Explain how the language used in your prescribed text changed your perceptions of identity. (20 marks) The power of storytelling enables composers to masterfully create transformative narratives, prompting audiences to reshape and reconsider perspectives of themselves and their surrounding communities. Rachel Perkins' filmic opera, One Night The Moon employs evocative cinematography and music to not only artistically expose the systemic racial bias against Indigenous Australians, but to also disrupt the prevailing Eurocentric norms within 1930s Australia. Mirroring the constitutional values of the Early Settler’s myth, Perkins investigates society’s xenophobic tendencies that eventually catalyse the innate motivations of Indigenous Australians …show more content…
Thus conveying how inevitable societal shifts are ignited as Perkins immerses audiences within a visual narrative that catalyses the re-evaluation of conventional beliefs and forge a unified national identity. The underlying colonialist rhetoric and xenophobic views within early Australian culture has rendered itself obsolete as evolving societal paradigms have prompted audiences to transcend traditional perspectives and embrace a modern unified world view. Framed through the postcolonial lenses, Perkins' filmic opera One Night the Moon, represents the concept of the Early Settler myth rooted in man, mateship and master of the land, and examines the need to transform conventional views to suit the modern world. In the film’s prologue, audiences are introduced to Jim, who encompasses the Early Settler ideology of excluding other cultural minorities, yet, this identity is challenged with his failure to provide for his family. In the opening scene, a birds-eye shot of Jim slumped over a table, accompanied by a subdued colour palette consisting mainly of brown, Perkins portrays Jim’s downfall …show more content…
Through the exploration of the deep seeded archetype of the Lost Child, where the children of young settlers would wander off into the untamed bush and disappear forever, Perkins cautions modern audiences of the denial of adopting inclusive outlooks which eliminate xenophobia in One Night the Moon. Initially, both Jim and Rose neglect the mateship and expertise of Albert, yet the shortcomings of doing so become undeniable as the film progresses. The aforementioned consequences of this prejudice are most poignantly visible through the road to church scene. A close up camera shot of both families illustrates the Kelly Family shunning away from the greeting of Albert. Furthermore, Perkins alludes to the ramifications of exercising such prejudice when Jim and Rose ward Albert off their land exclaiming, “There is to be no blacks on my land.” with the close shot depicting Jim and Rose physically above Albert, as such. hinting at the failure to find Emily without Albert. However, this aversion is proven worthless as Emily’s looming doom becomes increasingly imminent, and Jim's inability to shift from the paradigms of the early settler mindset to a place of acceptance and an embracing of "the other" catalyses the tragic ending of the film. Despite the seemingly
The Brechtian convention of juxtaposition is again successfully employed, between Sheppard’s happy and positive tone and the seriousness of the mission camps, generating a humorous effect. This amplifies the alienation of the audience, meaning they think more objectively about the missions and how this impacted aboriginal identity. Through this alienation the audience is forced to think about the dramatic meaning, regarding the impact that the first settlers had on the indigenous Australians and the need for acceptance. Thus, through the use of movement and juxtaposition to create humour the performance effectively enhances the impact that the first settlers have on changing aboriginal identity and how acceptance needs to be reached, for both indigenous and non-indigenous
The Sapphires is a film based on the McCrae sisters, four Australian Aboriginal singers, and their journey to Vietnam to entertain American troops in 1968. In this paper we will use the film The Sapphires to critically discuss the work of Stuart Hall (1997), Aileen Moreton-Robinson (2015), and Judith Butler (2013) and see how these scholars might analyze its relationship to social identities and difference. In the ‘Spectacle of the Other,’ Hall presents the idea of the ‘other’ and the fear and anxiety it creates. While in ‘I Still Call Australia Home: Indigenous Belonging and Place in a White Post Colonizing Society,’ Moreton-Robinson argues that Anglo colonization continues suppress Aboriginals and dominate Australian institutions. In ‘For
One Night the Moon (2001), is based on the events that took place in the harsh Australian outback in the early 1930s. The film evolves when a young girl, Emily, goes missing into the mountainous terrain of the Australian outback one night to follow the moon. Her family, European settlers, though desperate to find her, fail to employ the skills of a local Indigenous tracker, Albert Riley, due to their own racism. Perkins uses many literary elements such as camera angles, music, dialogue and editing to shape meaning and to influence her audience. One Night the Moon, introduces song into the Australian landscape, Indigenous people have always used song to talk about the land, and song itself has always been one of the central means of land management. One Night the Moon has been described as “A beautiful, seemless film with the ability to transport the audience.” Perkins endorses the idea that White settlers have failed to learn anything from the original inhabitants of this land and to support this statement, she layers the literary elements to highlight the racism, connection with the land and also contrasts the two male protagonists in the film.
The characters in Jack Davis' play "No Sugar" are characters that fit colonial stereotypes (both Aboriginals and Whites) although they seem to be exaggerated. Contrasting characters reveal Ideological ideas and attitudes through things like language, often through conflict.40
Identity is 'how you view yourself and your life.'; (p. 12 Knots in a String.) Your identity helps you determine where you think you fit in, in your life. It is 'a rich complexity of images, ideas and associations.';(p. 12 Knots in a String.) It is given that as we go through our lives and encounter different experiences our identity of yourselves and where we belong may change. As this happens we may gain or relinquish new values and from this identity and image our influenced. 'A bad self-image and low self-esteem may form part of identity?but often the cause is not a loss of identity itself so much as a loss of belonging.'; Social psychologists suggest that identity is closely related to our culture. Native people today have been faced with this challenge against their identity as they are increasingly faced with a non-native society. I will prove that the play The Rez Sisters showed this loss of identity and loss of belonging. When a native person leaves the reservation to go and start a new life in a city they are forced to adapt to a lifestyle they are not accustomed to. They do not feel as though they fit in or belong to any particular culture. They are faced with extreme racism and stereotypes from other people in the nonreservational society.
Language is truly part of our identity: our languages shape who we are. That is why we always have to be tolerant and comprehensive with others’ accents, typical phrases, or grammatical errors. Writers that really make an impact when referring to language and identity are Gloria Anzaldua and Amy Tan, with their readings “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” and “Mother Tongue” respectively. These two writers, with completely different backgrounds, shared their views about how language and identity are intertwined.
During this era, Aborigines have to work to maintain their cultural identity, while at the same time find a place to fit within the complex multicultural society Australia has become (Aboriginal People Today, 2011). Coming Home Strong by Mark O’Connor offers a very similar representation of the Aborigines as to Bero’s The Coloured Digger. The words that he writes about Cathy Freeman and her historic victory reveals the values, attitudes and ideas that majority of the people were learning to accept. O’Connor influences the readers to understand the suffering that the Aborigines had to endure during The Stolen Generation. The use of metaphor helps demonstrate Freeman overcoming her own challenges and goals, but still struggling to accept what happened to her people: “Running into that ocean roar of welcome – with the face of a hurt child striving”. O’Connor’s words help further the idea, as he reveals society’s values and attitudes in learning to accept Aborigines. Connotative language is used to influence the readers to understand O’Connor’s perspective on been able to give recognition to Aborigines: “Our own corroboree - striped Phantom – ghost who runs in pain – to a lap of honour with a double flag”. Using the words ‘our own’ shows the acknowledgement and positive attitude that white Australians have developed towards Aborigines. The value of O’Connor’s poetry helps reflect the change across all era regarding Aborigines. Connotative language is used to help the people understand how monumental her victory was, and how much impact it will have: ‘…but yours was a victory that meant –and what it meant will grow’. Through his values, attitudes and ideas, the readers are influenced to understand O’Connor’s Coming Home Strong and representation of the
Grenville’s 2002 novel is set in the penal colony of New South Wales, Australia in the 1800’s. The main character, William Thornhill is exiled from England with his wife, Sal and baby, Willie to serve a life sentence for stealing wood. This book correlates to the current global conflict by bringing to focus the questions of country, citizenship and the effects on colonization on the Aboriginal community utilizing a plethora of pathos appeals to the readers.
Davis invites the audience to valorise the importance placed upon participation and community by the Nyoongah people, while condemning insincere spectacles favoured by Non-Indigenous Australians. The stage of No Sugar is designed for a dispersed setting, to represent an attempt to integrate the audience w...
As we have seen, the role of identity is a key issue in our history. The discrimination and stereotypes pressed upon the Blacks and Mexicans changed their ideas of personal and social identity. The factors that influence identity also made the understanding of this idea hard for both groups. The role that identity played in both groups was a key concept for them to understand in creating their new individuality in the "White America."
Today, in the 20th Century, it is a commonly known fact in Australia, and throughout the rest of the world, that Aborigines were mistreated from since western culture first settled, and for many years after that. It is the main purpose of stage dramas to bring issues, such as the one mentioned above, and ideas about these issues to life through dramatic performances and the use of a number of various techniques. No Sugar, a revisionist text written by Jack Davis in 1985, is one of these stage dramas. Jack Davis brings issues and even expresses his own ideas about issues such as the injustices of Aboriginal treatment during the 1930's, to life in No Sugar very well because No Sugar is a revisionist text, and therefore offers a new perspective of an Aboriginal point of view, on events which occurred during the time of the issue at hand.
My Reaction Review to One of the Working Questions in Chapter Ten by Victoria Allen In the book, “The Theory Toolbox,” authors Jerry Nealon and Susan Searls Giroux delve into the complexities of identity, exploring the multifaceted aspects that distinguish individuals and groups. These aspects encompass race, gender, socioeconomic status, etc. As stated on page one-hundred and eighty-three, “The discourses that construct or mark differences also tend to tell us what those differences mean.” This profound statement resonates deeply with the intricate aspects of human identity.
Identity is a person’s socially and historically constructed concept. We learn and determine our own identity through the interactions of family, peers, media and also other connections that we have encounter in our life. Gender, social class, age and experience of the world are the key concepts which plays a substantial role in shaping how we are by facing obstacles in our lives. According to Mead (1934) as cited in Thulin, Miller, Secher, and Colson (2009), identity theory determines
For my Leadership project, I volunteered at Care Partnership, a non-profit organization that cares for children that are struggling with financial needs. The children were from ages 3 to 12. I choose to volunteer at Care Partnership because it was a place that I would go to when I was a child. I have seen it evolve the past several years. As I volunteered, I had to help the children with their homework and reading skills.
This quote from the poem found in stanza three describes how after many years of the invasion, white people started to feel sorry and remorseful for the impact which white settlement had on Aborigines. This relates to Judith Wright’s concern for the Aboriginal people and the land which human settl...