Deadly Unna by Phillip Gwynne explores racial issues directed at the Indigenous Australians. Gwynne’s story is based on events that occurred in the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. This book clearly shows that Australia is not the land of the fair go for certain demographics, while other demographics do experience Australia as the land of the fair go. People who have money will experience Australia as the land of the fair go, but the people who do not will not be able to experience Australia as a land of equal opportunity. Indigenous Australians are also included in the demographic of people who cannot experience Australia as the land of the fair go.
In her book Nanberry, Jackie French portrays colonial life as a very confusing and perplexing time for both the Indigenous Australians and the White British Settlers, albeit in different ways. With the Indigenous Australians confused by the sudden invasion of the white settler (ghosts), and the British Settlers becoming confused by the new sights, smells and culture of ‘Sydney Cove’. Through the characters of Nanberry, Surgeon White and Bennelong, the viewer is shown just how confusing their life was at the time of the first settlement in Australia.
Ray Lawrence’s socially provocative Australian film, Jindabyne(2006), presents a thought-provoking and contemporary outlook on racial prejudice, the dramatised moral dilemma of responsibility, and a confronting depiction of reconciliation. The film dramatises the struggle over Australia 's history, representing the past as deeply alienating, as it explores the complexity of the relationships between racially diverse characters in post-colonial Australia. Lawrence establishes the reconciliation of characters through sound, further examining the relationship between cultures and genders in conflict. Through symbols, Lawrence explores deceit, and the roles, perceptions and experiences of men and women within various relationships, demonstrating the unforgiving consequences of division and distrust. The film presents
Two main ways Indigenous Australians can be represented in fiction and non-fiction texts are as people who are kind and friendly or people who are troublesome. Some factors that
Literacy academic Lois T Stover once wrote, “There is nothing simple about quality young adult literature. Good young adult literature deals with the themes and issues that mirror the concerns of the society out of which it is produced. It does so in ways that help readers understand the complexities and shades of grey involved in dealing with these issues. ” The novel Jasper Jones (2009) by Australian author Craig Silvey, illustrates the story Charlie Bucktin, a 13 year old boy living in the parochial mining town of Corrigan, in 1965. The foremost theme is the prejudice within the population of Corrigan. There is the underlying theme of prejudice, especially through racism; against refugee of the Vietnam War, Jeffrey Lu; Jasper Jones, an indigenous Australian of mixed descent often being the town’s
The poem, ‘Be Good, Little Migrants’ by Uyen Loewald, thoroughly explores the concept of identity throughout the poem. Uyen Loewald is an Australian migrant of Vietnamese background who has been subjected to racial oppression and degradation when first migrating to Australia. As a result, she created the poem, ‘Be Good, Little Migrants’ to express her emotions of frustration and anger at the plight of new Australian migrants. The poem conveys the notion that migrants of a non-British background, more specifically Vietnamese and Asian, had to discard their own cultural identity. Furthermore being forced to change and adapt to an “Australian” identity. This process is known as assimilation. The continuous repetition of the imperative, “Be good, little migrants” in each stanza,
Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s non-traditional view of Australia in ‘An Appeal’ shows how stereotypes of Australia are not always correct. The poem shows how camaraderie and mateship are not always expressed in Australian lifestyle. It is evident in the poem that not all Australians help each other to get through tough times and Australia is divided into different groups of people and is not equal. ‘An appeal’ shows how the nation stands up for themselves and fight for what is right against the power of the ‘not really’ authoritative people of Australia.
Katherena Vermette’s novel The Break, is centered around a sexual assault. Through the perspective of eight narrators the story unfolds over the day leading up to the attack, memories triggered by the assault, and the recovery of all those involved. The novel’s two strongest themes are a juxtaposition of gender disparity and the strength and resilience of the women and girls involved. Gendered performance is common throughout the book, for both men and women, although the focus is on the female characters. This essay argues that the gendered performance of the characters is due to Linda Nicholson’s biological foundationalism as explored in Interpreting Gender (1999). The differences in reactions between the men and women of the story are not
In Thomas King’s short story, “Borders”, he writes about the Canada-America border. Within the short story, the main character refuses to identify her citizenship even though she is from Blackfoot. Even though the story is being told through the young boy’s point of view, the main issue focuses on another character, the mother. When approached by guards on the border, the mother insists that she is a Blackfoot, which causes issues because her son is a minor and must stay on the Canadian side of the border.
Described as “Australia’s Martin Luther King moment” Stan Grant as part of the IQ2 debate series attempted to confirm the legitimacy of that “Racism is destroying the Australian Dream”. Grant pronounced that racism was not only eroding the Australian dream, but lay at its very foundation.
This article discusses the speech given by an Indigenous journalist, Stan Grant who participated in a debate where he spoke for the motion “Racism is destroying the Australian Dream’’. Hence, the main points of this article are mostly evidence given by Grant in his debate to support his idea that the Australian Dream is indeed rooted in racism.
Ethos is a very important rhetorical device in speeches because it establishes a sense of credibility and trustworthiness with the audience. Ethos permits the audience to feel a sense of trust that is missing in some people’s speeches. When ethos is missing one never really gets to establish a connection to the audience. It is no
The poem My Mother The Land by Phill Moncrieff poetically describes the struggles the aboriginal people faced at the hands of the European people and colonisation throughout history. The fact that the author based the poem on accurate historical events adds to the authenticity of representations and engages the reader in an emotional journey with the struggles the aboriginal people faced with the somewhat loss of their country, culture, identity, people and place. The author uses a variety of language features and text structures to create this view point, for instance the author uses several language features and text structures throughout verse one to demonstrate the loss of culture and people.
The novel ‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey is centred around a young man named Charlie Bucktin living in the little Australian town of Corrigan in the late 1960 's. Charlie is presented with the issues of racial prejudice, shamefulness, and moral dishonesty. He is tested to address the idealism of right from wrong and acknowledges that the law doesn 't generally maintain equity. The thoughts are depicted through Silvey 's utilization of story traditions which are to either challenge or reinforce our values, states of mind and convictions on the issues brought before us.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Billy Jacking exhibition, presented by Gallery 2, created and brought to you by artist, Jordan Bennett from the Mi’kmaq Nation, Wabinki Confederacy in Newfoundland, Canada. This exhibition is situated within the traditional un-ceded territory of the Sinixt Peoples.