape. This is done to capture the reader’s thoughts in an attempt to persuade them. Paterson silences the negative aspects of rural life and the positive aspects of city life.