Australian Literature

Book: - Mister Pip

Short stories: - How muster-master stoneman earned his breakfast - The drover’s wife - Marlene - Going Home - Neighbours

Poems: - Moreton Bay - The song of Australia - Waltzing Matilda - Aboriginal Charter of Rights - The dispossessed

The convict system - 1788-1868 more than 165.000 British people were sent to Australia. It was a prison - Conditions on board were terrible - Send to new South wales and transmania - Work a lot to get free - Penal stations  flogging, solitary, confinement - Escape or freedom after 7 years - Source of British (anti)sentiment How muster-master stoneman earned his breakfast A muster master is someone who keeps prisoners together. He’s some kind of chief of prisoners.

Characters: - Glancy: executed for killing James Jones and stealing a handkerchief. He wants to die because he wants to leave this place and life after death is better. He doesn’t believe in God - Chaplain: tries to bless Glancy before he’ll be executed the next day.

Questions: 1. Title: Because of his hard work, he can enjoy his breakfast 2. Names of the characters: Glancy could be a reference to a shady character who’s always glancing around, keeping his eyes open for trouble. James Jones might be a stereotypical British name. 3. based on facts, difficult words  like we read history (begin of the story) -neutral register (glancy) - curses a lot (muster-master) - formal, lot of priester talk (ford) 5. 3rd person. A person who seems very biased against the British Empire. 6. Cruelty of the system, anti Great Brittan. You should get extremely against this system and those who set up this system.

Sequence of events: 1. Stole a handkerchief from some rich British guy 2. Sent to Australia 3. Kills James Jones, one of the overseers. 4. Preparations are made to hang him 5. He escapes and kills a guard 6. Muster-master searches for him 7. He finds him, he was spitting on Jones grave 8. Punishment: 100 wip lashes and salt in his wounds 9. Gets hanged 10. Muster-master got his reward; his breakfast. He had to work hard, punishing this inmate. Moreton Bay (1840) Means to become more than a God. Be an explorer. The story is about a prison where the prisoners are suffering terribly, punished and used like slaves. One black native, an aboriginal, kills the overseer. The last stanza of the poem is motivating for the prisoners: be free and forget your suffering. Leave this bay behind.

This poem is a ballad.

Questions: - In common with muster-master? The same kind of events: prisoners suffer, one man kills a guard. - Constitutes the dramatic climax? Death of the boss. He was killed by an aboriginal. - Allusion of the bible? Working like the Hebrews in Egypt. The aboriginal is their deliverer like Moses was to the Hebrews in Egypt. They want to be free. The drover’s wife Written by Henry Lawson (1867-1922) First published in 1892

The bush tradition - Bush = wilderness, unprofitable, difficult to settle - Early setters  Terra nullius (no man’s land) - Squatters (owner large land), drover ( drive animals from A to B), swagman (traveller) - Masculinity (how do you survive), mateship (stereotype: traditional relation of the weak woman and the strong man), national identity

Questions: 1. The hardships of the Australian people is something that you can see in both Muster Master and this story. 2. Way of storytelling in this story: Present tense: told to you Past tense: Flashback 3. The role of anthropomorphism in the story: Make her feel less lonely. Part of the family or make her feel more lonely, because she only has a dog. The animals need to protect her! The dog also shows human trains like “grinning” and seeming to look sorry for his actions. “his anxiety to let his mistake be known evident by his wagging tail and twelve inch grin”. 4. What might the snake/reptile represent? : Evil, darkness. Kitchen is paradise, and the snake represents the Britons. It might be an allusion to the biblical story of the Garden of Eden, where a woman is seduced by a snake to eat the forbidden fruit. Her hardships in this story are a punishment for women. 5. Role of women and children: The women in this story is left behind while her husband goes to drove sheep. While it’s a hard life where she is often faced with the hardships of life in the Australian wild: wild animals attacking her, disease, etc., she pulls it off very well and doesn’t resent her husband. In fact, she still loves him, but in a way where she doesn’t require his constant presence. The husband comes home rarely with money but is mostly out droving. The children seem to be okay with their hard life and want to help their mother. The narrative seems mostly approving, showing how brave the family is. 6. Portrayal of aboriginals: tricksters. The aboriginal is asked to perform a task, but he uses a trick to not have to work much at all.

7. ‘’Songs’’ of Australia - Song of Australia: very patriotic glorify it. Australia is number one! 1. What is Mammon: gold, wealth. This song basically says Australia is a land full of gold jewels, food drink and laughing children. IT’S AWESOME. 2. Compared to the other poems, I am inclined to believe that it might be written by writs, because the final line says “fairest daughter of Britain”. While most patriotic Australians wouldn’t be very fond of Britain, seeing as they were their prison guards at the beginning of this nation. It’s also written with old English words like thee and myrth. 3. The tone of this poem compared to the short stories: much more positive: it makes it seem like Australia is the new Garden of Eden where food and wine is overflowing. The reality as in the stories is much more grim, with wild animals, aboriginals, disease, etc.

- Waltzing Mathilda: - Poem about a swagman. He dies because, he doesn’t wanted to get into the system. British wanted to arrest him because he killed a sheep. I think it’s appreciated because this free wandering way is admired in Australia. To be free from the bonds of a oppressive nation like Britain. On: Aboriginals and such (half caste: of white and aboriginal descent. Mixed) - 1770 captain cook landed in Botony Bay - Estimates of Aboriginal population 250.000 up to 750.000 - Nomadic stone age culture  terra nullius - Disregard of Aboriginal way of life and culture - Result: massacres, punishment, discrimination, poverty, European diseases, alcoholism, sexuality, missionaries - Policy of segregation and forced assimilation (stolen generation) Marlene Characters: - Mrs Boyd: landowner. Tries to find Molly. She is the grandmother of the baby. She’s bitchy, authority, kind and friendly. She thinks the pregnancy is a scandal - Miss Allison: write a book about aborigines, sees them as equals - Molly: works for Mrs. Boyd. Was pregnant and that’s why she ran away. She’s 16. The baby is half- caste slept with 3 different guys. - Mrs Jackson: elderly aboriginal woman. She stands for the different generation between Boyd and Molly

Marlene: famous movie star. Refers to Molly, the baby is also named Marlene. It’s a white name. pictures are made

Questions: 1. Compare the style to the other short stories: the half caste seem like well spoken people, and this story seems mostly focused on their suffering. 2. The tense used is the present tense, as if the events are happening as you read it. 3. Mrs Boyd and Miss Allison seem to be the story tellers in this story. 4. Role of animals: not as big as the regular characters. Here the horses represent how whites are rich, riding their horses and wearing fine clothes while the half caste live in muddy huts and don’t have a piece of dry clothes. The horses don’t show any emotion like alligator the dog in the other story. 5. Marxist ideology: the whites are rich and happy while the aboriginals are put away in small camps without clothes, food and jobs. They can’t become like whites because they don’t have any chances or opportunity. - Salvation army page 47 : if you wanted to be an Australian, you should be a Christian/white culture. - You know page 51: people were brought to reservations - What page 52: you went to a reservation or became white

First writer who wrote about a love story between an aboriginal and a white person. She’s a communist (Marxism). There is anymous narration, dual perspective (mrs Boys and Allison)

Which message is revealed and concealed: She’s the owner of the baby, why the camp was moved, how aboriginals were treated. Basically, the half caste were put away to hide the fact that whites were having sex with aboriginals. Aboriginals discovered Captain Cook Captain cook: he discovered Australia Terra Nullius: no one’s land Stolen generation: taken away from their parents to become white Missionaries: where aboriginals made white Assimilation and segregation: give everything up for white culture Department of Aboriginal Affairs protectors: you have an owner/protector. If you wanted to move or married, you had to ask him. They worked for DAAP Dispossessed Poem written by an aboriginal who is sad that the white people have taken over his country, then pushed his people aside and took their rights, lands, everything. He wants peace between the different races.

Means: no roots, no place, kept away from your own culture. To deprive people of the possession/occupancy of land and property.

Before cook, they were fine. After cook, the diseases came, children died.

Questions: 1. Conquer caste: Not treated the same. Assimilation, life like a white person Salvation sellers: Pushing Christianity on the natives because their religion is inferior. 2. What does the writer of this poem criticize about Christianity: There’s a negative attitude towards Christianity. They’re better off without it. Christian culture is in her eyes about guns, alcohol.

The last 3 lines: Losing hope, no feeling anymore, why should I keep going on?

- Aboriginals were first recognized as Australian citizens under the 1948 legislation. - Terra Nullius  1992 native title act and mabo high court decision recognize of the pre-existing rights of indigenous people. - 72% of Australian Aboriginals lives in poverty.

Going Home By Archie Wellar A story about a part aboriginal man who is chosen for his skills in Australian football and painting. Because of this he is accepted by whites and slowly becomes “white”, and is disgusted by aboriginals, his race. One night he has a talk with an aboriginal man he picks up in the rain about his family, and he seems to like him. Then they get in a small fight at a bar when the white bartender treats him like he’s like the other aboriginals, a piece of trash. The moral is that, despite his education and wealth and the partying he’s been doing, he’s still an aboriginal.

In the end he is taken away by the police for a watch he had been given by his brother. No matter what happened, there’s still racism, and he’s unfairly jailed. 1. Why is the song “I want to go home” related to this story? The part aboriginal man in this story feels disgust for his own race after being with whites for so long, but also longs to be with them. He has money and a car, but he wants to make his family happy and proud too. The song is probably about a black man wanting to go home to the South instead of living big in Detroit. 2. The point of view is third person. As if an invisible person is watching and telling what is going on. 3. Present tense is used, the actions seem to be happening right now. 4. Act stupid buddy, and ya go a long way in this town. Brown black, and billy? he is nowhere. Staring into the mud of his life. He can never escape it: This is in reference to his skin color. Blacks are expected to be dumb and submissive to the whites according to his black friend, that way they won’t get into trouble.

Themes: racism, poverty, murder/beaten up, white and black, searching for identity.

Aboriginal Charter of Rights Written by Oodgeroot/Kath Walker in 1964. She was a civil right activist.

Questions: - Which rhetorical device is used in this poem? Because of the repetition. The words ‘’we, not, give, take’’ are words that come across a lot - Intention of the writer? She wants a change. Their own country/culture. Equality between whites and aboriginals. - Which events/circumstances are alluded to? Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Roman Pontius looked away.

Apology to Australian Indigenous peoples This apology was written and given in 2008 by Kevin Rudd, prime minister of Australia.

Government apologizes for the lost generation. See page 93-94

According to the citizens, the apology wasn’t good enough.

Why did Britain came to Australia and tried to change their way of living? Because of the ‘’white man’s burden’’

Questions: - Universal truths are revealed? Equality, forgiveness - Short stories/poems connect to this speech? Most of them in relation to the mistreatment of the aboriginals. Going home, Marlene.

Multicultural Australian - British/Irish descent - 1901 immigration restriction act - After WW2 immigration laws relaxed predominantly British or European immigrants - Humanitarian and refugee programme - Population rise of 7.5 million to 22 million since WW2 - Immigration in 2008-2009  born in New-Zeeland (16.2), UK (13,6), India (10.9), China (10.0), South-Africa (4,6) Neighbours A young couple moved into a neighbourhood between a polish widower and a Macedonian family. At first they’re scared, but their neighbours actually come to help them, fixing their stuff, teaching them how to grow things and butcher ducks, etc. In the end they all help the couple too when the wife gets pregnant. It’s a story about multiculturalism and how you shouldn’t be afraid of it.

Questions: 1. Why aren’t the names of the characters mentioned? It helps the reader to identity. The races are mentioned but I think the story is about that not being important at all: they want to help the newcomers. 2. 3rd person. Past tense 3. Comment on sentence structure: It is written in a simple structure which symbolise the simple life in the story. It isn’t difficult to trust people 8. What does the birth symbolize: Life force of the woman, perhaps the difficult process of a nation becoming multicultural?

- Message of this story? What does it tell us about multicultural Australian? Get to know each other, nothing to be afraid of - Could the birth also have a symbolical meaning? What could it stand for? Birth of the new Australian birth of new Multicultural Australia. The man gets emotional because he realises there’s no reason to be afraid.

These days it is hard to be different Questions: - Title explanation? There is no Australian Culture like there is no specific Dutch culture, because they are multicultural. There are other voices heard! - Short stories apply to? Neighbours, going home (because he hangs around with white people) - What problems do you believe in or which is your ideal: assimilation or multiculturalism? Problems: disagree, miscommunication because of the different languages Benefit: food and trade

Mister Pip Main ingredients: - 1st person narrator - Loss - Racial difference - Bible - War - family - A private world - survival - Dickens - freedom - Great expectations - redskin - Laws - history - Pop-eye - sealed off - Exploitation - otherness - horizon About the book: different kinds of narrating (Mathilda, mr.pip, the parents)

Even when the narrator doesn’t make any sense, we still believe what he/she is saying

The writer doesn’t think about plots (interconnection of main events)

The island in the book is real, it got sealed off and there was a war

Bougainville is the name of the island  part of the Solomon islands In 1990’s it was part of Papua New Guinea Islands

Sea: story of the woman! Crabs tell the future School: it’s an escape. There are other worlds

People from other pacific islands were called redskins since their pigmentation was somewhat lighter. Why does the narrator calls them redskins? To de-humanise them