The Shifting Heart by Richard Beynon is a work of rare maturity, encompassing both depth and scope vision through expressing and representing concepts of identity. Beynon’s prose is innocuous and steady; yet it’s evocative rhythm expresses the human and emotional effects of racism. Written during the 1960’s, Beynon provides an insight of the personal experiences of migrants during a period where ‘white’ Australians dominated and discarded other cultures. Although racial prejudice and ethnic hatred was evident throughout the play, Clarry’s acceptance towards the Bianchi family is a token that Australia has developed into a diverse and multicultural country.
The Shifting Heart focuses on Poppa Bianchi, Leila Pratt, Gino Bianchi, Momma Bianchi,
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Clarry Fowler, Maria Fowler, Donny Pratt and Detective- Sergeant Lukie. It is based on the lives of the Bianchis, an Italian family living and adapting to the suburb of Collingwood, during the post World War II immigration boom. The characterization is effortless, as the dramatis personae come alive with the deft sure strokes of Beynon’s conjuration. Through miming these characters and manipulating texts, Beynon brilliantly gives an insight view into the world of racism and how it affects the victims. He covers a range of diverse attitudes to instigate ethnic prejudice in Australia.
The Bianchi family is successfully portrayed to be the stereotypical Italian family, while the other characters are expressed as typical working class Australians. The racist comments created by Leila, Mr. Wilson and Clarry conveys to the reader that they intend to exclude the Bianchi family from being classified as a ‘typical Australian’. Leila stereotypes the family by assuming they will be ‘diving into a plate of spaghetti’ for Christmas dinner and is surprised to hear they will be eating ‘the biggest, fattest tremendous turkey’ instead of traditional Italian food. Mr. Wilson’s subtle racism is also evident when he calls Momma Bianchi ‘Momma Macaroni’ and when Clarry refers to Poppa as ‘boy’. These stereotypes emphasize the perceptions of difference between cultures in Australia. Beynon has evidently done thorough research when creating this play in order to emphasize on the tension and destructive behavior racism …show more content…
causes. Ethnic prejudice has a prominent presence in the play and is a vital theme.
Beynon uses subtle hints and symbols in overcoming racism and shows the difference between the two cultures. Amongst the many symbols are the fences on both sides of the yard. The backyard location is significant because the racism that is occurring outside threatens the happiness of the Bianchi family. The Christmas tree also represents the similarity between the Bianchis and mainstream Australia, and the end of cultural barriers. The eight candles also signify the number of years they have lived in Australia. These symbols all contribute to Beynon’s purpose, which is to express the human and emotional effects of racism rather than discussing figures or talking about racism as a general problem.
The Shifting Heart is simply overloaded with facts and factoids, anecdotes and details. Even the most conscientious reader can get confused with the characters and situations, which tends to distract from the free-flow of the play. However, it is also refreshing to see such a real and robust work of fiction and the meticulous and detailed research blended into the portrait of the characters so that readers have a connection to the emotions presented by the characters. It is also apparent that Richard Beynon is more confident in his powers of
view. The weaving of cultural identity escorts the reader’s attention to the fact that racism is still present in today’s society. Beynon’s The Shifting Heart is undoubtedly a very vivid, powerful and humorous Australian play. It highlights important messages: to move forward; shift our hearts, so good may prevail in the face of adversity; and leave behind prejudice. The play has an educational advantage of taking the reader over range of different issues affecting Australian communities. Readers will find that the Shifting Heart explores many ideas and themes to raise awareness of ethnic prejudice affecting many Australian migrants’ households. Plays like the Shifting Heart announce a literature that has come of age.
The movie depicts what it was like to be Australian in the decades of the 50’s and 60’s and the decisions of the Australian government over this period, through the journey of four Aboriginal women and one Irish man. The movie explores the treatment of indigenous people living in this era in comparison to white Australians. The unique ways in which the characters made their living provided for scrutiny, judgement and vulnerability. In the movie you see just how differently the Aboriginal community was treated compared to the white Australians during these era’s.
The compassionate novel Deadly Unna?, written by Phillip Gwynne, creates vivid characters and depicts race discourses experienced by Gary Black (also known as Blacky) in a fictitious South Australian coastal community. The novel portrays a typical coastal town of the 1970s and is set mainly in the Port: the local Pub, the Black family home and the jetty, where the local children play. The story explores the racism between the Nungas (the indigenous population who live at the Point) and the Gooynas (the white population who live at the Port). As Blacky is from the Port, he only begins to develop awareness of the racism around him as a result of his friendship with Dumby Red, a Nunga football player, and consequently stops making racist jokes and comments. Analysis of racist ideas in the town, the marginalisation of the Nunga community, Blacky’s changing beliefs and how it influences and empowers him to respond to the death of Dumby Red, reveals that Gwynne encourages the reader to reject the racist values, attitudes and beliefs of Blacky’s community.
All three authors recognize that difference constructs discrimination. The concept of othering (Hall 1997) and Anglo dominance presented by Moreton-Robinson (2015) help understand Judith Butler’s findings as to why oppression and exclusion cannot be reduced completely. It is same fear of the ‘other’ and white dominance in Australia that keep Australian institutions from reaching integration and equality—film being one these institutions. The filmmakers of The Sapphires attempt to tell the Aboriginal narrative. The scenes mentioned in the previous paragraphs, educate a diverse audience about Aboriginal discrimination in Australia in the 1960s. However, even though the filmmakers reveal some truths of Aboriginal discrimination, they do it in a way which the Aboriginal narrative is suppressed and Anglo dominance is maintained. “The Sapphires” plot is not centered on Aboriginal discrimination, rather a story of how four Aboriginal girls learn about love and friendship. Aboriginal discrimination in the 1960s forms only a small part of the journey to entertain American Troops in Vietnam. By presenting a musical comedy-drama film, the filmmakers sugar coat Australia’s dark past. The movie also ends on a good note. Cousin Kay who at some point rejected her Aboriginal roots, overcomes her prejudice and gets more in touch with the Aboriginal culture by partaking in an Aboriginal ceremony. By the end of the film the audience barely recalls the discrimination scenes and only remembers a happy ending. This is dangerous, as the film deceives its white Australian audience to believe that racial inequality in Australia is an issue of the past not the present. Therefore, promoting the idea that the Australia does not continue to privilege white people over Aboriginals
Pung explains that “This was a deliberate and light-hearted attempt to shift away from the two decades of ‘migrant’ or ‘ethnic’ literature narratives that have been published in Australia” (Arcangelo,1). Yet the beginning of the story is scattered with examples of the Pung family mirroring this expectation, though how she describes the way her family marvels at new resources Australia has to offer “Wah, so many things about this new country that are so taken-for-granted!” (9). The amazement that there is no one needs to “walk like they have to hide” (9) and “no bomb is ever going to fall on top of them”(9) nor will they find any one “pissing in the street” (9)that was “so gleaming spick-and-span clean” with “beautiful food” and “pretty packages” (11) makes it difficult to disassociate the familiar stereotypes from Pung’s
“The Inner Circle”, written by Gary Crew is a novel based on two juvenile boys, Joe Carney and Tony Landon. Tony is a white teenager, ignored by his divorced parents and given money instead of love, whereas Joe Carney is a black Aboriginal teenager, who wants to overcome racism and social exclusion. Joe and Tony do not have anything in common except their age and emotional confusion, but they become friends after meeting in the old abandoned power station regardless of their racial difference. Gary Crew wrote the novel in Joe and Tony point of view, which a chapter for Joe and a chapter for Tony is given to provide the readers an understanding of how the European settlement has a big impacts of how Indigenous Aboriginal are treated in today’s society. The white settlers changed Indigenous lives forever, where now Aboriginal people are experiencing racism, poor living condition and unemployment because of their skin colour. Gary Crew showed this through Joe’s Carney point of view. This essay will analyse the issue of racism, social exclusion, racial discrimination, family and child relationship and the friendship that is conveyed between Tony and Joe throughout the novel.
Ever since the abolition of slavery in the United States, America has been an ever-evolving nation, but it cannot permanently erase the imprint prejudice has left. The realities of a ‘post-race world’ include the acts of everyday racism – those off-handed remarks, glances, implied judgments –which flourish in a place where explicit acts of discrimination have been outlawed. It has become a wound that leaves a scar on every generation, where all have felt what Rankine had showcased the words in Ligon’s art, “I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background” (53). Furthermore, her book works in constant concert with itself as seen in the setting of the drugstore as a man cuts in front of the speaker saying, “Oh my god, I didn’t see you./ You must be in a hurry, you offer./ No, no, no, I really didn’t see you” (77). Particularly troublesome to the reader, as the man’s initial alarm, containing an assumed sense of fear, immediately changing tone to overtly insistent over what should be an accidental mistake. It is in these moments that meaning becomes complex and attention is heightened, illuminating everyday prejudice. Thus, her use of the second person instigates curiosity, ultimately reaching its motive of self-reflections, when juxtaposed with the other pieces in
Hannie Rayson’s play ‘Hotel Sorrento’ explores the changing nature of Australian cultural identity. Rayson successfully perpetuates and challenges common Australian stereotypes in order to establish how the Australian National Identity has changed over time. She presents these stereotypes through the characters expectations of gender roles, attitudes towards Australian culture and the theme of ownership.
This poem expresses Mackellar’s deep passion and love for “her” country without touching on racial issues, rights or custodianship of the land. Australian born and resisting the identification of her British heritage, Mackellar patriotically declares Australia her own by rejecting the beauty of the British landscape through contrasting it with the romantic ideal of her "sunburnt" country. Mackellar presents to the readers the values and attitudes of a newly federated white Australia with her romanticisation of the Australian landscape.
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
...derstand what they are and are going through. If the reader belongs to another minority or is a new emigrant to Australia will identify itself with the anger and frustration other readers might feel guilty just because they thing they belong to a privileged group. I felt the injustice of inequality that emerges form this poem collection and the uselessness. There were no suggestions how repair what was done . The author shows in the poem that the hurt and anger are part of the aboriginal identity.
The novel was written at a time where Australia was embracing different cultures and the Australian government were recognizing migrants for their contribution to society.
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.
Tim Wintons short story, “Neighbours” questions Australia's social discourse by exploring the transition of individuals into a new phase of life. Winton challenges society’s ignorance and cultural stereotypes by displaying a provocative new experience which has the ability to manipulate and change individuals perspectives. Society’s ignorance can be seen through the conflicting hyperbole, “good neighbours were seldom seen and never heard”, exploring the couples incomprehension of different cultures and lifestyles. The negative connotations surrounding the adverb “seldom seen” and “never heard” distort society's underlying values of love, respect and trust, consequently positioning the reader to consider the impact of new experiences in developing one's personal perspective. Moreover, Winton explores society's challenging and spurring transition into a new phase of life via the use of the emotive noun “murdering” in “their neighbours were not murdering each other, merely talking”. The noun, “murdering” juxtaposed with the positive imagery of “talking” posits the audience to society's dignity in the stereotypical context of Australia. Winton challenges the audience to question their moral truths and how a new experience can enlighten individuals to consider different cultures and perspectives. Composers manipulate the reader's perspectives through showing the transition into a new phase of life and how this has the ability to develop and individuals knowledge and
David Williamson’s play, ‘The Removalists’ serves as a microcosm of contemporary Australian society during 1970s. It explores the prevalence of social conditioning and the hierarchy of authority within the play’s cultural and historical setting. Williamson explores themes such as domestic violence, sexism and the abuse of power, all of which provide the audience with insight into deeper issues surrounding contemporary Australia. As the play unfolds, Williamson also reflects on the social and moral issues in society, placing emphasis on the negative attitude that stems within the values of society.
Throughout both ‘Rainbow’s End’ and ‘The Rabbits’, the audience discovers the plights that the Aboriginal Australians faced, due to discrimination and assimilation, in intensely confronting, yet intensely meaningful ways. We see how the discrimination and forced assimilation of cultures was common in the lead up to modern times because of composers like Harrison, Marsden and Tan reminding us of these events, allowing us to discover and rediscover our past wrongs through their works, in order to pave the way for a brighter, harmonious future. Without these documentations and retellings of events such as these, history would repeat itself, conflicts would be more apparent and we as a species would not be able to thrive and prosper due to our prejudices and superiority complexes.