The Rhetoric of Mass Intercultural Identification: a Burkeian Study of the New Australian Film Industry
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IVficEoahiis M . loternadoml 8603048 Scodari, Christine Ann THE RHETORIC OF MASS INTERCULTURAL IDENTIFICATION: A BURKEIAN STUDY OF THE NEW AUSTRALIAN FILM INDUSTRY The Ohio State University Ph.D. 1985 University Microfilms InternetionelSOO N. zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml48106 Copyright 1985 by Scodari, Christine Ann All Rights Reserved THE RHETORIC OF MASS INTERCULTURAL IDENTIFICATION: A BURKEIAN STUDY OF THE NEW AUSTRALIAN FILM INDUSTRY DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Christine Ann Scodari, B.A., M.A. The Ohio State University 1985 Reading Committee: Approved By John J. Makay William R. Brown James Golden Depiartment^of Communication Copyright by Christine Ann Scodari 1985 In memory of Carl Sean Traynor. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to my parents, Nicholas and Marion Scodari, for their love and support. I would also like to thank my adviser, John J. Makay, for his encouragement and assistance throughout my graduate career. ill VITA March 22, 1952........... Born - New York City 1976..................... B.A., University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 1976-1977 ............... Data Processing Assistant, Vitro Laboratories, Silver Spring, Maryland 1977-1980 ............... Program Assisant, Dewberry, Nealon, & Davis Fairfax, Virginia 1982..................... M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1982-1985 ............... Teaching Associate, Department of Communication, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Communication Studies in Rhetoric. Professors John J. Makay, James Golden, and William R. Brown. Studies in Mass Media. Professors William R. Brown and Stephen Acker. Studies in Communication Theory. Professor Jack Douglas. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION....................................... 11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................ Ill VITA............................................. Iv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ............................ 1 Background and Justification ......... 1 Purpose of the Study ............ 5 Review of Pertinent Literature .... 10 Research Procedures and Methodology. ................. 20 Organization of the Study........ 26 II. THE SCENE: AUSTRALIA AND THE WORLD . 33 Australian History ................... 34 A Thematic Analysis of the Australian Scene ................... 42 The Scene/Act Ratio--Australla .... 56 Australian Film In a World of New Technologies.............. 59 The Scene/Act Ratlo--The World .... 62 C o n c l u s i o n....................... 64 III. THE AGENT: THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT . 71 Australian Government: Political Parties and Parliamentary Structure. ...................... 72 The Government's Journey Toward National Film.................. 82 The Agent/Act Ratio.............. 87 Co n c l u s i o n ....................... 89 IV. p u r p o s e : a u n i q u e AUSTRALIAN IDENTITY. 94 The Australian Identity: An Overview ................. ..... 95 Australian Identity and National F i l m ................................... 101 Purpose/Act Ratio. .... ........... 107 C o n c l u s i o n ............................... 110 V. a g e n c y : t h e f i l m m e d i u m .....................116 Film as Medium .................... 117 Collaboration and Authorship ......... 123 The Agency/Act Ratio ........... 129 C o n c l u s i o n .......... 132 VI. AGENCY: FILM CONTENTS....................... 137 Individual Identity-Seeking..............141 National Identity-Seeking................153 The Agency/Act Ratio ................. 159 Conclusion ........................ 161 VII. C O N C L U S I O N .................... 167 Preliminary Findings ................. 172 Mass Intercultural Identification: A Relevant and Useful Concept. 184- Implications for Further Research. 186 Summary................................... 188 BIBLIOGRAPHY and FILMOGRAPHY...................192 vi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Background and Justification Wa com# from th# land Down Under Where women glow, and men plunder. Can you hear, can you hear ua thunder? Better run; better take cover.1 So goes the refrain of the recent popular hit "Down Under" performed by a group of Australian rockers known as "Men At Work." While Aussie popular musicians have been "thundering" for some time now--witness stars such as Helen Reddy, The Bee Gees, and Olivia Newton John--the Australian film industry has ]uat begun to make its mark beyond the borders of that nation-continent. Films such as Breaker Morant. Mv Brilliant Career, and Galliooli have been critical, if not commercial successes outside of Australia and have garnered international exposure and acclaim for their directors, Bruce Beresford, Gillian Armstrong, and Peter Weir, respectively. The worldwide emergence of Australian cinema since the mid-1970's appears to be no accident; government 1 eponsorahlp of fil* ventures under the auspices of the Australian Film Commission and state commissions, along with the establishment of national film academies, have served to define Australian identity within Australia as well as to reinforce cultural autonomy through the communication of that identity to others— other cultures, that is.2 This latter goal is an example of what might be termed "mass intercultural identification." The events surrounding these efforts introduce intriguing questions and issues for consideration by the rhetorical critic of media. In approaching an exploration of these phenomena, the investigator must first determine an appropriate theoretical framework from which to study the data, and having accomplished this, must devise methods suited to an analysis of the data as they have been conceptualized. This overall framework and the analytical tools selected become grist for the investigatory mill themselves; any thorough study would involve a critique of these elements as well. Background information which pertains specifically to the theoretical and methodological aspects of the study is, therefore, necessary here. James Monaco, in How to Read a Film, states: People who think about file are no longer content to simply describe an ideal system of aesthetics or social values, nor do they see their main aim as finding a language to describe the phenomenon of film. The ]ob of film theory now is profoundly dialecticalr.. between filmmaker and subject, film and observer...culture and society...a never-ending set of codes and subcodes that raises fundamental questions about the relationship of life and art, reality and language.3 What is being described in this passage is a conception of film as a complex communication system with meaning emanating from each of its components and from the connections between and among them— the overriding view which will be assumed in this study. The phenomena to be studied here constitute a rhetorical drama involving many aspects of film as a communication system. The rhetorical theories and critical tools derived from the writings of Kenneth Burke present their own stimulating questions and are appropriate for understanding this drama. Burkeian concepts such as the representative anecdote,4 with its special relevance to the study of communication and culture, as well as the dramatistic framework for criticism from which it c o m e s , 5 are useful methods in this investigation and will be applied and extended. Kenneth Burke's separation between the rhetoric of conacloua motiva or perauaaion, and the rhetoric of aubconacioua motive or identification, will become pivotal in the atudy to be undertaken.& In analyzing Auatralia'a efforta to identify with other culturea through ita media, the aometimea tenuoua Burkeian diatinction will become clarified. Againat thia backdrop, the analyaia