One of the main structural themes in this novel is racism, discrimination and stereotyping of Aboriginal Australians in society. Indigenous Australians are one of the most disadvantaged communities in Australia and they are subject to many racist stereotypes in everyday life.…
From my personal experience with my ex-partner who is an Indigenous Australian he struggled with his cultural identity and the modern identity for young Aboriginal boys in western Sydney. He had an expectation to follow his ancestor’s traditions but he was unable to find a way to integrate his culture into a paid occupation.…
To present day, the history and culture of indigenous communities are often sugar-coated till the significance is lost. Through stereotypes of appearance and spirituality, a boundary is created to isolate these marginalized people from the rest of society -- this is all due to the colonialist mindset. To clarify, this mindset entails the feeling of inferiority or oppression by a group of people who never reciprocate respect, as a result of colonization (d’Errico). Peter d’Errico, a central figure in the litigation of indigenous peoples’ issues, states that the term colonialism “is a bad word” and it is now “fashionable to say we live in a ‘post-colonial’ world” (d’Errico). It is through analytical stories such as Borders where this mindset is addressed and illustrated through the recognizable experience of border crossings.…
The conclusion drawn by Keith Hess in “Sure It’s Aliiiive, but Does It have a Sooooul?” is that we are non-physical beings. He best proves this point when saying that the Monster recreated its self to have a better body, much like our bodies do every day with the breakdown, repair and creation of new cells. In the third section of this paper, I argue that the author is correct and that we as humans or monsters are non-physical beings.…
Noel Pearson’s ‘An Australian History for us all’ discusses his approach to trying to solve some of the most systemic problems facing Australian Aboriginals today. Through the uses of various language techniques and context, Pearson’s speech details the struggles of the relationship between the first European settlers and Aboriginal Australians.…
In Janelle Monáe’s “Hell You Talmbout” she talks about people living in poverty. She first starts with the first verse saying that in poverty there is a lot of violence, from bombs being thrown, guns being pulled out, and a body lying on the streets from police brutality. In the chorus she repeats “Now what the hell you talking ‘bout?” this could be seen as Janelle speaking to an outsider who does not see all the violence and poverty, while those who live in those conditions experience it every day. In the second verse, Janelle addresses the topic of how fast drugs are traveling in poverty and how they are stealing from one another to get money for drugs. In the line “the poor man eats off of the rich men’s dollar,” Janelle refers to how many…
Through the use of visual and written texts, migrants are considered invisible in representations of Australia. They are represented as invisible because of their unique lifestyles and culture they have brought to Australia from their foreign land. Many visual and written texts express their feelings, through confusion of being given a new start, in a new country. A country where the language barrier between a migrant and a native, make this challenge even more taunting.…
One people One land that's how the whites saw it back in the early 19 hundreds of the Australian settlement. They didn't recognise the aboriginal people to be as people, to them they were but cheap labour. The Australian drama "No Sugar" gives us an insight into this through the lives of a few aboriginal people. The play shows how aboriginal people lose their way and become more reliant on the white man and how the whites used this position of power of them. One cannot survive unless one has ones' purpose. To aboriginal people their purpose was unrecognised due to the destruction of their past. Which meant that their purpose was lost and without that they faded away with help by the white man.…
In “Go Tell it on the Mountain”, the Grimes family seems to be struggling with their religion. With the characters having hatred within the religion, living within fear (of God and Gabriel), and family members only caring when something major happens, the family’s religious belief does not seem to sit well with the Grimes. Every day, there always seems to be some sort of war going on, whether it's physical or spiritual, it always seems to be about the rejection of something. The major theme of “Go Tell it on the Mountain” is problems with religion because, the characters are arguing about their fathers puritanical policies, they they lie and keep it to themselves, and some family members are stubborn and won't be moved by someone being saved.…
“ Beware the Ides of March!” (I, ii, 23) The Tragedy of Julius Caesar was written by William Shakespeare in 1623. Like many other plays written by Shakespeare, there was always a message hidden in it. He wanted you to learn a lesson from his plays. Three topics that show the theme of the story are Caesar's death causing Rome to revenge, Antony’s goodness winning over Brutus’s cruelness, and Brutus being defeated by the people of Rome. In this piece I believe the theme was good always outweighs evil.…
Within a harsh environment, for a marginalised individual or group to forge a strong sense of connection to its surroundings; a resilient sense of identity and personal qualities such as pride and determination are needed. Nan Dear of Rainbow’s End maintains this resilience by retaining her affiliation with the people of the Murray River as well as her close connection with her land. She demonstrates this through her use of colloquial yet highly modal language and the possessive first person pronoun ‘my’ in the line; “My birth certificate says ‘Murray River.’ Born there and, by crikey, I’m gunna go back and die there.” Nan Dear is well aware of the inequities arising from her Aboriginal heritage. Through the evocative sentiment and unspecified third person pronoun in ‘they took us from our homes,’ she collectively broadcasts the negative impacts of enforced displacement. However, Nan’s display of defiance and determination to surpass governmental barriers and reconnect with her…
The social settings between the young women in Keepin’ On and the community of Blackwell are very different but yet somewhat similar when it comes to the family structure, employment and unemployment, and programs to help poverty.…
Aboriginals have always had a strong link between them and the land with the belief of the Dreamtime and the art, symbols, rituals and totems that came with it. After the white settlement, the way in which aboriginals lived their everyday life took a dramatic turn. It had affected their culture for many generations with a disconnection with the land to them.…
Good morning/afternoon/evening/day to you all, I am honoured to be here in front of all of you today, at the Australian Film Institute, in front of many respected and hard-working English teachers. I appreciate the effort for all of you to come here and for us to discuss distinctive voices in the film that I directed, ‘One Night the Moon’. My purpose in directing and releasing the film ‘One Night the Moon’ is to highlight the systematic discrimination and racism inflicted upon Aboriginal people and minorities and its negative effect on our society. In the film ‘One Night the Moon’, there are several voices that helps draw the viewers into the experiences of others and allow different perspectives to be explored in my film.…
Culture and politics are embedded amongst society through our everyday tasks and in the establishments incorporated through our community. Antonio Gramsci is an Italian theorist who describes this as hegemony, which is a political predominant influence, cultural dominance or authority that exercises over nations or individuals. In the media there has been current talk of an Australian Aboriginal football league star Adam Goodes, who over recent months has been booed and mistreated by fans during football games. In a recent interview with Aboriginal Australian journalist Stan Grant on ABC’s Lateline, Grant said of Goodes, “This is an extraordinary man but when he hears these boos, like all of us the wound is re-opened because success doesn't close the wound.”1 This essay will use Gramsci’s concepts of culture, hegemony, politics and identity to thoroughly exam this statement by Grant to gain a higher understanding of the cultural and identity struggle experience by Aboriginal Australians.…