HELEN BEATRICE ARMSTRONG, BSc(Syd), Grad. Dip.L.D., M.L.Arch(Research) (UNSW).

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Urban and Regional Planning At The University ofNew South Wales.

July,2000. TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE ...... VII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... VIII LIST OF TABLES ...... IX LIST OF FIGURES ...... XI LIST OF PLATES ...... XII ABBREVIATIONS ...... XIV INTRODUCTION ...... IS Background: Heritage Places and Cultural Identity ...... 16 Australian Place Values ...... 17 Shifting Heritage Paradigms ...... 17 National ldentity...... l7 Interrupted Identity ...... 18 Ambiguity and Paradox in Australian Place Values ...... 18 Locating Migrant Place Values ...... 19 Introducing the Research Questions ...... 20 Introducing the Theoretical Positions ...... 22 Theoretical Interrelationships ...... 23 Space-in-Between ...... 24 Social Heritage Significance ...... 26 Cultural Landscape Theory and the New Critical Cultural Geographies ...... 26 The Value of Locality Studies for Research on Migration ...... 27 Consumption of Place ...... 27 Politics of Identity ...... 28 Methodological perspectives ...... 28 Structure of the Study...... 30 PART ONE CULTURAL PLURALISM OUTSIDE CULTURAL HERITAGE ...... 34 Preamble ...... 35 CHAPTER ONE ...... 36 LOCATING THE THEORETICAL SPACE: HERITAGE CONCEPTS ...... 36 Shifting Heritage Concepts ...... 37 European Heritage Paradigm Shifts in the Early 20th Century ...... 37 Heritage Concepts in the New World ...... 38 Heritage Awakenings within a Global Context ...... 39 Post-Modem Revisions about the Concept of Heritage Places ...... 41 Corresponding Shifts in Heritage Theory ...... 42 Specific Theoretical Issues for this Study ...... 45 Theoretical Tensions in Heritage Planning Practice ...... 46 Revisions in the Academy ...... 50 Summary ofHeritage Theoretical Issues ...... 52 Cultural Landscape Theory and the Critical Cultural Geographies ...... 54 Review of Cultural Landscape Theory ...... 55 Sense ofPlace ...... 58 Contested Landscape Readings ...... 61 The Iconography ofPlace ...... 63 Consumption of Place and Imagined Communities ...... 66 Summary ...... 69

iii CHAPTER TWO ...... 72 LOCATING THE THEORETICAL SPACE: MIGRATION/IDENTITY AND PLACE- ATTACHMENT...... 72 Theoretical Approaches to Migration ...... 75 The Migrant- A New World Essential ...... 76 Migration to Australia: Politics of Race and Class ...... 77 New World Comparisons ...... 77 Frontier Space, Migrant Space, National Space ...... 78 White Australia to White Nation ...... 79 The Spatial Implications ofthe Policy of Assimilation- 1947-1963 ...... 82 The Spatial Implications ofthe Period oflntegration- 1964- 1972 ...... 84 The Spatial Implications ofthe Period ofMulticulturalism (1973- 1995) ...... 86 Contemporary Spatiality of Migrant Groups ...... 87 Place-Attachment ...... 89 Migrant Identity, Theories and Issues ...... 93 Summary ...... 100 CHAPTER THREE...... 103 METHODOLOGICAL CONTEXT: WAYS TO UNDERSTAND MIGRANT PLACE MAKING 103 Revealing the Research Problem ...... 103 Finding Ways to Address the Problem ...... 103 The Nature of Data for this Study: Phenomena, Place and Text...... 110 Phenomena: the People and their Experiences ...... 110 The Places ...... 111 The Texts ...... 112 The Researcher's Interaction and Reflections ...... 113 Strategies for Analysis and Theory Development ...... 114 Grounding the Data ...... 114 Working with Themes ...... 115 Interpreting Concealed Meanings: Doing Phenomenology ...... 116 Interpreting Concealed Meanings : Hermeneutics ...... 119 Debates About Hermeneutics ...... 120 Hermeneutic Methods ...... 122 The Significance of Metaphors, Tropes and Creativity ...... 123 Methodological Strategy ...... 125 Deriving the Data ...... 125 Accessing the Community ...... 125 The Ethics of Case Studies and Interviews with Minority Groups ...... 128 Setting Up the Case Studies ...... 129 The First Study -Case Study One ...... 129 The First Triangulation- Key Migrant Representatives ...... 130 Revising the Method ...... 131 Triangulating with the Profession ...... 131 Summary ...... 133 PART TWO MIGRANT PLACE-MAKING ...... 135 Preamble ...... 136 CHAPTER FOUR ...... 137 MANY READINGS OF ENVIRONMENTAL HERITAGE...... 137 Introduction ...... 137 Marrickville Heritage Study as a Benchmark ...... 137 MarrickviHe as a Cultural Landscape ...... 139 Perceived Environmental Heritage ...... 144 The Migrant Experience in Marrickville: 1950s- 1990s ...... 147 1950s- The Greek Odyssey ...... 148 :Perceptions ofthe New Country ...... 149 Being a Migrant in Australia in the 1950s ...... 152 Settling In: Establishing Essentials ...... 155

iv Settling In: Sustaining Cultural Life ...... 160 Emerging Place Values in the New Country ...... 164 1970s - The Lebanese ...... 167 Perceptions ofthe New Country ...... 169 Being Migrants as Adolescents ...... 171 The Settling-In Process ...... 176 Emerging Place Values in the New Country ...... 185 1980s -The Vietnamese ...... 190 The Background to the Vietnamese Community in Australia ...... 191 Refugees to Australia ...... 192 Cross-cultural Methodological Variation ...... 192 Being Vietnamese ...... 195 Being in Exile ...... 197 Keeping the Community Together ...... 206 Marrickville as a Vietnamese Place ...... 210 Comparative Readings of Marrickville Heritage Places ...... 212 Summary ...... 219 CHAPTER FIVE...... 224 DEEP UNDERSTANDINGS OF MIGRATION AND PLACE ...... 224 Background ...... 224 Hermeneutics in Multiple Languages ...... 226 Designing the Process ...... 226 Understanding Heritage Concepts ...... 227 Special People...... 236 Lebanese Cultural Practices and Living Traditions in Australia ...... 243 Interpreting the Heritage Significance of Lebanese Places in Australia ...... 250 Hermeneutics Informed by Heritage Theory ...... 254 Hermeneutics Informed by Place Theory ...... 258 Conclusion ...... 265 CHAPTER SIX ...... 267 DYNAMICS OF MIGRANT PLACES IN TIME AND SPACE ...... 267 The Maltese Context ...... 268 Maltese Emigration ...... 269 The Maltese in Australia: a Culture of Little Traditions ...... 271 The Cultural Heritage of the Maltese ...... 272 Maltese Migration Experiences in Australia ...... 276 Everyday Life In Woolloomooloo/Darlinghurst ...... 285 Everyday Life in Pendle Hili!Blacktown ...... 295 Heritage Places for the Maltese Community ...... 302 Spatial Relationships Emerging from the Maltese Study ...... 304 PART THREE ...... 308 ACCEPTING CULTURAL PLURALISM AS AUSTRALIAN CULTURAL HERITAGE ...... 308 Preamble ...... 309 CHAPTER SEVEN ...... 311 A TYPOLOGY OF MIGRANT PLACES ...... 311 Reviewing Typologies ...... 311 The Categories ...... 316 Points of Arrival ...... 316 Places of Temporary Accommodation ...... 319 Places for Chance Encounters ...... 322 Permanent Accommodation ...... 324 Shopping Streets ...... 325 Sites of Work ...... 328 Sites of Spiritual Worship ...... 331 Places for Leisure ...... 333 Places to Sustain Cultural Heritage ...... 336

v Places of Sadness and Death ...... 339 Migrant Enclaves ...... 340 Hybrid Places ...... 342 Generic Typology Summary ...... 344 Non-Generic Migrant Places ...... 346 Summary ...... 347 CHAPTER EIGHT ...... 349 SPACE/PLACE/HERITAGE: RECONCEPTUALISING THEORY ...... 349 Locating the New Theoretical Space ...... 350 Space/Place Theoretical Revisions ...... 352 Locating Cultural Pluralism within Revised Heritage Theory ...... 364 Deepening the Nexus between Heritage Theory and Cultural Landscape Theory...... 366 Place Attachment, Migration and New World Heritage ...... 370 Revised Heritage Planning Theory...... 372 Planning Within the Space-in-Between ...... 378 Summary ...... 381 CONCLUSION ...... 383 Introduction ...... 3 83 Review ofthe Study Approach ...... 383 Major Arguments ...... 383 Discussion of Results ...... 387 General Conc1usion ...... 391 Contributions to Knowledge ...... 392 Practical Implications ...... 392 Future Directions ...... 393 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 394 APPENDIX ONE ...... 418 LISTS OF PARTICIPANTS ...... 418 APPENDIX TWO ...... 423 WORKSHOP ONE: WHAT IS MIGRANT HERITAGE? ...... 424 WORKSHOP TWO: A WORKSHOP FOR HERITAGE PROFESSIONALS ...... 431 APPENDIX THREE ...... 434 GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR WORKING WITH MIGRANT GROUPS ...... 434 Setting up a Migrant Group ...... 434 Generating Discursively Rich Material ...... 434 Interpreting Migrant Places as Heritage ...... 434 Setting up a Migrant Group ...... 435

vi PREFACE

This study has been prompted by an interest in the concept of an Australian sense of place. Over a number of years my work has focussed on what could be loosely called a landscape perspective of sense of place, including studies of broadscale natural landscapes, Aboriginal landscapes and Western influenced cultural landscapes. More recently my concern has shifted to the urban landscape and the detailed elements of everyday life in older residential areas of Australian inner cities. Many of these areas exhibit a vitality and sense of place created by different migrant groups, often over a long period of time. The intriguing question is whether these places are merely replicas of the ways of life in the countries of origin or reflections of something else, possibly related to the migration experience. Could it be the actual experience of migration and relocation that is the key to the vitality of these places? Another reason for undertaking this research was the concern that much of the migrant character of inner-city areas was being lost due to the rapid rate of urban renewal in most Australian cities. Although there were existing place studies about inner-city areas, often undertaken as heritage studies, an interpretation of migrant places was not fully understood. This raised the issue that if the value of identifying and understanding migrant places is acknowledged, how can such knowledge be obtained when much of the richness associated with these areas was only available in languages other than English? How can values related to these places, both for specific migrant groups and other Australians, be determined? These were the practical issues and questions which led me to this study.

Many creative people and scholars have attempted to interpret an Australian sense of place, however, respecting ordinary aspects of Australian places including the so-called 'ethnic' places is a recent phenomenon. Cultural diversity is not just evident in the so­ called 'ethnic' centres. The whole of Australian cultural life has been enriched by the complex interaction of migrants from highly diverse backgrounds. I suggest cultural pluralism is as deeply rooted in mainstream Australian places as it is in so-called 'ethnic' centres. It is hoped that this study will contribute to a richer understanding of the cultural diversity embedded in the fabric of Australian cities, particularly the influences of the post-World War II migrants.

vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The research for this thesis commenced in 1992. From 1992-1997, I have been working with a number of deeply committed migrant groups and individuals, all of whom have given me their time willingly with warm friendship. I would like to thank them all.

There have also been a number of scholars who have willingly spent time working with me on the concepts I have been developing. In particular I would like to thank Professor Jacqueline Burgess, Emeritus Professor David Lowenthal, and Dr Susan Thompson. I would also like to thank members of the Australian Heritage Commission, in particular Joy McCann and Alex Marsden and Elsa Aitken from the National Trust, NSW for her encouragement and support.

To my colleagues at UNSW who assisted me with the workshops, I would like to thank Elizabeth Mossop, Kathy Fook, and Cate Mitchell. To my colleagues at QUT, particularly Dr Brian Hudson and Delwynn Poulton, I would like to express my gratitude for their generosity in willingly reading drafts of this work and the general support of Glenn Thomas. My gratitude to Chris Cook for his patience and consistent help in the production of this work is deeply felt. To my supervisor, Professor Robert Freestone, I would like· to express my deep gratitude for his fine scholarship, constant encouragement and rigorous supervision.

Finally I would like to thank my dear friend, Dr Walter Baker, who has assisted me with much of this work through his keen interest, constant encouragement and invaluable editing.

viii LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 1. Cultural Pluralism within Cultural Heritage: the Research Questions ...... 22 TABLE 2.I. Symbolic Linkages of People and Land ...... 9I TABLE 3 .I. Comparative Summary of Broad Research Methods ...... I 04 TABLE 3.2. Research Methods Informing Research Questions in this Study...... I09 TABLE 3.3. Phases of the Phenomenological Method ...... 1I7 TABLE 3.4. Criteria for Interpreting Texts ...... 123 TABLE 4.1. Heritage Themes Associated with the Urban Character of Marrickville ...... I3 8 TABLE 4.2. Thematic History ofMarrickville ...... 144 TABLE 4.3. Themes and Phenomena Derived from the Greek Migrant Discourse ...... I49 TABLE 4.4. Perceptions ofthe new country: phenomena and places ...... 150 TABLE 4.5. Being a migrant in Australia: phenomena and places ...... I52 TABLE 4.6. Settling in by establishing essentials: phenomena and places ...... I 56 TABLE 4.7. Sustaining Cultural Life: Translocated Culture: phenomena and places ...... I61 TABLE 4.8. Settling in- Creating New World Greek Places: Phenomena and Places ...... 162 TABLE 4.9. Emerging Place Values: phenomena and places ...... I64 TABLE 4.IO. Themes and Phenomena for the Lebanese in Marrickville ...... I69 TABLE 4.11. Perceptions ofthe New Country: phenomena and places ...... I69 TABLE 4.I2 Being an Adolescent Migrant in Marrickville: phenomena and places ...... I7I TABLE 4.13 Settling in process: phenomena and places ...... 177 TABLE 4.I4 Emerging Place Values in the New Country: phenomena and places ...... I86 TABLE 4.15 Summary ofVietnamese Themes ofMigrant Experience and Related Phenomena ...... I94 TABLE 4.I6. Being Vietnamese: phenomena and places ...... ~ ...... 195 TABLE 4.I7. Being in Exile: phenomena and places ...... I98 TABLE 4.I8. Pioneering Vietnamese presence in Australia: phenomena and places ...... 202 TABLE 4.I9. Keeping Community Together: phenomena and places ...... 207 TABLE 4.20. Vietnamese Heritage in Marrickville: phenomena and places ...... 211 TABLE 4.2I. Migrant Heritage Places in Marrickville ...... 220 TABLE 4.22. Summary ofHeritage Places Compared to MHS ...... 22I TABLE 5.1. The Meeting Sequence ...... 227 TABLE 5.2. Questions focussed on Lebanon, Meeting One ...... 228 TABLE 5.3. Setting the Scene for the Migration Experience ...... 232 TABLE 5.4. The Guide: Bringing Closure to the first Meeting...... 235 TABLE 5.5. The Guide: Preamble and questions to set the context, 2nd meeting...... 236 TABLE 5.6. The Guide: discussion points to locate group's migration experience ...... 240 TABLE 5.7. The Guide: Introduction to Meeting Three ...... 244 TABLE 5.8. Existing Lebanese Places in Sydney and Melbourne ...... 25I TABLE 5.9. Some Special Lebanese people in Australia...... 252 TABLE 5.I 0. Muslim Lebanese community places in Sydney...... 253 TABLE 5 .Il. Places associated with the Muslim Lebanese way of life in Australia...... 254 TABLE 5.I2. Australian-Lebanese heritage significance according to the AHC criteria...... 257 TABLE 5.13. Guide for identifying places of social heritage significance ...... 25 8 TABLE 5.I4. Assessment of social heritage significance...... 260 TABLE 6.1. Cultural heritage of the Maltese...... 273 TABLE 6.2. Maltese migration experiences in Australia ...... 277 TABLE 6.3. Everyday life for the Maltese in Woolloomooloo/Darlinghurst...... 286 TABLE 6.4 Everyday Life for the Maltese in Western Sydney...... 296 TABLE 7 .I. New Heritage Criteria Suitable for Migrant Places ...... 312 TABLE 7 .2. Hermeneutic Principles to Determine Thresholds of Significance for Migrant Places ...... 313 TABLE 7.3. Reasons for Migration ...... 3 I5 TABLE 7 .4. Typology of places reflecting the migration experience ...... 3I6 TABLE 7.5. Type: Points of Arrival as Migrant Places ...... 3I7 TABLE 7.6. Type: Places of Temporary Accommodation ...... 320 TABLE 7. 7. Type: Places for Chance Encounters ...... 323 TABLE 7.8. Type: Permanent Accommodation ...... 324 TABLE 7.9. Type: Migrant Shopping Streets ...... 326 TABLE 7.10. Type: Migrant Places as Sites of Work ...... 329 TABLE 7.II. Type: Sites ofWorship ...... 332

ix TABLE 7.12. Type: Migrant Places for Leisure ...... 334 TABLE 7.13. Type: Places to Sustain Cultural Heritage ...... 337 TABLE 7.14. Places ofSadness and Death ...... 340 TABLE 7.15. Type: MigrantEnclaves ...... 340 TABLE 7.16. Type: Hybrid Places ...... 342 TABLE 7.17. Generic Typology and Sub-sets of Migrant Places in Australia ...... 345

X LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 1. The Historic Context of the Research Problem ...... 21 FIGURE 2. Theoretical Relationships, Relevance and Key Issues ...... 23 FIGURE 3. Interpretations According to Binary Opposites ...... 25 FIGURE 4. Summary of Methodological Sequence ...... 30 FIGURE 5. Theoretical Development, Migrant Places as Cultural Heritage ...... 32 FIGURE 6. Summary of the Study...... -...... 33 FIGURE 1.1. Theoretical Focus for Heritage Concepts ...... 36 FIGURE 1.2. Changing Foci of Heritage Places and Associated Theoretical Bases...... 45 FIGURE 1.3. Theoretical Space for Cultural Landscape and Critical Cultural Geographic Concepts of Heritage ...... 54 FIGURE l 4. Combined theoretical relationships ...... 70 FIGURE 2.1. Original Theoretical Relationship ...... 72 FIGURE 2.2. Links between Theories of Migration, Place-attachment and Identity within an Overarching Concept of National Identity...... 73 FIGURE 2.3. Migration, Theoretical Issues...... 76 FIGURE 2.4. Place Attachment, Theories and Issues ...... 90 FIGURE 2.5. Migrant Identity, Theoretical Issues ...... 94 FIGURE 2.6. Summary of Fine-grained Theoretical Relationships between Migration, Identity and Place attachment within Concepts ofNational Space...... l01 FIGURE 2. 7. Restatement of Overarching Theoretical Relationships ...... 102 FIGURE 3 .1. The Design of the Analytical Process ...... 125 FIGURE 3.2 Pathways to Access Migrant Communities ...... 127 FIGURE 3.3. Methodological Strategy- Case Study and Triangulation Sequence ...... l33 FIGURE 4.1. Statement of Heritage Significance for Marrickville, prepared for Marrickville Heritage Study, 1986:55 ...... :...... 139 FIGURE 4.2. Revised Statement of Significance for Marrickville ...... 222 FIGURE 5.1. Statement of Significance for Steele Park, Marrickville ...... 261 FIGURE 5.2. Statement ofHeritage Significance for a Migrant Heritage Site ...... 264 FIGURE 6.1. Statement of Significance for Woolloomooloo/Darlinghurst Maltese precinct...... 303 FIGURE 6.2. Statement of Significance for Pendle Hill/Blacktown Maltese Precinct ...... 303 FIGURE 8.1. Theoretical Superstructure ...... 350 FIGURE 8.2. Space/place Relationships between Migration, Identity and Place Attachment Theories. 351 FIGURE 8.3 ...... 364 Overarching and Interpenetration of Theoretical Relationships ...... 3 64 FIGURE 8.4 ...... 365 Emerging Heritage Paradigm from Theoretical Interrelationships ...... 365

xi LIST OF PLATES

PLATE 4.1. Undulating topography with sandstone outcrops near Cooks River. (A.P. 1992.) ...... 140 PLATE 4.2. Rolling hills including northern ridgeline marking watershed of catchments. (A.P. 1993).140 PLATE 4.3. Marrickville Police Station, Significant public building. (A.P .1993 ) ...... 142 PLATE 4.4. Stanmore Railway Station, opened in 1878, enabling workers to get to industries. (A.P.1993) ...... 142 PLATE 4.5. Early 20th century workers' cottages near industrial areas. (A.P.1993) ...... 143 PLATE 4.6. Late 19th century shopping emporia, King street, Newtown. (A.P.1993) ...... 143 PLATE 4.7. 1930s flats, typical of Art Deco flat developments in Marrickville. (A.P.l993)...... 143 PLATE 4.8. Remains of the Holt Estate, built in 1866 as an 11th century castle, in an area known as the Warren. (A.P.l993) ...... 145 PLATE 4.9. Example of large Victorian terraces, built in 1884-5 indicating high social standing of the area in the 1880s. (A.P.l993) ...... 145 PLATE 4.10. Comer shop characteristic of low cost speculative developments in the 1890s. (A.P.l993)...... 146 PLATE 4.11. Views and vistas, unexpected view of St Brigid's church steeple. (A.P.1993) ...... 146 PLATE 4.12. Remnant wall of Vicars Textile Mill where many Greek women worked. (A.P.l993) .... 157 PLATE 4.13. Existing house with Greek decorative additions to the front. (A.P .1993) ...... 159 PLATE 4.14. Greek back garden behind wall, private place for growing Greek fruit and vegetables.(A.P.1993) ...... 159 PLATE 4.15. Majestic Theatre built in 1921 as vaudeville theatre, converted to cinema in 1940s, used by the Marrickville Greek community as a cinema and for dances. (A.P.1993) ...... 161 PLATE 4.16. The Hub, Newtown-a former Greek movie house in the 1950s. (A.P.1993) ...... 163 PLATE 4.17. Coffee club (Cafe Neros) for Greek men, located above shops in Marrickville Road. (A.P.1993) ...... 163 PLATE 4.18. Low density suburb with red terra-cotta tiled roofs. (A.P.1993) ...... 170 PLATE 4.19 Local Baby Health Centre for young ...... 173 PLATE 4.20 Marrickville Pool- a meeting place for young Lebanese men. (A.P .1994) ...... 176 PLATE 4.21 Art Deco flats were too small for Lebanese families. (A.P.1993) ...... 179 PLAT~ 4.22 Row of small cottages occupied by Lebanese families. (A.P.1994) ...... 180 PLATE 4.23 Small park near flats and house in Marrickville. (A.P.1994) ...... 183 PLATE 4.24 Characteristic comer shop in Marrickville, often taken over by the Lebanese. (A.P .1994) ...... ·...... 183 PLATE 4.25 Addison Road Complex (I 994) ...... 185 PLATE 4.26 Lebanese Centre, Marrickville (A.P .1994)...... 185 PLATE 4.27 Lewisham Hospital, erected in 1889, Valued by Greek and Lebanese community. (A.P.l994) ...... 189 PLATE 4.28. The May Murray Community Centre providing community services for the Vietnamese in Marrickville. (A.P.1995) ...... 199 PLATE 4.29. Marrickville R.S.L. where Australian ex-service personnel host functions for Vietnamese migrants. (A.P .1995) ...... 200 PLATE 4.30 Marrickville Library housing a collection of Greek and Vietnamese books. (A.P.l995)... 202 PLATE 4.31. Vietnamese back garden with sacred flowers, herbs and aviary. (A.P.l995)...... 205 PLATE 4.32. Ceremonial gates in Vietnamese centre, Cabramatta, N.S.W. (A.P.1995) ...... 206 PLATE 4.33. Ceremony for Vietnamese Conference held at Marrickville Town Hall, 1994. (A.P.1994) ...... 208 PLATE 4.34. Moon Festival gathering at Marrickville Town Hall. (A.P.l994)...... 210 PLATE 4.35. Steele Park located beside Cooks River, used for Lebanese picnics. (A.P.l995) ...... 214 PLATE 4.36 Olympic Milkbar, Stanmore. Greek owned and listed in MHS(l986). (A.P.1993) ...... 215 PLATE 4.37. New Greek bakery in Marrickville. (A.P.1995) ...... 215 PLATE 4.38 Vietnamese shop in Marrickville with boxes of produce on the street and roller shutter doors.(A.P .1995) ...... 216 PLATE 4.39. Vietnamese butchery with evidence of former owners in signage. (A.P .1994) ...... 216 PLATES 4.40 Front view of Greek church, built in 1966 and listed by MHS (I 986). (A.P .1993) ...... 218 PLATE 4.41 Side view of church showing perceived poor architectural detailing. (A.P.l993)...... 218 PLATE 4.42. Greek Church at Belmore, designed by Greek Professor of Architecture and considered to be 'a beautiful church'. (A.P.1993) ...... 218

xii PLATE 4.43. St Brigid's Catholic Church, a landmark for the Greek community because of its elevated position. (A.P.l994) ...... 219 PLATE 5.1. Lebanese front garden with glazed tiles bordered by rose beds, in Marrickville. (A.P.I994) ...... 248 PLATE 5.2. Typical Lebanese picnic in Steele Park. (A.P.l994) ...... 259 PLATE 5.3. The former Stanton Melick warehouse building in Redfern. (A.P.l995) ...... 263 PLATE 6.1. Woolloomooloo house formerly occupied by Maltese, belonging to Jean B. (A.P.l996)... 279 PLATE 6.2. Early boarding house for Maltese men, Woolloomooloo. (A.P .1996) ...... 280 PLATE 6.3. Maltese boarding houses in Darlinghurst. (A.P.l996) ...... 283 PLATE 6.4. Maltese boarding houses in Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst - pastizzi factory was located in one basement (A.P.l996) ...... 283 PLATE 6.5. Interior of Sydney Maltese club in 1957. (Photo supplied by Joe B., Maltese group participant) ...... 288 PLATE 6.6. Site offormer II Boys Club, now a restaurant, Woolloomooloo. (A.P.l996) ...... 289 PLATE 6. 7. Back lane behind former club with few changes. (A.P .1996) ...... 289 PLATE 6.8. Woolloomooloo Wharf, a site of work for Maltese men in 1950s-70s. (A.P.l996) ...... 291 PLATE 6.9. Former Maltese corner store, Darlinghurst. (A.P.l996) ...... 293 PLATE 6.10. Former corner store (Gato's) near lane. (A.P.l996) ...... 294 PLATE 6.11. Maltese pastizzi shop in Darlinghurst. (A.P.l996) ...... 294 PLATE 6.12. Interior of shop, Maltese men eating pastizzi. (A.P.1996) ...... 294 PLATE 6.13 Maltese chicken farm, Pendle Hill in 1950s, photo supplied by Mary V ...... 297 PLATE 6.14 Maltese chicken farm, Pendle Hill in 1940s. Photo supplied by Therese G ...... 297 PLATE 6.15. Maltese carriers -lettuce trucks in 1940s. Photo supplied by Mary V ...... 298 PLATE 7 .I Ship at Overseas Terminal, Circular Quay, Sydney, 1962. Photographer R.Armstrong ...... 317 PLATE 7.2 Woolloomooloo Wharf, place of arrival for many post WWII migrants (A.P .1994) ...... 317 PLATE 7.3. Sydney Heads, place of arrival for 1950s-60s migrants arriving in Sydney. (A.P.I993) ..... 318 PLATE 7.4. Aerial view of suburb near Sydney airport, first experience for migrants after 1970s. (A.P.l993) ...... 319 PLATE 7.5. Former Salvation Army Hostel, Surry Hills. -a place of temporary accommodation for Greek 'brides'. (A.P.1994) ...... 321 PLATE 7.6. Place oftemporary accommodation- Maltese boardinghouse Darlinghurst. (A.P.l996). 322 PLATE 7.7 Place for chance encounters, Bondi Beach steps- a meeting place for Jewish men in 1950s. (A.P .1995) ...... 323 PLATE 7.8 Jewish men continue to meet on Bondi Beach promenade. (A.P.1995) ...... 323 PLATE 7.9. Remnant of large Croatian market garden in Blacktown, Sydney. (A.P.l996) ...... 325 PLATE 7.10 Greek alterations to house in Marrickville. (A.P.l993) ...... 325 PLATE 7 .II. Mixed migrant shops in Marrickville Road, Marrickville. (A.P .1994) ...... 327 PLATE 7 .12. Cyrils Delicatessen, established for the Austro-Hungarian diaspora in 1950s, Haymarket, Sydney. (A.P.l994) ...... 327 PLATE 7 13. Chinese market garden established in 1890s on sandy soil at Rockdale, near Sydney Airport. (A.P.l993) ...... 330 PLATE 7.14 Blessing the Italian fishing fleet, Sydney Fish Markets. (A.P.l993) ...... 333 PLATE 7 .15. Dragon in street procession for Vietnamese Moon Festival, Marrickville. (A.P .1995) ..... 333 PLATE 7.16 'The Great Greek Club', late 1960s club, Livingstone Road, Marrickville. (A.P.l994)..... 336 PLATE 7.17 Recently built Assyrian Club in South Western Sydney. (A.P.l995) ...... 336 PLATE 7.18. Place to sustain migrant culture - Islamic centre, Carrington Road, Marrickville. (A.P.l994) ...... ;...... 338 PLATE 7.19. Bunnerong Cemetery adjoining Chinese market garden on sand hills at La Perouse, Sydney. (A.P.1995) ...... 339 PLATE 7 .20. Hybrid migrant place, Marrickville R.S.L., a meeting place for Vietnamese refugees and Australian ex-service personnel. (A.P.l994) ...... 343 PLATE 7.21. Recently constructed Greek migrant's house in Marrickville. (A.P.l995) ...... 343

xiii ABBREVIATIONS

AHC -Australian Heritage Commission

ALP - Australian Labour Party

A.P. - Author's photograph

CLRU - Cultural Landscape Research Unit

ECC - Ethnic Communities Council

FECCA- Federated Ethnic Communities Council of Australia

LGA - Local Government Areas

OMA- Office of Multicultural Affairs

QUT- Queensland University of Technology

SBS - Special Broadcasting Service

UNSW- University ofNew South Wales

WHC- World Heritage Convention

WWII- World War II

xiv INTRODUCTION

What is our heritage?- the heritage for migrants? Everyone has different experiences. . .. the Shi'ites ... they have places in. the StGeorge area, ... If you ask the Christian people who came from Beirut, they live in Parramatta and Parramatta Park is important. As well in this area [Arncliffe) it is not only for us but for whole generations, Gough Whit/am Park is the Arabic Day place. This is very much our heritage. It has most important memories for us. (Sam,Lebanese resident in Marrickville, Sydney, March 1994.)

The Bondi steps have great meaning for me. It was a place where a lot of Jewish men met. It represented the experience ofsticking together- a sense of companionship was experienced when sitting on the steps. .. . The steps are a part ofmy life and they are important to me. (Alan Jacobs, Director, Jewish Museum, Sydney, June 1993.)

Well I think leaving one's country, the transplantation, is a very traumatic experience. So the majority of us who leave, we tend to preserve our culture. We become frozen in time and that is reflected in the intangible things such as customs and ways and also tangible things such as architecture. Take the Greek columns. I have never seen in Greece so many columns as I see in South Coo gee [Sydney]. (Sophia Catharios, SBS Radio, Greek Presenter, June 1993.)

Apart from everything- there is something deeper. The Greeks lived here but they never belonged. They never believed that they have something of their own. They lived; they adapted the situation - the way the houses are for example - not the same as in Greece. But they never believed that this is our past; our presence here. (Greg. Greek resident, Marrickville, Sydney. October, 1992.)

These quotes are from different migrants who have been involved in this study on migrant place-making and the role of cultural pluralism in Australian cultural heritage. They show the many subtle values that are associated with different places in Australia for migrants. They also show the cultural discontinuity involved in the migrant experience as well as unusual combinations of culture and place.

Migration is part of the cultural experience of all non-Aboriginal Australians, whether it occurred four or five generations ago or whether it is the relatively recent experience associated with the post World War II migration program, which has continued in various forms up to the present. The introduction to the study sets the context of a number of issues which prompted this research, including revisions about mainstream

15 Australian identity within the context of cultural pluralism and the way this impinges on concepts of heritage places in Australia.

Background: Heritage Places and Cultural Identity

The thesis shows that the experience of migration has resulted in an intricate web of places, migrant places, in Australian cities and towns. It also reveals that the pervasive phenomenon of migration within Australia has resulted in complex feelings about place where citizens experience life in Australia as both insiders and outsiders. Most Australians carry dual values which acknowledge a heritage from somewhere else, no matter how far back in time, together with a strong sense of being Australian. In this divided state, there appears to be a constant balancing of values derived from one's cross-cultural identity (Malouf,l998; Smith B,1989).

The study also looks at different concepts of Australian heritage. With the recent interest in cultural diversity in Australia, there has been a growing awareness of the phenomenon of intangible heritage - the heritage which lies in cultural practice and ways of life (Truscott,2000). Migrant places are an aspect of this intangible heritage. They are frequently unselfconscious expressions of the complicated way people relate to place in both the new and the old country. It could be said that the migrant exemplifies the modem metropolitan figure where migrants create a new metropolitan aesthetic and life style, re-inventing private and public places (Chambers,1994). The fluid nature of late 20th century cities enables us to enter different everyday worlds of migrants with their intriguing and sometimes disturbing difference. The outcomes of this research however, suggest cultural pluralism in Australian cities is as deeply rooted in mainstream Australian culture as it is in ethnic enclaves. Understanding different layers of meaning for diverse cultural groups in the Australian public and private landscape is nevertheless not easy, a challenge taken up in the body of this work.

Concepts of places reflecting Australian identity and heritage are shifting from the original focus on unusual and awe-inspiring wilderness to an emerging recognition of local vernacular places. As well, identity based on the outback associated with the 'Aussie battler' now accommodates an emerging identity associated with cosmopolitan cities. The shifting nature of Australian place values is briefly introduced here to provide some background to the complex theories associated with this study.

16 Australian Place Values

Shifting Heritage Paradigms

Cultural heritage and place-making are closely intertwined as concepts, but their values in the Australian context are derived from shifting paradigms. To date cultural heritage places have tended to be associated with the colonial story and the development of Anglo-Celtic Australia. The few comments by migrants included so far, indicate that mainstream Australian values related to heritage and place need to be broadened to include migrant places. Addressing heritage and place values, nevertheless, requires more than merely being inclusive. As noted by numerous commentators on the state of 'being Australian', the most recent of whom is David Malouf in his 1998 Boyer Lectures, The Spirit of Play, concepts of Australian culture and heritage are constantly destabilised by paradox (Mackay,1993; Malouf,1998). A number of reasons for this have been suggested. First, all Australians deal with cultural discontinuity in terms of place and identity (Manion,1991). Second, Australians value the concept of Australia as a land of opportunity for gaining material wealth, which is often in conflict with conserving places (Armstrong,1994c). Third, when considering what are heritage places, Australians have tended to value the natural environment as more important than the cultural environment (Griffiths,1996). As a result, heritage concepts and place values are contested and both are caught up in the elusive phenomenon - national identity.

National Identity

In the 19th century, Australian identity was most commonly aligned with the concept of colonisers in an untamed New World (Smith B,1989). At the turn of the century, there was a shift in national identity to one that reflected Australia's emerging nationhood (Davison & McConville, 1991 ). Recently there has been a shift towards inclusive representations of Australian identity which acknowledge indigenous Australians, Anglo-Celtic Australians and migrants from other countries (Malouf, 1998). Despite this shift to Australia's much celebrated cultural diversity, whose visibility is predominantly derived from the continuous migration program since the 1950s, very little is known about migrant places. Equally, little is known about whether such places are valued by migrant groups and the wider Australian community. In part, this can be attributed to the fact that such values are not easily determined. They are often locked in another language and are intimately connected with the painful experience of migration and its associated sense of loss.

17 Interrupted Identity

The experience of migration inevitably results in cultural discontinuity and confusion about identity resulting in ambivalent attitudes about Australian places. Some Australian cultural theorists (Gunew,1993; Manion,l991;Tacey,l995) point out that cultural heritage and the story of what is valuable and meaningful to Australians requires continuous narration and interpretation because chains of meaning are broken and fragmented. The post World War II migration program contributes yet another dimension to these broken chains of meaning. Thus concepts of Australian heritage and place values are fluid and often contested.

Contested meanings and the numerous arguments about heritage sites and place values also indicate highly ambivalent attitudes held about Anglo-Celtic Australian heritage. Heritage places in the Old World whose meanings draw heavily from a notion of antiquity as well as a sense of continuity with the past are cultural heritage places. Notions of antiquity in New World countries such as the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, in contrast, are invested in wilderness landscapes where they are known as natural heritage places. In contrast, places valued for their cultural heritage in the New World tend to be those that reflect ideological reasons for settlement. This is particularly true for the United States where the ideology reflected freedom from persecution and the rights ofthe individual (Lee,1992; Stipe & Lee,l987).

Ambiguity and Paradox in Australian Place Values

In Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the ideological basis for cultural identity was traditionally derived from British colonial imperialism. Inevitably in colonised New World countries there is a disparity in values between the settlers' countries of origin, which bear ancestral significance, and the new country with its emerging colonial culture. Both values have overlain, and in Australia's case largely ignored; the existing indigenous culture. Such situations require communities to hold parallel values about place which can lead to ambiguity and paradox. A further factor contributing to ambivalent values about heritage in the New World is the potential for countries to be lands of opportunity, materially and culturally. This has been particularly true for Australia, where despite British colonial imperialism and possibly because of the early convict beginnings, ideological values have been associated with egalitarianism and opportunity (Malouf,1998). In this context, Australia's early cultural heritage places have tended to reflect the pioneering history of early settlers. The subsequent history of

18 19th century towns and cities, in particular those places created from gold, wool and wheat, have added further evidence of Australia's bounty. This is reflected in places such as substantial public buildings and private mansions derived from the wealth generated at that time (Jeans,1984). Thus Australian concepts of heritage places can be seen as shifting paradigms between wilderness landscapes and those cultural places that tell the story of early colonial beginnings and consolidated wealth.

Locating Migrant Place Values

There is yet another reading of the 'land of opportunity', namely the expenences associated with migration. After early settlement, migration to Australia in the 19th century was predominantly British, with some Chinese, Germans and Scandinavians. By the early 20th century, there were also a few migrants from the Mediterranean region. It was not until the massive post World War II migration program that the migrant presence, as a form of difference, became more noticeable.

Migration is generally accepted as the process of leaving one country, usually of one's birth, in order to live in another country for an extended time. New World countries have been the destination for many migrants over the last two centuries. The reasons for migration vary. Many migrants are refugees leaving war-tom countries, other migrants follow a tradition of work practices, often due to poverty, which involve seasonal migratiqn, although in Australia the periods away extended beyond seasons. Others migrate for religious or political reasons seeking safe havens in new countries. In most cases this is associated with the phenomenon of chain migration where families regroup in the new country. There are also those who migrate for a sense of adventure and to explore New World opportunities. Finally there is a new type of migrant, the economic migrant, who reflects the fluidity of global economic capital. Migrant readings of place in this study look at all these aspects particularly focussing on the post-World War II migration program because of its scale and its resulting influence on late 20th century urban places.

It is not only important to consider reasons why people migrate, it is also important to examine the way migrants are received in the host country. Attitudes towards new migrants arriving in Australia have been characterised by periods of open encouragement juxtaposed against periods of xenophobia and racism. This has resulted in many significant migrant places being hidden, known only to specific migrant groups. Because of this, there is an urgent need to identify many of these places as the

19 knowledge associated with them may well die with the aging migrant population. Jenny, a second generation ltalo-Australian migrant explains I have an Italian background - I am second generation - denied Italian heritage by my parents who wanted to forget. But my memory is of houses we visited and the styles ofliving- the yards and so on. They were different - the grapevines and so on. . .. it was friends and gatherings in backyards. (Jenny, Migrant Heritage Workshop, in Armstrong,1993b:20.)

Thus a study of migration and place-making in Australia not only highlights the cultural discontinuity already associated with Australian culture but also the issue of heritage values associated with ephemeral places.

The research in this study has resulted in a typology of migrant places, both long-lasting and ephemeral. They can be defined as those places that reveal the history of the experience of migration in Australia and that carry meaning and value for different migrant groups. The nature of such meanings and values does not readily conform to conventional concepts of valued places, commonly seen as heritage places. Heritage places in Australia were described by the Hope Inquiry into Australian heritage in 1974 as 'things we want to keep' (Davison & McConville,1991), implying tangible objects whether they are moveable objects or fixed places. Migrant heritage, however, is more complex because it includes such intangibles as cultural practices and ways of life as well as values and beliefs.

This brief overview of issues suggests the migrant experience is an important factor in the complex and changing paradigms about the way Australian heritage places are perceived.

Introducing the Research Questions

The research focus is on migration and place-making within the broader context of heritage interpretations building on my former research on Australian 'sense of place'. The early work was predominantly informed by historical research (Armstrong, 1985, 1986). While this research uncovered some important new knowledge about aspects of the Australian cultural landscape, it did not result in the ready acceptance of conservation of cultural landscapes. To address this, I undertook three large studies between 1989 and 1991 which were aimed at identifying heritage understandings of 'sense of place' in government planning instrumentalities. The first study (Armstrong,1989b) was a qualitative content analysis of heritage studies, undertaken between 1980-1990 with the Heritage Branch of the NSW Department of Environment

20 after the introduction of the Heritage Act (NSW) in 1977. A similar study (Armstrong, 1990b, 1994c) reviewed the reports of the Commissions of Inquiry held for appeals against this Act over the same time period. Both studies provided the basis for a third study which was an extensive quantitative survey of all NSW Local Government planners about understanding and managing their local environmental heritage, the Environmental Heritage Survey (Armstrong,1991). The results of these three studies revealed two important issues. First, there was consistent confusion about what was considered to be environmental heritage and 'sense of place' within Australia. Second, there was little recognition of the impact of migration and its evidence as cultural pluralism in the urban cultural landscape in heritage studies and no recognition of this in the local government survey (Armstrong, 1991 ). Figure 1 summarises the historic context for the research in this thesis.

Cultural landscape studies

FIGURE 1. The Historic Context of the Research Problem.

Such omissions implied that heritage planning techniques did not enable an understanding of how the migrant presence could be read as heritage in the urban cultural landscape. As a result, the purpose of this study is to identify the qualities of Australian urban cultural landscapes that have been created by waves of different migrant groups. The research seeks to understand how the experience of migration results in places that reflect cultural translocation and cultural transformation. The study goes beyond simple descriptive readings of cultural landscapes and place-making, in that it explores social and cultural place meanings in the political context of Australian 'national space'. Table 1 itemises the research questions.

21 TABLE 1. Cultural Pluralism within Cultural Heritage: the Research Questions.

Introducing the Theoretical Positions

The theoretical framework for this study has drawn from four existing bodies of theory; heritage theory, cultural landscape theory, migration and identity theory and studies on place-attachment. The four areas of theory have been reviewed in order to construct a framework for the interpretation of place values. The theoretical areas provide starting points and contribute to an understanding of migrant place-making but none, on its own, is an adequate conceptual space where one can understand how the experience of migration is manifest in place. This study proposes that in order to understand migrant place values, it is necessary to look at the concept of a theoretical 'space-in-between' (Meyer,l994; Soja,l996); a conceptual area where the four different place theories overlap. Figure 2 illustrates where this space is located and highlights key issues within the four strands of theory relevant to this work.

22 FIGURE2. Theoretical Relationships, Relevance and Key Issues .

•• •• • ••• •• •• •• •• ••

' ' The space-in-between where migrant landscapes can be explored

Heritage Cultural Place Attachment Migration /Identity Theory Landscape Theory Theory Relevance Relevance Theory Relevance Politics o[.identitJ!., Social Relevance Place loss, elace- National, local, heritage Critical Cultural making, elace imagined seace. signiflcance, Geogr_aehies, consumetion. oral histories. LocalitJ!. studies.

Theoretical Interrelationships

Each theoretical area, indicated in Figure 2, has particular relevance for this study. Heritage theory provides the framework for assessing heritage values attributed to places. Cultural landscape theory facilitates interpretations of values embedded in . - ...... : . ' ' places. Both heritage and cultural landscape theory are closely interconnected. Place attachment theory is also closely aligned with cultural landscape theory through cultural geographic studies. Migration/identity is a particular theoretical nexus that has become an increasingly important area of study in the late 20th century when people are being forcibly relocated or are free to move due to the changing nature of Eastern Block countries, the Middle East and Africa< Migration theory is also a key interest in Australian cultural studies within the new awareness of Australia's cultural pluralism, including discussions about national, local and imagined space. The theoretical superstructure is derived from these four major areas, however, it is the area where these theories overlap- the space in between- that is particularly important to this study.

23 Space-in-Between

This term is emerging in a number of disciplines. The cultural geographer, Nicholas Entrikin, used the term The Betweenness of Place (1991) to explore tensions between the particular and the universal. The use of space-in-between in this study has been drawn from the landscape theorist, Beth Meyer (1994) and the cultural geographer, Ed Soja (1996). Meyer used the term to describe the marginal status oflandscape design in relation to architecture. Meyer argues that the concept of modem landscape design has been defined within the binary opposite, architecture-landscape, where this opposition implies the same differential status as culture-nature and man-woman; in other words the 'ground' or background to the main figure, architecture, culture, man. She points out that interpretations about place based on binary opposites are ways to control meaning and power by preventing lateral exploration (Meyer,1994).

Meyer proposes a different method of interpretation. Rather than binary opposites, she suggests a 'conceptual quaternary field' (Meyer,1994:33). In this field, there are interstitial and liminal spaces occupied by tropes and characters with complex relationships to one another. This is her space-in-between. I suggest that Meyer's observations on marginalised landscape interpretations can be equally applied to interpretations of migrant places.

Migrant places have been defined by a number of binary opposites, the most readily recognisable being the notion of 'mainstream/other'. There are two forms of 'other' applied to migrants, 'alien other' or 'exotic other'. Both are stereotypes and are constrained and limited by being in binary opposition to concepts of mainstream Australian culture. Instead, using the conceptual space-in-between, one can explore the continuum between these opposites. But the space-in-between offers more. It is a quaternary space, which can be experienced in terms of 'time' as well as volume. The volume of the space is filled with interstitial and liminal spaces, which are created by complex relationships and different ways of seeing. These are sites for dialogues and conversations about the experience of migration, enriched by layered interpretations. The fourth dimension, time, is not only chronological time, it is also phenomenological time. Phenomenological time is experienced time where past, present and future are not regarded as a linear chronology but as a unity (Heidegger,1962:374). Time and experience are in a constant state of reflection for migrants. In order to show the limitation of binary opposites and the potential in the space-in-between for this study, I

24 have created a set of binary opposites that could be applied to the migrant in contrast to mainstream Australians. These are set out in Figure 3.

FIGURE3. Interpretations According to Binary Opposites.

MIGRANT bipolar tension AUSTRALIAN OUTSIDER INSIDER INSIDER OUTSIDER GUEST HOST REFUGEE SAVIOUR INFERIOR Interstitial space-in-between SUPERIOR SUPERIOR INFERIOR EXPLOIT ABLE EXPLOITER EXPLOITER EXPLOIT ABLE GIVER RECIPIENT RECIPIENT GIVER

From Figure 3 it is clear that placing migrants or mainstream Australians in any of these either/or categories is highly questionable. In most cases migrants or mainstream Australians could occupy both of these extreme opposites, but what the binary opposites do not show is that each group could also occupy interesting positions along the continuum between the two ends of the bipolar scale or within interstitial spaces. Interpretations of migrant places reflect the hybridity which results from complex relationships and fluidity of identity.

Soja (1996) has taken the concept of the space-in-between, which he calls Thirdspace, into the realm ofre-interpretations ofthe 'spatiality ofhuman life' (1996:1). He argues that this space-in-between opens up one's critical abilities and geographic imagination. He suggests that 'it is more urgent than ever to keep our contemporary consciousness of spatiality - our critical geographic imagination - creatively open to redefinition' (1996:2) and to allow this awareness to expand in new directions.

Accepting that the space-in-between will the locus of this study, there are particular theoretical contributions that I would like to flag at this stage. They relate to the increasing acceptance of 'social significance' as a legitimate heritage value, the new critical cultural geographies and their particular attention to the value of locality studies, the heritage debate in terms of place loss and the consumption of place and its particular

25 impact on migrant places and finally the politics of identity and its relevance to this study.

Social Heritage Significance

There is an emerging acceptance in current heritage theory that 'social significance' is a valid criterion to determine heritage places, particularly as heritage theory moves away from the rigour of connoisseurship to a more inclusive acceptance of locally valued places (Johnston,1992). Giving value to 'social significance' also allows the recent acceptance of oral history and writings on memory and place (Connerton,1989; Samuel,1994) to contribute to heritage assessments. The validity of the spoken word and collective memories enables perceptions of heritage places to assume a depth of meaning not evident in conventional determinations of heritage places, which mainly rely on rigorous analyses of field, documentary and archival resources. Heritage places identified within the prescriptive framework of archival analyses tend to be limited to self-referential heritage assessments, whereas heritage places revealed through oral history and community studies allow for recent works on more inclusive concepts of the nature of knowledge (Foucault, 1972;Lyotard, 1979).

Cultural Landscape Theory and the New Critical Cultural Geographies

Much of the interpretative work about migrant places in this study draws from cultural landscape theory. Cultural landscape theoretical perspectives have expanded over the last decade from relatively simple mapping of landscapes altered by human influences to hermeneutically derived understandings of meaning and values related to place. In Australia, work on cultural landscapes bridges the pursuits of heritage theorists (Russell,1989;Taylor,1990,1993, 1999) with a predominant focus on heritage practice to archaeological and anthropological concerns with meanings attributed to places (McBride,1997; du Cros,l997). In the UK, cultural landscape studies have developed within the discipline known as critical cultural geography where, using a highly reflexive model of the relationship between culture and place, place values are interpreted within a revised 'landscape' tradition (Burgess,1993; Jackson,1989; Jacobs,1992,1996). This allows for the coexistence of ambivalent and ambiguous values about place, which as indicated earlier, are strongly evident in the migrant experience. Scholars within critical cultural geography are also interested in the way power and ideology influence perceptions of place (Harvey,l993; Jackson,1993; Jacobs,l992, 1996). This has partiCular relevance to those migrant places that developed as a

26 response to the repressive policies of assimilation. The new cultural geographies also challenge the ways in which heritage is perceived as a cultural orthodoxy. The concept of cultural landscapes and associated heritage places reflecting prevailing social values, are now considered part of a 'many authored realm' which reflects different histories, different contexts and different degrees of power (Cosgrove & Daniels,l988; Jacobs,l991).

The Value ofLocality Studies for Research on Migration

The recent focus on locality studies and the social production of space, seen in the work of the French and British cultural theorists (Lefebvre,l99l;Lyotard,l979; Wright,1991,1993) argues for the value of local cultures and their associated sense of place. Despite this, there has not been a close study of how some local cultures are a direct result of the experience of migration. Work in United States has explored urban expressions of cultural diversity (Lee,l986,1992). Diversity in North American cities, however, is derived from a migrant experience which occurred in the late 19th century for different reasons and in a different socio-economic context. The work in this study highlights the particular aspects of the Australian migration program which, despite having parallels in Canada and United States, also has important differences.

Consumption ofPlace

The new reflexive theory of place parallels intense discussion about the role of heritage in contemporary society and the growing phenomenon of the 'heritage industry' (Hewison,l987; O'Hare,1997). The debate about the difference between history and heritage surfaces at a time when a number of heritage issues - concern about loss of heritage places, concern for rigour, concern for inclusiveness, and concern for sustainability - collide, causing confusion and a retreat to former orthodoxies. In parallel with these arguments the heritage industry has seen economic potential in the commodification of so-called 'heritage places' for the tourist industry (Anderson,l993; Urry,1995). These issues are highlighted here to show that not only are heritage places many authored realms, their values are highly contested. Distortions of concepts of heritage, described by David Lowenthal in his book Possessed by the Past (1996), occur in all areas related to heritage, but more particularly at the popular level when heritage is associated with tourism. Migrant cultural heritage is not immune from this phenomenon. The dilemma for migrant heritage places is that many of them are marginal economic enterprises created to fulfil minority cultural needs. They are

27 vulnerable economically and physically, often to be replaced by bigger brighter versions of a commodified ethnicity.

Politics ofIdentity

Recent prolific writings on migration set in the particular history of Australian migration policies over the last fifty years (Jordens,l995; Jupp,l996; Murphy,l993) contribute to this study, but it is the work in Britain (Burgess et al,l988a,l988b,1988c; Jackson,l989; Jacobs,l992; Keith & Pile,l993) and United States (Hayden,l995; Lee,l992; Sandercock,l998a) on the politics of identity that provide pertinent insights into the nature of place attachment for disempowered groups. Here the conceptual 'space-in-between ' provides deep understandings about the migrant experience and its relation to the politics of identity. It is hoped that by revealing the fragile and ephemeral nature of many places associated with migration and the subtlety of their social value, migrant communities can make more informed decisions about the future of migrant heritage places. This awareness, however, occurs at a time when the politics of identity are a focus of intense concern in Australia at the tum of the 21st century. The anthropologist, Ghassan Rage, has highlighted the particular tensions associated with 'white culture' in multicultural Australia and the associated rise in neo-fascism (Rage, 1998).

Methodological perspectives

A number of demographic and survey studies have · been undertaken on migrant communities in Australia (Burnley,1996; Burnley et al,l997; Murphy & Watson,1994). In addressing the research questions for this study, however, the form of inquiry draws from developments in phenomenological thought and hermeneutic readings of place. Methods such as surveys, while having the virtue of being representative of the broader community, are unlikely to supply the understandings needed in this research because the issues to be understood here are not easily articulated by migrants. Instead, a more effective way of determining meanings related to place is to engage both the people whose values are being researched and the researcher in a mutual exploration of the problem. Such understandings often lie within the philosophical approach known as phenomenology; which seeks to describe the essence of experience of the everyday lived world (Spiegelberg,1975). A parallel philosophical development used in this research is the concept of hermeneutics or the study of interpretations. Hermeneutics most commonly is applied in those situations where the meanings encountered are

28 layered, multiple and not immediately understandable (Gadamer,1976; Madison,1988). Accordingly, phenomenology can be summarised as. focusing on descriptions of experiences while hermeneutics interprets these experiences.

In this work, a number of different migrant groups have participated in both workshops and in-depth discussions focussing on the experience of migration and how it is associated with place-making. Discussions from the workshops and case studies form the empirical data which, using phenomenological hermeneutics as the interpretative vehicle, have been subject to content analyses. As a result of this process, themes emerge which indicate how and why particular places reflect the experience of migration. Migrants who have contributed to this study include different migrant groups in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane as well as a group of migrants from many different European countries who came to work on a hydro-electricity project in Southern New South Wales. The ways in which the participants were selected and recruited is explained in Chapter Three. Representatives from selected migrant groups make up three case studies. The case studies have been chosen to explore different aspects of migrant place-making, including the impact of changing policies about migration to Australia. Thus the migrants in the study include those who came in the early 1950s, known as the 'period of assimilationism', others who arrived in the late 1960s, known as the 'period ofintegrationism' as well as those who migrated in the late 1970s and early 1980s, known as the 'period of multiculturalism' (Jordens,1995).

Analyses of transcripts of discussions have focussed as much on the rhetorical form and language used as on the content. Particular attention has been paid to expressions that revealed insights into the migration experience for each specific group. Data from the discussion groups have been contextualised through historical information about particular groups and analyses have been informed by the overarching theoretical framework. The methodological sequence is shown in Figure 4.

29 Migrant Place Making Observations

WORKING THE DATA

FIGURE4. Summary of Methodological Sequence.

Thus the study can be summarised as going beyond descriptive readings of cultural landscapes and place-making, in that it explores the social and cultural constitution of place meanings in the political context of migration to Australia.

Structure of the Study

The work is presented in three parts; Part One: Cultural Pluralism Outside Cultural Heritage sets the parameters of the study in three separate chapters. Chapters One and Two outline the theoretical terrain of the thesis. Chapter One focuses on a critique of heritage theory and practice, drawing from the history of heritage practice in Australia and the ways it has or has not been responsive to community values. It includes an analysis of critical cultural geographies and their relationship to cultural landscape theories embedded in sense of place. The chapter looks at debates and theoretical issues associated with heritage interpretations, particularly issues associated with heritage interpretations in New World countries. Analyses of issues related to the interpretation of sense of place and place attachment reveal that place-attachment is often associated with interpretations of cultural identity. Issues of identity are specifically addressed in the second theoretical chapter.

Chapter Two explores the theoretical background to the concept of cultural pluralism in Australia. It provides a history of the migration program and the changing community attitudes to this program. The discourse on migration, place and identity is explored with particular reference to post-structuralist interpretations of multiculturalism and difference. The migrants studied in this work represent a number of reasons for

30 migration, which are closely related to loss of place and place-attachment in both the old and new countries.

Chapter Three explains the methodological approach used. It describes the range of research paradigms which can be deployed for this work, the nature of data in this study and the way it is analysed centring on the phenomenological hermeneutic approach to interpreting discursive data. It also highlights the particular sensitivities involved with researching minority groups.

Part Two: Migrant Place-Making uses case studies to explore migrant place-making and associated heritage values in three different ways drawing out the different responses to migration and as a result migrant place-making during the changing political climate from 1947 to the early 1980s. Chapter Four is a comparative study showing the way in which current heritage practice is not fully representative of all constituents. It looks at one inner-city area in Sydney contrasting a range of perceptions of heritage held by different migrant groups for one place. Using the conventional heritage practice of a heritage study, Marrickville Heritage Study done in 1985, as the framework, a number of other perceptions of heritage are explored; Greek, Lebanese and Vietnamese. Chapter Five uses phenomenological hermeneutics to deepen an understanding of migration and place by examining ways in which culture is transposed and transformed through the experience of migration and how this is evident in places. This chapter extends the insights gained in the first case study, using one group, the Lebanese, to develop a research technique enabling depth of exploration of the experience of migration. Chapter Six shows how urban centre and periphery tensions affect the settling process of selected migrant groups, using the Maltese community who settled in the inner-city and on peripheral small farms as the third case study. This group also revealed the· complexity and range of values within one migrant group over two periods of migration. The three case study chapters provide the rich data from which thematic interpretations on migrant place-making are drawn.

Part Three: Including Cultural Pluralism As Australian Cultural Heritage develops the results of Part Two into a new theoretical position about migrant place-making. Chapter Seven brings together all of the interviews and workshops with migrant groups in the form of a typology of migrant places in Australia. Chapter Eight revisits the theoretical framework in Chapters One and Two and presents revisions about place and heritage theory based on the synthesis of all the insights gained by interrogating

31 heritage, cultural landscape, place attachment, identity and migration within the space­ in-between. Chapter Eight also explores the thematic tension between accepted planning practice and a more inclusive concept of Australian cultural heritage including the contested nature of place values within migrant groups. The process of theory development is indicated in Figure 5 and the structure of the study is summarised in Figure 6.

Including Cultural Pluralism as Australian Cultural Herita~e I REVISED THEORY I I I TYPOLOGY OF PLACES RECONCEPTUALISED MIGRANTSPACE~LACE

FIGURES. Theoretical Development, Migrant Places as Cultural Heritage.

To summarise, the study presents an argument for the value of understanding migrant places. It aims to show that sense of place is derived from many impulses collectively expressed over time where Australian identity is closely aligned with the landscape, in all its facets; wilderness, rural and urban. To date, urban places have been seen as expressions of Anglo-Celtic Australian heritage. Late 20th century Australian places are imbued with complex values, many of which are not fully understood. Although there are vibrant and robust expressions of recent migrant cultures, expressions of early post World War II migration are less easily discerned. As a result they are highly vulnerable to being lost. Like most countries at the tum of the 21st century, Australian places are being subject to rapid change due to global capital. This has set up tensions between homogenised expressions of place and local distinctiveness. There are many valued aspects of local distinctiveness in late 20th century Australian cities, including evidence of migrant place-making.

32 PART ONE: Cultural Pluralism Outside Cultural

THEORETICAL •• •• FOCUS •• •• •• •• ••••••••

space-in-between is the space to explore migrant landscanes

PART TWO: Mi2rant Place Makin!!

WORKING THE DATA

PART THREE: Including Cultural Pluralism as Australian Cultural HeritaPe

THEORY DEVELOPMENT I REVISED THEORY I I I TYPOLOGY OF PLACES RECONCEPTUALISED MIGRANTSPACEPLACE

FIGURE6. Summary of the Study.

33 PART ONE

CULTURAL PLURALISM OUTSIDE CULTURAL HERITAGE

34 Preamble

The first part of this study examines the theoretical background which has located cultural pluralism outside concepts of cultural heritage. The theoretical framework revealing this phenomenon is informed by existing theories about heritage and place.

Chapter One explores heritage and cultural landscape theory. The conceptual development of heritage embraces the theoretical areas associated with cultural landscape studies and cultural geography, with the discipline of planning seen as the key instrument in identifying and managing heritage places. The theoretical terrain associated with heritage thus encompasses both conceptual heritage issues and heritage planning practice.

Chapter Two establishes the theoretical framework in which to understand the ways cultural pluralism has been marginalised in terms of cultural heritage in Australia. The particular theoretical areas relevant to this issue draw from the history of Australian migration policies, theories about place attachment and the growing body of theory on migration and identity.

The theoretical framework provides the interpretative superstructure used to identify and understand Australian migrant places, the focus of this thesis. The methods used are explained in Chapter Three. Seen together, the theoretical chapters show that cultural pluralism is a strong aspect of Australian cultural history which to date has remained outside concepts of mainstream Australian cultural heritage.

35 CHAPTER ONE LOCATING THE THEORETICAL SPACE: HERITAGE CONCEPTS

The theoretical space in this chapter occurs in the overlap of established areas of heritage theory and cultural landscape theory. Shifts in concepts of heritage over the last two centuries provide an argument for a new space for concepts of heritage informed by the new critical cultural geographies. Another potent impetus for heritage theory development since the 1960s has been the tension between the pragmatic needs of heritage planning practice in contrast to ideological theories about heritage.

The first section of the chapter deals with conceptual shifts and planning tensions in heritage theory. The second section provides an overview of cultural landscape theory as a basis for interpreting values related to place. Both sections set the context for investigatiOns into cultural pluralism as heritage. Figure 1.1 shows the relationship

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE THEORY

between these two theoretical areas in the first section of this chapter.

FIGURE 1.1. Theoretical Focus for Heritage Concepts.

36 Shifting Heritage Concepts

In 1990, when I began research into cultural pluralism as a dimension ofheritage, it was a clear departure from accepted notions of heritage in Australia. In reviewing the theoretical development of the concept of heritage during this century, however, one can see a certain inevitability that inclusive notions of heritage would emerge. The following brief review of the background of 20th century heritage concepts shows how chauvinist ideas of 'nation' have gradually been relinquished to allow for a more sophisticated understanding of national identity and its associated heritage. The review also shows how parochial ideas of heritage places have been supplanted by concerns about global heritage. Migrant places as heritage allow for another dimension of heritage in the growing global phenomenon of relocated people.

European Heritage Paradigm Shifts in the Early 20th Century

In the introductory chapter, it was noted that values related to heritage and place are often conflated with concepts of culture and identity. The designation of heritage places has tended to reflect the particular cultural concerns of the day, both internationally and nationally. In Europe, the 19th century heritage focus had been on the conservation of patrician properties and family heritage. By the 20th century this was broadened to the concept of 'national heritage'. The Australian historian, Graeme Davison suggests this shift in European notions of heritage is related to the emergence of new European nation-states seeking to legitimate their newness through pride in their cultural practices and political ideology (Davison & McConville,1991). It was in this climate that the first international charter for the conservation of cultural heritage, the Athens Charter, was prepared by the League of Nations in 193 3. The 193 Os was also a period when wilderness landscapes in Europe were seen as heritage places. This interest grew out of the German bushwalking movement with its sinister implications for heritage and national identity associated with so-called culturally pure landscapes (Groening &

W~lschke-Bulmahn,1989). Parochial concerns in Europe continued to underpin notions of heritage until the drastic changes associated with World War II including the pervasive impact of post-war development on European cities.

37 Heritage Concepts in, the New World

There are particular differences between New World and Old World concepts of heritage. The heritage theory informing this study emerges from the cultural perspective associated with New World countries such as Australia, North America, Canada and New Zealand (Annstrong,l994b; Domicelj,1990). An exploration of heritage concepts in Australia reveals that until the global heritage concerns of the 1960s, interest in Australian built heritage was limited to a few scholars (Freeland, 1972; Morton, 1970). There had long been an interest in natural heritage including concerted action to protect wilderness areas, which in the New World were invested with a sense of nationalism associated with the indigenous landscape, evident in their title as 'national parks'. When the first national park was established in United States in the1870s, Australia followed soon after by establishing the second national park, Royal National Park, in 1872. This interest continued with the designation of other Australian national parks in the late 19th century and· a resurgence of interest in bushland heritage in the 193 Os.

Concern to protect natural heritage areas did not extend to cultural heritage places. Aboriginal cultural heritage was ignored and apart from a small group of people who established the National Trust in 1945 in order to protect colonial Georgian and high Victorian examples of housing, there was little desire to protect the urban fabric of Australian cities and the rural countryside (Richards,1982). Such lack of concern about built heritage and Aboriginal culture continued until the community activism in the 1970s which was predominantly associated with the destruction of inner-city workers' housing (Ashton,1993).

In the United States, 19th century concepts of heritage similarly focussed on wilderness landscapes. Unlike Australia, however, heritage places were also aligned with the ideology of a New World republic, including places associated with such heroic figures as Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln (Stipe & Lee,l987). By the 1920s, new concepts about heritage places were emerging as a result of the work of the geographer Carl Sauer (1925), who recognised the heritage value of productive landscapes as sites of human history. This work was developed further by studies undertaken by other humanistic geographers in the 1950s (Kniffen, 1962; Zilenski, 1951 ), the most evocative of which were the writings of J.B. Jackson in his magazine Landscape (Jackson,1951,1952). Jackson, through his emotive editorials during the 1960s, was

38 also instrumental in alerting the American community to the loss of the vernacular heritage in their cities.

Heritage Awakenings within a Global Context

The period after World War II initiated a global change in 20th century attitudes to heritage places thus influencing revised concepts of Australian heritage. Internationally, unbridled growth and development throughout the first world was affecting the quality of places, not only vismilly but also environmentally. As a result the concept of heritage was shaped by the specific nature of impacts on the physical and cultural environment. United Nations, through UNESCO, took a lead in addressing these problems. At first, the focus was on monuments and historic sites, initially damaged by the war and further damaged by urban redevelopment. By 1965, so great was the concern about the loss of urban heritage that UNESCO established the International Congress of Historic Monuments and Sites, known as ICOMOS. One of its early activities was to replace the Athens Charter with the Venice Charter in 1966 (Pearson & Sullivan,1995). The Venice Charter, however, focussed on preservation and restoration of historic monuments and did not deal with larger heritage management issues. Developments such as high rise towers in older cities and the impact of highways and industrial infrastructure in rural areas continued to cause concern. By 1968, UNESCO responded to this by broadening concepts of heritage places to include settings of monuments and historic buildings. Thus by the 1970s heritage places were seen as rare and inspiring monuments, historic buildings and antiquities; all located within sufficient setting to sustain their sense ofhistory.

In United States there were similar shifts in the focus of heritage, namely from wilderness landscapes to the urban fabric of cities. This, likewise, was prompted by the impact of post-war growth and development. The racial issues associated with decaying city centres added further weight to the plight of 19th century urban heritage. Growing community concern resulted in the American National Historic Preservation Act (US) in 1966, foreshadowing similar legislation a decade later in Australia. Much of this heritage was associated with the 19th century migration of Europeans to North America, but there was little recognition of this in heritage assessments.

By the 1970s, the effects of post-war growth and development were also damaging natural areas, including the extinction of many species of fauna and flora. Such were

39 the global concerns about natural heritage that the World Heritage Convention was adopted by UNESCO in 1972 (Pearson & Sullivan,1995). Australia was one of the early signatories to this Convention. Davison speculates that the Australian government's haste, under the new Labor Government's leader, Gough Whitlam, to become a member of the Convention and to embrace the patriotic term 'National Estate', may have been driven by a desire to legitimate the new political regime. Whitlam sought to do this by encouraging pride in an Australian identity and its associated national heritage (Davison,1991). With the passing of the Australian Heritage Commission Act (AHC Act) in 1975 and the formation of an Australian arm of ICOMOS in 1976, there was a dramatic revision of the notion of Australian heritage. An Australian version of the Venice Charter was developed, the Burra Charter (1979), which provided clear guidelines on how to assess the Australian heritage significance of places. Concurrently, the Conservation Plan (Kerr, 1979), a specifically Australian heritage planning instrument, was published.

During the 1980s Australian heritage interests began to include cultural landscapes. Unlike the United States, there had not been the same interest in the cultural landscape in Australian geographic circles in the 1950s. Instead geographers had focussed on physical interpretations of the landscape, a further indication that in Australia, the predominant values related to the natural landscape. It was not until the 1980s that the cultural landscape was seen as an important aspect of Australian heritage. In many ways New World countries led the interest in cultural landscapes as sites of heritage in the 20th century. In Europe it took twenty-six years for UNESCO to move from the importance of settings for historic sites and monuments to acknowledge cultural landscapes as heritage places in their own right. This was fully legitimated by the UNESCO Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention (1994) (Jacques,1994;Bennett,1996). The acceptance of cultural landscapes as heritage opened the door to different ways of seeing heritage places, including the recognition of heritage values in vernacular places with their associated community meanings.

Because of the increasing interest in protecting heritage places, inevitable tensions surfaced between development interests and heritage planners. In Europe, heritage places were so embedded in European cultural identity that conservation planning processes were accepted in older cities. But in New World countries, where the concept 40 of heritage places was still in a state of flux, heritage places were often defined as a result of contests in the courts, where the legitimacy of definitions of heritage places was argued. In Australia, one of the early forms of heritage legislation, the NSW Heritage Act of 1977, allowed for appeals against Permanent Conservation Orders on heritage places. When such appeals occurred, a Commission of Inquiry was set up to investigate whether the place under consideration was an example of Australian heritage. The legal arguments and the text from expert witnesses provided an important forum for concepts of heritage. A close examination of the reports of the Inquiries showed that there was much confusion about what was environmental heritage in Australia (Armstrong, 1994c).

By the late 1980s, heritage places took on a different value because they were now seen as possible sites for revenue generation. The British journalist, Robert Hewison, coined the term 'The Heritage Industry' in his numerous articles about the commodification of heritage (Hewison, 1987). Throughout the world so-called heritage precincts were being used to revitalise flagging economies through cultural tourism. As a journalist, Hewison was keen to expose the undermining of the integrity of British patrician heritage by commercial interests. He suggested that heritage in the 1980s had become anything a community wanted. No longer was value determined by precise historical qualities but rather by evocative resonances for the global tourists (Hewison, 1987). The heritage theorist, David Lowenthal, while eschewing the issues of the 'heritage industry', defended concepts of heritage as reconfigured pasts, thus opening the possibility for a more reflexive understanding of heritage values (Lowenthal,1985,1996).

Post-Modern Revisions about the Concept of Heritage Places

In the 1990s, drawing from the French philosophers' writings about everyday life and the value of local distinctiveness, the French sociologist, Lefebvre (1991), and the French philosophers, Lyotard (1979) and Foucault (1972) argued for different interpretations of knowledge, thus providing legitimate reasons for the value of subjective responses to place. This was fuelled by the fact that, despite the rigour of heritage legislation, the rate of change was so fast that many familiar and everyday places were being lost. Most commonly this happened because local places lacked the distinguishing qualities required to meet heritage assessment criteria. In response to this

41 loss, a community conservation movement called Common Ground was initiated in Great Britain in 1985. By the 1990s this movement was flourishing with a range of community based heritage programs throughout Britain and in Australia (Clifford & King,1985; Arrnstrong,1992). Meanwhile in Mexico, the 1990 Mexican Committee of ICOMOS prepared the Declaration of Oaxaca which focussed on 'cultural heritage in daily life and its conservation through community support' (Australian ICOMOS, May 1990). The focus on community values was also taken up by the Australian Heritage Commission through projects exploring the complex issue of 'social heritage significance'. In 1992, a discussion paper 'What is Social Value?' prepared by Chris Johnston, paved the way for the Australian Heritage Commission to initiate a number of projects related to community values. Thus by the late 20th century, recognition of the value of local places and ways of life had opened up the possibility for migrant places to be considered as heritage places.

In North America, some pioneering work on cultural heritage associated with ethnic diversity had been done by Antoinette Lee of the US National Parks Service (Lee, 1986, 1992). As well, Dolores Hayden, an architect and historian, wrote about public histories of minority groups and their relationship to cultural heritage in the urban landscape (Hayden, 1995). Both writers were concerned to empower minority groups. This thesis builds on their work by undertaking research with migrant groups to understand how the experience of migration is evident in physical places.

1 20 h century concepts of heritage thus reflect iterative changes in both local and global concepts of heritage. Such radical changes required corresponding shifts in the theoretical underpinning of heritage concepts.

Corresponding Shifts in Heritage Theory

The theoretical framework for concepts of heritage draws from a spectrum of disciplines stretching from classical studies to contemporary philosophy and popular culture. The body of theory supporting 19th century concepts of heritage places as patrician estates drew from a study of the classics, reflecting antiquarianism and connoisseurship (Price,1810; Fletcher,l950; Clark,l969). This aspect of heritage theory continues to play a role where for example, the heritage theorists, O'Keefe & Prott (1984), in their five volume study on Law & Heritage drew their definition of heritage from the classicist, Kenneth Clark's definition of culture (Clark,l969). His definition is limited 42 to notions of high culture despite numerous writings by others recognising less exalted forms of culture (Gramsci,1973; Hall,1980; Williams 1961, 1973, 1981). The early 20th century shift in concepts of heritage to include representations of national identity did little to destabilise the primacy of history and the classics as the core theoretical base for heritage concepts.

It was the concept of New World heritage as wilderness places that provided the first shift in theoretical perspective. Scientific theories related to the encyclopaedic collection of data defined these places as heritage places, using the scholarship of 19th century collectors of flora and fauna to legitimate the value of wilderness heritage (Griffiths,l996). It was not until the late 20th century that wilderness heritage places were recognised as spiritual and therefore cultural places, drawing their legitimacy from anthropological and cultural studies (Jones,1991;Tacey,1995).

By the mid 20th century, global heritage concerns about the destruction of monuments resulted in an initial return to antiquarian studies. However it was the central concern about the management of heritage places under threat from modernist developments, which resulted in the rapid growth of a new body of theory related to heritage conservation. In Australia, this new theory was an eclectic combination of quasi­ science in the form of the Conservation Plan (Kerr,1979), historical geography (Jeans,1984) and new landscape assessment theories (Zube et al,l975) associated with state of the art mapping technologies and quantified values used to support assessments of 'Outstanding Universal Heritage Value' required by the World Heritage Convention (WHC,1972). Added to this catholic mix were theories derived from heritage law (Boer et al,l994; O'Keefe & Prott,l984), and the economics ofurban planning (Bamett,1974). Unfortunately the shift to parametric theories involving quantified relative values, despite producing growth in knowledge about the management of heritage places, also resulted in a significant loss of heritage places. This occurred through the application of parametric theory in legal contests between conservation and development. By ranking and applying numerical values to heritage places, it was possible to manipulate the legal system so that only the most unusual examples of heritage places were considered to be suitable for conservation.

By the late 20th century,. the impact of post-modern thought allowed the theoretical basis for heritage determinations to be opened to non-parametric theories. Revised concepts

43 of the nature of knowledge permitted heritage theorists to challenge the prevailing hegemony and its rigid criteria (Jacobs,1991,1996; Lowenthal,1985, 1996). It was now cultural geographers (Burgess et al,1988,1988b,1988c; Jackson,1984, 1989; Meinig,1979; Relph,1976, 1987,) and cultural theorists (Hayden,1995; Lefebvre,1991; Malouf,1998; Manion,1991; Samuels,1979) who provided the theoretical foundations for determining heritage places. The French theorists, Bachelard (1969) and Lefebvre (1974,1991), in their studies on space, introduced the importance of local difference in places. Bachelard recognised the value of heterogeneity in his phenomenological study of space. He suggested that experiences people have in spaces and their associated memories generate the qualities of place. This contrasted with the prevailing heritage theory which tended to define qualities of place by their observable physical characteristics. Lefebvre also wrote of the importance of local places in his book on The Production of Space (1974,1991). The works of this wide group of scholars resulted in notions of heritage places being broadened to include familiar and everyday places because of their social value and associations with everyday life.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the theoretical underpinning of heritage concerns draw from all the areas mentioned. Although notions of what is a heritage place have broadened and as a result have become more inclusive, none of the former orthodoxies have been relinquished or supplanted. Heritage like many forms of scholarship in the early 21 51 century can be interpreted in a number of equally valid ways. Figure 1.2 shows the changing nature of heritage places and the iterative construction of late 20th century heritage theory.

44 CULTURAL NATURAL HERITAGE THEORETICAL HERITAGE PLACES POSITIONS PLACES Humanities Sciences 19th Century

Early 20th Century National Rarks 1960s

1966

1980s

1990s

Ways of National Parks Life& Traditions

FIGURE 1.2. Changing Foci of Heritage Places and Associated Theoretical Bases.

Specific Theoretical Issues for this Study

The changing heritage emphases during the 20th century reflect an increasing sophistication in the perception of heritage and its relationship to culture and identity. The important issue for this study is the way in which the changing paradigm from purely patrician places to include local places has made it possible to consider migrant places as heritage. There are, however, a number of tendencies in heritage practice in Australia which are either acting against the acceptance of migrant places as heritage or require further development in order to facilitate an understanding of their heritage value. These tendencies relate to tensions in heritage planning, including continued scepticism about subjective values as well as the need for further development in the theoretical underpinning of community or social value which is still at a somewhat 'warm and fuzzy' level.

45 Theoretical Tensions in Heritage Planning Practice.

The main tension in heritage planning relevant to this study relates to the issue of definitions and the concept of ranking heritage places. There is also tension between heritage planning practice involved in legislative protection and the role of the Australian Heritage Commission (AHC) in developing new ways to interpret Australian heritage places. The theoretical underpinning of planning practice is orthodox and conservative whereas the AHC is able to initiate research into new theoretical approaches because it is relatively free from the day to day protective devices that occupy State and Local Government planners.

Definitions

Theory informs heritage practice in three significant ways; first by providing enabling definitions, second by providing documentary knowledge and third by providing reflexive critiques. Definitions of heritage vary. The ways in which they vary reflect changing concepts of heritage and changing pressures on heritage places. As indicated, early definitions tended to focus on 19th century concepts of patrician inheritance where heritage was seen as a birthright. There was little argument about defining and managing such heritage as it was synonymous with European power structures (Cosgrove,1986). It was the New World definition of wilderness heritage as 'national heritage' that encouraged an egalitarian sense of heritage, albeit constrained by clear preference for natural heritage over cultural heritage in heritage planning.

When the World Heritage Convention (WHC) came into force in 1975, comprehensive definitions of heritage were enshrined in statutory documents. At this stage the concept of ranking heritage items on the basis of 'outstanding universal value' was introduced in order to be selective about heritage places. Clearly fuelled by the conflict between development and conservation, the focus of heritage places was skewed towards the pragmatics of urban planning, with the resulting increase in rigour in the assessment of heritage sites. The role of the expert shifted from the expert as connoisseur to the expert as urban planner. In Australia, a number of planning instruments were developed to address the ranking of heritage places (Davison & McConville,1991). This generated clear tension between inclusive/comprehensive or selective/exclusive heritage values.

46 The Burra Charter (1979,2000) and The Conservation Plan (Kerr,1979,1990) were seminal heritage planning and theoretical tools. Heritage professionals, keen to develop heritage practices that were specific to Australia, decided not to use the WHC definition of cultural heritage which focussed on the term 'sites'. Instead they chose the term 'places' because it was deemed to be more inclusive, particularly as it allowed for the inclusion of settings of buildings and larger landscapes. Despite this, implicit in both documents is the intention that heritage places will be ranked. In contrast, the Australian Heritage Commission wished to keep the definition of heritage as broad as possible. They defined heritage as 'things we want to keep' (Pearson & Sullivan, 1995).

During the 1980s, tension developed between those heritage planners who sought to consolidate quasi-scientific ways of defining and assessing heritage and heritage bodies who sought to make the process of understanding heritage more accessible. Planners requiring tight sets of definitions and criteria, commonly had to defend their assessments in courts of law. In contrast, the planners associated with the Australian Heritage Commission were concerned with ensuring that the Register of the National Estate reflected a full understanding of heritage places. Litigious aspects of heritage practice was only one aspect of the purview of the AHC. A third group, predominantly academics, were strongly influenced by the emerging cultural theories and so argued that heritage places were derived from wider concerns than merely closely worked historical studies.

The Conservation Plan & Burra Charter.

The different aspects of professional heritage practice resulted in distinct areas of theoretical development. The Conservation Plan (Kerr,1979,1990) and the Burra Charter (ICOMOS Australia,1979,2000; Marquis-Kyle & Walker,1992) were both practical and theoretical tools used to address development pressures on heritage sites. In the Conservation Plan, the process of assessment of heritage and the development of conservation policy included a 'client' whose development requirements needed to be considered. The Burra Charter assisted the processes in the Conservation Plan by providing clearly stated criteria for heritage assessment. The rigour associated with these procedures centred ort the authenticity of the documentary evidence and the discernment required to select the best examples of particular heritage places. A body of specialist theory grew around the use of these documents (Apperly, et al, 1989;

47 Freeman,1982; Jeans & Spearritt,1980; Kelly,1982). As well, many of the Conservation Plans for heritage places were published by the National Trust. This provided examples of practice as well as documentary knowledge about a number of significant heritage places. Thus heritage planning practice was directly instrumental in the growth of documentary theory about both generic and specific Australian heritage places, however there was little evidence of migrant histories in this theory and cultural pluralism was not seen to be relevant to notions of Australian heritage.

Heritage Studies

Heritage theory also developed from another aspect of heritage practice, the heritage study. In New South Wales, heritage studies tended to be done at State and Local Government level preceding new Local Environment Plans where under the Environmental Protection and Assessment Act (1979), a range of studies were required. The State Heritage Branch, the bureaucratic arm of the Heritage Council, set up a grant system for Local Government Areas (LGA) to undertake these studies. This program

facilitated the identificatio~ of the heritage fabric throughout any LGA so that conservation policies could be introduced to minimise the threat to heritage places. It was hoped that such planning would prevent the frequent emergency action and community activism associated with Conservation Orders under the earlier NSW Heritage Act (1977). Similar processes were involved in Victoria and have been gradually introduced into other States. Freed from the urgency to produce documentary evidence for places under immediate threat, heritage studies were able to explore broader concepts of heritage and consider heritage places within the context of sense of place, commonly derived from biophysical factors and regional cultural histories.

A survey undertaken on heritage studies prepared during the 1980s, showed that they were becoming increasingly sophisticated (Armstrong,1991). Early studies in the 1980s were simple histories and inventories, predominantly of buildings. By the mid-80s, studies were developing thematic histories and by the late 1980s, thematic histories were leading to sophisticated interpretations and innovative conservation planning (Armstrong,1989b). The NSW Heritage Branch developed guidelines to assist consultants while at the same time encouraging innovative approaches to heritage studies. As a result the NSW studies varied. They were location-specific and characteristic of certain consultants' styles. The Marrickville Heritage Study,

48 (Marrickville Municipal Council, 1986) is an example of a mid-1980s study. It developed two thematic histories, one the characteristically Australian theme of 'boom and bust', the other a more elusive theme in terms of heritage management, 'the theme of change'. Both themes were used to interpret the heritage fabric of the area, but each was also sufficiently open to allow for later revisions. Another important heritage study, the Pittwater Heritage Study (Pittwater Municipal Council,1988), considered the issue of visual heritage significance and its vexing requirements for conservation in areas experiencing rapid change. This study pioneered a thematic framework derived from the landscape rather than the built fabric. The innovative Leichhardt Heritage Study (Leichhardt Municipal Council,l991) looked at themes of 'work and place' and 'land and water'. Such themes enabled conservation policies aimed at sustaining community life. Thus in NSW, heritage studies during the 1980s were becoming innovative theoretical tools.

Unfortunately the initiatives related to community life and heritage were not taken further. Instead, in 1990, under pressure to develop a rational system, the NSW Heritage Branch temporarily ceased funding heritage studies while they developed a computer data base of heritage items known as the State Heritage Inventory (SHI). All subsequent heritage studies were to conform to the categorisation developed for the inventory. With such a prescriptive system, consultants found it difficult to explore creative heritage interpretations and associated developments in theory, particularly where they related to community values.

Community Heritage Values: Concepts and Methods

The concept of community heritage values was foreshadowed by the international heritage experts, 0 'Keefe and Prott,(1984:7) as early as 1984. In the first of their five volume study on Law and Heritage, they suggest that ... implicit in the word 'heritage ' is also the idea ofsomething cherished and to be preserved. Within this precious legacy are included moveable cultural objects (archaeological resources, works of art), immoveable cultural objects (buildings, monuments and sites), expressive activities (language, and the performing arts) and intangible cultural heritage (skills, folklore, rituals, religious beliefs, intellectual traditions).

The role of intangible cultural heritage and heritage as expressive activities are central to an understanding of migrant heritage places; yet, apart from Johnston's (1992) seminal work on social value and the recent discussion on intangible heritage by

49 Truscott (2000), none of the existing forms of heritage practice facilitate an exploration of this elusive concept. · This thesis incorporates the concept of intangible heritage such as folklore, rituals, religious beliefs and expressive activities as well as the abstract notions associated with the experience of migration, all of which I will argue are evident in migrant places.

The National Estate & Thresholds ofSignificance

Along with the Australian Heritage Commission's study on social significance, there have been theoretical developments related to the concept of 'thresholds of significance'. The AHC, because of its focus on listing heritage places on the Register of the National Estate, is concerned about the nature of 'thresholds' (Pearson & Sullivan, 1995). In heritage planning terms, thresholds are the levels required for listing; above which places are listed and below which places are not. To determine thresholds for any particular criterion of heritage significance, inclusion and exclusion guidelines have been developed. .Initi~lly cultural heritage places were listed predominantly for historic significance; hence the thresholds were relatively easy to determine. Thresholds related to aesthetic significance and social significance, however, have not been easy to assess. The AHC has commissioned a number of studies to explore the philosophical issues related to determining significance and as a result has built up the body of theoretical knowledge about the practice of heritage assessment (Australian Heritage Commission,1990, 1991, 1992, 1994a, 1994b, 1994c). This is a difficult area but there is the opportunity for increased sophistication in the interpretations of what constitutes heritage value through the disciplined use of phenomenological hermeneutics.

Revisions in the Academy

In Australia, the impact of post-modern thought in academia has resulted in numerous revisions of perceptions of Australian culture and identity (Mulvaney, 1991, Morris,1993). This has become an increasing area of interest as the nation approaches the centenary of Federation in 2001. It is therefore interesting to contrast the current body of Australian heritage theory with critiques about notions of heritage. Publications by practitioners and historians such as The Heritage Handbook (Davison & McConville,1991), Packaging the Past (Rickard & Spearritt,1991), The Open Air Museum (Jeans & Spearritt,1980), and Looking After Heritage Places (Pearson &

so Sullivan, 1995) have focused on documenting Australian practice. Apart from publications on memory and its relationship to understanding history and heritage (Samuel,1995; Connerton,1989; Huyssen,1995) and the growmg theoretical development emerging from the Oral History Association (Douglas et al,1988; Frisch, 1990), the predominant theoretical literature and critiques about notions of heritage have come from the writings of David Lowenthal (1975, 1985, 1990, 1996 to cite a few of his vast number of publications).

Both Lowenthal and Davison & McConville, in developing their theoretical positions, distinguish between history and heritage. Lowenthal states that 'History explores and explains pasts grown ever more opaque over time. Heritage clarifies pasts so as to infuse them with present purposes.' (Lowenthal,1996:xi). Davison & McConville (1991:4) point out that what we value in the past is largely determined by what we value or repudiate in the present and fear in the future. History is an attempt to represent the past with objective rigour, while heritage is emotive and the needs of the present community are fundamental to its interpretation. Heritage needs in Australia are different to those in Europe or Britain or Asia. As Lowenthal (1990:15) suggests Australians confront the past less as generational continuity than as tableaux from discrete moments. The 1988 Bicentenary celebrated a particular event, not a linkage. Australian National Trust properties engage us as historic stage sets not as ancestral legacies. Compared with the Old World, family connections seem ofsmaller consequence or perhaps ... harder to find.

It is precisely this representation of history and its resulting heritage that is explored within the category of social significance and which has importance for the understanding of migrant heritage places. Apart from everyday aspects of Australian cultural heritage, Malouf in his 1998 Boyer lectures, The Spirit of Play, also highlights the issue of cultural discontinuity for Australians. As indicated in the introductory chapter, cultural discontinuity is an issue for all Australians; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, Anglo-Celtic Australians and subsequent migrants. This is a difficult area to understand in terms of allegiances and heritage values, despite post­ modern revisions in the nature of knowledge and the insightful contributions by such feminist writers as Julia Kristeva (1991). Her powerful work, Strangers to Ourselves (1991) augments an understanding of the ambivalent heritage attitudes of many migrants. Similarly the cultural theorist, lain Chambers, in his work on Migrancy, Culture and Identity (1994) provides a challenging perspective on contemporary

51 migrant experiences. Thus post-modern revisions in the academy have opened the door to interpreting differently empowered groups and their perspective on heritage as well as other ways of interpreting Australian cultural discontinuity.

Within these writings, however, there has been little criticism of the notion of heritage itself. The Australian geographer, Jacobs (1991), in her thesis on the 'Politics of the Past: Redevelopment in London' points out that there is an apparent consensus that heritage conservation is an innately 'good' thing, evident in numerous writings on urban conservation (Ford,1978; Pusch & Ford,l983; Larkham,1988; Relph,1987). There are, nevertheless, some studies which question the power and political implications of heritage conservation (Gold & Burgess,1982; Jacobs,1991,1992,1996; Tunbridge,1981,1984). In Jacobs' work on the different ways concepts of heritage are used to achieve political ends, she aligns her position with that of the historical geographer Hardy (1988) arguing for the distinction between 'heritage as a conservative concept' and 'heritage as a radical concept' (Hardy,1988; Jacobs,l991:43). This position is close to that ofthe heritage theorists Lee (1986,1992) and Hayden (1995) in North America. My study does not seek to use the concept of migrant heritage places as a radical concept to achieve empowerment, but it does reveal the political implications related to why migrant places developed.

There are also economic critiques of heritage in urban planning (Cuthbert,1984, 1987; Goss,1988) which link capital and conservation. Included in the economic critiques are the studies on gentrification which highlight 'heritage capital' as part of 'cultural capital' (Beauregard, 1986; Zukin, 1988,1992, 1995). In terms of the conservation of migrant places these theoretical works provide important observations about their vulnerability.

Summary of Heritage Theoretical Issues

There is not a large body of 20th century Australian discursive heritage theory. Instead there has been a tendency for theory to focus on definitions, professional procedures and historic documentation. Thus heritage theory falls into two areas, the realm of practice and the realm of ideology. Within the realm of practice, theory has remained parametric and exclusionary. Within the realm of ideology in Australia, recent concerns by the AHC about social significance have enabled the focus of heritage interpretations to shift

52 towards everyday and familiar places. The growing body of work in the area of Australian has also made an invaluable contribution to heritage understandings.

Outside Australia, there has been important theoretical work done on the nature of heritage. There have also been increasing critiques about the hegemonic aspects of heritage. The work in my study acknowledges the different critiques about the role of heritage in contemporary society, but does not pursue them further. Instead this study focuses on the concepts of meanings and affective values associated with heritage places. Interpreting such values has become the intellectual terrain of the new critical cultural geographies as part of cultural landscape theory.

In summary, a review of heritage theory begs the questions; What is valued? Whose values are considered? and Is heritage theory working as an operative tool in heritage interpretations? In terms of what is valued, it would appear that Anglo-Celtic Australian cultural identity and sense of place are valued highly. The issue of whose values prevail in the early 21st century highlights the shift from colonial to post­ colonial understandings. Finally the question about whether the current body of theory is adequate is the challenge this study has taken up. Despite the body of theory related to practice, heritage places continue to be lost, often through the very systems aimed at their conservation. As well, sense of place is continually eroded by the homogenising forces of late 20th century capital, despite planning processes aimed at sustaining local character. But most importantly the theory is limited in its ability to explore the hermeneutics of heritage.

In order to address this limitation, my work has located a space where heritage theory and cultural landscape theory overlap and it is in this space that more sophisticated hermeneutics of place can be explored. This area, shown in Figure 1.3, is occupied by the new critical cultural geographies.

53 FIGURE 1.3. Theoretical Space for Cultural Landscape and Critical Cultural Geographic Concepts.

Cultural Landscape Theory and the Critical Cultural Geographies

The new critical cultural geographies embrace the intersection of a number of areas of inquiry including humanistic geography, cultural landscape theory and cultural studies. Humanistic geography, by challenging the perception of geography as exclusively a positivistic science, has opened the path to studies on subjective human engagement with place. Cultural landscape theory has similarly eschewed positivistic geography, instead maintaining an historical approach to interpretations of place. Cultural studies has drawn attention to the complex issues associated with values related to place, particularly focusing on ambiguity and paradox as legitimate aspects of place values. Cultural landscape theory and the new critical cultural geographies are fundamental components of the theoretical framework in this study. Equally, the vast area of cultural studies is selectively used through phenomenological work on place (Buttimer & Seamon,1974; Relph,l976; Seamon,1993; Tuan,1974). This work has proved to be rich and varied because of its particular emphasis on emotional experiences and bonds between people and place.

The central issue for heritage interpretations seeking to include cultural pluralism is the range of human engagements with place and the ways in which different cultural meanings and values can be explicated from particular aspects of the cultural landscape.

54 The common focus of all these areas of inquiry is the concept of 'place' which in this study refers to environmental settings to which people are emotionally or culturally attached. The term 'landscape' in this study also requires clarification. In many cultural landscape studies, 'landscape' remains as an orthodox concept, namely scenes, place, or countryside (Bennett,l996; Taylor,l993,1999), whereas humanistic geographers use the term to imply a setting for human experience and activity (Rapaport,1992). Meanwhile in cultural studies 'landscape' is often used to denote a theoretical space (Morris,l993). The concept of 'landscape' that I have used is one which embraces the urban cultural landscape, namely the public domain as a setting for human activities and expressions of culture, and in many cases I have conflated 'place' and 'landscape'. In the urban landscape, people transform place into a cultural form reflecting culturally specific activities and values. In her study on heritage values and urbanism, Jacobs (1991,1992) acknowledges the value of the phenomenologically inspired, humanist perspective of place because it facilitates an understanding of the affective relationship between people and the urban environment. She also acknowledges that their contributions related to sense of place have done much to allow for considerations of place meanings and value. Nevertheless she draws attention to the general criticism of this· work because of its openness to subjectivism and idealism and its failure to incorporate material conditions, constraints and concepts of power. To support her criticisms she cites Gregory (1978, 1987), Jackson & Smith (1984) and Ley (1981 ). Chapter Three on methodological considerations addresses subjectivism, which I consider to be central to the hermeneutics of place understandings and therefore legitimate in this work. The issues of material conditions, constraints and concepts of power are explored in the closing chapters of this study where the planning implications related to contested values are considered. Addressing these criticisms, the following discussion reviews the different theoretical aspects of cultural landscape theory and the new critical cultural geographies in terms of my study.

Review of Cultural Landscape Theory

The concept of cultural landscapes includes the proposition that they are physical representations of public his~ory awaiting interpretation. Cultural landscape theory has its origins in the German geographical studies of Otto Schluter in the late 19th century. The new theory grew out of discontent about the hegemony of physical geography, considered to be the only means of interpreting landscape. Schluter argued strongly for

55 the recognition of the role that culture played in the creation of landscapes, suggesting that there should be a distinction between cultural landscapes and natural landscapes (Whitehand,1981; O'Hare,1997). Intellectual exchanges between French and German scholars at the end of the 19th century resulted in a similar movement in France through the geographer, Paul Vidal de la Blache who established the French 'pays' school. De la Blache extended the interest in landscapes derived from human influences to studies of how ways of life, customs and practices were responses to the landscape. He believed that culturally distinctive human societies were based on geomorphically distinct regions. Such an approach, while a departure from conventional geographic studies at the time, was nevertheless confined to an anthropological response to biophysical places rather than a recognition of politically or culturally determined influences on places (de Ia Blache,1926). At the same time as geographical paradigms were being questioned in German philosophical circles, the prevailing Cartesian approach to knowledge was being challenged by the German philosopher, Husser!, and his followers (Husserl,trans1970). His new philosophical inquiry, phenomenology, was similarly concerned with ways of life and customs, with particular focus on everyday life and the way it is experienced (Valle & Halling,1989).

French and German geographical studies, in parallel with phenomenological studies, lay the foundation for later studies on sense of place. The growth of this work occurred in the United States in the 1920s where Carl Sauer, influenced by both the German humanist geographers and the new developments in human geography in North America, put forward the concept of landscapes as representations of the activities and aspirations of cultural groups (Sauer, 1925).

Early cultural landscape studies still used mapping as a means of representation of human influences on the landscape. Later, followers of Sauer developed the practice of 'reading' the landscape through critical observation. Initially such readings were anthropological, but subsequent scholars recognised that landscapes were repositories of signs and symbols which were expressions of customs and values. A number of North American studies were undertaken from the 1930s to the 1960s in the form of analyses of cultural landscapes (Alexander,1966; Kniffen,l962; Jackson, 1951,1952; Wagner & Mikesell, 1962; Zilenski, 1951 ). These studies increasingly focused on the way customs, traditions, and ways of life imbued landscapes, both urban and rural, with a sense of place.

56 Sense of place and the way places can become important to communities often relate to the experiences which have occurred there. The environmental psychologist, Robert Riley (1992), suggests that such experiences become embedded in the memory of the place. He draws from Proust's work Remembrances of Things Past (1934) to bring out the power of memory and relived experiences associated with particular places. The role of memory and place is also explored by Samuel (1995) and Lowenthal (1985, 1996).

Lowenthal's early work pioneered the art of interpreting the landscape and its meanings in ways which have been seminal to subsequent heritage and place theories. From the 1960s on, Lowenthal has been pre-eminent in developing concepts of attachment to places redolent with memories and past associations. His work shifted discussions about place and cultural landscapes into the realm of values rather than mere descriptions of the ways cultural practices have created landscapes. Lowenthal saw that cultural landscapes had heritage value because of the need for human attachment to the past (Lowenthal,1975) and his subsequent works (1985,1996) have explored the complexity of values attributed to places under the aegis of'heritage'.

In Australia, apart from scenic landscape studies (Williamson,1984), the development of heritage landscape studies has predominantly focused on historic landscapes and their conservation. The work of Ken Taylor (1984) on the historical landscape associated with Lanyon near Canberra and Jim Russell's comparative study on cultural landscape assessment methodologies in USA, Britain and Australia (Russell, 1988) were important contributions to developing cultural landscape theory. Other important contributions include the writings of the historian, Sir Keith Hancock, on the cultural landscape of the Monaro region (Hancock,1972), Williams' work on the Making of the South Australian Landscape (Williams, 197 4) and the proceedings of the UNESCO conference, Man and Landscape in Australia (Seddon & Davis,1976). This was a landmark conference for the development of humanistic understandings of the Australian landscape. The proceedings set the framework for much of the inquiry into Australian landscapes for the next decade. Another contribution at this time, Joe Powell's (1978), 'Mirrors of the New World: Images and Image-Makers in the Settlement Process', provided invaluable insights into the iconography of the Australian landscape. During the 1980s, Australian cultural landscape theory included Jeans & Spearritt's Open Air Museum (1980) which presented the cultural landscape through a socio-economic filter and Denis Jeans' 57 Australian Historic Landscapes (1984) which provided historiographic interpretations. As well, the Cultural Landscape Research Unit (CLRU), established at UNSW in 1985, undertook a number of documentary studies on aspects of the landscape in the 1980s (Armstrong & Burton,1985,1988, 1989). Included in the research of the CLRU were two significant works, the pioneering heritage study on the cultural landscape of Pittwater in Sydney (Pittwater Municipal Council,1988) and the survey and analysis of environmental heritage perceptions in Australia (Armstrong, 1989b, 1991, 1994c). Concurrent with theoretical explorations on the Australian cultural landscape, in North America the US National Parks Service pioneered assessment methods for cultural landscape evaluations (Melnick, 1988).

Cultural landscape theory was also re-invigorated through the cultural geographic work in Britain in the 1980s, particularly the work on landscape meanings and values (Burgess et al,1988a,1998b,1988c; Cosgrove,1986; Cosgrove & Daniels,1988; Penning­ Rowsell & Lowenthal,1986). Significant work in North America and Canada in this area focused on sense of place, in particular the work of Edward Relph (1976) and Christian Norberg-Schulz (1980).

Sense ofPlace

Edward Relph, in his book, Place and Placelessness (1976) observes that the values people attribute to places are related to their level of empathy with such places. Relph, along with Yi-Fi Tuan (1974), was one of the early cultural geographers to incorporate a phenomenological perspective into understanding the coi).cept of sense of place. This work was picked up later by the architectural historian, Norberg-Schulz (1980), in his study of the concept of 'genius loci' and by the British geographers, Denis Cosgrove and Stephen Daniels (1988) in their work on iconography and the landscape.

Relph's work was prompted by the rise in 'placelessness' in many first world cities. Although his subsequent writings (Relph, 1987) have delved more deeply into why 'placelessness' has become a pervasive phenomenon, the insights offered in his 1976 work are more pertinent to a study on migrant place values. In Place and Placelessness, he challenges planners' and designers' single focus on systematic and objective descriptions of places suggesting that such approaches do not offer depth of understanding. Instead classifying places into categories and hierarchies imposes artificial limitations when, in reality, experiences of place overlap and interpenetrate

58 other places and other experiences (Relph,1976). As a result, places are open to a variety of concurrent interpretations. He also challenges those studies of places which are done as artistic insights, namely the work of designers, poets and artists. He acknowledges that artistic works evoke subjective responses to place but considers they are nevertheless limited because they are merely perceptions of particular artists. Like Jacobs (1991), Relph seems to be troubled by the legitimacy of certain kinds of subjective values. Instead Relph prefers objectifying places as sets of experiences which can be analysed existentially. I support his criticisms about the way classifications bring about closure of ideas, but I strongly challenge Jacobs' and Relph's comments on the limitation of the artist's observation because of its subjectivity. Numerous scholars have shown that artists are able to make manifest ambient social concerns through their subjective expressions as art. The artist frequently provides the key to enable others to understand subliminal societal issues. Art theorists such as Barker et al (1992), Crow (1996), Foster (1986, 1996), and Hughes (1986) are just a few of the many scholars who have discussed and analysed the seminal role of contemporary art issues on human relationships to culture, identity and place.

Relph's contribution to this thesis lies in his cultural geographic work on place. He suggests that there are three components to place; the static physical setting, the activities which occur in this setting, and the meanings attributed to the setting (Relph,1976). While the first two components are relatively easy to identify, the concept of meanings is more difficult to grasp. He proposes that rather than classifying places, it is possible to 'clarifY' places using the 'multifaceted phenomenon of experience of a place' and so reveal the sources of meaning or essence of particular places (Relph,1976:47). His work is similar to that of Norberg-Schulz (1980) on 'genius loci' or the spirit of place where both draw heavily from Heidegger's propositions about experience and being (Heidegger, 1971 ).

In seeking to understa.11d why we value certain places, Relph sees the importance of 'existential' or 'lived' space as particularly relevant to phenomenological understandings of place. According to Relph, existential space is constantly being made and remade by human activities. These are evident as unselfconscious patterns and structures in the form of landscapes, towns and houses. It is this unselfconscious aspect of existential space which results in places being 'centres of meaning or the focus of intention and purpose' (Relph,1976: 22). Under such circumstances the relationship

59 between community and place becomes quite powerful. This is manifest as attachment to place which many place theorists suggest is a profound human need (Altman & Low,1992; Auge,l995; Buttimer& Seamon,1974; Marris,1962; Hayden,l995).

Of particular importance to this study is Relph's exploration of the 'identity' of place. There is a difference between the identity of a place and group identity with a place based on whether one experiences the place as an insider or an outsider. Relph states 'To be inside a place is to belong to it and to identify with it' (Relph,l976:49). 'Insideness' is a complex concept in migrant communities. The migrant is caught between different states of 'insideness' in both the original country and the new country and as a result, interpretations of place values and meanings require processes which facilitate an understanding of a state of being 'between' (Heidegger, 1971; Meyer, 1994; Soja, 1996).

Relph proposes three states of insideness; 'behavioural inside ness ' which is being physically present in a place, 'empathetic insideness' which is the emotional involvement with a place, and 'existential inside ness ' which is the complete and unselfconscious commitment to a place (Relph,1976:50). Migrants experience all of these states of 'insideness'. This thesis uses a particular way of exploring both empathetic and existential 'insideness' in terms of place-attachment to the country of origin and the host country. It is achieved by a process designed to reveal group or community images of place. Relph suggests that once a community image of place has been developed, the identity of such a place will be maintained 'so long as it allows acceptable social interaction... and can be legitimated within the society' (Relph, 1976:60). This creates problems for migrant groups because of the ephemeral nature of migrant places. Migrant places are in a state of flux because migrants are in a constant state of adapting and 'becoming' (Heidegger,1971). For migrants, both these states are different. The research in this study looks at how the early places associated with migration were expressions ofunselfconscious activity (existential insideness), and later become meaningful as places where an emotional attachment persists (empathetic insideness). It is the self-conscious exploration of place, undertaken through group meetings with migrants, which facilitates understanding and reflection upon place values. Again drawing from Relph's observations on sense of place, the groups in my study reveal how 'the essence of place which lies in the largely unselfconscious

60 intentionality, defines some places as profound centres of human existence' (Relph,1976:43).

Contested Landscape Readings

Relph's subsequent work on the modem urban landscape (Relph,1987) has been criticised by the British geographer, Jackson (1989), who challenges the post­ structuralist position of treating the built environment as a 'text'. Jackson asserts that many studies described as 'reading the landscape', provide little more than an insight into the personal tastes of the author. He refers to Relph's allowing the 'landscape to speak for itself' (Relph,1987:5) as providing limited understanding into the reflexive relationship between modem urban environments and ideologies. Jackson is supported by Jacobs who points out that such approaches do not encourage reflections on politics and material culture (Jacobs,1991,1992). I challenge Jackson's and Jacobs' position in terms of my work. Both writers are arguing from a particular perspective related to politics and power in the urban landscape. By not acknowledging the contribution of the post-structuralists as another form of interpretation, they limit the layers of possible interpretations possible bringing about a form of exclusion.

I argue that the concept of landscapes being 'read' as 'texts', much of which is supported as a general trend within cultural studies and urban semiotics (Calvino,1979; Carter,l987, 1992; Eco,l986) is highly valid for this study. The use of tropes and metaphors to uncover meanings and values does not exclude reflections on politics and power. More importantly for this study, the readers of the 'text' are not only the researcher and associates, but also the migrants who created the urban landscape under study. The meaning is not imposed on the landscape by an outside interpreter. Instead the meaning is teased out through mutual exploration by the researcher and the researched. This approach is supported by the work of Gottdeimer & Lagopoulos ( 1986) on socio-semiotics. . Their work acknowledges that meanings in the built environment are not innate, waiting to be interpreted by experts, but are under the authorship of different social groups and interests. In the light of Jacobs' and Jackson's criticisms it is also interesting to look at the work of the humanistic geographer, Marwyn Samuels (1979). He researched the concept of meanings associated with place and landscape by incorporating objective mapping of geographic data with landscape meanings derived from the use of biographies. Samuels was clearly preceding the post-

61 structuralists by proposing in the mid 1970s that landscapes are authored and it is the author who gives meaning to the landscape. In this interpretation he sees the individual as a surrogate for the archetype of environmental factors, historical movements, socio­ economic forces and psychological drives (Samuels, 1979). Samuels suggests that places should be interpreted from the evidence of intent found in written explanations of why they did things the way they did, namely from the authors themselves. In my study such explanations emerge through interviews and discussions, which I suggest are similar to written biographies but less censored. The work in this study goes further in that it allows the authors to reflect upon why and how they did things and together with the researcher, develop a reflexive interpretation of place. Interestingly, Jacobs (1991,1992) herself endorsed this in her exploration of differentially empowered social groups and their interpretation of the meaning of the urban environment. Both she and Hayden (1995) suggest that there are multiple and contested meanings associated with place and that the urban landscape is a realm with many authors (Jacobs,1991).

Contested meanings are not only associated with power and place, they are also evident in the commodification of places. In the process of making the unselfconscious conscious, there is a risk that places identified as part of the experience of migration and which have value for particular migrant groups, will become appropriated as commodities for tourism interests. In Australia, with the recent recognition of the success of the multicultur~ experiment, expressions of ethnicity are increasingly becoming commodities. This is part of what Relph explores in his analysis of 'placelessness'. He suggests that places which have currency as mass identity are often little more than 'a superficial cloak of arbitrarily fabricated and merely acceptable signs' (1976:61). This is in marked contrast to place identities which have developed through 'profound individual and social experiences which constitute enduring and recognisable territories ofsymbols' (1976:61).

Another important aspect of unselfconsconscious or existential sense of place is the profound effect that loss of place can have (Altmann & Low,1992; Read,1996, Relph, 197 6). Migrants come to the new country in an existential state of loss. This is often more intense if migrants have left villages where there has been a continuous relationship with place over generations. In the new country, the loss of place generates an urgency to recreate evidence of the former place. This is an act of self-conscious place-making. Relph suggests that places created by pioneers and migrants reflect their

62 hopes and aspirations as well as their commitment to the new country (Relph,1976). I would argue that the act of creating places which give expression to ways of life and experiences in the former country, although consciously done, is driven by unselfconscious needs and experiences. In arguing for this perspective I am drawing from Henri Lefebvre's ( 1991 : 100-1 01) notions of the importance of everyday life where he states ... everyday life comprises all that is humble, ordinary, and taken for granted; it is made up of repetitions, of small gestures and insignificant actions in which all the elements relate to each other in such a regular sequence ofaccepted pattern that their meaning need never be questioned.

The ways in which migrant places in Australian cities have developed draw from just such repetitions of ordinary events. Migrant places are nevertheless more complicated than mere repetitions of everyday life now undertaken in a new country. Places created in the new country also embody an iconic quality about the migrant's home country.

The Iconography ofPlace

There is a rich body of theory about the iconography of place. The work that is most relevant to this study is that of the humanistic geographers, Cosgrove & Daniels (1988). They have drawn predominantly from artistic and literary representations of landscape as vehicles to reveal the socio-political signifiers embedded in representations of place. This work has provided important insights into the meanings and values associated with places through time, particularly Cosgrove's study, Social Formation and the Symbolic Landscape (1986). Cosgrove is interested in how the idea of landscape has developed as a cultural construct, particularly in terms of approaches to production on the land. He argues for a way of seeing the landscape which reflects a wider economic and social context. Cosgrove suggests that ideologies are embedded in the landscape or place as metaphors for different aspirations. He proposes that 'changes in the way humans organise to produce their material lives quite obviously result from and give rise to changes in relationship to their physical surroundings' (Cosgrove,1986:5). Migration is the epitome of this kind of change. While Cosgrove highlights change as social, political and economic, it is his arguments about hegemonic change that are pertinent to those in a state of migration, particularly the ways in which migrants create places in response to the actual and implied hegemony of the host country.

63 Cosgrove explores the role of the New World, for him, North America, in fulfilling European aspirations. The ideological role of the New World for migrating Europeans has been one of realising ideals and beliefs. In his analysis of the American landscape, he cites John Stilgoe's (1982: 17) claim that North America is the landscape of common knowledge, which is created by .. . a mixture of both the 'little tradition ' transmitted by generations of half­ literate peasants and the 'great tradition' ofthe literate, innovative minority of scholars, rulers, .and merchants and professional surveyors and architects.

Clearly this adds weight to Lefebvre's recognition of the importance of everyday life (1974,1991) as well as supporting Marwyn Samuels' discussion about the authorship of the landscape where he attributes the quality of places to the work of archetypal figures as well as individuals (Samuels,1979:62).

Cosgrove's 'landscape idea' takes on a particular form in North America which, he claims, is shaped by the combination of European ideas, the reality of the American landscape, and the particular social structure in America. In Australia, a similar process has occurred but without the strength of the American ideological underpinning. Instead the British colonial bureaucracy determined much of the character of the urban and rural landscape in Australia, resulting in a restrained and remote determinant of cultural form delivered through a bureaucratic system (Armstrong, 1985, 1989a). Changes brought by subsequent migrant cultures in Australia have continued to be seen against this backdrop. Other writers suggest that a depth of understanding about landscapes requires a 'historical recovery ofideologies' (Baker & Biger,1992:3). This poses particular challenges in the Australian context where, unlike North America, ideologies have not been stridently articulated by the mainstream culture.

Cosgrove (1986) is interested in the way perceptions oflandscape changed in the West from feudalism, which was characterised by a close affinity with the land, to capitalism where the land becomes a commodity for increasing exchange value. New World settlements are the ultimate extension of capitalism's appropriation of land. Cosgrove suggests the pioneering new settler exemplifies this process. The question arises however, whether there is a difference between migrants and pioneering new settlers? I argue that migrants, despite often seeing themselves as pioneers, always came after the pioneer and so came to the New World with received wisdom. In the case of Australia,

64 migrants came to a land which was imbued with the symbolism of an antipodean garden of Eden - a tropical paradise of abundance and plenty; an attitude frequently repeated in the conversations with the migrants in this study. Thus the places migrants have created in Australia are hybrids which reflect elements of their former culture, elements of the existing Australian culture and elements indicating the aspirations held by migrants for the new place.

Cosgrove (1986) and Relph (1976) provide different perspectives on the interpretation of landscape and place values. Relph enables an understanding of place attachment as an 'insider' as well as highlighting the vulnerability of sense of place in the contemporary world, whereas Cosgrove remains outside, giving an understanding of symbolic meanings imbued in landscape as a result of cultural processes. Cosgrove's theoretical position is somewhat removed from an intimate engagement with place, transcending the particular in order to articulate broader symbolic interpretations of landscape.

In the light of this, collective values associated with migrant places should also be considered within the theoretical positions of humanist geographers interested in vernacular places such as J.B. Jackson (1984) or in the familiar and everyday places discussed by Donald Meinig (1979). As David Malouf indicates, it is not either-or but both that need to be considered when interpreting Australian places (Malouf,1998). It has consistently been revealed in the migrant conversations that migrants do not come to Australia as humble innocents. They arrive imbued with all the accumulated wisdom of long established cultures. Lebanese migrants speak of their Phoenician traditions, Italian migrants point out their heritage of high culture and fine design, and Vietnamese migrants describe the ways Toaism and Buddhism inform their way of life. Migrants also arrive with highly developed political understandings which rapidly become evident in the nature of places they value.

Theoretical interpretations of place values thus include existential understandings, iconographic interpretations as well as the value of familiar and everyday places. Meinig's edited volume, The Interpretation of Ordinary Landscapes (1979) provides an invaluable contribution to understanding the values related to ordinary places, particularly the essay by Pierce Lewis on the axioms or rules for reading the cultural landscape. Both his third and seventh axioms have relevance to migrant places. Lewis

65 (1979:19) states as Axiom 3 'Common landscapes -however unimportant they may be - are by their very nature hard to study by conventional academic means', whereas Axiom 7: the Axiom of Landscape Obscurity states that 'most objects in the landscape, although they convey all kinds of messages, do not convey those messages in any obvious way' (Lewis, 1979:26). The methodology developed for this research recognises both axioms by using focussed discussion to tease out hidden messages in migrant places.

Consumption ofPlace and Imagined Communities

One of the concerns in making more evident the subtle aspects of migrant places is the current pressure to commodify significant aspects of local distinctiveness for the tourist industry. In his study on Consuming Places (1995), the sociologist, Urry, brings out the particular peril of post-modernity and its impact on place identity. I would argue that post-modernity is a two-edged sword. Post-modem thought opened the door to legitimating difference, but it also left such difference open to appropriation by interests which seek to tum it into a commodity. Although Urry concentrates on the economics of space and the different concepts of consumption, he also brings into discussions about post-modem space the issue of place and identity citing Zukin's work on the city as a centre for post-modem consumption. She describes the way the city has become a spectacle which she calls a 'dreamscape of visual consumption' (Zukin, 1992:221 ). Such 'dreamscapes' pose problems for sense of place where post-modem landscapes tend to be about simulated places which are available for consumption. This is in contrast to the concept of place as an expression of the way people live and work.

Expressions of lived space are also closely related to Henri Lefebvre's concept of space and representation. For him, the space of representation is a space defined by collective expenences. He describes the symbolic meanings and collective fantasies around space/place and how resistance to dominant cultural practices results in forms of 'collective transgression' (Lefebvre, 1991 :25). This is particularly relevant to migrant places where fantasies about the countries of origin are revealed through selectively valued memories. They also reveal collective transgressions of hegemonic requirements under assimilationist policies which has resulted in particular subtleties in migrant places, often hiddert from the prevailing culture's eyes. Although Lefebvre's main focus is on the production of space under capitalism, he acknowledges that there is

66 an interplay between spaces of capital, spaces derived from planning and the State and spaces of representation. Migrant places in Australia exemplify tlris interplay between capital, planning codes and government policies as well as symbolic meanings and collective fantasies.

The British geographer, David Harvey, also explores the consumption of place. He suggests that because of the post-modem time-space compression and the resultant homogeneity of culture, commodity and place, there is increasing sensitivity to the variations in places. As a result, there is an incentive for places to be differentiated in ways that are attractive to capital, migrants and tourists (Harvey, 1989). I suggest this is a Faustian bargain. The unselfconscious expression of differences evident in migrant places will be lost once they become part of the image-making process used to lure capital. Migrant places are complex and require sophisticated interpretation, all of which takes time to be studied. It is therefore alarming that the superficial aspects of migrant places are becoming sites for consumption before they have been fully understood. Fortunately there is other work on the consumption of place (Anderson,1993; Urry,1995) which provides valuable theoretical support for the importance of studying the theoretical space between heritage and cultural identity.

Urry, while acknowledging the spatial issues of social production in the work of Lefebvre (1974,1991), indicates that in the 1990s other perspectives of space/place emerged which were related to gender and ethnicity. Most of the studies he cites on ethnicity and place have focused on the black under-class in the United States and urban pathologies associated with certain ethnic groups (Lash & Urry,1994). Much of this work has nevertheless increased the understanding of multiple and contradictory ways in which national and ·other identities are bound up with landscape and townscape (Urry, 1995). Interest in this area has resulted in a number of studies about memory, identity and place (Carter,1987, 1992; Smith,1986; Wright,1985,1992). Of particular importance to my work is the way memories about places are often shared, in some cases communities are only united by memories and such memories can be evoked by place. Each of the migrant groups in this study bears witness to this phenomenon. Urry also argues that social identities emerge out of 'imagined' communities, a concept which is fully explored by Jacobs (1991,1992) in her study of heritage interpretations of Spitalfields in London and by Anderson and Gale (1992) in their volume of essays, Inventing Places. Imagined communities are derived from particular constructions of 67 place which bind together space, time and memory, often in opposition to an imagined 'other'. Migrant places are a complex blend of imagined communities. They reflect the memory of the place left behind; they also reflect an attempt at being similar to the host communities; and more intriguingly they reveal the particular imagined migrant as a pioneer carving out a new life in a land of opportunity.

Urry explores how social identity is in a state of flux, referring to the large volume of literature about transformations in social identity in the last decade. He is particularly interested in how this is manifest in the modem city. Drawing from Zukin's (1992) work where she describes 'dreamscapes' as constructed landscapes, Urry suggests these pose particular problems for people's social identity which has historically been founded on real places. Zukin points out that post-modem landscapes exemplify imagined 'place', such as themed villages and Disneyland Main Streets. In this form, they are places to be consumed. I would suggest that the ultimate extension of this phenomenon is where the place - as a site of consumption - is the real place, in which people live and work, but now exists as a hyperreal version of itself. Migrant places are already becoming parodic versions of themselves such as Chinatowns, Italian restaurant strips and Vietnamese shopping areas.

In his study The Past in Contemporary Society: Then, Now, Peter Fowler (1992) foreshadows Urry's study on Consuming Places (1995). Fowler focuses on the consumption of heritage places and possible reasons why the commodification of heritage is so acceptable in the present community. Although his focus ts predominantly on grand heritage sites, seen from an archaeological viewpoint, he nevertheless acknowledges that quite ordinary elements in a landscape can be heritage and therefore have consumption significance. Fowler comments on the 'invisibles' in a landscape where the significance may not necessarily lie in the features themselves, but in their relationship across space and time, along with other phenomena, ·the nature of which may be uncertain at a particular moment (Fowler,l992). Migrant places epitomise this space/time nexus including the phenomenon that places which were valued in the early stages of migration may not be valued today but may have value in the future as an aspect of migrant heritage.

68 Summary

This chapter has provided a selected overview of heritage and cultural landscape theoretical areas in order to bring out their particular relevance to the concept of cultural pluralism, in the form of migrant places, as cultural heritage. It also makes reference to some divergent opinions contained in these areas. Despite these, the central role of heritage theory and the new critical cultural geographies are valid theoretical areas to underpin this study.

The chapter has also explicated the particular aspects of heritage theory related to New World cultures at the same time locating heritage concerns in a global context. As will be shown in the interpretive case studies, there are significant differences between concepts of heritage in Old World and New World countries as well as differences in heritage interpretations between western cultures and Asian cultures. Heritage theory is informed by heritage planning practice, heritage legislation and academic studies. Brief reference has been given to the most relevant aspects of these areas to bring out the development of social heritage significance and the value of subjective responses to place.

The major contribution of studies in the new critical cultural geographies has been the focus on how to interpret meanings and values related to place. The theoretical work associated with commodification of place has also been highlighted here to emphasise the complex nature of migrant places and how vulnerable they are to superficial representations of difference.

69 ••••••• •• •• •• •• •• •• The space in-between is the space to explore migrant

FIGURE 14. Combined theoretical relationships.

As stated in the introductory chapter, it is the area where place and heritage theories interpenetrate and overlap, which creates a 'space-in-between' where new theoretical development can occur. Figure 1.4 shows that this space also occurs where migration and place attachment theories intersect.

The concern in this study is to draw from a range of theoretical sources in order to understand the way the experience of migration is evident in places and what values are associated with these places. Equally my concern is to draw from contemporary cultural studies as ways to understand and accept the contradictions that inform paradoxical concepts of heritage in Australia. Contradictions and ambivalent positions are central to an understanding of cultural pluralism within Australian heritage. The complex area of theory related to migration and its associated studies on identity and place are explored in the next chapter. Both chapters provide the body of theory from which the hermeneutics of migrant places will be drawn using empirical data derived from case studies.

70

Expected page number is not in original print copy CHAPTER TWO LOCATING THE THEORETICAL SPACE: MIGRATION/IDENTITY AND PLACE-ATTACHMENT.

The first thing Senora Prudencia Linero noticed when she reached the port of Naples was that it had the same smell as the port of Riohacha. She did not tell anyone, of course, since no one would have understood on that senile ocean liner filled to overflowing with Italians from Buenos Aires who were returning to their native land for the first time since the war, but in any case, at the age of seveny-two, and at a distance of eighteen days of heavy seas from her people and her home, she felt less alone, less frightened andremote. ...

Every voyage must be like this, she thought, suffering for the first time in her life the sharp pain of being a foreigner, while she leaned on the railing and contemplated the vestiges ofso many extinct worlds in the depths ofthe water. ... (Marquez, 1992:116,118)

Senora Prudencia Linero's observations can be used to link concepts of heritage and the cultural landscape explored in the last chapter with the emotive experience of migration and the way migrants are in heightened states of awareness about identity and place. Unlike the theoretical space in the last chapter which was clearly located at the interface of heritage and cultural landscape theory, theories about migration, identity and place attachment are less clearly demarcated. Thus the original theoretical relationship, Figure 2.1, has been modified to allow for an interpenetrating and overarching theoretical space, the national space, common to both migration and place-attachment enabling a fuller exploration of issues of identity.

PLACE TTACHMENT THEORY

FIGURE2.1. Original Theoretical Relationship.

72 This chapter examines theories of migration, identity and place·attachment by discussing the spatial implications of migration, both for the host country and migrants. In so doing, it explores links between the theories within an overarching and interpenetrating concept of national identity and 'national space'. Figure 2.2 indicates the relationships of the theoretical areas.

FIGURE2.2. Links between Theories of Migration, Place·attachment and Identity within an Overarching Concept of National Identity.

Migration is the focus of much academic inquiry at the turn of the 21st century where changing political structures and wars have resulted in mass movement of people. Wider issues about migration are explored by Bhabha (1990), Chambers (1994), Churchman & Mitrani (1998), Featherstone (1993), and Gumpert & Drucker (1998), to name just a few of the many theorists, whereas Australian migration studies tend to focus on the massive movement of people after World War II. In reviewing migration theory, this chapter considers differing historical perspectives about migration to the New World. It also examines theories about the nexus between migration and cultural pluralism, often referred to as multiculturalism, which in Australia, draw from many disciplines. The main historical Australian theorists, Freeman & Jupp (1992), Jordens (1995), Jupp (1988,1992, 1996), and Murphy (1993) provide perspectives of the Australian post-World War II migration project. Castles et al (1988) and Fincher et al (1993) explore the disempowering aspects of the migration program. Extensive work has been done by Burnley (1996,1998) Burnley et al (1997), and Murphy & Watson (1994) on the demographic implications of the migration project, while Thompson's work ( 1994) brings out particular feminist issues for migrant women. Anderson & Gale (1992), Anderson (1993) and Gunew (1993) note certain appropriations of migrant

73 . culture by mainstream Australia, while Lechte & Bottomley (1993) bring out the particular cultural transformations and hybridities associated with migration. The recent work by Hage (1998) moves the migration and multicultural debate into yet another realm, suggesting that the hegemonic cultural location of white Australians can now be challenged fifty years after the post-war migration program.

The concept of place-attachment for migrants, the second theoretical area, brings out Old and New World tensions resulting from nostalgic comparisons between countries. TI1eories about place loss (Read, 1996) and place-attachment (Altmann & Low, 1992) provide important insights about particular meanings embedded in migrant places. In Australia, links between migration and place are intimately connected with notions of 'national space'. Bhabha's work (1990) in this area highlights the competing notions of Australian 'national space'. For migrants, the new place assumes dimensions which depend on the host community's ability to accommodate difference. In this regard, comparisons between North America acculturation concepts, namely 'the melting pot' (Ebo,1998; Stipe & Lee,1987) and Australian Anglo-conformity, known as 'assimilation' (Jordens,1995; Murphy, 1993), provide further insights into the elusive phenomenon of 'national space' in New World countries. As well, Freeman & Jupp (1992) provide perspectives on differences between migration to North America and Australia thus highlighting the particularities of Australian migrant places.

Concepts of identity, the third theoretical area, are fluid both for migrants and the host country. Much of contemporary Australian writing is concerned with the problem of a self-defined Australian identity (Jose, 1988; Malouf,l998). The writer Nicholas Jose's .. analysis of Australian culture in the Daedalus Symposium (1988:313) suggests that Australians are caught in a 'provincial anguish at being divided between two difforent kinds of home.' As well, Australians have tended to see their cultural identity as marginal to Europe and New York. This sets up potential resonances with the marginality of migrants. Despite this, or possibly because of this, in Australia, racism and xenophobic parochialism have been played out side by side with the exoticising of the 'other'. To complicate the picture further, new forms of hybridity between migrant 1 and host culture are characteristic of many late 20 h century places. The current theories related to these issues are located within cultural studies including the work of Anderson & Gale(l992), Anderson (1993), Chambers (1994), Fincher et al (1993), Hage (1998), Jameson (1991) and Lechte & Bottomley (1993). Of particular 74 significance are the works of Bhabha (1990) and Chambers (1994) which analyse complex issues of hybridity of identity and changing notions of 'national space' as a result of cultural pluralism.

The theoretical space in which to explore concepts of identity is particularly relevant to the space-in-between, a quaternary conceptual field with both volume and time (Meyer,1994). Dimensions of the space-in-between provide ways to understand multi-layered phenomena, particularly the fertile areas where theories interpenetrate and overlap. The quaternary conceptual field accommodates changes in the concept of 'national space'. Time associated with such a field is reflected in changes both within the host country and the migrants as Australia moved from a strongly defended White Australian 'national space' to the current multicultural 'national space' over a period of fifty years.

Theoretical Approaches to Migration

Because of the need to understand the complex changes in Australia's migration policy, the predominant theorists about migration in this study are historians. There are also important spatial implications related to migration which are vital to any understanding of the places migrants make as they attempt to settle in the new country. In order to shed light on the spatial changes, different theoretical positions about marginality are interpolated throughout this section.

Another aspect to consider is the difference between internal migration within Europe and migration to the New World including comparisons between migrating to North America or Australia. Because this study concentrates on the Australian post-World present War IT migration project, the historical background mainly emphasises 1947 to the present. Figure 2.3 highlights the areas under discussion in this section.

75 FIGURE2.3. Migration, Theoretical Issues.

The Migrant- A New World Essential

Historians (Jupp,1988; Murphy,1993) indicate that 20th century international migration reflects the history of modem capitalism whose seeds lie in the discovery of the New World; an event which prompted European nations to incorporate vast new lands and their associated wealth. This could only be achieved by the emigration of potential settlers, the use of convicts and slaves having been abolished by 1840s. New settlers were to develop and manage the colonies under the tight control of European nation­ states. In contrast to cross-border migrations within Europe, migration to the New World involved trans-oceanic journeys over vast distances to relatively unknown places. Immigrants to the New World were, therefore, confronted with dramatic severance from their home country and an overpowering sense of loss. Freeman and Jupp (1992) and Murphy (1993) propose that it was predominantly the demographic crises of the 18th century and the 19th century development of industrialised European nation-states which provided the incentive for emigration to such distant lands. Emerging industrial capitalism required free and mobile labour and a self-sufficient trading system where the industrial base was in Europe and markets and sources of supplies were in the colonies. As a result, the New World was seen as a place where enterprising people could create new lives, North America being the 'model of a receiving country' (Murphy,1993: 65).

76 Comparisons between migration to Australia and North America bring out the differences in migration experiences and associated spatial responses in each country. Such spatial implications highlight differing notions of 'frontier space', 'marginal space' and 'national space'. In Australia, tensions around national identity and who should occupy the 'national space' were and continue to be directly related to migration policies.

Migration to Australia: Politics of Race and Class

New World Comparisons

Jupp (1988) and Murphy (1993) point out that immigration has been an integral feature of Australian life since first occupation by Europeans because the colonisers needed a workforce. Although emigrants flocked from Europe to the New World, Australia was not a common destination. Thorpe (1996) explores the perceived inadequacies of Aboriginal labour and how the need for a workforce prompted many discussions about possible black or Chinese indentured labour. White occupation of Australia, however, occurred when the general sentiment was against slavery or variations of it, so immigration was the only answer for the required workforce.

In terms of migrant place-making in Australia, it is important to look at why North America was the preferred choice for the many emigrants from Britain and Europe. Freeman and Jupp (1992) suggest that there were five main reasons. First, North America was closer. Second, it had a history of immigration from the early 17tl! century, thus for emigrants there was a known European presence in the new land. Third, because of the general productivity of the land, there was an opportunity for small landholdings enabling continuity of European land husbandry traditions. Fourth, by the 19th century there was a well-developed agricultural and industrial economy which guaranteed employment for immigrants. Fifth, the ideological construct of American society had great appeal and ensured that there would be no restrictions on the basis of race or religion.

Migration to Australia differed in all five points. First, the distance from Europe was vast. Second, European occupation was recent, as a result little was known about the new colony. Third, productivity from the land was difficult resulting in a relatively small number of very large, privately owned holdings. This meant that there was little

77 opportunity for the Old World tradition of small farms (Thorpe,1996). Fourth, during the 19th century the economy was based on primary production and resource exploitation, which, in the main, provided only manual employment opportunities for immigrants. Fifth, the colony was British and as Murphy (1993) points out, there was a clear preference for white British immigrants in the belief that that this would encourage the development of a 'culturally superior' colony. The differences between North America and Australia have spatial implications which have affected the act of migrant place-making in each country.

Frontier Space, Migrant Space, National Space

Freeman and Jupp (1992) note that there were two significant spatial outcomes of migration to North America and Australia in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The first was the notion of frontier 'societies and their associated sense of infinite space or 'frontier space'. In North America, this perception. gradually receded as settlers occupied the whole continent forming dispersed close-knit settlements. Freeman and Jupp consider 'frontier space' in North America was 'an egalitarianforce' (1992:12). In contrast, the concept of 'frontier space' in Australian was the 'interior' which was forbidding and apparently unprofitable. Australian 'frontier space' tended to foster conflict and social divisions because only a few people had vast land holdings. This inevitably created a stratified society (Thorpe, 1996). Resulting tensions led to working class solidarity; an issue which continually influenced migration policies in Australia. Interestingly, because the predominant settlements were and continue to be coastal and urban, the concept of a 'frontier space' has persisted in Australia, the romance about which continued to entice migrants in the 20th century. The adventure of an Australian frontier comes through in the all case studies in this thesis.

The second outcome was the concept of New World 'national space' and again there were strong contrasts between North America and Australia. Bhabha's (1990) ideas of 'national space' suggest that social realities of nations or national identity are not necessarily the certainties presented in some histories. Instead he suggests they are transitional and responsive to larger cultural systems which often precede the formation of a nation. This was particularly true for the colonial enterprise. Initially migrant settlers in the New World could only occupy 'marginal space' because the 'national space' was always in Europe. The European 'national space' changed with emerging

78 nation-states. This was often associated with a desire to get rid of unwanted people. One effective means of achieving this was to encourage emigration. Over time there was an equal growth in nationalism in New World countries. Nationalism in North America was underpinned by a willingness to accept all newcomers; an ideology which was seen as a 'shining beacon of democracy' (Freeman and Jupp,1992:15). In Australia, the 'national space' was exclusive. Migrants were only acceptable if they had the capacity to be absorbed into the British-based Anglo-Celtic culture and all migrants were expected to relinquish their former culture. Unlike the United States, the long domination of the Anglo-Irish resulted in an exceptionally homogeneous Australian society. This was particularly the case by 194 7, when the massive post-war migration program was introduced. Bhabha (1990) provides a post-colonial argument for the Australian situation pointing out that controlling marginal space, in this case the space of non-British migrants, prevents interference in the project of 'progress' within an homogeneous 'deep nation'. He suggests this control justifies and validates 'authoritarian and normalizing tendencies within cultures in the name of national interest' (1990:4). Australia developed a highly selective concept of 'national space,' embodied in the policy known as 'White Australia'. This thesis suggests that notions of 'frontier space', 'marginal space' and 'national space' have played a central role in the phenomenon of migrant place-making in Australia.

White Australia to White Nation

Freeman and Jupp indicate that the 19th century 'proletarianization of the rural population' (1992:12) resulted in working class solidarity in the Australian colonies. This led to complex relationships between the cohesion of Australian labour movements and immigration policies. Murphy (1993) supports this observation indicating that during this period, migrants had been mostly British, although a few non-British migrants had been encouraged, including the Germans with skills in wine-making and olive-growing. Also some Southern and Eastern Europeans came to work in the cane fields. It was the Chinese migrants who had arrived in the 1850s to work the gold fields who were the bone of contention by 1901 when the separate colonies became a federated nation. Chinese migrants were predominantly male, diligent, kept to themselves and were willing to work for low wages. Migration was thus seen as threatening to the Australian labour movement. Murphy (1993) and Thorpe (1996)

79 indicate that these were perceived threats only, as the actual profile of non-indigenous Australians in 1901 was predominantly Anglo-Celtic.

It was a racist agenda rather than independence from Britain that was characteristic of the climate immediately preceding the federation of separate colonial States into one Australian nation. This resulted in intense debates about the profile of the new nation. Again Bhabha's (1990) insights provide explanations for the policies developed at the birth of the Australian nation. He suggests the language and rhetoric about 'nation' indicate certain constructed fields of meaning. In this case, 'White Australia' was the most popular symbol for the new national identity exemplified by the 'Australian Briton' (Murphy,1993:28). Another factor emerging at this time was the alarm in Britain at the awakening of Asia; a phenomenon which had the potential to challenge European world supremacy (Murphy,1993). As a result, when the new parliament debated immigration, one of their earliest debates, the agenda was caught up in the sensitive issues of defence as well as labour protectionism. The debate was distinctly racist, namely a desire to keep out Asians, Africans and Pacific Islanders. Thus Bhabha's (1990:2) suggestion that 'the ambivalent figure of the nation is a problem of its transitional history and its conceptual indeterminancy' has been continually played out in Australian migration policies.

Politics of race and class set the context for the migration profile of Australia preceding the post-World War II period. Australia at this time was a deeply conservative society living out the remnants of a British colonial cultural system. As Castles et al (1988) indicate, Australia was unusually homogeneous because of the persistent culture of racism, both towards migrants and the indigenous people. Thus when the government of the day was faced with the need to embark upon a massive migration program to provide a work-force for its proposed industrial projects, it recognised this inherent cultural conservatism and the sanctity of a phenomenon known as the 'Australian way of life'. To address this, voters were reassured that most migrants would be British (Murphy, 1993) thus ensuring the continuity of a White Australian 'national space'.

Once again Australia was not the first choice for British migrants, most going to United States or Canada. Jordens (1995), Jupp (1992) and Murphy (1993) detail why the government, already heavily committed to the new industrial projects and fuelled by post-war rhetoric of 'populate or perish', opened the possibility of accepting migrants

80 from the Mediterranean countries and Northern Europe. Within the context of 'White Australia' this was obviously contentious so the government reassured Australian voters that such Non English Speaking migrants would become 'Australian' under the policy of' Assimilation'. To achieve assimilation, no provisions for housing were made on the assumption that migrants would be absorbed into the suburbs. A well meaning, but narve and uninformed, volunteer organisation, known as the 'Good Neighbour Movement', would facilitate this process (Murphy,l993). The results revealed in this study indicate that the very policies aimed at ensuring that non-British migrants blended into Australian cities resulted in isolating migrants into perceived enclaves, despite living beside Australians. As will be discussed later, the 'enclave' in Australian cities had particular characteristics.

Cultural theorists such as Shields in his study, Places on the Margin (1991) and Chambers in his study on Migration, Culture, Identity (1994) augment the historical perspective with cultural anthropological insights. Shields highlights issues of marginal status which he suggests, whether geographical or social, carries 'the image and stigma of marginality' (1991 :3). Australia, as a nation-state, was marginal both culturally and geographically at this time, a situation which may have contributed to the particular fear of cultural difference. One can draw further insights from Chambers who points out ' ... in the gap between connections and differences, we can begin to unwind the self­ reflexive national idiom and its xenophobic refusal of external referents in its formation' (1994:28). Because Australians were not comfortable with 'differences', the key to the formation of their 'self-reflexive national idiom' was the Australian Briton and the British migrant. As a result, in contrast to the treatment of those who were 'different', the British migrants were to be given every incentive to come to Australia including family accommodation, guaranteed employment, and assisted passage. This situation persisted until the mid 1950s by which time many British migrants found that, as conditions improved in England, they wished to return. Other migrants, many of ~hom were refugees, could not return to their countries. The return of the British further consolidated the conception of migrants in Australia as 'different'. Thus the much­ celebrated cultural pluralism in Australian cities today lay in the discriminatory practices of fifty years ago.

81 The Spatial Implications ofthe Policy ofAssimilation- 1947-1963.

The history of migration from 1947 to the present is driven by three distinct phases in government migration policies, Assimilation, Integration, Multiculturalism. This study suggests that during each of these periods particular types of migrant places developed. Using the work of Jordens (1995), Jupp (1988, 1992,1994, 1996) and Murphy (1993), a close examination of the policies developed during these three periods provides insights into the changing nature of migrant places. As well, phenomenology, as expounded by Polkinghome (1989), Seamon (1993), Spiegelberg (1982), and Valle & Harding (1989), provides alternative modes of understanding the migrants' experiences, namely what one goes through in leaving one's country in order to settle in another.

There were distinct experiences associated with arriving in Australia. In the period between 1947-1963, migrants arrived by ship, so the wharves in major cities became places redolent with memories of arriving in a strange place, being greeted by little known relatives or migrant agents, and being subjected to the procedures which determined where migrants would go after arrival. Jordens (1995), Jupp (1992) and Murphy (1993) document the history of this period, which was characterised by migrants being taken to 'reception centres' to be processed and in many cases dispersed to sites of employment related to the new industries. Refugees and non-British migrants were required to work for two years in places nominated by the government. Many were sent to the Snowy Mountain Hydro-electricity Scheme. Others were sent to remote mining towns or coastal steel mills and ports, but most settled in larger cities, working in factories. These were often places of humiliation because, for non-British migrants, professional qualifications were not recognised Shields (1991.4), drawing from Said's (1978) notion of 'positional superiority', suggests that the social definition of marginality is intimately linked with the concept that modes of social interaction between marginal groups is seen as 'low culture '. In the 1950s, migrants in Australia tended to occupy marginal space regardless of their education, qualifications or social class.

Apart from places of work, other expressions of marginality evolved from housing policies where those non-British migrants who had paid their own passage, were expected to find accommodation in Australian cities currently experiencing severe housing shortages (Jordens,1995). As a result, sponsoring relatives and migrant groups developed networks to provide immediate accommodation. In some communities where migrants were predominantly single men, a system of boarding houses and clubs grew up in tightly-knit neighbourhoods. In other cases, a system of shared houses arose, often with migrants being exploited by landlords, both Australians and members of migrant groups. Thus during the period of assimilation policies, migrants were expected to relinquish their cultural difference and become New Australians.

The Spatial Implications ofthe Period ofIntegration -1964-1972

By the mid 1960s, there were problems with 'assimilationist' policies. The migrant project was certainly building Australia's industrial strength and providing employment. To that extent the project was successful. But the desire to make migrants into Australians who would be absorbed into the fabric of Australian society was not working. Because migrants had been brought in to work in industry with no provision for housing and minimal provision for English tuition, it was inevitable that migrant enclaves formed around industrial areas and inner-city areas where housing was cheap. Such enclaves had particularities which, while bearing all the hallmarks of marginality, were different to the concept of ghettos in Europe and North America. Jupp (1992) describe these places as zones of transition. Unlike North American ghettos, the enclaves were not associated with crime or racism. There were, however, a number of social problems for migrant groups who were becoming increasingly isolated and marginalised by the mainstream society. Murphy (1993) indicates that by this stage, migrants were so disenchanted with the lack of fulfilment of promises for a better life in Australia that many were returning to their original countries.

Concern about this at government level prompted new policies about migration which came under the umbrella of 'Integration' (Jordens,1995; Jupp,1996; Murphy,1993). By the early 1960s the Australian government was competing with other countries for immigrants. As a result they were forced to consider migrants from areas previously excluded because of perceived difficulties in assimilation. In the process of negotiating on a world stage for immigrants, Murphy (1993) observes that Australian government officials realised that their policies were considered anachronistic and inappropriate. Migration practice throughout the world in the 1960s was one which acknowledged

84 diversity; whereas Australia was widely known for its discriminatory 'white Australia policy'. This particularly acted against Australia's desire to forge links with Asia. Australia clearly needed to revise its immigration policy which meant better services for migrants on arrival and broadening of the notion of who were acceptable migrants. During the Period of Integration, Australia accepted immigrants from Lebanon and Turkey as well as India, Malaysia, China and South America (Jupp,1988; Murphy,1993). The implications of the need for more equity for migrants meant that Australian society had to acknowledge its diverse composition, the very phenomenon that Australia had tried to avoid. Although there was a growing acceptance of the non­ British migrant presence, the 'Australian way of life' was still a sacred icon. Despite this, during the Integration Period, migrant places became more visible.

The government decided to revise its immigration policies in a cautious but significant way. Instead of maintaining the patronising position exemplified by the Good Neighbour Movement; the government created welfare grants which migrant community agencies could administer within their own communities. This empowered migrant groups and increased their political voice. As well, the government re-assessed its policies on overseas professional qualifications thus enabling many migrants to move from factory work into their own professions (Jupp, 1992; Murphy, 1993). In the light of these changes it was clear to migrant groups that by the mid 1960s, mainstream Australians were ready to accept the presence of non-British migrants and to accept evidence of different cultural practices. Such cautious acceptance of the migrant presence while maintaining the 'Australian way of life', continued until 1972 when Australia moved into a third set of migration policies known as the 'Period of Multiculturalism'. The changes during this period reflect other theoretical positions about marginality. Stallybrass and White (1986) look at how marginal or 'low' culture can assume a desired aspect by the mainstream in the form of an 'exoticized other'. Shields (1991 :5) takes· this. observation further by representing the phenomenon as contradictory, where the marginal is reviled and despised while at the same time being 'constitutive of the imaginary and emotional repertoires of the dominant culture,' in other words, exotic and possibly even erotic. This concept of 'exoticizing and eroticizing' the other is explored more fully in discussions about identity and place.

85 The Spatial Implications of the Period ofMulticulturalism (1973 -1995).

It took until 1970 for the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to realise that working class solidarity existed just as strongly in migrants of non English speaking background as it did amongst 'white' Australians. The ALP wooed the migrant vote and their success in the 1972 elections was in part attributable to this vote (Jordens,1995; Jupp,1992; Murphy,1993). In 1973, along with the change in government there was also a major global change resulting from the recession in world trade following the slump in oil prices. As well, the plight of refugees from Lebanon and Vietnam had to be addressed. This was to have a marked impact on immigration issues in Australia. Firstly, it brought to an end the economic boom which had been the rationale for the immigration policy and secondly, Australia accepted its obligation to take in refugees from Asia and Lebanon. The new Minister for Immigration, AI Grassby, an Italian migrant, had a history of activism about migrant issues. In 1973 he was the first person to use the term 'multiculturalism' in Australia ( Jupp,l988; Jordens,1995; Murphy, 1993); a term that was comfortably accepted by the mainstream community by this time. It was the Liberal Coalition, however, who consolidated the concept of Australia as a 'multicultural society' through the introduction of the Galbally System (1978). Under this system, the migrant intake was increased, particularly the refugees from Indo-China and Lebanon; but in terms of marginality, there was an interesting shift. Both Jupp (1992) and Murphy (1993) detail how the Liberal Government sought the support of ethnic community leaders because the Liberal platform inevitably meant the abandoning of welfare measures introduced by the former government. To address this the Liberal government redefined multiculturalism by emphasising cultural pluralism and the key role that ethnic organisations could play in providing welfare to their communities through a system of government grants. Jupp (1992) describes how the new government's changes included a redefinition of the Australian identity as an ethnically diverse society. The government set up the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) with programs which provoked the mainstream Australian community to become interested in the cultural pluralism within its midst. As Murphy (1993) explains, the new government system was a clever strategy which simultaneously legitimated the concept of an ethnically diverse society, cut government expenditure and provided greater social control over minority groups through a system of grants.

86 In 1984 Australia went into a minor recession during which the Great Immigration Debate started, fuelled by the historian, Geoffrey Blainey, and his rhetoric about the Asianisation of Australia. Although Blainey appeared to get public support which prompted the government to cut funding to migrant groups and abolish the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs, it was a misreading of Australian public sentiment. As a result, some marginal seats in larger cities were threatened. The government responded rapidly by establishing the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the National Agenda for Multicultural Australia; such was the change in Australian cultural values. In 1996, with another change in government, the policies changed. Again migration issues were conflated with unemployment. Migration became the key focus of a new party, the 'One Nation' party, with an explicitly racist platform. Current policies about migration occupy an ambiguous zone. While not explicit, there is implicit racism and protectionism concurrent with the acceptance that Australia is now a culturally pluralist society.

The different eras of migration policies clearly influenced the way migrants settled into Australia. Burnley (1996,1998), Burnley et al (1997), and Murphy & Watson (1994) have documented this process demographically, but, it is worth noting that there were unique characteristics to the Australian post-World War II program. Castles et al (1988) comment that Australia's program was of incomparable size internationally. What distinguished it from other migration programs was the fact that it was a First World society with a low birth rate using a migration program to double its size in forty years. No other country accepted so many immigrants in this period relative to the size of the existing population, if one discounts the establishment of the state of Israel (Churchman & Mitrani,1998). No other nation-state had been as actively involved in the recruitment of immigrants, nor had the sources of immigrants been so diverse (Castles et al,1988; Jupp,l996).

Contemporary Spatiality of Migrant Groups

A comparison between the different manifestations of migration in Australian cities and North American cities draws attention to the need to understand place-making and spatiality issues for migrant groups. Since the 1950s, the particular migrant issue for North American cities focused on the internal migration of Afro-Caribbean Americans from the southern states to the north. More recently this has also included Hispanic

87 migration. The main concern in North America has been the development of urban ghettoes. Australian cities have absorbed the impact of migrants and internal migrations of Aboriginal communities differently. Although marginal groups such as migrants and and Aboriginal communities have tended to occupy inner-city areas, for Australians, there has not been the strong anti-urban sentiment that pervades North American cultural values. As a result, most Australians have tended to live in cities and sustain the vigour of inner suburban/urban areas by new waves of migrant groups and, more recently, middle-class gentrifiers. Also unlike American cities, the migrant areas have tended to accommodate diverse migrant groups as well as Aboriginal peoples and lower socio-economic Anglo-Australians. Despite the sense of marginality experienced by migrants in inner-city enclaves, there has, in fact, been persistent heterogeneity. Thus apparent divisions into specific migrant enclaves have been superficial. It is interesting to observe that superficially North America appears to be a heterogeneous nation, but this heterogeneity is actually a mosaic of quite distinct ethnic enclaves and ghettoes (Stipe & Lee, 1987). In contrast, the Australian nation, while appearing to be predominantly Anglo-Celtic, has heterogeneous communities made up of many different ethnic groups, Anglo-Australians and Aboriginal Australians. The presumed homogeneity of Australian culture along with the supposed hegemony of White Australians has been challenged strongly by Hage in his recent polemic White Nation (1998). Hage has undertaken a Bourdieu-ian analysis of the construction of the Australian 'national space' at the close of the 20th century. In this analysis, which looks at cultural and symbolic capital (Bourdieu,l991), Hage points out that 'national space' can be understood as the site for cultural capital which includes accumulated nationalities as well as 'sanctified and valued [differing] social and physical cultural styles and dispositions'(1998:53). He extends the Bourdieu-ian analysis further by suggesting that within the nation, it is 'national belonging that constitutes the symbolic capital. '(1998:53). Hage maintains that this model allows for a more subtle understanding of cultural dominance within Australia than the usual binaries of 'Anglo­ ethnic; dominant- dominated' because notions of 'belonging' in Australia today are not so clearly constructed around the 'Anglo-ethnic divide '(1998:49).

Bhabha (1990) also explores these issues where they relate to marginal groups and concepts of nation. He speaks of the counter-narratives of nation which destabilise the 'ideological manoeuvres through which "imagined communities" are given essentialist

88 identities '(1990:298). In Australia such essentialist identities are evident in revitalised Chinatowns. This situation in terms of migrants in Australia is explored further in the discussion on identity and place later in this chapter. Of particular interest, however, is Bhabha's discussion about the paradox of modem territoriality or 'nation space' where there is a desire to represent the nation as one people while at the same time recognising 'the liminal point' or threshold where the spatial boundaries are differentiated; namely 'a contentious internal liminality that provides space for the minority, the exilic, the marginal, and the emergent' (1990:300). In his study on Migrancy, Culture, Identity, Chambers claims the 'modern metropolitanfigure is the migrant'(1994:23), a concept which challenges and subverts the tradition of a 'White Australia'. Contemporary spatiality for the migrant and the host country is also informed by Chambers observation that any nation in the early 21st century must 'accept, interrogate and undermine any simple or uncomplicated sense oforigins, traditions ... [because] we are inevitably confronted with mixed histories, composite languages .. . that are also central to our [the mainstream] history' (1994:17).

Thus, over time Australian migration policies have resulted in migrants being marginal groups with predictable spatial outcomes. More recently, however, post-colonial and post-modem theories of marginality highlight the shift in perceptions of marginality and difference. The theoretical positions discussed so far have mainly focussed on policy issues about migration. There is, however, an equally important area of theory which examines the actual experience of migration and its associated place loss and place­ attachment.

Place-Attachment

While political policies and their variations from one country to another clearly have an effect on the experience of migration within each country, there are certain experiences that are common to all migrants. They include loss of place, the power of memory, the issues of place-attachment, both old and new, and the intangible heritage associated with cultural practices and ways of life. Figure 2.4 repeats the link between migration and identity, this time highlighting theories on place-attachment. Locating these theoretical areas within the 'national space' of the host country, brings out the particular issue of what kind of places are acceptable within this 'national space'.

89 FIGURE2.4. Place Attachment, Theories and Issues

Research into place-attachment has highlighted how people affiliate and attach themselves to new situations. In the 1970s, people-environment research, predominantly positivist, began to explore personal space (Sommers,1969), territoriality (Greenbie,1981) and environmental meaning (Kaplan & Kaplan,1978). Although Shields suggests this research was 'culturally naive positivist environmental image research'(l991:7), he nevertheless agrees that these studies provided a legacy of human responses to place. In contrast, the work of phenomenologists (Buttimer & Seamons,1980; Relph,1976; Seamon,1982; Tuan,1974) reveals a consensus that place­ attachment is a complex phenomenon. It consists of many inseparable, integral and mutually defining features which not only acknowledge effect, emotion, and feeling but also include knowledge, beliefs, behaviour and action.

More recently, Low, an environmental psychologist (Altman & Low,l992), has argued for a cultural definition of place-attachment which accepts that, for most people, the attachment involves transformations of experiences of spaces into culturally meaningful and shared symbols, at which stage 'space' becomes 'place'. An important aspect of this definition is that where place-attachment occurs, there is a symbolic relationship between a particular group and the place. This attachment may be evoked by culturally­ valued experiences, but it may also derive meaning from other socio-political and cultural sources; all of which is pertinent to migrant place-attachment.

90 Low proposes a typology of cultural place-attachment which she has derived from six symbolic linkages of people to land; genealogical, loss, economic, cosmological, pilgrimage and narrative. Table 2.1 explains the symbolic linkages.

TABLE2.1. Symbolic Linkages of People and Land.

1.Genealogicallinkage to land through history and family linkage, 2.Linkage through loss ofland or destruction of continuity, 3 .Economic linkage to land through ownership, inheritance and politics, 4.Cosmological1inkage through religious, spiritual or mythological relationships, 5.Linkage through secular pilgrimage and celebratory cultural events, 6.Narrative linkage through storytelling and place-naming.

Source: Altman & Low, 1992:166.

Low states that along with the six symbolic linkages, there is a process of place­ attachment which occurs simply by living in a place and making it familiar. Genealogical attachment to place and loss of place are mutually dependent for migrants, particularly migrants who have come from traditional peasant communities where the family relationship to place has been established for centuries. Often place-attachment is so strong that people from the same village aggregate together in the new country as is the case with some Italian migrant groups in Australia. Low (1992) draws from studies on Spanish American place-attachment which reveal similar genealogical connections of people with place (Pitt-Rivers,1971; Behar,1986; Femandez,1988). Other research on Spanish American place-attachment shows that genealogical attachment can even be transferred from a village to an urban context, such as the new suburbs of some Mexican cities (Logan, 1984). Logan's work is interesting as similar genealogical transfers from rural to urban places are evident among some Australian migrant communities, particularly Italian and Greek communities.

The concept of loss of place and its associated bereavement has been documented by North American work on the residents of the West End of Boston (Fried, 1963; Gans, 1982; Greenbie, 1981 ). There have also been studies on relocating people into new towns which give insights into loss of place, these include work in Nigeria (Marris, 1962), in England (Young & Wilmott,l957) and Lima, Peru (Lobo,l983). More recently place loss within Australia has been explored by Read (1996). Such studies cover a range of cultural groups. With the fall of communist Europe and the ability of

91 migrants to return to their former countries, a new collection of migrant autobiographies are emerging, giving further insights into the sense of loss that migration to Australia involved (Riemer,1992; Varga,1994).

Low's concept of 'cosmological' attachment to place has been explored in depth by Norberg-Schulz (1980) in his study on Genius Loci: Towards the Phenomenology of Architecture. Greenbie (1981) in his study, Spaces, also explores sacred places and their meanings. Migrants have great difficulty in reconciling the cosmological aspects of myth and symbol of place in the host country. Although the Asian practice of Feng Shui has been brought to the new countries together with shrines and sacred plants which are incorporated into houses, the profound attachment of place and its mythology remains in the original country. Instead rituals associated with worship, festivals and other ceremonies, although carried out in public places in a similar manner to the country of origin, develop a 'secular' and 'narrative' form of place-attachment. Such ambiguous values about spiritual place-attachment are brought out in the case studies in this thesis. Low's 'economic', 'secular' and 'narrative' linkages are all strong in migrant places but they are not necessarily known about outside migrant communities. Such lack of knowledge often results in planning decisions which are insensitive to cultural difference or stereotype ethnicity.

More recent work on pl_ace-attachment, in particular the politics of marginal groups, by Dolores Hayden in her book The Power of Place (1995) draws from the organisation she established called ' Power of Place'. This was an activist group seeking to make manifest in urban public landscapes such issues as women's and ethnic history using collaborative public art projects. Through these projects, some of the forgotten aspects of place, particularly where they related to minority groups, were made visible. She highlights the role that public space can play in cultural identity and how urban landscapes are 'storehouses of social memories'. For Hayden, the power of place means the 'power of ordinary landscapes to nurture citizen 's public memories' (1995 :9). In contrast, the politics of identity and place have been explored by Keith and Pile (1993) and Jackson (1989), focusing on the political repression of minority groups in Britain. Hayden is interested in place-attachment as heritage. She points out that in an ethnically-diverse city such as Los Angeles, race, gender and neighbourhood are poorly represented as reasons for preservation of the built environment. She argues for the rights of minority groups to be represented in the urban built environment in the 92 form of public history or urban preservation. Hayden broadens the notion of place attachment to include those places associated with pain and humiliation. She point out that 'coming to terms with ethnic history in the landscape requires engaging with bitter experiences, as well as the indifference and denial surrounding them ' (1995 :22). In Australia many migrant places are associated with building the post war industrial strength. Such industrial places were strongly associated with difficult experiences for migrants, particularly as all migrants worked on the factory floor regardless of qualifications.

Hayden uses Los Angeles as a model for understanding the new urban hybridity, much of which exists as 'fragile traces ' which may be too vulnerable to survive economically and physically (1995:100). There are many parallels with the work that Hayden has been doing in United States and the work in this study. There are, however, significant points of departure. The research undertaken for this study has focused primarily on revealing how experiences of migration are evident in places in Australia, whereas Hayden is interested in the political implications of empowerment for minority groups through the urban cultural landscape. In Australia, similar concerns about ethnicity and empowerment have focused on education, health and welfare (Castles et al, 1988), but the concept of migrant places has not been explored.

Migrant Identity, Theories and Issues.

Constructions of an Australian identity have always been fertile fields for political opportunism and the current focus on multiculturalism as a representation of Australian identity contains many aspects of such opportunism. Figure 2.5 repeats the theoretical model, this time emphasising identity and its strong conceptual link to national identity including the ability of the 'national space' of the host country to accommodate difference.

93 FIGURE2.5. Migrant Identity, Theoretical Issues There are a number of aspects of migration which impinge on concepts of identity. They include the restlessness involved in the migrant experience, the significance of everyday life, and insights provided by different forms of migrant cultural production.

The concept of migration has been renamed 'migrancy' by Chambers (1994:3). He points out

... migrancy is a discontinuous state of being ... it is a journey of resfless interrogation ... the belief in the power oforigins to define the finality ofour passage is dispersed by perpetual movement and transmutations ... history is harvested, assembled, made to speak, re-membered, re-read, re-written.

This representation of migration as a state of uncertainty and change, is also brought out by the feminist writer, .Kristeva in her study, Strangers to Ourselves (1991). The concept of how we see the 'other' is as pertinent to the migrant as it is to citizens of the host country. Chambers (1994) and Kristeva (1991) suggest that there is not a simple symbolic externalisation of the 'other', but rather a 'condition ofdialogue in which different powers, histories, limits and language that permit the process ofothering to occur, are inscribed.'(Chambers, 1994:12). This involves ceaseless negotiations between cultures and complex configurations of meaning and power. The cultural disruption experienced by migrants has particular resonances in Australia where cultural discontinuity is true for most Australians, including those Aboriginal Australians who have been forcibly separated from their land and families.

94 As stated before, using the concept of a theoretical space-in-between as a quaternary conceptual field allows for the inter-weaving between the host and migrant culture over time. Since 1947, the relationship between identity and migration has moved from the need to conceal differences, where the migrant was expected to relinquish their former identity, to celebrations of difference under the rhetoric of multiculturalism. Thus the notion of identity for migrants needs to be seen within the context of the three phases of the Australian post-World War II program.

Migrant identity evokes a particular cross-cultural character caused by the experience of leaving one culture, derived from a particular physical context and cultural history, to establish oneself in another culture, different both in physical and historical context. Migrants bring memories of cultural identities which often become frozen in time - transported identities. In parallel with this, migrant identities also become transformed in the Australian context due to the influences of the Australian way of life, altered seasons, and responses to assimilation - transformed identities.

Reflections of such issues are evident in much of the cultural production of late 20th century Australia. Susan Varga (1994) and Andrew Riemer (1992,1993) are examples of numerous authors writing autobiographically of their experiences as migrants in Australia Interestingly, Varga and Reimer turn the notion of marginality around by revealing the patronising gaze that some migrants have of the host as a young society in a culturally raw New World. Other works such as those of the artist, Imants Tillers, and photographer, William Yang, explore the cross-cultural hybridity derived from living with two cultural allegiances. They exemplify Chambers' speculations on hybridity where' ... the migrant's sense ofbeing rootless, ofliving between worlds, between a lost past and a non-integrated present, is perhaps the most fitting metaphor of the (post)modern condition.' ( 1994 :27).

A common representation of cultural pluralism in Australia today is one where the process of migration and settlement results in successful adaptation. Migrants add their distinctive cultural practices to Australian culture, a process which simultaneously provides continuity with their country of origin and at the same time diversity to Australian society. This representation assumes that migrants are members of homogeneous ethnic communities. It ignores the diversity of migrants from any one country of origin, including their class, education level, whether they are urban or rural

95 people, reasons for migrating, political affiliations and so on (Fincher et al, 1993; Morrissey et al,1991). While the success of the migrant project is the favoured political representation, it avoids acknowledging the experiences migrants have in trying to settle into a different and sometimes hostile culture. Experiences involve creating places to live, finding employment, sustaining religious practices and creating leisure in a strange place.

Thus the concept of identity in the migration project is an elusive phenomenon and is often misunderstood. Not only do human geographers and cultural critics challenge the stereotypes embedded in notions of multiculturalism, other cultural theorists argue that the concept has emerged within a post-modern context and therefore needs to be understood within post-modern terms. Jameson (1991) describes post-modern values as requiring constant negotiation and reflection so that inner contradictions and inconsistencies can be acknowledged and included in the discourse. This is highly relevant to urban planning and interpretations of migrant place-making.

Planning processes in many Australian cities show the difficulties m reconciling inconsistencies and sustaining continuous negotiations. Added to which, the growing use of planning incentives to promote stereotyped decorative evidence of particular migrant groups in the large Australian cities are examples of the superficial notions of migrant cultural identity. The migrant experience is a far more substantial aspect of migrant culture, namely the cultural identity which emerges. from experiences of everyday life in the new country. The impulse for the appropriation of ethnic character, often driven by tourism entrepreneurs (both within and outside migrant groups) is an example of Jameson's (1991) representation ofthe post-modernism oflate capitalism.

With pressures for multinational consumption of ethnic identity, it is even more important to understand the complexity of cultural identity in multicultural Australia and the nature of 'social significance' (Johnston,1992) as it relates to migrant places. Fincher et al (1993) suggest that the concept of migrant culture is one which involves the actual 'recomposition' of cultural identity or reconstituting of cultures. This is in strong contrast to Jameson's 'reprocessing' of cultural images. Fincher et al (1993) highlight that the process of finding employment, establishing families, linking into social support systems already in the new country, getting qualifications accepted, accessing government agencies are all 'recompositions' of culture in the new country.

96 These are just as important as adjusting to Australian cultural values and norms. Fincher et al (1993) suggest more apt representations of cultural pluralism reveal cultural renegotiation processes. These processes bring out subtle readings of migrant places in Australia such as ' ... greetings in airport lounges, waiting at Commonwealth Employment Service (CES) offices, vans delivering bundles offabric to public housing high-rise flats. These are the images of culture in the experience of material life as lived daily'. ( Fincher et al, 1993: 108). According to Fincher et al, it is the study of contests and strategies associated with settlement which provide the most fertile understandings of cultural diversity in Australia.

Lechte and Bottomley (1993:27) suggest that migrant identity can be described as 'the interweaving and collage effect' which they call 'The Post-modern. ' They suggest that the earlier status of migrants in Australia , that is, located between the Anglo-insider and non-Anglo outsider has been subverted as boundaries between insiders and outsiders shift in contemporary multicultural Australia. The current rhetoric about multiculturalism assumes that there are clear boundaries between homogeneous migrant groups. Lechte & Bottomley suggest that this attitude has arisen from an Australian culture which has used British culture as the identity of the host society while placing other migrants into racist categories of foreignness such as 'Continental', or 'Asian' or 'Middle-Eastern'(1993:32). Rage's (1998) Bourdieu-ian analysis confirms their speculations. The concept of an Australian multicultural society is recent and as Lechte & Bottomley (1993 :32) so eloquently express ... we are witnessing the incessant interweaving of practices; practices producing meanings which burn brightly for a moment only to die away in the wake of new meanings. A model for a multicultural society is not feasible because any model - as an objectification - must lay claim to a degree of transcendence (that is, a capacity to objectify) that would contradict the very (multicultural) reality it was supposed to represent.

Lechte & Bottomley call this the collage/montage effect which focuses on the 'synchronic level ofliving history' rather than the objectified history of historians. This is echoed by Bhabha (1990) where the concept of 'national space' as a space of 'people­ at-one' is called into question. Bhabha suggests that once the thresholds or 'liminality' of 'national space' are accepted, then concepts of difference move from outside to within. He suggests that at this point 'The national subject splits the ethnographic perspective ofculture's contemporaneity and provides both a theoretical position and a narrative authority for marginal voices or minority discourse' (1990:301). 97 Where do migrant identities sit in this 'incessant interweaving' of meanings? It is clear that simplified versions of ethnic difference are inadequate. When models of the multicultural society are put forward by politicians and planners, they reveal that multiculturalism and migrant identity in Australia has been institutionalised through a range of programs as an officially endorsed set of principles designed to manage 'ethnic diversity'. Not only does this raise issues of ethnic stereotyping, it also fails to accommodate the dynamic nature of Australian society in the early 21st century. Determining the 'social significance' of places thus becomes particularly challenging. Cultural theorists (Bhabha, 1990; Lechte & Bottomley, 1993) point out that heritage interpretations in multicultural cities are not only past histories recalled in the imagination but also material relations that exist in the present. My study attempts to explore such issues working with the unstable boundaries generated by migrant community interpretations of their own values related to places. This is exemplified in the case study chapters where the understanding of synchronic levels of living history come through repeatedly in conversations about valued places.

The impulse for this work is timely because so called 'ethnic precincts' in Australian cities have become the focus of many architectural and planning schemes designed to enhance 'ethnic identity'. Objectifying the 'ethnic identity' by the outsider- designers and planners reflecting presumed Anglo-Celt Australian values - denies the dynamic nature of cultural pluralism and ignores the depth of meaning embedded in these places.

Chinatowns in major Australian cities exemplify these issues. Kay Anderson's (1993) study of Australian Chinatowns highlights how there is support from both political parties for particular forms of 'ghettoism' which accord with Anglo-Australian notions of 'otherness' and difference. She challenges the use of 'ethnic precincts' as a signification of Australia as multicultural. Her work on Chinatowns can be augmented by similar re-interpretations of Italian and Vietnamese precincts for the tourist gaze. Anderson points out that the planning and design profession in Australia define and fashion Chinatowns in ways that reveals more about Australian interpretations of 'Chineseness' in Western settings than about such places containing attributes of the East. While this can be confirmed, nevertheless, the Chinese communities in Australia have also been powerful agents in their own community development. The complexity of power relationships in Australian communities questions much of the current discourse on ethnicity and place, most of which is derived from the United States

98 (Hayden,1995) and the United Kingdom (Jackson 1989, 1993, Keith & Pile 1993). In the case of multicultural communities in Australia there are distinct spatial arrangements and place images which relate to the experience of migration, but they are not totally reflections of marginality. Instead there are dynamic intersections of culture, power and the sense of being multicultural. Cultural studies theorists have looked at the problems of generalisations about the dominant ideology position (Hage,1998). Such propositions suggest that there is unilateral control of an empowered centre which is 'monolithic and incontestable' (Anderson, 1993:74). This is not true of Chinatowns, Italian precincts or Vietnamese centres in Sydney and Melbourne where many commercial interests are Chinese, Italian and Vietnamese and have participated in the orientalising and exoticizing of their precincts thus exploiting the projection of 'difference' as part of the spoils of multiculturalism.

A Foucauldian reading (Foucault,1972) reveals the need to deconstruct the complex place representations in Australian 'ethnic' community places. Although there have been critiques of reified notions of culture and ethnicity in cultural studies, it has only recently been acknowledged in the paradigm of official multiculturalism. The emotions expressed at the 1995 UN Global Diversity Conference in Sydney, where heated and passionate debates occurred between the leaders of peak immigrant groups who had fashioned the 1974 -5 multicultural policies and those who sought to revise the paradigm to allow for the collage/montage intersections of different cultures within Australia (personal observation.1995), bear witness to this.

The issue of identity embedded in Australian migrant places requires close study. Cultural critics such as Zukin (1988,1992,1995), Harvey (1989) and Nagar & Leitner (1998) highlight how the processes of urban redevelopment in contemporary cities reveal complex alliances between culture, politics and capital. My study suggests that the way 'ethnic' identity is represented within Australian cities needs critical evaluation. Using Chinatowns as an example which could equally be applied to revised Italian, Greek or Vietnamese precincts, revitalised urban precincts are 'being sanitised and adapted to dominant Anglo conceptions [of difference]' (Anderson,1993:80). There is also evidence of collusion within migrant groups to represent nostalgic and sanitised representation of migrant cultures. The Chinese developers have avoided the history of the Chinese in Australia, excluding stories of humiliations, successes, stories of segregation and of assimilation, and the complex changes in values within the

99 Australian-Chinese community; all stories of Chinese heritage in Australia. Migrant heritage places associated with these stories are at risk of being lost in current redevelopments. There is a risk that rhetorical modes of multiculturalism expressed by planners, architects, developers, politicians, ethnic community spokespersons and tourist entrepreneurs will create 'orienta/is! imaginings of a quaint corner of the Far East' (Anderson,1993:80) or 'Little Italy's', or 'new Saigon' which are pallid representations of the richness embedded in the identity of different migrant places. As Jameson (1991) points out, they are stereotyped representation of otherness and post­ modern parodies of ethnic difference. The consumption of ethnicity undermines the opportunity of migrant groups to discover their own identity within Australia and determine whether they wish to keep evidence of this heritage for future generations of Australians.

Thus in considering migration, place and identity one must recognise the vulnerability of migrant places in terms of a number of forces. These are the constant pressure for redevelopment in urban areas, the stereotyping .and commodifying of ethnicity for tourism and fmally the lack of understanding about the complexity of cultural pluralism with its blendings, interweavings, and changing values.

Summary

As the chapter has unfolded, each of the theoretical areas has been explored, but it is where the theories overlap that opportunities for new understanding lie. My study suggests that the zone between migration and place attachment is where we can understand how different migrant places have been created during the changes in migration policies. These are the places which tell the story of the process of settling into a new country and making the unfamiliar, familiar. In the space between place attachment and identity, nostalgia for former countries .. has resulted in translocated culture and place. Often these places continue as frozen moments in time. The overlap between migration and identity provides insights into the cultural transformations which occur as a result of living in a new country. However, there is a particularly significant site in these overlapping theories and that is the dense area where all intersect and react with the host country's concept of 'national space'. The resulting collage/montage effect can be described as multicultural hybridity or a new form of 'national space'. Figure 2.6 summarises the fine-grained theoretical relationships of migration, identity

100 and place attachment within the concept of national space. These occur within the overarching framework of the four bodies of theory.

FIGUR£2.6. Summary of Fine-grained Theoretical Relationships between Migration, Identity and Place attachment within Concepts of National Space.

The theoretical position that I have adopted in order to undertake a hermeneutic study of values related to places created by different migrant groups draws from the composite of theory explained in the last two chapters, shown in Figure 2.7. The methodology to be used and the justification for such methods are explained in the following chapter.

101 The space-in-between to explore migrant places

FIGURE2.7. Restatement of Overarching Theoretical Relationships

102 CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGICAL CONTEXT: WAYS TO UNDERSTAND MIGRANT PLACE MAKING

Revealing the Research Problem

The research focus of this thesis is on migration and place-making within the broader context of heritage interpretations and sense of place. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to identify the qualities of Australian urban cultural landscapes that have been created by waves of different migrant groups. This has generated the following research questions.

• Can the presence of different migrant groups in Australian cities be discerned in the urban cultural landscape? • Is the experience of migration with its associated translocated and transformed cultural identity reflected in places? • What are the types of places which reflect this experience in Australia? • Can places which embody the migrant experience and have value for migrant groups be considered heritage places reflecting cultural pluralism? • What is the most effective method to elicit such understandings from migrant groups?

After reviewing the different research methods suitable to address these research questions, this chapter proposes a composite of selected qualitative techniques. Issues about the nature of data and strategies for analyses . are discussed with particular reference to phenomenological hermeneutics and its relevance for interpreting the data generated. · The last section of the chapter looks at ethics in case study research with minority groups, concluding with a detailed description of the methodological strategy.

Finding Ways to Address the Problem

Broadly, the range of research methods available to address the research questions falls into three areas; quantitative, qualitative and historiographic, each varying in its conceptual characteristics and methods used to generate data. Table 3.1, as a comparative summary of the three research paradigms, shows that each paradigm has varying relevance for the concepts I seek to explore.

103 TABLE 3.1. Comparative Summary of Broad Research Methods

RESEARCH QUANTITATIVE HISTORIOGRAPHIC QUALITATIVE PARADIGMS Social Science, Heritage & Cultural Participant Observation, Case Studies, Surveys, Landscape Research Ethnography, Case Studies Demographic studies Phenomenology, Hermeneutics • Concerned with • Concerned with • Concerned with discovering facts discovering facts about understanding human Conceptual about phenomena. phenomena. behaviour in its context and characteristics • Assume a fixed and • Concerned with the from the informants' measurable reality. context of the perspective. phenomena. • Assumes dynamic and • Assumes a fixed and negotiated realities. identifiable reality. • Data are collected • Data collected through • Data are collected Methodological through measuring searching documents through participant characteristics things mapping and field work. observation, focus • Data are analysed • Data interpreted as groups and unstructured through numerical themes developed from interviews. comparisons and context and documents. Data are analysed by statistical inferences. • • Data analysed by themes from descriptions rigorous comparative • Data are reported by informants. techniques. through statistical Data are reported in the analyses. • Data reported in • language of expert. language of the inform!mts. . . Source: mformed by Mmiciello et al,I990:5 .

At a more detailed level, research methods relevant to this study include social studies research, history and heritage research, anthropological participant observation, ethnography and case study research, phenomenology and hermeneutics. The ensuing discussion, together with Table 3.1, show the nature of inquiry within each realm and their advantages and limitations for my study.

Social studies research includes both quantitative and qualitative research methods. In my former research into heritage perceptions, Environmental Heritage Survey (1991), I used quantitative logical positivism where data were analysed by deductive reasoning, logic of causation and statistical verification. Similarly, Burnley (1996, 1998), Burnley et al (1997), Murphy &Watson (1994) have undertaken extensive positivist sociological studies on migrant issues which provide both rigorous and representative information about migrant demography and its planning implications. Methods such as surveys and structured interviews analysed through the logic of causation, while having the particular virtue of being representative of the broader community, are unlikely to supply the understandings needed in the current research because the issues of migrant place-making and place attachment are not easily understood nor easily articulated (Smith, 1988).

104 Social studies research also employ qualitative research methods. Two of my earlier studies, the content analysis of the heritage studies and reports from the Commissions of Inquiry, used inductive qualitative techniques involving the 'logic of discovery' or grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin,1990; Minichiello et al,1990; Walker,1985). Other qualitative research methods into place values, such as the work done by Burgess (1988a,l988b,1994), Jacobs (1991,1993), Smith (1988) and Thompson (1992,1994), use narrative or discourse analyses of in-depth interviews. Their work provided pertinent methodological directions for my study. Jacobs (1991), in her study of community groups in inner London, however, indicates that while there is now widespread agreement about the value of discourse analysis, there is less agreement on the procedures used to analyse such discourses.

Academic discussions about quantitative/qualitative research paradigms and their attendant logic of causation/discovery, commonly focus on how to ensure that conclusions and judgements derived from either method are valid and reliable. Positivist researchers, which include heritage researchers, claim that their rigour, objectivity and controlled causes for events ensure validity and reliability. Critics of positivism point out that an assessment or judgement can be consistently reliable but not necessarily valid. This can certainly apply to Australian values related to 'place' where interpretations can be consistent and reliable but only valid when seen in the mainstream Anglo-Celtic Australian framework or world view. Thus validity can only be tested against those general beliefs or world views which establish the context in which theorists communicate. My study highlights· that while societies do not necessarily share 'world views', within different groups there tends to be a consensus about their dominant view. As a strong exponent of qualitative research methods, Minichiello et al (1990:38), state We can only settle disputes[ about ways of interpreting] with other people who share most of our beliefs ... in the same way. If they have different beliefs or value them differently, then their way of adapting their belief system may be just as consistent as ours, but it will produce different conclusions. There will thus be no coherent way ofchoosing between world views ... so there must be a new tolerance for those that think differently.

The research method that I have developed is one which facilitates 'tolerance for those who think differently' but it goes further than mere tolerance. This study is looking for a depth of interpretation or 'thick description' (Geertz,l973:27) which allows for the wholeness of understanding and brings to the surface hidden or suppressed meanings.

105 Historiography and ·heritage research methods are considered to facilitate interpretative depth and therefore could provide insights into some of the research questions in this study; but it is the very nature of such methods which is being called into question in my research. Historical and heritage studies (Kerr,1990; Marquis-Kyle & Walker,1992) and some forms of cultural landscape research {Taylor,1984,1989,1993,1990; Melnick,1988) derive their data from archival sources supported by field studies which are then subjected to positivist rigour. This rigour includes positivist hermeneutics (Hirsch, 1967), an analytic technique I will explore later, which is strongly defended by some historians (Stanford,1994; Windshuttle,1994) and heritage researchers such as Kerr (1990) and Jack & Jeans (1990). Such positivist approaches, despite the work on 'social significance' by Johnston (1992), continue to resist the inclusion of oral histories and memory recovery as part of heritage research. In contrast, many qualitative researchers see the value of oral history (Douglas et al, 1988; Frisch,1990; Minichiello et al, 1990; Thompson,1988) including topical life histories where research focuses on one phase of the participants' lives; in my study, the experience of migration. In my methodology, oral history data is essential.

Anthropological participant observation as a research method, allows for the value of oral data. Participant observation, nevertheless, requires that the researcher remain outside the research process as a detached objective observer (Evans, 1988; Jackson,1983). This poses problems for my study because some of my research questions require that the researcher work with members of migrant groups, the researched, in a process of mutual reflection.

Anthropological participant observation can be considered similar to some aspects of cultural landscape research methods. O'Hare (1997:82) in his analysis of cultural landscape research methods, points out that although such methods tend to be located within both the anthropological and heritage research traditions, there is 'no fzxed cultural landscape methodology'. In his study of cultural landscape and tourism, he synthesises the deductive process used by Rapaport (1992) with the interpretative processes of the critical cultural geographers (Burgess et al, 1990) using a dialogue between what he calls 'narrative landscape data' and physical landscape data. 0 'Hare (1997) argues for the value of physical data. He suggests that some of the new cultural geographic interpretations of 'place' such as the work of Jacobs (1991) are limited in application in the discipline of planning because of their lack of physical data. My

106 study acknowledges physical evidence but it does not use the practice of cultural landscape mapping, the most common form of recording physical landscape data (Melnick, 1988;Taylor,l989).

Physical evidence coupled with community values is used in case study research and ethnography, both of which provide particular techniques that assist in addressing my research questions (Lawler,1991; Hannerz,l980). O'Hare (1997) and Jacobs (1991) use case studies as part of their research methodology. Heuristic case studies, i.e. specific case studies deliberately chosen to develop theory, are an established qualitative research technique (Eyles & Smith,1988; Mitchell,l983; Patton,1990; Silverman,l985; Yin,l993). Such selective case study techniques accept that inferential processes turn exclusively on the theoretical linkages among the features in the case study, rather than achieving validity through random sampling, typicality and representativeness. The value of the extrapolation depends on the cogency of the reasoning.

Similarly, the ethnographer's focus on the culture of people as a collection of behavior patterns and beliefs (Evans,1988; Patton,1990; Smith,1988;Yin,1993) is central to my research. The urban cultural landscape is the physical place where I seek to discover such patterns, multiple meanings and values. Ley (1988b) proposes that ethnographic methods are particularly pe~inent to the interpretation of landscape meanings. Jacobs (1991) in her study of the urban landscape of the City of London, has used ethno­ methodological research techniques to reveal layers of meanings and their power relationships in the urban landscape. The particular value of ethnography for my study is that it allows for the interaction between the researcher and the researched through the use of discussion groups and in-depth interviews. Burgess et al (1988a, 1988b, 1988c) pioneered the use of focus groups to elicit landscape values in their work on understanding community values related to recreational open space in parts of London. In Australia, Susan Thompson developed ethnographic research techniques for the field of planning with her work about migrant women and the meaning of home. She called this technique SORA, Summary Oral Reflective Analysis (Thompson & Barrett,1997). Both Burgess et al and Thompson & Barrett include phenomenology, heuristic inquiry and hermeneutics as part of their ethnographic and case study research methodologies. In my study, there is also a component of action research in that the participants are actively engaged in solving the research problem and as a result of their involvement they are empowered to make changes in their community(Habermas,l971).

107 Phenomenology, heuristic inquiry and hermeneutics, although originating within the realm of philosophy, are now widely used, particularly in post-structuralist research where data are referred to as 'texts'. Phenomenological applications are seen in cultural studies, sociology, cultural geography, art and design, and even legal studies. Within philosophy, phenomenology has been a growing movement because it challenges the primacy of Cartesian logic and Hegel's idea of absolute knowledge. The phenomenological movement broadly encompasses studies concerned with the essence of experience of the lived world (Spiegelberg,l975). Heuristic inquiry (Moustakas, 1990) is a variation on pure phenomenology in that it allows for the connectedness of phenomena and 'creative syntheses' (Patton,1990:73). Pure phenomenology brackets out the researcher, whereas heuristics allow the research participants to remain visible, ie. the essence of the 'person within the experience ' (1990:73) is allowed to remain. Heuristic inquiry also emphasises meaning and the role of the researcher as an essential component of the data.

Layers of meaning are revealed through hermeneutics which is the study of interpretations. Application of hermeneutics occurs in those situations where meanings are encountered that are not immediately understandable. Thus phenomenology can be summarised as focusing on a subject's unstructured descriptions of their lived experiences, heuristics show the relationship of people to the experiences, while hermeneutics interprets these experiences. The PhD programme at the Department of Geography at University College, London, under the leadership of Burgess, has developed phenomenological hermeneutics in cultural geography as a key research area (Jacobs,1991; May,1994; Kneale,l995). Clearly the developments in phenomenological hermeneutics can both broaden and deepen perceptions about migrant place-making. Table 3.2 shows the ways in which the different research methods described above inform aspects of the research questions in this study.

108 TABLE3.2. Research Methods Informing Research Questions in this Study.

Research Questions Research Methodologies Can the presence of different migrant groups in Australian • Cultural landscape methods, cities be discerned in the urban cultural landscape? • Participant observation. Is the experience of migration with its associated translocated • History, and transformed cultural identity reflected in places? • Ethnography, • Heuristics, • Phenomenological hermeneutics, What are the types of places which reflect this experience in • Case study research. Australia? Can places which embody the migrant experience and have • Heritage research, value for migrant groups be considered heritage places Ethnography, reflecting cultural pluralism? • • Heuristics, • Phenomenological hermeneutics. What is the most effective method to elicit such • Ethnography, understandings from migrant groups? • Action research, • Phenomenological hermeneutics.

Thus although a range of qualitative methods could be used, the overarching research strategy for this work employs phenomenological hermeneutics to interpret data generated from discourse. As a way of validating conclusions, many qualitative methodologies employ the strategy of multiple methods or triangulation (Minichiello et al, 1990). In my study, I use a form of triangulation with two groups; a group of representatives of migrant communities and a group ofheritage planners.

To summarise, my research methodology builds on my earlier quantitative and qualitative work, but the main focus is on a series of qualitative ethnographic case studies which provide the data for interpretations of place values using phenomenological hermeneutics as the analytic tool.

109 The Nature of Data for this Study: Phenomena, Place and Text

Phenomena: the People and their Experiences

In order to understand how migration results in particular qualities in the urban cultural landscape of the host country, it is necessary to gather the life-world experiences of selected migrants through group interviews and discussions (Smith, 1988). Such discussions focus on their experiences of migration and how they have adapted to and modified the host environment during their period of adjustment to the new country. These are the phenomena in this study. The phenomenologist, Pickles (1984:249), however, warns that it is important to resist essentialist claims about phenomena. Confusion often occurs when 'phenomena' are equated with 'things'. Instead, phenomenologically, we are interested in the way things are constituted, ie the intentionality. In this case, the knowledge about migrants arid their experiences is socially constructed and it is this phenomenal realm that I seek to describe.

The people in this study are migrants who reflect a number of aspects of the post-World War II migration program. In the previous chapter, I outlined the history of this program and its impact on inner city areas. I also described the changing nature of migrant places as a result of changing government policies about migrants. In keeping with this history, the 'people' selected for this study represent a time-line of migrant groups since 194 7.

The first case study is located in an inner city area which has been and continues to be the destination of migr_ants to Sydney. In this area, the Local Government Area of Marrickville, the early migrants, 1947 to1960s, were predominantly Greek, followed in the 1960s and 1970s by mainly Lebanese, then in the mid 1970s to early 1980s, South Vietnamese. More recently, in the 1990s, the migrants have been North Vietnamese and Portuguese from both Portugal and Brazil. This case study compares the places valued by different migrant groups in a time-line of migration.

The second case study extends the insights gained in the first case study by using one of the groups involved, the Muslim Lebanese group, who arrived in Australia in 1975. Using phenomenological hermeneutics, this case study explores how the experience of migration translocates and/or transforms cultural practices thus influencing the way

110 places are created in the new country. This case study also acts as the vehicle for developing a method of determining heritage values associated with migrant places.

The third case study applies the method developed in the second case study as it explores place-making before and after WWII by one migrant group, the Maltese, looking at their experiences in both inner and outer Sydney. The group reveals the changing nature of places created as a result of increasing affluence in the host country as well as the hidden networks which facilitated the settlement of non-British migrants. Members of the group also provide insights into migrant labour relations and their significant role in migrant place-making.

The Places

The setting for the research involves local community places, a site of study for a number of human geographers who use ethnographic techniques (Evans, 1988; Smith, 1988). The data include the _physical characteristics of a number of places found in suburbs of Sydney. Migrant places can be described as physical landscapes, but they can also be interpreted as texts. James Corner (1991:115), a landscape academic, suggests built environment studies need to be tempered by insights gained through using the urban landscape as a 'hermeneutic medium'. This is also discussed in Duncan & Duncan's study (Re)Reading the Landscape (1988:117) where they show how post­ structuralist literary theory provides a way of interpreting landscapes or place as 'transformations of realities'. Place as text has been the focus of a number of post­ structuralist geographic interpretations (Duncan, 1990; Barnes & Duncan, 1992). Perhaps the clearest explanation of why places are data in this study comes from Christopher Tilley's study, A Phenomenology ofLandscape (1994:33), where he discusses the nexus between stories and place. He suggests that ... when a story becomes sedimented into the landscape, the story and the place dialectically help to construct and reproduce each other. Places help to recall stories ... and places only exist (as named locales) by virtue of their emplotment in a narrative.

The places in my study; the places left behind, Australia as a place, and the new places created in the process of making the unfamiliar feel familiar, provide as much textual data as do the discussions and stories. For migrants the urban landscape is the setting in which their experiences are played out. But the issue of physical places as data in this study is more complicated than simply the case study settings in Australia. Migrant

Ill places also include the places in the country of origin. In Comer's (1991) hermeneutic reading of landscape he refers to the work of Paul Ricouer (1971,1983), who calls for there-linking of contemporary culture to its heritage where new meanings are devised from critical and yet imaginative re-interpretations of past traditions. Ricouer sees the central problem in modern culture as 'how to become modern [while at the same time] return to sources ... '(Ricouer,197l:276). Migrants often achieve this in an unselfconscious manner which is evident in physical places seen as texts waiting for interpretation.

The Texts

Apart from place as text, other texts in this study are derived from guided group discussions (Burgess et al,1988a,1988b,1988c; Kneale,1995). Narratives describe migrant experiences, all of which are associated with places. The aim of group discussions is to capture those group dynamics which shed light on the research topic. Within a group, ideas are generated which would not occur in one-to-one interviews. Often the debates and challenges within the group lead to deeper understanding by all because arguments have to be justified or supported. This study goes beyond the conventional Interview Guide Approach (Patton, 1990). Instead I draw on expertise within the group, using guided discussion to facilitate the heuristic experience. Members of the group collectively share memories as they actively engage in solving the problem, namely identifying those places which are encoded with their experience of migration. This process also allows for contradictions and ambiguity which often lie in inter-subjective experiences. My study is similar to May's (1994:80) where groups are a 'strategic continuum of respondents each of whom throws light upon different experiences of the same process.' Not only do groups creatively generate ideas as they explore the problem, they also develop emancipatory knowledge which can empower individual groups (Habermas,1971; Walker,1985).

Deep readings of values and meanings related to place are difficult to articulate, particularly if the groups' values may not be part of the mainstream culture. In many cases the history of the groups' experiences in Australia have been such that there is wariness about revealing values. As well, there are often language differences between members of the group and the researcher. So the process of gaining the text is not easy. Most of the narrative text in this study draws from oral history and memories, which as

112 stated earlier are seen by some researchers as unreliable. Samuel, in his study Theatres ofMemory (1994), explores the reticence by historians to value memory. He argues for the validity of 'unofficial knowledge'. Sandercock (1998) also looks at the 'unofficial story' or the 'noir side' in her study of marginalised groups and place, Making the Invisible Visible. Samuel does not seek verifiable narratives. Instead he argues for the role of 'metafiction' such as Simon Schama's (1995) Landscape and Memory, a study which adds to historians' concerns about the value of memory as a legitimate text (Windshuttle, 1994). Metafictions, Samuel suggests, show how memory is 'primitive, instinctual,[ and] naturally comes to mind'(1994:ix) whereas history is considered to be self-conscious and the product of analysis, taking abstract reason as its guide. Equally, Connerton's study, How Societies Remember (1989), argues strongly that community memories have validity. Lowenthal (1996) explores the tension between history and heritage when interpreted through memories. Drawing from Spence's ( 1982) observations about the truth of narratives, Lowenthal ( 1996: 143) comments, ... Those who chronicle their own pasts, alter facts and tolerate fictions in ways that would ban historians from academe. Mistrusting memories that can neither be verified or falsified, historians take a jaundiced view ofwhat psychology calls na"ative truth- accounts based solely on unsupported recollection.

My work uses subjective memories as a rich source of values rather than facts, however anecdotes are mediated by the so-called 'official story', ie the written histories, which as Lowenthal (1996) suggests, may or may not be true.

The Researcher's Interaction and Reflections The advantage of qualitative research methods for this study is that I, the researcher, have an interactive presence in the data (Smith,1988; Geertz,l983). Part of the data includes my reflections of the research process. The richest material, however, comes from the reflections between me and members of each case study group as we mutually try to answer the research questions. This form of research has been developed to a deep phenomenological level by Morse (1994) in the area ofNursing Practice Research where empathy has been a key focus. Researcher can also have a presence in the process through psycho-analytic techniques including dissociation, where the researcher observes reflexively the interaction between the researcher and the researched during group discussions (Burgess,1993; May,1994). Patton (1990) argues that the credibility of the researcher is vital to qualitative research because the researcher is the instrument.

113 I am a white Anglo-Celtic Australian with only an outsider's observation of the migration experience. My credibility lies in my commitment to a depth of understanding through an engagement with the body of theory and my discipline in the process of determining phenomena.

Strategies for Analysis and Theory Development

The analytic and theory development in this study call for detailed discussion because the process of qualitative theory building, in contrast to quantitative theory testing, requires different data analysis techniques. I have given an extended explanation of my interpretative methods because the particular techniques used in my work are not only cross-disciplinary, but their application in the field of planning is still in its infancy. The following discussion looks at the two forms of analysis I have used, conventional grounded theory and a modified form of phenomenological hermeneutics.

Grounding the Data

The data analysis followed a two-stage process. Initially I used grounded theory coding of texts (Glaser & Strauss,1967; Jones,1985) to identify broad concepts. Richards & Richards (1990) point out that the concept of coding in grounded theory is a process of analytical integration where the researcher is in a constant process of linking theory to data. The process of documenting occurrences of concepts results in the emergence of theory. My method tries to ground the data, build its density and integrate it, while ensuring the sensitivity needed to generate rich, tightly woven explanations. It is because theory generated from such processes is likely to be complex rather than simplified, that it is able to accommodate different 'life worlds' which is fundamental to my research (Turner, 1981 ). As I grounded the theory, however my interpretation of individual experiences, initially influenced by a 'global' concept of migration, began to change. Gradually the iterative process of interpreting individual meanings and values called for a reinterpretation of the 'global' meaning; a phenomenon known as the 'hermeneutic circle' (Kvale,1983,1995). I used this hermeneutic circular method as a second stage in the analysis where I sought 'thick descriptions'(Geertz,l973:27) to identify underlying or hidden values in communities. This process deepened the theory, ensuring a more substantial understanding.

114 Thus my two-staged analyses involved an initial descriptive phase where I developed an understanding of the migrants' interpretation of their reality through narratives, followed by a diagnostic phase where I employed phenomenology and hermeneutics to make inferences using symbolic statements, metaphors and tropes, as signifiers of deeper meaning.

Working with Themes.

The first phase relies on the development of themes as a process of theory building. The themes were derived from analyses of transcripts of case studies and workshops. In Case Study One, the heritage study (Marrickville Municipal Council, 1986) itself, provided macro-themes, whereas narratives derived from different discussion groups generated sub-themes and alternative readings to the mainstream text of an orthodox heritage study. The workshop thematic analyses were similarly kept at a broad level of content analysis according to conventional grounded theory, employing a range of coding techniques. Although initial axial coding was undertaken according to the methods explained in Krueger (1994), Miles & Hubermann (1994), and Strauss & Corbin (1990), I found such coding tightened and de-contextualised the narrative data rather than providing me access into concepts and values. Nor did I find the computer program NUD*IST (Seidel & Jack,1984) useful as an analytic tool because I wished to keep the data as discussions within their context rather than groupings of concepts under key words. A number of researchers feel that strictly codified content analysis in the positivist tradition does not allow for the sensitivity and intuition needed if the researcher is to get beyond superficial meanings and values (Kvale,1983; Morse,1994; Richards & Richards,1990; Sanderlowski,1995). Accordingly I moved towards the work of Thompson (1992, 1993) and Thompson & B~ett (1997:60) who argue for preserving the data's 'contextuality and richness'. The context of the discussion and the atmosphere generated during the process of group reflection was essential to an understanding of narrative data in this study. As well, both Patton (1990) and Minichiello et al (1990) point out that good qualitative analyses require that the researcher constantly return to the original tapes and transcripts. I found that it was essential for me to do the transcripts so that I stayed immersed in the aural context of the discussion, particularly as the thematic development was often prompted by one member of the group challenging the ideas of another. When using in-depth discussion in groups, the researcher also needs to be aware of problems of premature analytic

115 closure and commitment to a priori views. This is addressed to some extent by the interaction within the group and between the group and the researcher.

Interpreting Concealed Meanings: Doing Phenomenology

The initial grounded theory analyses into categories of concepts required a second level of analysis if I were to gain a deeper understanding of how the experience of migration was evident in places and how such places reflected the particular cultural heritage of specific migrant groups. Accordingly I turned to phenomenology. Applied

phenomenology IS science and art, as much as it is philosophy (Bartjes,1991; Natanson, 1966). Because of the cross-disciplinary nature of my work, my phenomenological application involved both rigorous methods as well as creative interpretations. As indicated in Chapter One, pure phenomenology emerged with the writings of Edmund Husser! (1859 - 1938). He argued for the importance of returning to phenomena as they are consciously experienced without theories about their causes, and for observing such phenomena as freely as possible from unexamined preconceptions and presuppositions (Spiegelberg,1975; Valle & Halling,1989). Thus phenomenology can be explained for the purposes of this study as a rigorous and unbiased study of things as they appear so that one might come to an understanding of the essences of human experience. Husser!' s main concern was how we come to know the world. He explored this through the concept of life world (lebenswelt) which is the world of every day experience expressed in everyday language. Husser!, nevertheless, considered his phenomenology as a disciplined science. He suggested forms of investigation which systematically dissected phenomena by processes of reduction into 'essences'. Through these processes, many facets of phenomena could be considered including multiple perceptions of a single phenomenon (Husserl,trans.1970).

My work does not stay within Hussserl's discipline of distilling essences. Instead, I acknowledge Heidegger's (1962) observation that a rigorous, but hermetic, investigation of the essence of phenomena precludes the unveiling of concealed meanings within phenomena. Heidegger (1962,1971) drew from the study of interpretations, known as hermeneutics, naming his form of investigation hermeneutic phenomenology. I also draw from developments in existential-phenomenology (Sartre,1963; Merleau-Ponty,l962) which sought to explicate the essence of human experience through descriptive rather than reductive techniques including disciplined

116 reflection. Disciplined reflection involves a commitment to the use of natural language where phenomena speak for themselves rather than being subject to predetermined hypotheses. This is achieved through a rigorous analysis of transcribed conversations (Polkingthome,1989; Spielgelberg,1975).

The different phases of hermeneutic phenomenology are summarised by Herbert Spiegelberg (1975) who has studied its evolution closely. Table 3.3 shows how the relationship of each of these phases of phenomenology relates to my study on migrant place-making.

TABLE3.3. Phases of the Phenomenological Method

Phenomenological Description Relevance to migrant place - phases making

Descriptive Direct exploration, free from Free description of the experience phenomenology presuppositions; redeeming what was of migration. Heightening seen as unredeemable data; stimulating researchers' awareness of the one's perceptiveness about the richness richness of everyday life. of experience. Phenomenology of Grasping the essential structures and Determining what is essential to Essences essential relationships of phenomena; the migration experience and what allows for the researcher's is accidental or contingent. Can imaginativeness as well as a sense of lead to responsible what is essential and what is accidental. generalisations. Phenomenology of Cultivating attention to the way things This is a play of perspectives Appearances appear and the changes in this associated with the physicality of appearance. It relates to the physicality places; the different ways of of phenomena; heightens the seeing according to light, shade, researcher's sense of the inexhaustibility seasonality etc. of the possible perspectives one can have of phenomena Constitutive The process in which phenomena take The way in which a new location Phenomenology shape in our consciousness. Exploring constitutes itself as the migrant the dynamic aspects of our experiences. becomes oriented in the new country. Reductive Bracketing the experienced world in Provides insights into the world of Phenomenology order to give the researcher new others and prevents researchers perceptions of phenomena. Intellectual from stereotyping. self-discipline and intellectual humility. Hermeneutic Looking for hidden meanings associated Interpretation of being-in-the- Phenomenology with phenomena. Directions and world as a migrant. Finding the intentions rather than descriptions. meanings of the experience of migration that are not immediately obvious. (after Spiegelberg, 1975)

117 It would appear from Spiegelberg's succinct and encompassing summary, all aspects of phenomenology contribute to an understanding of migration. But it is hermeneutic phenomenology which can clearly advance the understanding of how the experience of migration results in places encoded with this experience. Because of the emphasis on teasing out concealed or hidden meanings associated with places, hermeneutic phenomenology also helps identify the nature of values migrants have about places they have created in the new country ie. whether they see these places as part of their heritage. Understanding heritage values for migrants, however, requires sensitivity to the phenomenological concept of time.

The phenomenological concept of time is not ontologically real time (Darlington,l993; Heidegger,l962; Polkingthome,1988; Sartre,1963). For migrant groups, when discussing migration and place, time is not chronological but experienced time. This study allows phenomenological time to be sensitive to the processes of identification with place, particularly as many migrants see themselves caught between two cultures. The migrant experience appears to follow a pattern of initial grief over a lost place (the country of origin), then the valuing of the migrant community in Australia, particularly community cultural practices. After some time there is an uncertainty about how one fits into the country of origin. During this period there is an increased sense of identification with the host country. So when seeking to understand place values, it is important to recognise that value statements may be asked for at any point in this sequence, namely when places may be valued today, not valued tomorrow and then valued again as individuals try to reconcile their cross-cultural identity.

May (1994, 1996a, 1996b) in his study of the effect of space-time compression on place identity, draws from Heidegger's (1962) concept that place is understood as an experience captured in the notion of 'dwelling.' Most commonly the experience of dwelling is made possible through a long residency in a particular place which becomes 'time thickened' through the structure of memory (May,1996a:26). In the case of migrants seeking to 'dwell' in the new country, they are confronted with their disconnection from familiar 'time thickened' places. May (1996a:31) considered that in such cases, 'national identity works through a hierarchy ofgeographic identities within which any individual may claim identification with different places at different times. '

118 Another important aspect of phenomenology relevant to possible heritage values for migrants, is its acceptance of ordinary and everyday aspects of life as worthy of study (De Certeau,l984: Lefebvre,l991). Heritage places are frequently defined in terms of the best or rare example of a type of place; whereas migrant places are often 'ordinary' places, created by trying to lead everyday lives in a new country. To consider ordinary places as heritage requires an understanding of the phenomenological processes involved in deciding how value is embedded in particular places. As Kockelmans (1991:242) explained in Gadamer and Hermeneutics A phenomenon in the ordinary sense ofthe term is an entity which manifests itself directly in every person's 'ordinary' and everyday life. On the other hand, a phenomenon in the phenomenological sense of the term is something that as such is not explicitly manifest to people in their everyday lives, but which can be made manifest to someone provided he or she applies the proper phenomenological method

Which method is the proper method? Just as Husserl's (1970) phenomenology was debated in philosophical circles, so too there are a number of arguments about the application of hermeneutics.

Interpreting Concealed Meanings : Hermeneutics

Using hermeneutics to study place involves both the disciplines of philosophy and literary studies. Phenomenology and hermeneutics are similar in their subject matter and methods, however they draw from different philosophical traditions. Phenomenology requires a presuppositionless state for the process of reduction whereas hermeneutics emphasises contextual fore-knowledge. Working phenomenologically one must stay within the rigour of interpreting only the experiences as they appear, however subjective meaning of values using verstehen or empathetic understanding can be included (Minichiello et al, 1990). There are two factors to consider when using hermeneutics in my study. The first factor is that the data are inherently revisionist. The stories that the migrants tell are remembrances. Participants often change their stories as the very act of telling them causes them to see the nature and connection of events in their lives differently, particularly when working within groups. Although this has phenomenological problems, it is hermeneutically rich. As Sanderlowski (1993) points out, the very nature of inconsistencies and changes often allow for a more sophisticated hermeneutic. Smith (1988) refers to this as 'double hermeneutics' where the analyst/researcher attempts to interpret a world which is already interpreted by the

119 people who are living in it. Traditionally hermeneutics was undertaken on completed texts, whereas in my study, the high inter-activity between the group and the researcher means that the generation of texts and their interpretationoccur simultaneously.

The second issue relates to hermeneutic completion. Although some argue that good qualitative research results in a fully interpreted finished product, others argue that a hermeneutic interpretation is never finished. There is, however, general agreement that interpretative research paradigms allow for multiple constructions of meaning (Kvale,l983,1995; Sanderlowski,1995). In my research, it is accepted that the completed product is one where there is general consensus about the interpretation within each migrant group, while accepting that further interpretations are always possible.

Debates About Hermeneutics

In the 1970s there · were many arguments around objectivity-subjectivity in interpretations of meanings and values, expressed as the difference between positivistic hermeneutics versus philosophical hermeneutics. Positivist hermeneutics is employed by many heritage and cultural landscape theorists whose interpretations about places and their value are derived from objective rigour and mapping (Melnick,1988; Kerr,1990). In philosophical circles, this position is argued by E. D. Hirsch (1967) who puts forward a science of interpretation. This is in contrast to phenomenological hermeneutics argued by the philosopher, H.G. Gadamer (1976) who maintained that hermeneutics is not a science but an art of interpretation. Both Smith (1988) and Geertz (1983), ethnographers who work on constructing local knowledge in communities, similarly support the concept that interpreting place values is an art. Gadamer (1976) maintained an anti-methodological stance, focussing his criticism on the techniques associated with rigorous phenomenology which required researchers (interpreters) to remove ·their biases by a process known as 'bracketing' (Spiegelberg,1975). He suggested that a process where one seeks to understand another's horizons by abandoning one's own, involves a self-alienation that is the antithesis of understanding (Gadamer,1976). If the researcher is trying to understand ways in which the experience of migration may have affected place-making and place­ attachment then the concept of understanding has to be seen in experiential terms. Such experiential understanding does not divorce the hermeneutic object (the person, the

120 group or place) from the interpretative experience (the researcher and the group) but instead gives an immanent account of it, that is, an account that is contained within the experience. In the forty years since the publication of Gadamer's Truth and Method (1960), hermeneutics is accepted as an international and interdisciplinary movement.

In terms of rigour, the validation of the researcher's interpretation can be seen as the unfolding and reciprocal. confirmation of successive experiences and their interpretations. So when the researcher opts for a given interpretation, it is not because it is known to be true, but because the researcher believes it to be the most appropriate one. This process is illustrated in the developing interpretations of Lebanese heritage places which is described in Case Study Two. The ways in which subjective values are teased out and revealed is the core of the methodology of this research. While many heritage values can be determined by historical scholarship where the researcher can work alone closely scrutinising historical resources, this is in strong contrast to the way one must work to determine the social significance of places. Where the researcher is determining the heritage values within a community group, particularly a migrant group, the art of dialogue and discourse become the key mechanisms to reveal meanings and values.

The way Gadamer (1976) saw the creative potential in understanding meanings and values through discursive speech provides insights for my study. He drew from Plato and Socrates in establishing the central point for his hermeneutic theory. Christopher Smith (1991:37), in an essay on Gadamer and hermeneutics, explains how Plato acted as the impulse for Gadamer' s hermeneutic theory. We learn precisely from Plato that an understanding of something is reached in a dialogical process, i.e., in discussion. Understanding occurs not in subjective thought but in an interrogative discursive exchange between speakers: "What emerges in its truth is the logos that is neither mine nor yours and thus exceeds the subjective beliefs ofthe partners in the discussion to such an extent that even the leader of the discussion remains unknowing" (WM,350).

In this study, group interactions and discussions repeatedly show that new understandings emerged through the process of letting go opinions and allowing the state of 'unknowing' to persist until a form of new knowledge materialises from the discussion. A number of disciplines are now seeing the promise of hermeneutics as a productive research approach in terms of human understanding and the relation between

121 language and meaning (Madison, 1988). Hermeneutics can therefore be legitimately used to explore place values however, the method of hermeneutic interpretations needs to be clearly articulated.

Hermeneutic Methods

The philosopher, Madison, argues for a position somewhere between the extremes of Hirsh's (1967) positivist hermeneutics and Gadamer's (1976) anti-methodological stand. He suggests that a 'viable hermeneutics must allow for method' (Madison, 1988 :27) particularly when two researchers may disagree on the meaning of a text or interpretation of conversations. He proposes that a satisfactory theory of hermeneutics should include criteria to adhere to in the actual work of interpreting (Madison,1988:29-37). · This allows for subjective interpretations but ensures that judgements arrived at are not gratuitous or the result of subjective whim. Instead criteria facilitate rational judgements based on persuasive arguments. Such judgements or interpretations can be defended in that they embody or conform to certain generally accepted norms or principles.

It is important to distinguish between literary texts which are complete as well as being well articulated, highly condensed expressions of meaning, ie 'eminent texts' (Kvale, 1983: 186) and texts derived from interviews and discussion groups. The latter are often vague, repetitious, with many digressions. Thus one needs care in drawing direct analogies with traditional hermeneutics. Despite this, there are certain principles that are applicable regardless of the sources of the text as shown in the following methodological, Table 3.4, generated from Madison's criteria for literary texts.

122 TABLE 3.4. Criteria for Interpreting Texts

Criteria Text interpretations Coherence The interpretation must be coherent in itself; it must present a unified ·picture and not contradict itself. This hold true even if the work being interpreted has contradictions of its own. The interpreter must make coherent sense of all the contradictions. Comprehensive This concerns the relation of the interpretation in itself to the work as a whole. In interpreting texts one must take into account the author's thoughts as a whole and not ignore works which bear on the issue. Penetration It should bring out a guiding or underlying intention in the text i.e. recognising the author's attempts to resolve a central problematic. Thoroughness A good interpretation should attempt to deal with all the questions it poses to the interpreted text Appropriate Interpretations must be ones that the text itself raises and not an occasion for dealing with one's own questions. Contextuality The author's work must be seen in its historical and cultural context.

Suggestiveness A good understanding will be fertile in that it will raise questions that stimulate further research and questions Agreement The interpretation must agree with what the author actually says. This is in contrast to reductive hermeneutics characteristic of Marxism or Freudianism. Potential The interpretation is capable of being extended and continues to unfold ·harmoniously. (after Madison,l988:29-37)

Madison stresses that these criteria are merely an articulation of what generally occurs in practice. This, however, does not mean that interpretations cannot be rigorously derived. As Madison says, rigorously derived interpretations are 'an art in the proper sense ofthe term' (1988:33). Similarly the interpretations do not need to be 'universally and eternally valid'. They need only be generally accepted. The art of interpretation is driven by a belief that meaning and therefore the rationale behind action often lies beneath commonsense understandings articulated by the respondents themselves. May (1994) argues that this can only be reached through the researcher's relation to a deeper theoretical position. I found, however, that by clearly exposing the research question, the participants had quite profound observations. As well, the insights gained through phenomenological hermeneutics do not preclude the input of other forms of knowledge.

The Significance ofMetaphors, Tropes and Creativity

Metaphor has increasingly assumed importance for applied hermeneutics. The essence of metaphor in a social sense is the understanding or experience of one kind of thing in

123 terms of another. Migrant texts are laden with metaphors as people struggle to find ways to explain their experiences. The pervasiveness of metaphors in everyday discourse suggests that they are critical mechanisms by which meaning is imbued. The power of metaphor for interpretive work related to place lies in its ambiguity (Jacobs,l991; Kneale,1995). Barnes and Duncan (1992) describe the metaphor as a 'trope' or figure of speech. The rhetoric of language allows the researcher to uncover tropes (metaphors, metonyms, synecdoche etc) which encode meanings in texts, a research technique used extensively by Kneale (1995) and May (1994). White, in his Tropics of Discourse (1978:5), argues that the study of tropes can help us see the way

people make sense ofth~ wo!ld. He states that 'understan(iing is a process ofrendering the unfamiliar ... familiar, of removing it from the domain of things felt to be "exotic" and unclassified into another domain of experience encoded [through tropes] to be ... non-threatening, or simply known by association'. Interpreting metaphors and tropes not only requires a strong theoretical framework, it also draws from the researcher's creativity. Using creativity in hermeneutics is argued for strongly by Patton (1990), Sanderlowski (1995), and Smith (1988). The art of analysis or interpretation needs to allow for creative, exploratory, even playful ideas in order to be insightful. It is in this way that the leaps in imagination required to comprehend the world of others can occur (Smith, 1988). The Lebanese case study shows a particularly powerful exploration of metaphor which opened the door to highly significant place meanings.

The creativity involved in interpretations has particular relevance for concepts related to transformed culture- a concept of hybridity which draws from Derrida (1967, 1972) and others (Bhabha,1990; · Meyer,1993) who interpret the 'space-in-between' or 'thirdspace' (Soja,1996). Building on the structuralists' beliefthat culture is the act of encoding and that this encoding can be analysed like language, cultural theorists such as Barthes (1986) suggest that these signs or codes are not innocent in the meanings they generate. The post-structuralists, in particular Derrida (1967), have gone further by challenging habitual ways of thinking, particularly the use of binary opposites, to define phenomena. Derrida argued for an alternative space where hybridity and multiple meanings could be explored. Thus the braiding of hermeneutics, phenomenology and post-structuralism provides a way into interpretations in the space-in-between or thirdspace. Figure 3.1 explains the design of my analytic process for this study.

124 REVISED THEORY I

FIGURE 3.1. The Design of the Analytical Process

Methodological Strategy

Deriving the Data

Accessing the Community

In research with minority groups, access is a key issue (Evans, 1988). The process of gaining access to specific migrant groups began with the major migrant societies and government organisations associated with migration issues. The key government organisations when I began my research were the Office for Multicultural Affairs (OMA), since disbanded, the Federated Ethnic Community Councils of Australia (FECCA) and the Ethnic Communities Council (ECC). While each organisation supported the idea of my research, none were able to provide me with direct access into migrant communities other than through directories of ethnic societies.

The study required migrant groups reflecting the time-line of different policies about migration since 1947. The methodological strategy also required migrant groups with a

125 high demographic representation. I approached some of the larger migrant community societies, however my legitimacy to research migrant issues as an outsider was constantly questioned by these organisations. Despite the fact that they provided me with contact people, neither the organisations nor the contact people were able to organise discussion groups for my research. My other approach was to work through local government planners in areas where there were large numbers of migrants. The planners were unable to facilitate contacts within the migrant communities, however, the community services arm of local government was able to open the door to different migrant groups. Two other discussion groups which have nor been included in the case studies but have informed the research, an Italian group and a multinational group who worked on the Snowy Mountain Scheme, were formed by historians. The process of gaining access to the people I wished to talk to was protracted. Even though I was eventually able to talk to representatives of different migrant groups, I could not personally recruit members of discussion groups in the same manner as Burgess et al (1988a,1988b). Instead I had to accept that a 'broker' would form each migrant group. Figure 3.2 summarises the processes involved in establishing the groups.

LEADING AGENCIES

Australian Chinese Cultural

Historian

AHC I Historian

FIGURE3.2 Pathways to Access Migrant Communities

From Figure 3.2, the range of discussion groups was narrowed down to three case studies. In Case Study One, the Greek group was assembled by a Greek local

126 government who derived the group from a large extended family. The local government planner introduced me to the leader of a local Vietnamese organisation who organised a group consisting only of key power brokers in the local Vietnamese community. Individual interviews were also held with Italian and Portuguese migrant in the same local government area.

In order to triangulate the data and ensure that I understood the broader context, I assembled the leaders of various migrant organisations as well as key theorists and representatives of government and non-government organisations, including SBS radio, to attend an all day workshop on migrant heritage. Details of the participants and findings of this workshop are provided in Appendix Two. All the participants were involved with migrant issues. In contrast to the problems encountered trying to access local communities, there was much interest in my project from the representatives of these organisations or 'gatekeepers' (Evans,1988). As a result, I was able to assemble the workshop participants within four weeks.

The second and third case studies were organised after the major workshop. In Case Study Two, I elected to use the Lebanese group who had participated in the first case study, this time including the non-English speaking parents of members of the group. This was intended to address inter-generational perceptions of the migration experience and place. As well, the group had sufficient understanding of the research for issues to be taken further. In Case Study Three, working from the demographic data, I initially selected the former Yugoslavian community because they had the greatest number of people representing the frrst era of post WWII in one local government area. However, because of the political changes in Eastern Europe, this group bad fragmented and did not wish to come together. The second largest group located within one local government area was the Maltese community. Again, using the local government community services officer, I was put in contact with the Maltese church leaders who then organised a Maltese community historian to assemble a group. The case study participants and meeting details are summarised in Appendix One.

Finally as a second form of triangulation, I assembled a small group of heritage practitioners in a workshop to consider the results of the case study work in terms of heritage planning. This is summarised in Appendix Two.

127 The Ethics of Case Studies and Interviews with Minority Groups

There were a number of ethical issues to be considered in this study. First there was the privilege of being allowed into an inter-cultural world. Second, there was the issue of awakening painful memories and third, there was the issue of power relations between the researcher and the researched.

Addressing the first ethical issue, much has been written on the 'insider-outsider' controversy when doing research with ethnic groups, particularly the question of who should do the research (Aroni,1985; Kvale,1983,1995; Minichiello et al,l990; Patton,1990; Spennerman,1993). Kvale (1983,1995) presents a phenomenological position which requires that the researcher is pre-suppositionless. He also argues that the researcher must ensure that the discussion is located in the interviewees' life world and that it is theme-centred rather than person-centred. Arguments in the United States about research on black Americans suggest that black researchers should research their community (Spennerman, 1993). In Australia, tensions have occurred when non-Jewish researchers have undertaken research on the Jewish community in Melbourne (Aroni,1985). In many cases of ethnic community research, there can be distinct advantages in the researcher being an outsider, as there are often tensions within communities which interfere with effective cooperation. An outsider is seen as non­ aligned (Minichiello et al, 1990). In my study, the structure of the methodology enables all participants to be researchers, the multi-dimensioned biases being hermeneutic resources in themselves. Patton (1990) argues that there are other issues in cross­ cultural interviewing such as misunderstandings due to language differences and differing norms and practices. A limitation in my study was that I needed the participants to speak in English, so when discussion occurred in other languages, it had to be translated for me. In these cases I was not confident that the translation was an adequate reflection of the discussion.

The second ethical issue in my study lay in asking the participants to remember painful and humiliating experiences. Before beginning my case studies, I sought advice from ECC and FECCA about support services available should participants become distressed. I did not need to use these services as the participants were eager to tell their stories. Patton (1990) cites many examples where the opportunity to tell stories of pain and suffering proved to be cathartic.

128 The third ethical issue related to power relations proved to be complex. I was mindful of the politics of power which can occur when working with marginalised groups (Smith,1988). Jacobs (1991) was concerned to address this in her research. In my study the politics of power was played out in two directions. I, the researcher, was constantly aware that a certain form of power lay within the migrant groups. I was the outsider and they could deny me knowledge as well as use me as a vehicle to express issues other than those I was researching. Once the empathy level between the group and myself was strong, I experienced the sense that I was seen as an expert in one area, Australian heritage, and an innocent in another, their culture. This provided for some rich and fertile understandings about the nature of culture and heritage. In order to address the risk that the groups might distort the discussions because I was seen as a conduit to powerful government instrumentalities, I transferred such power to the group leaders by providing them with heritage planning contacts at both local and Federal government level. All participants were given confidentiality agreements and a guarantee that they would not be able to be identified as a result of this research.

The way in which the researcher leaves the field is an important ethical issue. In my study the disengagement process varied with each group. All participants were given copies of the report and invited to make comments at any stage. In fact, there has not been a complete departure from the field. In addressing the emancipatory aspect of the research (Habermas, 1971 ), copies of all reports were giv_en to Social History Libraries, the ECC and planners in local government. Participants were also encouraged to take their work further through various agencies.

Setting Up the Case Studies

The First Study -Case Study One

The case studies were developed as two-staged data collection and analysis. The first study was a comparative study. My earlier research, surveying the heritage studies done during 1980-89 (Armstrong,1989a), revealed that Marrickville Heritage Study, prepared in 1985, was the only study to refer to a migrant presence. The heritage theme for this study was 'a theme of change' where the post WWII Greek migrant presence was seen as the final example of change in the area. The places identified in the study were all reflections of Anglo-Celtic Australian heritage except for a Greek milk-bar, listed because of its intact 1950s interior and a Greek church listed to represent the presence

129 of the Greeks in the area. This heritage study formed the basis for Case Study One. Three migrant discussion groups were set up to consider the heritage study. As stated earlier, the groups represented a time line of migrants to the area; a Greek group represented the 1950-60s, a Lebanese group represented the 1960-70s, and a Vietnamese group represented the late 1970-80s.

Each group met for three meetings lasting two hours in order to discuss the heritage study themes. In the process, they identified places which told their story in the area. The group discussions involved a process of 'funnelling' where the initial questions started the participants thinking about the issues of heritage, culture and migration, after which discussion was guided towards specific topics where solicited narratives provided the ethnographic context (Minichiello et al, 1990). All meetings were taped and transcribed. Each meeting commenced with a summary of the prior meeting for verification by the group. Most of the discussion was spoken in English. When discussion occurred in another language, the group translated for me. Descriptions of the experience of migration and the ways people settled in the host country were relatively easily recalled. The concept of values connected with places associated with these experiences, however, required time and considered discussion within the groups.

The First Triangulation -Key Migrant Representatives

A thematic analysis was done of the first case study. The results of this analysis formed the basis of the major workshop held with key representatives or 'gatekeepers' (Evans, 1988) of a wide range of migrant groups. The workshop was structured into four sections: • Broad issues about migration • Two examples of migrant groups and their heritage places • Practicalities about assessing migrant heritage places • An Australian response to migrant heritage.

Each section consisted of two to three speakers followed either by an open forum or a set of focussed small group discussion topics. All presentations, open forums, and small group discussions were taped and content analyses undertaken. As a result of the workshop, the research methodology was revised. This included working in close liaison with members of SBS radio to ensure effective communication of the issues for participants where English was a second language.

130 Revising the Method

The methodology was revised using both thematic analyses of the first migrant case study and analyses of workshop discussions. A new methodological tool was developed which could be used with specific migrant groups without the nexus to a particular heritage study or a particular Local Government Area. The new tool was a small illustrated 'guide' which included explanations of the concept of migrant heritage and structured discussion points contained within four sequential meetings. The guide, through its illustrations and examples, built on the earlier work providing an easier way into difficult concepts.· Using the guide with different migrant groups, narrative data was to be analysed after each meeting so that constant feedback between the researcher and groups occurred. The guide was also structured so that the sequence of meetings led to a synthesis of understanding about places sufficiently valued by groups to be considered as migrant heritage places. The guide was tested with a number of groups, indicated in Appendix One, two of which are presented as Case Studies Two and Three; the original Lebanese group in Marrickville and a Maltese group.

Methodologically, the guide, because it was developed from the results of the first case study, provided an a priori framework for the subsequent case studies. Qualitative researchers (Strauss & Corbin, 1990; Patton,1990; Richards & Richards,1990) argue that where theory and knowledge are sought rather than tested, the organising framework for the research must to some extent emerge from the data. Thompson & Barrett (1997) also argue for the legitimacy of methodological flexibility. This is why I used two-staged data collection. The guide also provided a preliminary framework for the data interpretation which was occurring during the data gathering process. Such an aid was essential because the research process involved mutual reflection between all participants. Although the reflective process was consistent and disciplined, it nevertheless allowed for imaginative and creative leaps in understanding; a process noted by other qualitative researchers (Sanderlowski,1995).

Triangulating with the Profession

The second workshop, held after using the guide in Case Studies Two, consisted of twenty selected heritage professionals from private consultancies and government agencies. The workshop was divided into three sections; conflicting heritage values,

131 why a guide and how to use it, and the implication of the outcomes in heritage planning terms. Both the migrant representative workshop and the professional workshop provided significant feedback and peer review as triangulating research devices. Case Study Three followed the professional workshop. Figure 3.3 summarises the methodological strategy.

Thematic Analysis

WORKSHOP OF MIGRANT REPRESENTATIVES AND EXPERTS

WORKSHOP OF HERITAGE PLANNERS

FIGURE3.3. Methodological Strategy- Case Study and Triangulation Sequence.

132 Summary

This chapter has sought to address the particular methodological considerations in my study of migrant place-making. It has considered a number of issues. First, the reasons for my particular methodology have been argued within the context of accepted research methods. Second, the arguments related to different forms of analysis and theory development have been considered, including examples of some applications in order to support the legitimacy and potential of my chosen forms of analysis. Third, the art of interpretation is discussed in order to support the creative insights which will be revealed in the case studies and the theory development. Fourth, the ethical issues involved in this research have been acknowledged and addressed Finally, the methodological strategy used to derive data has been presented.

This chapter concludes the first section of this thesis. The next section reveals the application PART TWO

MIGRANT PLACE-MAKING

135 PART TWO: MIGRANT PLACE MAKING

Preamble

Section Two reveals the values held by a range of migrant groups about the places they created in different areas of Sydney in the post-World War IT period. This period was selected for three reasons. First, this period of migration involved the greatest number of migrants, second, the post-war migration to Australia was different to other countries, and finally the places of potential heritage significance as a result of this period are the most vulnerable to being lost, because little is known about their value to migrant groups.

Case study groups have been chosen to draw out different responses to migration and resulting migrant place-making, with a particular emphasis on the changing political climate from 1947 to the early 1980s. Not all the case studies undertaken for this research are described here. Instead the case studies have been selected to show different aspects and implications of migrant place values. Although all case studies employ descriptive and constitutive phenomenology (Spiegelberg,1975,1982) and have been subject to content and thematic analyses (Minichiello et al,1990; Patton,1990), each is presented in a different way. The first case study, Chapter Four, is a . . comparative study showing the way in which current heritage practice is not fully representative of all constituents. The study is a time-based continuum of respondents, each of which throws light upon different experiences of the same process (May,l994). The second case study, Chapter Five, uses phenomenological hermeneutics to deepen an understanding of migration by examining ways in which culture is transposed and transformed through the experience of migration and how this is evident in places. It also develops a procedural tool for application in planning practice. The third case study, Chapter Six, shows how urban centre and periphery locations affect the settling process. This study also reveals the complexity and range of values within one migrant group over two periods of migration. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the spatial implications of marginality and national identity.

136 CHAPTER FOUR

MANY READINGS OF ENVIRONMENTAL HERITAGE.

Introduction

The urban cultural landscape of inner suburbs of large Australian cities is highly complex. Traditionally, cultural landscape readings have looked for layers of human use over time, most of which have evolved slowly. Since 1973, the process of change has been rapid, a phenomenon which has been described as the post-modern condition derived from flexible economies (Harvey,l989; King,1996). Associated with the rapidity of change, there has been an increase in international migration of people, many of whom have settled in the inner suburbs of Australian cities. These areas are seen to be rich in heritage, however the migrant presence is rarely acknowledged as part of that heritage; nor are migrants asked about their perception of local heritage. To address this, an area with the longest and most diverse representation of migrants, Marrickville, was studied using the Marrickville Heritage Study prepared in 1985 (Marrickville Municipal Council, 1986), as the benchmark for the environmental heritage of the area.

Marrickville Heritage Study as a Benchmark

Marrickville Heritage Study (MHS) 1986, assessed the environmental heritage of the local government area by using documentary evidence and fieldwork. The consultant team, Fox and Associates, looked at the documented histories of the area, reworking them into an appropriate thematic history in order to identify those places which reflect this history and to enable an analysis of their heritage significance. The MHS suggested that all parts of the municipality reflect the area's development in some way, but this does not necessarily mean that such places are items of environmental heritage. Instead, heritage places were selected because they provided important evidence about the area's past and made contributions to the area's present character or sense of place (MHS,1986:4).

Thematic studies are characteristic of heritage studies undertaken in Australia. The major heritage theme identified by the MRS was 'Process of Change'. This was suggested because the municipality acted as a barometer of major changes in Sydney, evidence of which persisted, while being lost in the fabric of the central city. Three

137 minor themes augmented the heritage interpretations; proximity to Sydney, impact of rail and changing social status. Table 4.1 shows the heritage themes used to interpret the contemporary character of the area and the phenomena associated with these themes.

TABLE4.1. Heritage Themes Associated with the Urban Character of Marrickville.

MAJOR THEME MINOR THEMES SIGNIFICANCE

Process of Change *Proximity to Sydney. *The 2nd arc of walking distance from the centre. Evident in diversity of *residential heritage, *Impact of rail. *Introduction of workingman's ticket. *retail heritage, *Connection with industry. *industrial heritage, *views, landmarks. *Changing social *From landed gentry to middle class villas status. to workers' cottages.

(Source: Marrickville Municipal Council, 1986)

The heritage study pointed out that the concept of environmental heritage goes beyond the standard definition used by the NSW Heritage Act (1977) which states that, '"Environmental heritage" means those buildings, works, relics or places of historic, scientific, cultural, social, archaeological, architectural, natural or aesthetic significance for the State' (MHS,l986:43). Instead the Marrickville Heritage Study argues that environmental heritage significance is a concept which helps in determining the value of places beyond their obvious utilitarian role. This value is embodied in the materiality of the place as well as in perceptions about the place which may be 'existential, evidential, associational, or symbolic' (MHS,1986:43). The heritage study synthesis, represented as a Statement of Significance (Figure 4.1 ), suggests that the most distinctive aspect of the area's heritage is its diversity. The Statement of Significance sets the context for the following four readings of cultural heritage, the professional reading, a Greek, a Lebanese and finally a Vietnamese reading. The comparison between the professional heritage assessment and a time-line of migrant groups' perception of the different themes shows that recent heritage in the area is more complex and diverse than orthodox assessments of documentary histories and field­ work can reveal.

138 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The Municipality ofMarrickville has retained tangible evidence of every stage of Sydney's suburban growth, from the days of the early, rural based economy and settlement of villages in the 1830s to the ultimate consolidation of the inner suburbs in the 1960s and 1970s.

The most distinctive aspect of the heritage of Marrickville is its diversity; not only does it demonstrate all stages of suburban growth with its associated administrative, educational and commercial development, but it has also experienced and retained a diverse history of metropolitan development, including transport infrastructure, services and industry.

The retention of such a diverse range of heritage items is largely due to the location of Marrickville in relation to the first settlements and the city centre. Marrickville experienced all stages of suburban growth, but was distant enough from the inner areas and associated competitive land values not to have had all evidence of its early history obliterated by successive waves of redevelopment.

The significance of the Municipality is embodied in the physical evidence of its history, its townscape character and in the historical documents (plans, photographs, family papers, council records etc.) associated with its develooment.

FIGURE4.1. Statement of Heritage Significance for Marrickville, prepared for Marrickville Heritage Study, 1986:55.

It could be argued that this Statement of Significance provides confirmation that the 'national space' of Australia does not include" the values of marginal groups (Bhabha,l990; Hage,l998). I suggest however, that the MHS is not an example of cultural exclusion, but rather an indication that current heritage assessment methods do not facilitate such understandings. The MHS makes explicit reference to the migrant groups present in the area, thus their existence is acknowledged but their cultural landscape remains unknown. This chapter seeks to reveal their landscape concluding with a Statement of Significance which includes the migrant contribution to Marrickville's cultural heritage.

Marrickville as a Cultural Landscape

The orthodox heritage assessment procedure first reqmres an explanation of the evolution of the cultural landscape to provide a contextual framework. The physical landscape, shown in Plates 4.1 and 4.2, provides the foundation for the cultural landscape. In Marrickville, it is characterised by undulating topography derived from

139 the shales of the Sydney Basin. The rolling hills, with occasional sandstone outcrops form part of the Cooks River catchment, the river becoming estuarine by the time it passes through Marrickville, and enters Botany Bay at Tempe, shown on Map 4.1. The original catchment was characterised by a number of streams draining down to low­ lying swampy land with northern ridgelines marking the watershed of Cooks and Parramatta Rivers' catchments. The original vegetation was characteristic of Sydney shale country, namely open forests of large eucalypts growing in Aboriginal fired grasslands, with thick belts of scrub along the creeks and mangroves dominating the lower reaches of the river (MHS,1986).

PLATE4.1. PLATE4.2. Undulating topography with sandstone Rolling hills including northern ridgeline outcrops near Cooks River. (A.P. 1992.) marking watershed of catchments. (A.P. 1993).

Little appears to be documented about the Aboriginal cultural landscape before European occupation other than the knowledge of a few remaining middens. In contrast, the cultural landscape of Anglo-Celtic settlers is evident in the built form, the road layouts and the cultural responses of the last 180 years.

The fertile clay soils precipitated the Anglo-Celtic changes to the landscape in the 1820s when the area was subdivided into large rural estates, the boundaries of which have generated the road patterns of today. Over the next thirty years substantial villas developed on higher land and the river-front, whereas villages and market gardens occupied the land between. The clay soils also became the focus of Sydney's early brick industry.

140 MAP 9 :AREAS OF. SIGNIACANC£;

MAP 4.1. Map of Municipality ofMarrickville showing Areas ofTownscape Significance. (Marrickville Heritage Study, 1986. Marrickville Townscape Study Addendum. p2)

In the 1860s, the railway passed through the area making it possible for workers to commute to Sydney. Between 1861-1871, municipalities were gazetted which in Marrickville included the suburbs of Newtown, Enmore, Petersham, Dulwich Hill, Stanmore, and Arncliffe. This was followed by a period when large public buildings such as railway stations, town halls, and post offices were constructed, shown in Plates 4.3 and 4.4.

141 PLATE4.3. PLATE4.4. Marrickville Police Station, Stanmore Railway Station, opened in Significant public building. 1878, enabling workers to get to (A.P.1993). industries. (A.P.1993).

While prestigious public buildings and substantial terrace housing on higher land resulted in one character of the area, important public works such as the reticulation of water determined another character, namely industrial developments such as large factories and textile mills on the lower land. When drainage of low lying areas in Marrickville was completed in the 1890s, the area was marked for further industrial development and worker housing, shown in Plate 4.5; all of which was to have significance for the future migrant composition of the municipality. Later with increasing industrialisation, the wealthy moved out leaving their large villas to be transformed into boarding houses for factory workers. Meanwhile Newtown, by 1900, had become the focus of late 19th century shopping where the main street, King Street, featured elaborate three to four storey shopping emporia and equally substantial public buildings, shown in Plate 4.6.

In the 1930s, flats were built with intricate brick detailing. The last major subdivision was undertaken according to Art Deco planning concepts in

142 PLATE4.5. PLATE4.6. Early 20th century workers' cottages near Late 19th century shopping emporia, industrial areas. (A.P .1993). King street, Newtown. (A.P.1993).

Dulwich Hill, shown in Plate 4.7. After World War IT, the immigration program resulted in waves of migration into Marrickville; in the 1950s, Greeks and Italians; in the 1960s, the former Yugoslavians and Lebanese; in the 1970s, a second wave of Lebanese and Vietnamese; in the 1980s Vietnamese and Portuguese, to acknowledge the largest groups.

PLATE4.7. 1930s flats, typical of Art Deco flat developments in Marrickville. (A.P.l993).

143 During the 1970s, the character of the industrial area changed as heavy industry moved to outer areas of Sydney. At the same time there was a change in the residential character as home units and flats replaced some of the older housing stock. In the 1980s there was also a new wave of Anglo-Australians who returned to the area as middle class gentrifiers. Table 4.2 summarises the thematic history of the area.

TABLE4.2. Thematic History of Marrickville

THEMATIC HISTORY

Era Events

Up to 1830 Aboriginal occupation 1793-1810 Land grants and consolidation 1810-1838 Farm grants and country estates 1838-1860 Villages and market gardens Early brick industry Water supply and river crossing Goods and passenger rail lines 1861-1892 Suburbs and Municipalities Encroachment of suburbia Early industrial development Transport for the working class 1893-1918 New industrial development Drainage of swamps for industry Newtown as the main commercial area 1919-1945 After the 'Great War' Increased industrialisation Middle class vacate villas Growth of flats and boarding houses 1946-1969 Migrants and industry 1970-1985 De-industrialisation 1970-1986 Home unit developments Gentrification of terraces, Federation cottages

(derived from MHS.1986)

Perceived Environmental Heritage

The Marrickville Heritage Study considered the environmental heritage of the area to be reflected in changes in three major types of development - residential, retail and industrial as well as vistas and landmarks revealed by the undulating topography. The heritage planners state that, ' ... It is change rather than any on-going characteristic that most strongly represents the history of Marrickville' (MHS,l986:12). Such change is clearly evident in the residential character. There is little left of the early country

144 estates, except for the name Tempe, a former rural holding. Similarly, the area known as the 'Warren' was once a substantial estate enclosed by a stone wall, parts of which still exist, as shown in Plate 4.8. The most significant residential heritage in Marrickville today belongs to the building boom of the 1870s-80s, seen in Plate 4.9. It consists of narrow grid-patterned streets, back lanes, large elaborate villas and terraces on the high land and crowded single storey terraces in creek valleys. There are some modest Federation cottages in small, unified groups reflecting the 1890s - 1900s residential character. There are also areas of 1930s and 1940s bungalows and 1930s Art Deco blocks of flats.

PLATE4.8. PLATE4.9. Remains of the Holt Estate, built in 1866 Example of large Victorian terraces, built as an 11th century castle, in an area known in 1884-5 indicating high social standing as the Warren. (A.P.1993). ofthe area in the 1880s. (A.P.1993).

Retail heritage identified by the heritage planners focused on the shopping street in Newtown which is considered to have outstanding examples of Sydney's retailing history, including details and fixtures which are now rare examples of past retailing practices. In the suburb of Marrickville there are also many comer shops, seen in Plate 4.1 0, rare in high-income areas, but frequently part of speculative low cost developments in the 1890s. The third major aspect of the heritage of the area is the industrial heritage. This is valued for the archaeological significance of late 19th century industrial technology. There are however, other heritage values associated with the industrial areas. Industry influenced where employees lived, namely in close proximity to factories, while employers lived in large houses on surrounding ridges. The industrial areas were also a major reason for the influx of the Mediterranean communities in the 1950s, adding another layer to the urban character ofMarrickville.

145 The heritage planners included the views and vistas derived from the undulating topography as part of the cultural heritage. In Marrickville, the visual quality is subtle. It consists of unusual road alignments which provide unexpected views of internal landmarks such as the tall elaborate 1890 sewerage vents and occasional church steeples, seen in Plate 4.11, and highly urban and complex, distant vistas.

PLATE4.10. PLATE4.11. Comer shop characteristic of low cost Views and vistas, unexpected view of St speculative developments in the 1890s. Brigid's church steeple. (A.P.l993). (A.P.1993).

To summarise, for planners the cultural heritage significance lies in the history of Marrickville since the 1830s. Included in their study is an acknowledgment of the changes over the last forty years in terms of different 'ethnic' groups. This, however, is limited to a reference to the Greek impact on the area, not other 'ethnic' groups and it only seeks to represent the Greek history through a Greek milk bar and a Greek Church. Such a limited representation of a multicultural presence confirms Hayden's (1995) view that minority groups are under-represented in urban conservation.

Given that the Statement of Significance (Figure 4.1) suggests that diversity is one of the most distinguishing aspects of Marrickville, I propose that multiple readings of the environmental heritage of Marrickville be undertaken as 'grids of difference' (Pratt,1998). The orthodox interpretation of environmental heritage can then be used as the framework into which layers and grids of meaning can be incorporated, particularly as cultural landscape theory allows for the inclusion of intangible heritage such as

146 folklore, rituals, religious beliefs and other abstract experiences (Samuels, 1979; O'Keefe & Prott,1984).

The Migrant Experience in Marrickville: 1950s -1990s

A cultural landscape reading of the migrant experience in Marrickville supports Lowenthal's observation that in Australia, heritage is represented less by 'generational continuity' than by 'tableaux of discrete moments' (Lowenthal, 1990: 15). The descriptions of the Greek, Lebanese and Vietnamese experiences in Marrickville make up just such a tableau. Another contribution to understanding the cultural landscape of Marrickville comes from Relph's ( 197 6) work on different levels of empathy associated with places. Phenomenologically, the experiences of place overlap and interpenetrate which, Relph suggests, can be analysed by exploring three components of place, the static setting, activities in the place and meanings attributed to the place. Here, the MHS provides the static setting, whereas the life-world experiences of the Greek, Lebanese and Vietnamese migrants in Marrickville provide insights into activities in the place. The phenomenological process of working with descriptions given by different migrant groups allows us to understand the 'unselfconscious intentionality' involved in place-making (Relph,1976:43). Finally, the reflective discourse of migrant groups provides an understanding of meanings and values associated with these places. The migrant contribution to the character of Marrickville is thus interpreted through their life-world experiences, kept as 'things as they appear' and described in their own words (Spiegelberg, 197 5).

In the light of this, using stories told in discussion groups during 1992-1993, the following analysis ofheritage places is drawn from a group of Greek migrants who have lived in the area since the 1950s. This is followed by focussed discussions held with a Lebanese group during 1993-1994 and a Vietnamese group during 1995-1996. Meeting dates, locations and participants are listed in Appendix One. Interpretations about place are supported by social theorists such as Bachelard (1969) and Lefebvre (1991) who suggest 'spaces of representation' contain collective experiences (Lefebvre, 1991 :25) and the memories associated with these experiences generate many of the valued qualities of places (Bachelard, 1969). Interpretations also draw from Shields' (1991) discussion about places on the margins and Bourdieu's (1984) concepts of 'habitus' and the experiences that lie behind patterns of taste and conduct in everyday life. The first

147 study describes the Greek experience of migration and their relationship with Marrickville. The analysis into themes has been derived from orthodox coding practices (Minichiello et al,1990; Patton, 1990). In order to distinguish the spoken words of different migrant participants, they are italicised. In contrast, quotes from references are no longer indicated by italics. The description commences using their term, the 'odyssey'.

1950s - The Greek Odyssey

The history of the Greeks in Australia goes back to 1829 when the first Greeks came as seven young male convicts from the island of Hydra. Later, in the 1850s, Greek mariners from the Ionian Islands left their ships to find their fortune on the Australian goldfields. By the 1880s, Greek communities called 'paroikies' came to Australia and settled in Sydney and Melbourne (Gilchrist,1988). The Greek community in Australia, however, resulted from two main periods of migration. The first migration consisted of a small number of people who came in the 1920s. They settled in country towns where they had small businesses such as cafes, fish or fruit shops (Gilchrist,1988). It would appear that they were not able to continue their farming way of life, because as Freeman & Jupp (1992) point out, unlike migrants to North America, there was not the opportunity in Australia for small rural holdings. The second migration was made up of the post-World War II migrants who tended to stay in large cities because they were contracted to work in factories in order to pay off their assisted passage (Jupp, 1992). Thus, when the second wave of migrants arrived in the late 1950s and 1960s, despite the earlier Greek migration, there was not a strong Greek urban presence.

For many Greek migrants, particularly the young men, the journey to Australia symbolised the Homeric Odyssey. Greek men today speak of how their pioneering spirit reflected the classic Greek journey (Armstrong,1993a). For Greek women, the odyssey was different. After the massive migration of Greek men in the late 1940s, young Greek women were sent out on 'bride ships' as prospective brides for Greek men working on new industrial projects. These young women, many clutching photographs of men they had never met, arrived in Sydney and Melbourne to embark on married life in a new country without the traditional support of their families (Armstrong, 1993b:22). For all the Greek migrants, both the men and women, there were deeply emotional phenomena embodied in the experience of migration. h1 many cases, they knew little

148 about Australia but the conditions in Greece as a result of World War II and the subsequent civil war had created such difficult conditions that they were forced to leave. Understanding the reasons for leaving Greece and the expectations about Australia are important in that they set a framework for first relationships with the new place.

The members of the group who provided the data for this study had all come to Australia in the 1950s and resided in the municipality of Marrickville. The textual data derived from transcriptions of the group discussions were coded into themes which were subsequently validated by the group over three meetings. The phenomena embedded in the experience of migration fell into four broad themes; perceptions of the new country, being a migrant, the process of settling-in, and emerging place values in Australia. Phenomenologically, the discourse about their life-world experiences of migration and the ways in which they adapted and modified their new environment provide insights about how certain places are part of the Greek heritage in Marrickville. Table 4.3 summarises the themes and their associated phenomena.

TABLE4.3. Themes and Phenomena Derived from the Greek Migrant Discourse.

THEMES PHENOMENA

PERCEPTIONS OF THE NEW Heritage as pioneering spirit. COUNTRY New Worlds as lands of opportunity.

BEING A MIGRANT The language barrier. Hardship and humiliation. Assimilation.

SETTLING IN Establishing essentials. Sustaining cultural life. Creating new Greek places.

EMERGING PLACE VALVES IN Greek heritage as a gift to Australian culture. AUSTRALIA Earlier Greek pioneers. Belonging.

Perceptions of the New Country

The theme, 'perceptions of the new country', consisted of a number of phenomena pertinent to place values for Greek migrants. The life-world experience of why one leaves one's country in order to live permanently in another seemed to be imbued with certain Greek cultural values, as well as particular perceptions about Australia as an

149 appropriate destination. These phenomena are summarised as 'heritage as pioneering spirit' and 'New Worlds as lands of opportunity'. The phenomenon of imagined communities explored by Anderson and Gale (1992) and Urry (1995) has particular resonances here, where members of the Greek group described how they imagined Australia and themselves as pioneers in an emerging nation.

TABLE4.4. Perceptions of the new country: phenomena and places.

Phenomena Places telling the story Heritage as a pioneering spirit. Points of arrival.

New Worlds as lands of opportunity Houses of pre-war Greek migrants.

Heritage as a pioneering spirit

Evidence of the pioneering spirit and the willingness to work hard and be enterprising were seen to be important phenomenological aspects of the Greek migration experience within Australia. Greg, a post-World War II migrant from the Peleponnes, pointed out 'what you suffer, when you go to a country with a suitcase and try to build your life ... you don't know what you go through psychologically, financially, physically . . . . It is heroism (GMl).' Greg spoke of the 'pioneering spirit' being a 'classical Greek journey'. This comment draws attention to Hage's notion ofthe 'accumulated cultural capital' that migrants bring to Australia (Hage,l998:9). Freda, who came at a similar time, pointed out that the Australian Government had invited the immigrants here ' ... to start Australia as a new country.' She said 'We were invited more or less - they needed us .... We came to help them and to help ourselves too (GM2).' This statement confirms Freeman and Jupp's (1992:3) observation that the New World was a setting where hard working, enterprising people could create new lives. Arriving in a new country with such attitudes implies an optimistic belief that by sustaining a pioneering spirit, they could build new lives in unlimited 'frontier space' (Freeman and Jupp,1992).

New World as lands ofopportunity

The phenomenon of imagining community (Jacobs,1991,1992; Anderson and Gale,1992) is evident in the Greek migrants' stories of the 1950s where Australia was 'imagined' as a 'paradise' in terms of making money. Rena, who migrated from Rhodes, pointed out that ' ... many people believed that in Australia and Canada - is

150 plenty [of] money - paradise. And for this one leaves everything (GM2).' The expectation that migrants in Australia would be rich is further strengthened by Rena's description of their visit to her husband's uncle on arrival in Australia. In Greece they presumed he was rich. She described how she was shocked that the house was bagged and whitewashed, ' ... like in Greece'. She was dismayed that the wood for the fire was inside the house and that there were only 'soldier's blankets' on the beds (GM2). Clearly there were certain expectations of what being rich in a new country would be like. Cosgrove (1986) writes of how pioneering new settlers act out the 'landscape idea' of the New World as vast areas of available land, the commodity, which will lead to accumulated wealth. I maintain, however, that the migrant arrives with received wisdom derived from descriptions of Australia told by returning migrants or through correspondence. I use Despina and Greg's stories as insights into the way in which received wisdom can become transformed into 'imagined communities'.

Despina, also from Rhodes, described how surprised she was when she saw the small houses in St. Peters, Sydney. Her village consisted of two-storey houses, one storey being for storage of food and animal shelter. She was confused when she first saw the single-storey houses in St. Peters because her impression, in Greece, was that her brother had made money in Australia. When he told her how much money the house in St. Peters was worth, she exclaimed 'I was shocked!' She recounted how she told her brother 'I don't give even a cent for such a house!'(GM2)

Greg provided a reflective story about a man who had a fish shop in Bondi and went back to Greece to marry. He gave the impression that in Australia he was rich, throwing sovereigns at the wedding. His bride was from a good family and he bought her the best fashions which she brought to Australia. When she came to Sydney, she had to live in a little flat over the fish shop in Bondi. Greg commented 'Can you imagine the shock she got! There she was going visiting the others- they all worked in shops in plain clothes and she had all these beautiful clothes ... but she compromised and stayed and now they are living in Vaucluse in a beautiful house (GM2).' This humorous anecdote is laden with meanings attributed to the migrant experience, misrepresentations about Australia in Greece, the shock of arrival, adaptations and the ultimate reward of affluence. In terms of place values, such phenomena set the context for the responses migrants exhibited as they started new lives in Australia.

151 Being a Migrant in Australia in the 1950s

The second major theme emerging from the life-world descriptions by the Greek group relates to the range of phenomena associated with being a migrant in Australia in the 1950s. These include 'experiencing the language barrier', 'hardship and humiliation', and 'experiences resulting from enforced assimilation'.

TABLE4.5. Being a migrant in Australia: phenomena and places.

Phenomena Places telling the story

The language barrier. Streets ofMarrickville.

Hardship and humiliation. Work places- the factories. The Salvation Army Centre.

Assimilation. Hidden places.

The Language Barrier

The phenomenon of being isolated by language is true for many migrants. In discussions with a range of migrant groups, it is clear that the biggest problem they coped with on arrival in Australia was being unable to speak English. Different members of the Greek group described how the isolation of the language barrier persisted long after first arrival. The difficulty of having to work hard, often in consecutive shifts, meant that there was little time to learn the language, or even to read newspapers. As well as working long hours, people were living in crowded conditions to reduce costs and save money, all of which acted against learning English.

Descriptions of the value of Marrickville emerged as a place where one could speak Greek in shops and in the street and feel free from the sense of isolation and marginality. It would appear the sense of stigma associated with marginality (Shields,l991) was eased in enclaves where the language of the marginal group was the dominant one.

Hardship and Humiliation

Many of the group spoke of the hardship of having to leave everything behind and start with nothing; working long hours and living in difficult conditions. The issue of

152 working hard seems to have been a dominant concern. As Greg said ' ... the main thing was money and fortunately in the '50s and '60s there was work. They were exploiting every opportunity to improve and many people were living in crowded circumstances'. Rena pointed out' ... you have to cook by hours. First I cook [then] she cook- she has to wash with hours- the gas and all' (GM2).

But the willingness to work hard is best described by Melba's story of how the Minerva Restaurant was established. When we left that hard times in Greece, .. . - I come from school and my husband comes from the University. He was studying medicine and with politics and all, he can't go on. We come here and we prepared to do any, any job- things you can't do in your country. So what job? [my husband] start work in the kitchen, I start in David Jones, dress making, you know. I don't have any idea, but we start work... and I always say to my husband- go to University, finish your medical studies, learn the language. He said 'no I can't leave you to look after us - I have to work in the kitchen to learn to cook ' He was very intelligent. Anyhow, we work very hard, we opened the restaurant and we start to make money. But after that we want something else to make it home .. . this is why we start the theatre (GM2, Armstrong,J993a:20).

The phenomenon of 'humiliation' is closely associated with the phenomenon of hardship. The image and stigma of marginality was compounded by working in factories and living in poor conditions. As Shields (1991) points out, this stigma pervades the migrants' former sense of identity in their home country. The phenomenon, 'humiliation', was evident in discussions about the language barrier and members of the group's experiences of daily interactions with the host community. Some of the group spoke of the humiliations they were subjected to through frequent references to 'dagos '. Freda remarked that as a result, in the 1950s one did not walk down the street speaking one's own language. Greg spoke of the verbal abuse of drunken Australian 'mates' (GM2). Such descriptions are clear evidence of the concept of Australians occupying 'positional superiority' (Said, 1978) where the so-called 'highs', mainstream Australians, maintained a certain relationship with the 'lows', the new migrants, without ever losing the upper hand (Shields, 1991 ).

On first arrival, some of the Greek women had distressing experiences. Not all of the 'brides' on the ships were met. It would appear the possibility that some of the young women could be abandoned in a strange land, unable to speak English, had not been considered. The Salvation Army rescued these young women. In Sydney, the Salvation

153 Army building near Taylor's Square, now a luxury apartment block, was a temporary home to many young Greek 'brides' (Armstrong,l993b:22).

Issues remain of how such experiences of fear, abandonment, humiliation, and hard work can be expressed as place values? While Relph's (1976) 'empathetic insideness' allows for emotional involvements with places, it is not clear whether this includes negative emotions. I suggest that a more pertinent representation of experiences of fear and abandonment lies with Low's typology of place attachments where negative experiences of place fit into her 'linkage through loss of land or destruction of continuity' (Low,1992:166). Phenomenological readings of migrant experiences validate the fact that all stories from the Greek group are associated with places. Such places are associational, having strong 'social heritage significance' (Johnston,1992).

Assimilation

The phenomenon of assimilation is highly complex. All the migrants of the 1950s there experienced enforced assimilation due to government policies (Jordens,l995; Jupp,l996; Murphy,l993). This confirms Bhabha's (1990) descriptions of the power of the 'national space'. As a result, the experiences related to this policy form part of this group's Australian cultural heritage. Interestingly, the migrants did not necessarily perceived themselves as assimilated. There was much discussion in the group about the pressure on Greeks to become 'New Australians' and forget their Greek origins. Greg, in particular, felt this was unfair when the Anglo-Australians were free to' ... remember the stew ofMum, ofgreat, great grandmother from Ireland and to celebrate everything that is important to the Scottish [and English] -but we had to forget.' Greg reflected further ' ... you can't just wipe it out and become Australian - consider for a moment, ifI become Australian; I mean with the sense of being a "mate", I would be a very bad imitation. I am Australian and I feel Australian, but with a Greek background (GM2).' These statements exemplify Chambers' ( 1994) exploration of migrant identity as forms of hybridisation. They also reveal the implicit resistance to the concept of assimilation.

The comments provide an interesting insight into the fact that, for this group, white Australians were also seen as migrants and therefore to the Greeks, Australians had a similar 'existential outsider' status in the new country (Relph,l976). Allied with this, the sense of frontierism, which the Greeks considered to be a shared phenomenon with Australians, was an important aspect of place-making for the migrants of the 1950s. If

154 the mainstream Australians were also migrants and equal partners at the frontier, this suggests an intriguing paradox about 'positional superiority' (Said, 1978). The phenomenon of assimilation is highly complex, but for the pmposes of this study, official assimilation resulted in migrants concealing places which reflected their different cultural practices. Drawing from Bourdieu's concept of 'habitus' which argues that 'spatial practices are cultural structures' (Shields, 1991 :32), the assimilation process involved the migrant groups in a process where they came to understand the habitus and its dispositions (Bourdieu,l984) of the mainstream culture and the required codes of spatial behaviour in the context of social situations in the 1950s. It was not until the 1980s, however, that the mainstream culture became interested in understanding the habitus of migrant groups, because despite the hegemony of the Australian society in the 1950s, the everyday habits of different migrant groups persisted.

Understanding how the experience of migration is manifest in place not only requires an examination of the initial perceptions of Australia but also the ways in which migrant groups changed their Australian environment to make it feel more familiar.

Settling In: Establishing Essentials

The third major theme emerging from the Greek group, settling into the new country, is most significant in terms of the place-making. The way people affiliate themselves and adapt to new situations involves processes which transform 'space' into 'place' by embedding culturally meaningful symbols into shared environments (Low,1992). The discourse about their lived-in-the-world experiences revealed that for the Greek group there was a particular sequence of phenomena which reflected attempts to re-instate their habitus, that is, to make the unfamiliar Australian environment into a version of their everyday life in Greece. Nevertheless, as Shields (1991) points out, habitus is not only durable, it is also malleable. As a result the qualities of everyday life became mediated in the process of acclimatisation. From discussions about the process of settling into Marrickville, the sequence involved three sub-themes, 'establishing essentials', 'sustaining cultural life', 'creating new places' and their associated phenomena.

155 There is a range of phenomena involved in 'establishing essentials' for Greek migrants to begin the settling process. These include finding Greek food, finding work, establishing places of spiritual worship, and altering houses.

TABLE4.6. Settling in by establishing essentials: phenomena and places.

Sub-Theme Phenomena Places telling the story

Finding Greek food. Greek shops. Back gardens. ESTABLISHING Finding work. Factories. ESSENTIALS Making places for spiritual worship. Old Anglican churches. Converted houses. Altering houses. Modified houses.

Finding Food and Work

The phenomenon of finding suitable food seemed to be urgent for European migrants of the 1950s. The group indicated that their first imperative was to find familiar food and ingredients for Greek cooking. Such essentials as olive oil, at that time, could only be bought in small bottles in pharmacies. Similarly it was difficult to find fresh olives, garlic and fresh herbs such as basil, oregano, and parsley. To address the lack of appropriate fresh food, members of the group described planting grapevines, olive, fig, lemon trees and herbs in their small gardens. They also sought out the wholesale markets for fresh food. Purchasing food in market settings was a familiar ritual.

Finding work was the second phenomenon. Post-war migrants came to Australia to work, however most of the available employment was in factories. Both men and women worked long hours, often in double shifts, in order to make money and buy property. In Marrickville, the industrial area contained a number of large factories. Both Mersina, who came from Lesbos, and Despina, from Rhodes, had worked in the textile mill known as Vicars and shown in Plate 4.12.

156 PLATE4.12. Remnant wall of Vicars Textile Mill where many Greek women worked. (A.P.l993).

Apart from the change from Greek village life and farm work to factory work in large cities, other experiences were associated with the phenomenon of finding work. The loss of the traditional extended family meant that care of children was difficult when both parents were working shifts. Greg pointed out that Mersina had many 'dramatic experiences (GMl)' when she first came to Australia. Part of her Australian heritage was being forced to leave her children at home alone while she worked. He indicated that many mothers carry this memory of the distress of their frrst years in Australia. These descriptions of the lived-world of work add weight to the 'social heritage significance' of such places for migrants. They align with Hayden's notion that place attachment includes places of pain and humiliation where 'coming to terms with ethnic history in the landscape requires engaging with bitter experiences.' (1995 :22).

Places for Spiritual Worship

The phenomenon, establishing places for spiritual worship, enabled some reinstatement of Greek spiritual life. The group pointed out that the church was the main focus of Greek life and because most of the Greeks in Sydney were Greek Orthodox they required their own churches. Sites of spiritual worship are nevertheless complex in terms of place attachment for migrants. In the migrants' home country, sites of spiritual worship embody Low's (1992) 'cosmological' form of place attachment. But it is difficult for the migrant to reconcile cosmological aspects of myth and spiritual symbolism within the space of the host country. This ambivalence becomes much clearer in later discussions about Greek heritage in Australia.

157 When post-World War II migrants arrived in Sydney, there were only two Greek churches in the inner city, built around 1896. Thus, to accommodate Greek spiritual needs, old Anglican churches were taken over or church groups were started in houses. It was not until the 1960s that other big Greek churches were built. The phenomenon of spiritual worship involved the whole family and was closely associated with many seasonal rituals, reflecting the close peasant traditions of many 1950s migrants.

Altering Houses

Phenomenologically, altering the place where one lives when one is in transition has been explored by Cooper-Marcus in her work on 'House as Symbol of Self(1974). In this work she theorises that people in transition, possibly due to broken marriages or migration, manifest their transitional state in the way they occupy the space in which they live. The Greek migrants were renowned for altering their houses. Freda, from Athens, pointed out that when she was a teenager in Marrickville all the Greek houses were blue and white. She said ' ... the gutterings were blue and the walls were white and we used to say- "Oh, that's a Greek house," ... (GM3)'. Rena, Despina and Greg agreed, indicating that blue and white houses reflected their national colours and also evoked the sky, the sea and the good weather on their islands. Such evocative descriptions of housing on Greek islands, masked Greg's patronising position on Australian housing. He remarked that when he came from Athens he did not understand the houses. 'Coming from Greece, how could people live in such houses which were so dark and depressing'? He commented · I was used to white houses, straight lines, not fussy - why all these decorations? [cast iron balconies] This seemed a bit anachronistic you know ... [Greek people] wanted fresh, new, plain, open ... more spaces and so on . . . . I didn 't understand the houses when I first came - small dark brick- but over the years I got used to it or came to appreciate it and sometimes I think, you know, this is the personality of Australia. (GM3; Armstrong, 1993a:32)

This comment supports the geographer, Ley's (1977) observation that 'the personality of a place' can be derived from the coherence of 'inter-subjective experience' where 'any habitually interacting group of people convey a character to a place they occupy, which is immediately apparent to the outsider, though unquestioned and taken-for­ granted by the habitues'(1977:508). It is, therefore, most interesting that the Greek migrant should establish their own 'personality of the place' through their desire to transform drab inner-city terraces into some sense of the Greek Islands by painting

158 houses pastel colours, Plate 4.13, and opening them to the sunlight with large aluminium-framed windows. This was restricted to some extent by the pitched roofs on Australian houses, which meant that traditional grape-arbours on Greek roofs had to be recreated in back gardens. Small inner-city back gardens were highly productive as well as being places where Greek culture could be practiced in private, shown in Plate 4.14.

PLATE4.13. PLATE4.14. Existing house with Greek decorative Greek back garden behind wall, private additions to the front. (A.P.1993). place for growing Greek fruit and vegetables.(A.P .1993 ).

When it was pointed out that one does not see many blue and white houses now, the group said it was a 'phase'. The group thought the recent Mediterranean changes to houses in Marrickville were more likely to be Spanish or Portuguese, the most recent immigrants, changing housing to reflect the Mediterranean character they had recently left. This observation further confirms that places of transition have a particular yet temporary character (Cooper Marcus,1974).

The 1950s was an era of high Modernism in Europe. In Australian cities, residential modernity ten.ded to be evident in the suburbs as tentative changes made to Californian bungalows (Freeland, 1972) or a few Bauhaus-style houses. The migrants, however, were limited in terms of their modernising endeavours both by fmance and by the form of the inner-city terrace houses. The Greek group felt that it was not until the late 1970s-1980s that valuing the character of old houses became an issue for everyone. In the 1950s, Australians were not interested in old buildings, particularly terrace housing. Despina pointed out that 'When everybody got their houses 20-30 years ago, nobody talked about histories. Everybody bought the house - nice house for me; I have two rooms and three children so I blocked in the verandah to make one [more] room. Nobody give the importance to what I do (GM3).' Freda and Greg confirmed this,

159 saying that people modernised because they felt they were improving the houses. Greg reflected, however, that 'a lot of houses were destroyed (GM3).' Greg's architectural sensibilities are reflected more. generally by other European migrants' responses to Australian cultural production, viewed through European sophistication as a patronising gaze, particularly evident in Italian discussion groups.

It is also interesting to note the shift from 'we' to 'they'. The way in which people describe their experiences of migration provides strong evidence of the phenomenological concept of time, that is, experienced time rather than chronological time. This movement between being a migrant as 'I' or objectifying the phenomenon as 'they' becomes clearer in the final theme, 'emerging place values in the new country'.

Settling In: Sustaining Cultural Life

The sub-theme, sustaining cultural life, in the sequence of settling into the new country involves a set of phenomena associated with sustaining cultural life either as translocating Greek cultural practices or transformed cultural practices which involved creating new forms of Greek places (Armstrong, 1993b:10).

Translocated Cultural Practices

This process results in a form of place attachment described by Low (1992:166) as 'linkages through narrative'. Melba pointed out that while the Church and Greek food and were important in the process of settling in, continuing Greek culture in the new country was also important, in particular the tradition of Greek theatre. Despina added the traditional preparations for marriage needed to be sustained. It would appear that being able to continue expressions of Greek cultural practices helped people settle in Australia. Many of these activities were related to particular places and although few of these rituals were obvious to the mainstream culture, they did much to establish a Greek sense of place in Marrickville.

160 TABLE4.7. Sustaining Cultural Life: Translocated Culture: phenomena and places

Sub-theme Phenomena Places telling the story

Creating Greek Restaurants. The Minerva, Elizabeth St. SUSTAINING CULTURAL LIFE. Sustaining Greek Dances. The Majestic,Paddington Town Hall, the Trocadero. Sustaining Greek Theatre. Minerva Restaurant, Elizabethan Theatre.

The phenomenon of holding Greek dances is another example of translocated culture where Greek dancing was seen as important to community life. Such dances, an event which included all ages - grandparents to babies - were held in different places. Sometimes they were held in Paddington Town Hall, sometimes Sydney Town Hall, and sometimes the Trocadero, now demolished. Dances were also held at the different associations such as the Cretan Association where they had special 'Schools for Dancing'. The group specifically remembered the Majestic Theatre (Plate 4.15) as a place where the Marrickville Greeks went to Greek dances and movies. This was clearly a local landmark for the Greek community.

PLATE4.15. Majestic Theatre built in 1921 as vaudeville theatre, converted to cinema in 1940s, used by the Marrickville Greek community as a cinema and for dances. (A.P.1993).

Sustaining cultural life also included translocating the traditional Greek theatre. Melba describes how they ran Greek drama performances in their Minerva Restaurant, after the last of the diners had finished. The fact that Melba and her husband had established a Greek theatrical group at an early stage of their settling into Australia is an indication of

161 how important this cultural tradition was to the Greek community. Melba commented that later they used the Elizabethan Theatre, now demolished. Angelos, an Athenian, recalled the Elizabethan Theatre. He confirmed that there were many Greek plays held there with up to 2000 people attending a Greek production. Every member of the group expressed strong regret that the Elizabethan Theatre had gone, because Greek theatre is such a strong part of Greek cultural life.

Transformed Culture: Creating New Greek Places

The third sub-theme, creating new Greek places, in the sequence of settling-in included nostalgia for the home country and affirming one's culture in the new country. For the Greek group, this meant colonising local cinemas and later creating Greek clubs.

TABLE4.8. Settling in- Creating New World Greek Places: Phenomena and Places.

Sub-Theme Phenomena Places telling the story

Colonising cinemas for The Lawson, Redfern. CREATING NEW Greek films. The Hub, Newtown. GREEK PLACES Creating Greek cafe neros. Marrickville Rd, Marrickville.

Creating New Greek clubs. Macedonian Club, Marrickville, Hellenic Club, City.

The strong nostalgia for the home country appeared to be assuaged by viewing Greek films. Throughout group discussions, it became apparent that the Greek cinema was an important focus of community life for Greek migrants. The group revealed that the most well known Greek cinema was the Lawson Cinema in Redfern, now demolished. Later The Hub (Plate 4.16), in Newtown, screened Greek films. The Lawson Cinema seemed to be remembered as a particularly important part of the Greek community life. Angelos commented 'It was a very old cinema and I remember once when my wife and I went to a matinee on Saturday and I promised myself, never again! There were so many babies crying you couldn't hear the dialogue. ' Melba added that when she heard the stories about the Lawson Cinema she decided to go. She recounted '... [I] never believed it [the stories about the Lawson Cinema] and I said I will go to see - and really, I went over there and the people, they took food for the kids, like a picnic .... I was really surprised - they used to go - so many people - to the pictures on Saturday and

162 Sunday. It was like a festival (GM2). This cinema, now demolished, was seen as part of their migrant heritage as watching Greek films embodied the group nostalgia for Greece in the early years of migration.

PLATE4.16. PLATE4.17. The Hub, Newtown- a former Greek Coffee club (Cafe Neros) for Greek men, movie house in the 1950s. (A.P.1993). located above shops in Marrickville Road. (A.P.1993).

The mass migration of numerous migrant groups from Europe in the 1950s not only transformed existing Australian places, it also resulted in new places - the migrant clubs found in Marrickville, Kensington and Kingsford in Sydney. Greg and John pointed out, however, that the Clubs came later and were not part of the first period of settling in. They emphasised that people were working too hard with shiftwork to have time for clubs. Instead in the early stages of settling in there were many Greek coffee clubs, usually concealed in rooms above shops. Freda referred to them as 'Cafe Neros'(GM2) where men can have Greek coffee and play cards. She indicated that there were at least forty of these clubs in Marrickville in the 1960s. In 1992 there were only four left (Plate 4.17), none of which were referred to in the MHS.

The range of phenomena just described provide insights into how Greek migrants translocated their life in Greece to a new life in Australia, including some culturally transformed practices. The strong Greek presence in Marrickville by the 1960s is an

163 example of Jupp's (1992) concept of Australian migrant enclaves which are places created by choice to compensate for marginality rather than the stigmatised and enforced ghettos of North America. Clearly Marrickville is laden with 'social heritage significance' for the Greek community, however the phenomena associated with the migrant experience are complex and do not necessarily translate into concepts of heritage places.

Emerging Place Values in the New Country

The final major theme emerged from searching discussions about Greek heritage in Australia. This theme consisted of a number of phenomena each of which is highly reflective, revealing the complexity of place-attachment for migrants in the host country. They include ways in which Greek culture has contributed to Australian culture, places which indicate the history of earlier Greek migrants and issues of belonging. Low (1992) indicates that for place-attachment to occur there must be a symbolic relationship between the group and the place. In terms of the Greeks in Marrickville although there are shared experiences, it would appear that places have ambiguous cultural meanings as heritage. Phenomena associated with this theme include 'Greek heritage as a gift to Australian culture', 'earlier Greek pioneers', and the phenomenon of 'belonging'.

TABLE4.9. Emerging Place Values: phenomena and places

Phenomena Places telling the story

Greek heritage as a gift to The suburb ofMarrickville. Australian culture.

Sydney City block, Liverpool, Earlier Greek pioneers. Elizabeth, Castlereagh, Park Streets.

Belonging Greece/Australia

Greek Heritage as a Gift to Australian Culture

Hage (1998) points out that' national space' can contain accumulated capital ofmany nationalities. The phenomenon of Greek heritage as a gift to Australian culture was apparent in the consistent discourse on pride about being Greek. Greg indicated that

164 there have been many important influences on him while he has been in Australia which are part of his heritage, but also the Greeks have influenced Australians. He expanded on this by pointing out that the Greeks changed their houses, changed the suburbs they lived in and created a more cosmopolitan atmosphere and now Marrickville had 'the spirit of the Greeks'(GM3). It is the hybridity in migrant identity, which Chambers suggests is a form of 'creole' (1994:17), that is central to understanding recent Australian history and emerging place values.

Earlier Greek Pioneers

Places created by the Greek community who had come before World War II were considered to be part of the Greek heritage in Australia because they were examples of Greek pioneering activities in Australia. Melba described how many Greeks who had migrated to Australia in the 1930s dined in the Minerva Restaurant and talked about their early experiences. This is the attachment that is derived existentially from simply living in a place (Low,1992). Melba reflected' ... we had hard times- but not like these people. A lot of these people were very intelligent - they wrote plays and poems. They worked very hard.' She added that ' ... we would be surprised at what they had done in this country before we came' (GM2). When asked if the earlier Greeks lived in particular Greek areas, the group indicated that early migrants mainly lived in country towns, running fish shops and cafes. Greg explained that there was a significant difference in the economic conditions for the Greeks before the war, compared with the boom times in the 1950s-60s. He also indicated that they had to ' ... hide, change their names - they had it very hard. At least we had work, we were a big group, we were independent' (GM2).

Although Melbourne had a strong Greek presence, there were well-known Greek places in Sydney, found in the city blocks, enclosed by Liverpool, Bathurst, Elizabeth and Castlereagh Streets. This was considered the 'Greek Square' particularly because the Hellenic Club was located there. Greg also spoke of other Cafe Neros in this area where Greek men had coffee and read Greek newspapers. The buildings which sustained this aspect of Greek heritage were demolished as recently as the mid 1990s to create new office blocks and hotels. None of the former Greek history is evident in the new developments.

165 Belonging

The phenomenon, 'belonging', reveals a dilemma for all migrants. Divided loyalties quickly become obvious when migrants are asked about whether evidence of their presence in Australia is sufficiently important to be considered Australian-Greek heritage. Greg commented that while there is a Greek heritage within Australia, it depends on how 'deep' it is. He pointed out that although everyone is free to go back to Greece ' ... the years we have lived here are not just water under the bridge; it is part of us'. Freda agreed saying ' ... it has changed us' (GM3). This again reinforces Chambers' (1994) notion of hybridity in his discussion of 'migrancy and identity'. Greg stated that although he has been in Australia for a long time he will never be 'a fair dinkum Australian', but that he will also ' ... never be the same as when he came here' (GM3). There have been influences on him and the Greeks have influenced Australia and he felt that these things should be considered. The symbolic capital of Greek culture is clearly seen as a gift to Australian culture.

Although discussions centred on how people made Sydney become familiar - more Greek - to them, other issues related to whether different members of the group felt they belonged in Australia began to emerge. As Chambers (1994:3) indicates, being a migrant involves a discontinuous state ofbeing and a 'journey ofrestless interrogation'. Melba verified this by commenting 'If you stay in Australia more than 5 years, you build your life and you can't go back ... after 35 years I belong in Australia ... I belong in two countries.' She also repeated a statement made by her friend ' ... they didn't understand in Greece. They didn't understand how I [her friend] feel here. [Her friend] said "never Australia take it from my heart, Greece, but never Greece take it from my heart, Australia". '(GM3).

This divided sense of belonging is important to acknowledge, as it establishes the justification for considering whether places valued by the Greek community should be conserved as cultural heritage. It also raises the questions of whether this heritage is only sustained through lifestyle and rituals or whether it is the combination of place and cultural rituals which creates cultural heritage.

The question about these places having enough value to the Greek community to be conserved as heritage, highlights the complexity embedded in phenomenological concepts of time. Places may not be valued today but may be valued in the future and

166 visa versa. It is therefore interesting to see if more recent migrations to the area have similar forms of environmental heritage.

1970s- The Lebanese

Most Lebanese migrants in Australia have come in one of three waves of migration; the 1890s, the 1950s or the 1970s. Each of these emigrations from Lebanon has been for different reasons. Those who came in the 1890s were predominantly fleeing Maronite religious persecution under the Turkish Ottoman rule (Batrouney, 1985). Post-World War II Lebanese migrants came for a better life. In 1970s, the Lebanese fled a country tom by civil war. These different periods not only reflect different times in Lebanon, they also reflect changing attitudes in Australia towards cultural difference. The first group arrived when cultural difference was foreign and alien. The second group came to Australia when migrants were expected to assimilate so their Lebanese culture was hidden from view. By the mid-1970s cultural difference was beginning to be accepted, however it was a period of high unemployment in Australia so migrants were seen as threatening Australians' jobs (Jupp,1996; Murphy,1993).

Apart from religious persecution, the first wave of Lebanese migrants, often known as 'Turks' or Syrians, emigrated as result of the combination of the collapse of the silk industry and the affect on trade when the Suez Canal opened in 1869. In Sydney, they initially settled in Redfern. Many early Lebanese migrants brought with them the tradition of trading in cloth which became known in Australia as 'hawking' (Batrouney, 1985). From 1900 to 1920s Lebanese men carried bolts of fabric and other goods to remote rural towns and settlements. With the advent of cheap cars, rural people were not so dependent on the Lebanese traders. As a result, the Lebanese tended to settle in rural towns, often opening drapery shops (Batrouney, 1985).

The second major migration from Lebanon occurred after World War II. Although Lebanon was not as badly affected as other countries by the war in Europe and the Middle East, it was nevertheless economically difficult for people. Before the war, stories had been coming back to Lebanon of opportunities to make one's fortune in countries like America, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. During the war many Australian troops took recreation leave in Beirut where they conveyed a sense that Australia was a land of opportunity. Lebanese migrants who came to Australia at this time were either following other people from their villages or were educated city-

167 dwellers from Beirut and Tripoli who saw the potential for a better life in Australia. At this time the Lebanese migrants were predominantly Christian and, in Sydney, they settled in Redfern, Canterbury and Punchbowl (Batrouney, 1985).

The third wave of migration, in the 1970s, resulted in a massive increase in the Lebanese in Australia. These were refugees, predominantly Muslim, who were fleeing civil war. Many migrants in Sydney came from Tripoli and the surrounding villages in the north, gravitating towards Canterbury where a Sun'ni mosque had been established in a converted house. There was also a small community who settled in Marrickville. Typically Muslim Lebanese came as large inter-generational families. The group who participated in this study is characteristic of the Lebanese migration experience at this time. First an educated young male family member, skilled in English, came alone to establish the conditions under which he could bring out the rest of the family. The parents and the remaining children fled to Cyprus where they waited for their immigration papers, usually reaching Australia within two years.

Arriving in Marrickville with large families created different migration experiences from the 1950s Greek group who tended to arrive singly or as young couples. Places reflecting the Lebanese migration experience included schools, local swimming pools and local parks. None of the places identified by the Lebanese as important were included in the Marrickville Heritage Study (1986). Phenomenologically, discourse about life-world experiences as Lebanese migrants confirmed similar themes to those of the Greek migrants, namely 'perceptions of the new country', 'being a migrant', 'settling in', and 'emerging place values in Australia. Table 4.10 summarises the themes and phenomena for the Lebanese Muslims in Marrickville.

168 TABLE4.10. Themes and Phenomena for the Lebanese in Marrickville

THEMES PHENOMENA

PERCEPTIONS OF THE NEW COUNTRY. Expecting Manhattan.

BEING A MIGRANT, The language barrier. - AS AN ADOLESCENT GIRL, Young motherhood.

-AS AN ADOLESCENT BOY. School harassment. Adolescent leisure.

SETTLING IN. The role of the scout. Creating an enclave. Sustaining cultural life.

EMERGING PLACE VALVES IN Valuing Australian built heritage. AUSTRALIA. Frontierism. Egalitarianism. Pragmatism.

Perceptions of the New Country.

This theme embodies expectations and first impressions about Australia; a theme consistently discussed by different migrant groups as they tried to explain why Australia felt so unfamiliar. As Bhabha (1990) argues in his discussion on narrating 'nation', imagined communities are inevitably given essentialist identities which do not conform with reality.

TABLE4.11. Perceptions of the New Country: phenomena and places

Phenomenon Places telling the story

Low density housing. Expecting Manhattan Terra cotta roofs. Street tree planting.

Expecting Manhattan

Just as the Greeks in the 1950s had certain perceptions about Australia which were dispelled soon after arrival, so too did the young Lebanese. They expected to find a Manhattan-like city of high-rise buildings surrounded by extensive high-tech industrial

169 developments. Instead they saw from the plane a low-density sprawling city of cottages with red tiled roofs (Plate 4.18). Hassan, at 15, expressed his disappointment. 'I was disappointed, which is true. Because I am coming to an industrial country, I am going to see Manhattan or something' (LM3). Whereas Ali and the others were more intrigued. Ali states, My impression is when I first landed in Australia, when I am still up in the sky - because I came from [a] city and I was living in high flats, I said " Gees, this is meant to be an old city -you know- you see where is the, where is the buildings?" [group laughter]. 'It is like a village!' Hala exclaimed. Ali continued 'When you think of Sydney, you think "Ah, Australia, this is a modern country - straight away you think high-rises, flats and apartments and all that"- and I was so surprised' (LM3).

PLATE4.18. Low density suburb with red terra-cotta tiled roofs. (A.P.1993).

Beirut and Tripoli are compact cities made up of 10-12 storey apartments and commercial buildings. This was the group's concept of an 'old city' whereas essentialist imaginings of modem industrial countries appear to be modelled on North American cities of high-rise buildings. The other form of imagined communities is the 'exoticized other' (Stallybrass & White,1986). There are aspects of such exoticizing in the way Sam, an older cousin, saw Sydney. 'The thing I remember when I came. I was in the aeroplane - 11. OOam - I can see really beautiful things - the greenness of Australia; the colours of the clay [tiled roofs] - very, very nice. As you arrive to Australia, you feel you are living in a garden - honest' (LM3). The phenomenon of Australia as an imagined community, living in a tropical paradise, is consistently evident in autobiographical writings about migrant perceptions of Australia (Riemer,1992; Varga,l994).

170 Because this group were predominantly young adolescents when they migrated, they were not involved in decisions about coming to Australia. As a result, their impressions about Australia were recounted with the bemused humour of adults looking back at childhood innocence. This is in strong contrast to the way they spoke of their experiences of school.

Being Migrants as Adolescents

As with the Greek migrants, the second theme that emerged from the Lebanese group's life-world experiences related to phenomena associated with 'being migrants in Australia'. For this group, however, phenomena reflected young adolescent experiences in the 1970s. These are described as sub-themes, 'being an adolescent girl' and 'being an adolescent boy'.

TABLE4.12 Being an Adolescent Migrant in Marrickville: phenomena and places

Sub-Themes Phenomena Places telling the story

BEING AN ADOLESCENT The language barrier. Local schools, hospital and shops. GIRL. Young motherhood. The Community Centre.

BEING AN ADOLESCENT School harassment. Local schools, sport fields. BOY Adolescent leisure. Marrickville swimming pool.

Being an Adolescent Lebanese Girl: the Language Barrier.

Heritage places are adult determined, however the Lebanese group in the 1970s, were predominantly adolescents and children belonging to large families. The young adolescents who came to Marrickville were expected to learn English quickly so that they could act as interpreters for their parents. The expectation that children would learn English at school and thus teach their parents was an early immigration policy of the Australian Government (Murphy,l993). The fact that the parents of the extended family used in this study seventeen years after arriving in Australia still do not speak English is evidence that this policy was not successful. Memories of adolescence reveal how distressing it was to be a migrant. They entered high school speaking only Lebanese which made it difficult for them to keep up with other students and their plight was compounded by the fact that their parents were unable to assist them with

171 their homework. Zawat and Inaam described their high school experiences. Zawat reminisced. We dress nicely to [go] to school-people teasing you, pulling my hair. You didn't know what to say. I used to cry a lot. But my brother[ Ali] used to push me all the time [saying] "one day you have to take your kids to the doctor. There are things you have to learn. " I wanted to stay home and not go back.

Inaam added, ... When we went to high school it was really hard because we couldn't understand the language very well and yet they gave us all the assignments to do and all that - and we didn't know what we were doing - and like, there wasn't anyone that could help us or that we could turn to. I didn't finish high school because 1 found it really hard to struggle, because of my language. To be in high school, even kids that are born here, they find it hard. Imagine the people that didn 't understand the language. I used to hate it ... I left school (LMl).

School experiences for migrant girls often involved the loss of one's name. Eva Hoffman (1987:105) describes the experience for migrant girls at school, . . . these new appellations, which we ourselves can not yet pronounce, are not us. They are identification tags, disembodied signs pointing to objects that happen to be my sister and myself. We walk to our seats, into a room of unknown faces, with names that make us strangers to ourselves.

The schools where the young Lebanese experienced such hardship and humiliation have similar social heritage significance to the factories for Greek migrants of the 1950s. They are heritage sites laden with memories of pain.

Adolescents not only had to deal with the pressure of fulfilling the Immigration Department's policy of rapidly mastering English and bringing it into the home, they also had to conform to strict family protocols. The girls were expected to do home­ duties, act as interpreters for their mothers as well as assist when their mothers needed medical help. Inaam described ' ... my mother got sick one time and had to be admitted to hospital. She couldn't speak English and it was very hard on us. One of us had to stay with her all the time. We used to take turns to translate' (LM2).

Shopping was often difficult because their mothers were accustomed to the practice of bartering. Young Lebanese girls were caught between hostile Australian shop assistants who considered bartering an insult and their mothers who were confused about the different shopping culture. Muslim Lebanese girls existed in a strict culture where

172 they were not allowed to go out alone, so recreation tended to be restricted to family picnics and taking their younger siblings to local small parks.

Being an Adolescent Lebanese Girl: Young Motherhood.

As a result of school difficulties and their relatively restricted lives, girls left school early and worked in family-owned shops until they made early marriages and started having children. The local neighbourhood and baby health centre (Plate 4.19) became a place where young women could meet. fuitially as adolescents, they used the small lending library of Lebanese books in the centre. Zawat explained '. . . they met for crafts and everything here- I used to come [to] the clinic. ' Hassan, her brother-in-law, explained further '... they used to come here when they were young - Baby Health Centre - this is very important. This place used to be a library - because very important to the children -Arabic books in the library.' At which point Inaam added 'I used to come here and actually get some stories from here when I first arrived' [ 11 years old] (LM2).

PLATE4.19 Local Baby Health Centre for young Greek and Lebanese mothers. (A.P.l994).

As young mothers, they joined existing Greek knitting and sewing clubs, also in the centre. Zawat explained, . . . we used to come here [the centre} - I mean all the women and get the kids like a playgroup and we used to do sewing, knitting. But [it] was for the Greeks not the Lebanese . . . I used to come here, twice a week ... But now they don't have it because the Greeks didn't come and we lost it' (LM2).

173 Descriptions of how young Lebanese women followed Greek women bring out Pratt's (1998) concept of intersecting grids of difference. Pratt claims that places are not bounded, but permeable. She points out that the desire to map place as bounded ignores the fact that places inter-connect over time. As a result, she is suspicious about mapping cultures onto place, because multiple cultures can inhabit a single place both at the same time or sequentially. Pratt argues that there are multiple grids of difference with complex and varied links between place and identity formation (1998:27). In 1993, when the discussion groups for this study were conducted in the building referred to, it was still owned by Marrickville Council but rarely used by local migrant mothers, now mostly Vietnamese, in the ways this group described.

Being an Adolescent Lebanese Boy: School Harassment.

Phenomena associated with being a Lebanese boy in Marrickville in the 1970s include coping with school harassment, playing sport and enjoying the local swimming pool. Boys experienced similar language difficulties as the girls and similar discrimination. Fred described his introduction to high school in Marrickville. At school hardly anyone speaks your language - only three or four people and they are all in different classes - other kids, they all had long hair. I had short hair- they start picking on me. First day [they] picked a fight of my shoes with high heels. They weren't in fashion here. Four to jive picked on them -[I] slapped him -[they say I] fight like a woman. [They] hit my head on the locker ... only stay at school three months (LMl).

Fred's story, like Inaam's and Zawat's, is painful but the pain is deeper than physical taunts. Richard Rodriguez (1983:28) describes how the process of going to school and learning English, the public language, meant the loss of his private and intimate home language. Once I learned the public language, it would never again be easy for me to hear intimate family voices. More and more of my days were spent hearing words. But that may only be a way of saying that the day I raised my hand in class and spoke loudly to an entire roomful of faces, my childhood started to end.

These descriptions add further weight to schools as heritage sites of social significance, showing how migrant adolescents suffered hardship, humiliation and profound displacements associated with being 'between language' (Kaplan.1994:63), because under the migration policies they were to be the vehicles which would bring the new language into their parent's home.

174 The value given to male sport in Australian society enabled those Lebanese boys who played soccer to achieve integration more easily. Hassan explained, ... [I] went straight to Year 10 - came first in science - if my English had been better maybe I would have continued. . .. It wasn't very hard for me because I started playing sport. There were a lot of activities and I acclimatised with the life style here. Later on we left school- got a job and just become like normal Australians (LMl).

The trope 'normal Australians' highlights the way essentialising occurred in migrant groups as much as in the mainstream culture. Sam indicated that a soccer team made up of young men from Tripoli was formed in 1977. This provided cohesion and allegiance for the Lebanese males as well as enabling contact with other migrant teams. Soccer was a strong part of male migrant culture in Australia (Murphy,l993).

Phenomena related to adolescent leisure for boys were different in that they had more freedom in their leisure time. Interestingly, the swimming pool became a gathering place for young male Lebanese adolescents. In both Beirut and Tripoli, people were accustomed to swimming in the river, the few Olympic pools being reserved for athletic training. As a result, the Lebanese boys were delighted to find local pools were available for recreational swimming. Sam and Ali explained the significance of Marrickville Pool (Plate 4.20) for Lebanese men and boys. Marrickville swimming pool is really- is really - heritage for us. Because when we came in 1977, a large group ofyouth came at the same time ... and they came to Marrickville. .. to the area surrounding this swimming pool. And there were at least fifty young male people go there at a time. Marrickville Pool was the Lebanese pool, really! ... When we came from Lebanon there were no swimming pools [in Lebanon]. What we have, we have beaches close to the city and rivers ... Here it [the pool] is open to everyone and it is very cheap and [we] used to go and spend half a day ... It is a heritage thing . .. the Marrickville Pool. Bye the way, it used to be the Lebanese Pool, now it is . . . the Indo-Chinese Pool ... Each generation [of migrants] they will enjoy this little swimming pool (LM3).

175 PLATE4.20 Marrickville Pool- a meeting place for young Lebanese men. (A.P.1994).

This discussion brings out pleasures that can occur as a result of difference. bell hooks suggests that moving from one place to another creates a heightened awareness of the potential of different places (hooks, 1998). It also highlights the continuity embedded in many migrant places. Pratt's (1998) notion of grids of difference in time are confirmed by the young Lebanese women following the Greek women in their use of the neighbourhood centre and Lebanese boys being replaced by Vietnamese boys in the use of Marrickville pool.

None of the places that were important to the migrant experience for adolescent Lebanese in Marrickville are listed in the MHS (1986). Understanding how the experience of migration is embedded in meanings of places is complex in that it involves the interactions generated by both the culture of the country of origin and the culture of the host country at the time of migration. This inevitably includes children, adolescents and adults. Stories about place values for children and adolescents are rarely evident in heritage studies, thus the theme ' being adolescent', contributes to understanding social significance.

The Settling-In Process

As with the Greek group, settling in was the third major theme in discussions about migrating to Australia. The phenomena involved for the Lebanese, however, were different. The group had come to Australia in the mid 1970s when the migration policy was one of 'Multiculturalism' and therefore 'difference' was accepted and in some

176 cases celebrated (Murphy,l993). This group can also be distinguished from the 1950s migrant groups in that they arrived as large extended families with many children. As a result, insights provided by this group are embedded in the phenomena of 'the role of the scout', 'creating an enclave', and 'sustaining cultural life', all as experienced by an extended family.

TABLE4.13 Settling in process: phenomena and places

Phenomena Places telling the story

The role of the scout Houses in Redfern, the 'slang language' school.

Creating an enclave Lebanese streets in the Warren, Precincts of houses & small parks, Lebanese comer shops, Mosques, shopping areas. Sustaining cultural life Nightclubs and restaurants, Large parks for traditional picnics.

The Role ofthe Scout

In the early 1970s, a small group of single Lebanese men preceded the main migration undertaking a form of reconnaissance as 'scouts'. Their role was to find accommodation for their large extended families and to earn money which was sent back to assist with the cost of migrating to Australia. Because of the language barrier, 'scouts' tended to stay together, finding cheap accommodation in Marrickville which was close to Redfern and Canterbury, both existing Lebanese communities. As a result, they pioneered the Muslim Lebanese presence in Marrickville. Ali came to Sydney in 1974 at the age of 21 to act as a 'scout' for his family and assist Lebanese people already in Sydney. Despite being highly educated, Ali was only able to find employment in a sheet-metal factory. Like many educated migrants he was unhappy doing factory work but it enabled him to earn good money which he sent back to the family (Batrouney,l985:65). This process was characteristic of chain migration patterns developed by Italian migrants in Australia, commencing early in the 20th century (Pascoe & Ronayne, 1998).

177 Because of his English skills, Ali's role in the community was to translate and assist with paper work for sponsoring families trapped in Lebanon. As well, it was part of his regular routine to accompany the Lebanese to get their driving licences and travel with them on public transport. He would often walk with them to Paddy's market to help them buy food. He was frequently called to take women to hospitals or doctors, which, because of his youth, was embarrassing for both Ali and the women. The role of intermediary altered traditional hierarchies and forced many gender taboos to be transgressed.

Despite his scholarship in English, he often had trouble communicating because he was unable to understand the Australian accent, particularly those of factory foremen and shop assistants. He explained, I was so highly educated in Lebanon, but I couldn 't understand the street accent [in Australia]. With my English I used to study Shakespeare. I had English literature books .. . . We wanted to rent another house because the one we were in was so crowded. I went to the agent- speak good English - but I couldn 't understand the secretary's accent. The person who was translating for me - he didn't even go to school ... but he picked up a street accent. I was so depressed. I said to my family '/'ve got all this knowledge, school and all my years and I can 't speak the everyday in the street. ' I spoke to someone and they referred me to a special school that only teaches slang language (LMl).

The growth of 'slang language' schools may well have emerged as a result of entrepreneurial activities within the Lebanese community (Armstrong,l993b), particularly because government migration policies eschewed responsibility for providing English classes to non-English speaking migrants (Murphy,l993). The issue of being isolated by language has clear links with the development of enclaves of similar language groups. This was true for the Greeks and is evident in the stories of everyday lives of the Lebanese. The phenomenon of isolation and displacement through the loss of one's language as a result of migration often results in the new language creating a new identity and the inevitable discomfort about how this new identity has bearing on 'self and family' (Kaplan, 1994:59).

Ali's role included finding appropriate accommodation and helping the Lebanese, mostly from Tripoli, to settle into Marrickville. Their former cities, Tripoli and Beirut, were defined by long beaches, waterfront promenades and high-rise buildings. Most people lived in large spacious flats, surrounded by wide balconies. The ground floors

178 consisted of small shops with laundries and other services located on first floors. Thus all flats were above street level. The urban form consisted of relatively continuous high-rise, divided by wide boulevards and narrow streets in which were found outdoor markets or bazaars. A few formal parks were the only significant interruptions to the dense urban fabric. The city was surrounded by rural land with a backdrop of mountains. Beirut, and to some extent Tripoli, are highly sophisticated cities and have been the cross-roads of numerous cultures for centuries. Prior to the commencement of the civil war in 1975, they were renowned for their elegance and beautiful settings. So, unlike the Greek migrants in Marrickville, who had come from a range of places including rural or island villages as well as cities, the Lebanese in Marrickville were predominantly high-rise dwellers from one city.

PLATE4.21 Art Deco flats were too small for Lebanese families. (A.P.l993).

At first Ali tried to find appropriate flats for his family but in Marrickville, both the 1930s Art Deco flats (Plate 4.21) and the 1960s home units were too small. He said, . . . the problem we suffered when we first came is the small rooms in the houses, the flats - we were delighted to have flats, but then we were disappointed because the flats had only two bedrooms ... so we have to live in the house. At that time it was so confined in there, you can't move and with the big families- big problem (LM3).

The experience of living in a house was new, however this generated other problems as the housing stock in Marrickville consisted mostly of terraces or semi-detached houses, characterised by small rooms, narrow blocks of land with little room to expand. None of the group or their friends lived in terraces. As Hassan, who came to Marrickville as a youth of 15 and now is married with a family, explained,

179 I wouldn't buy [a terrace] because I plan to have a big family. Even ifI am single or just married, I would buy something that can be made bigger - because - we have a big family - I get my father, my mother - things like that (LM3).

Ali realised the appropriate housing for the Lebanese in Marrickville were the small single storey cottages (Plate 4.22). Most of this housing stock was built at the same time in a particular area of Marrickville and this is what determined where the Lebanese lived. Ali explained, . . . when I moved from one house to another - at that time, houses built in 1910s, 1920s- Federation style- compact styles. They built small houses. Like they have open space outside, but not open space inside ... while our buildings we would like to have as big as we could, because our families are bigger families . . . the house I lived in was so small and the first thing we do is breakdown the walls inside (LMl).

In 1976, two years after Ali's arrival, the extended family arrived to live in the house Ali had organised in what was to become a strong Muslim Lebanese neighbourhood.

PLATE4.22 Row of small cottages occupied by Lebanese families. (A.P.1994).

Creating an Enclave

Although Marrickville had some familiar qualities, because, by the 1970s, the Greeks had changed Marrickville shopping to reflect the needs of Mediterranean people, there were aspects of the Lebanese culture which were missing. Fred, who came out as ten year old boy, commented '[In Tripoli, there are] cafes -lot ofpeople playing cards and chess. When you come to Australia you don 'tfind these things. You feel so strange and lonely. Where you spend your time?' (LMl ).

180 Similarly, unlike the 1950s migrant experience, by 1976 there were established Lebanese mosques, churches, shops and nightclubs in Redfern and Canterbury. So the sequence of settling in was different. Most of the focus was on how to sustain the needs of large extended families within an inner Sydney suburb. The insights presented here include the migrant experience for young Lebanese, a ·perspective of high relevance because children far outnumbered adults.

The Lebanese enclave in Marrickville developed because they wanted members of the large extended family to be close to each other. Hassan, somewhat defensively, explained how the enclave developed. Everybody prefers here [pointing to a local area, the Warren]. Like when we first came -somebody saw - a nice house to live in - to rent or buy . .. like say you bought here [gestures to the others in the group]. If I wanted to have a cup of coffee, I don 't want to drive half an hour or walk to see you - you know, close, around each other, you know. Not because they want to - you know - not sort of mix with the Aussies or the Greeks or whatever.

Like some of the people I know - some Aussies - they might think the Lebanese groups or Vietnamese groups or Greek groups, they live in the area because they want to lock themselves away from the Australian culture or the Australians -[migrants] they just want to stay together.

The Aussies who think like that - they don 't know what it is like ... if I live here, it makes me feel more relaxed, more comfortable, ifI see my sister not far from me. What is wrong with that? We have the family value- we want to keep it. There is nothing wrong with that? (LMI).

This is an interesting insight into how the group experienced their enclave. There is no hint that they feel marginalised into a ghetto. Their attitude supports the work of Jupp (1992) where he contrasts Australian migrant enclaves, which are voluntary, with North American ghettos, which are sites of marginalisation. Hassan's explanation also supports Lechte and Bottomley's (1993) observations that the shift in status of the migrant by the 1970s subverts earlier notions of the Anglo-insider and the non-Anglo­ outsider, a position also taken up by Rage in his discussion of White Nation (1998).

Houses and parks were important aspects of the Lebanese enclave. As soon as they settled into their houses, this group altered kitchens to accommodate their form of cooking and removed interior walls to create large family spaces. As Hassan and Ali explained, . . . [we] bought houses - very small particularly the kitchens - changed the interior of the houses - the fire place - didn 't like - get rid - make open

181 space - demolish walls to make one big room - always change the kitchen. Lebanese have big families - like to eat at home - need big room - big families eat together (LM2).

Although many did not alter the exterior of houses, when it was necessary to repaint them, they selected bright colours. They commented that bright colours distinguished their houses from the drab monotone of Marrickville streets. Ali explained, . . . this is one thing - the Australians hated us for it. We always went for bright colours. The Australians went for beige, yellow or white- we loved to have the different colours. Australians say "this is a Wog house". Why is that? because of the colour. White, beige, green, we like on the inside, but not on the outside- the exterior, we like to have in lovely colours.

Ali continued, warming to the subject, ... all the streets, they look the same - there is nothing to distinguish - there is nothing that can tell- it is different in our culture. One man [Ali laughs] got lost -rang up- " I am in the red box". There is nothing to distinguish. Are any houses different? No No. They are all the same colour. Don't have telephone boxes in Lebanon. First thing you try to look for is something different- but everything is the same (LM2).

They were disappointed by the lack of large apartments, as Oumima, one of the youngest, explained 'When I moved downstairs [living in Australian houses], I used to cry everyday " I want to go back to Lebanon. I want to go back upstairs"(LM2). Hirsch (1994:72) in her essay, 'Pictures of a Displaced Girlhood', describes how she cried all the way from her homeland to the new country and her sense of despair at the loss of her childhood places.

In contrast, they were delighted by the numerous small parks close to the housing. Inaam, now a young mother, explained, ... what I liked when I came here were the parks - like in Lebanon you can't afford to leave that blank space in the city for a park, because the population is so high. But when we first came here [she was 11], that was the first thing we really enjoyed (LM3).

The parks (Plate 4.23) were an essential part of large families adjusting to living in small houses. In Tripoli, the children played on the wide balconies outside their apartments. Ali explained, The problem . . . in the houses - it is so confined. . .. From a parent's point of view, they were so relieved to have so many little parks - every ten or fifteen streets, there is a little park at the back or somewhere, you know.... We found it different from our country, in that there are parks so close to your house (LM3).

182 PLATE4.23 Small park near flats and house in Marrickville. (A.P.l994).

Shopping and fmding familiar food was another facet of the phenomenon of making an enclave. Again, because of earlier post-war Leoanese migrants, Lebanese shops and restaurants were already established in nearby Redfern and Canterbury, but not in Marrickville. In trying to make Marrickville feel more familiar, the Lebanese tended to take over small comer-shops within residential districts. Fred described a typical Lebanese comer-shop in Marrickville 'There was one Lebanese shop ... feel like home­ can have a falafel sandwich. He's got the LP records, the cassettes - still can find songs from home. He's got Lebanese ice-cream' (LM2). It is interesting that he added 'Now it's Vietnamese.' This is further evidence of the continuous change of occupancy while retaining the same use from one migrant group to the next. Plate 4.24 shows a typical Lebanese comer shop in Marrickville.

PLATE4.24 Characteristic comer shop in Marrickville, often taken over by the Lebanese. (A.P.l994).

183 Places of work for the Lebanese were less integrated into their enclaves than the Greek group who lived near Marrickville factories. Lebanese who came out in the mid-1970s encountered a climate of unemployment due to a recession. Although Ali had obtained factory work, many Lebanese bought fish shops or small delicatessens. Others went into the building industry as brick-layers and stone-masons. Lebanese were also employed by railway services. The unemployment situation was compounded in Marrickville because by the late 1970s, factories, which had employed so many migrants in the 1950s-60s, were closing down. Finding work was not a pressing concern for young adolescents, so it does not come through in group discussions about early everyday life as migrants.

Sustaining Cultural Life

For the Lebanese, the phenomenon of sustaining cultural life included finding places for spiritual worship as well as places for recreation that could accommodate their large families. In terms of sustaining spiritual worship, distinctive religious communities have emerged in different areas of Sydney. Parramatta is predominantly Maronite, Arncliffe, Shi 'ite, whereas Canterbury, Bankstown and Punchbowl are religiously mixed groups. Various Maronite churches were established for the Lebanese Christians in Sydney but not in Marrickville. Similarly the mosques were in other municipalities, the Sun'ni Mosque in Canterbury, the Imam Ali Mosque in Lakemba and the Shi'ite mosque, Al-Zahra in Arncliffe. Churches and mosques are considered to be most significant to the community (Batrouney, 1985).

Places for recreation included daytime family gatherings and evening entertainment evocative of life in the Middle East. The Lebanese in Sydney traditionally attended large picnics on Sundays. Early Lebanese travelled in convoys of cars to Royal National Park, south of Sydney or larger parks in the south west of Sydney. Ali describes the significance of Sunday picnics, '[the Lebanese before] 1973 - every Sunday- go to Captain Cook or National Park- 5 or 6 cars. In 1974, we did not have enough income, therefore no cars. Sunday go to the park - walk to Enmore Park or Steele Park [local large parks in Marrickville] (LM2).

Many migrants in the 1970s took advantage of the new government policies and funding for multiculturalism by incorporating folkloric activities into their recreation. In Marrickville, this included a Lebanese 'hut' in the Addison Road Complex (Plate

184 4.25). In this complex different cultural groups were allocated former army huts where they could undertake folkloric activities. As Hassan explained 'the huts would be some [heritage] place because we did go there when we had carnivals, multicultural activities' (LM3). Another Lebanese centre, where Islamic culture is taught to young Australian-born Lebanese, was established by the Lebanese community at 44 Carrington Road, in Marrickville (Plate 4.26).

PLATE4.25 PLATE4.26 Addison Road Complex (1994). Lebanese Centre, Marrickville (A.P.l994).

Evening leisure included enjoying Lebanese restaurants and traditional Lebanese nightclubs which had been established by earlier waves of Lebanese migrants in Redfern and continue to exist in these locations.

To summarise, the material evidence that revealed the Lebanese process of settling into Marrickville related to their particular ways of life associated with large extended families and their use of parks and pools. The material expressions of Lebanese culture related to food, spiritual worship and certain forms of leisure were located in areas of Sydney with an older Lebanese presence.

Emerging Place Values in the New Country

This theme is complex as it reveals the way the group valued the Australian way of life as much as they valued particular places. Phenomenologically, a number of insights about the sense of allegiance this group had with Australia emerged, contrasting quite strongly with feelings of alienation expressed by the Greek group. Physical evidence of valued places was also relatively subtle compared with many Mediterranean and Asian migrant groups. Broader conceptual phenomena associated with this theme are 'valuing the Australian built heritage', 'frontierism', 'egalitarianism' and 'pragmatism'.

185 TABLE 4.14 Emerging Place Values in the New Country: phenomena and places Phenomena Places telling the story

Valuing Australian built Circular Quay, Federation houses. heritage. Frontierism. Everyday life in Marrickville. Egalitarianism. Everyday life in Marrickville. Pragmatism. Lewisham Hospital.

Valuing Australian Built Heritage

Lechte & Bottomley's (1993:32) observations about the collage/montage effect of the 'incessant inter-weaving of cultural practice' found in migrant communities is evident here in ways in which Australian places have value not only for their Australianness but also for the Lebanese family experiences associated with them. The group spoke warmly about the 'old city' around Circular Quay. Sam reflected that 'George Street, City- old city ... when we stop [arrive] here, we see 'this is Australia'. But now it is very much like New York and other countries' (LM3). Others spoke of how much they liked the Federation detailing in houses in their area. It is interesting that, like the Greek group, when asked about what they would like to be conserved, this group also spoke about the older Australian built fabric. It could be that as part of the successful migrant experience one absorbs a form of cultural identification with the host country. Neither the Greek group nor the Lebanese group arrived with any fore-knowledge of places they now valued. In the both cases they were initially disappointed in what they found in Australia. As Hassan explained I said I was disappointed [on arrival] which is true. Because I coming to an industrial country, I am going to see Manhattan or something. But now I find I am glad we didn't go to Manhattan and came to Sydney. Like now ... I realise ... because I like the idea of an Aussie dream -you know, like an old house with a driveway. Like now there is a lot ofthings that Australians value that I do now too- now that I understand (LM3).

Hassan had clearly taken on the imagined communities of Australia. Ali confirmed this shift in identification with Australian heritage values stating, I would still like to see those old houses. The reason is when I first came to Australia, which then I started to realise - uh uh - this is a different country. I started to like it later on. Even though it is a house [not a flat]. It is something private, you know (LM3).

186 The group indicated the extent to which they valued these places when they were confronted with the knowledge that many had been demolished. Zawat remarked '!feel bad [if older houses are demolished] because you don't have anywhere to remind you of older Australia.' Zawat's reflective observation is meaningful but the following spontaneous conversation is a clear indication of their values. Sam reminisced with the group, ... one of the very good things I remember in my life, he took me to Circular Quay and there was this fish and chip shop there [former 'Sorrento'] - Oh my God, this is a very, very important place for Australian tradition! Yes, !fought to save that. (Convenor). It is gone! I (Sam). Yes. They have redeveloped around the Quay. Now it is a Duty Free shop. (Convenor). Oh! No! (The group). These are the things we are losing. (Convenor). Yes. You are upset it is gone. We've got something in common-you know­ I'm upset that it's gone- we've all got something in common. ( Hassan) Even my son now, if he hears that he will be very disappointed. You know why? We used to go, when I take them to the Quay ... the first thing they have on their minds ... Ah,fish and chips at that shop, from that shop! (Ali). (LM3).

Phenomenologically, it is the phenomena related to humble everyday aspects of life as lived (Lefebvre, 1991 ), which are not revealed in orthodox heritage studies. Yet such humble places have intense meaning for communities. As well migrant conversations indicate their recognition of mutual place-values between themselves and the mainstream Australian community. Interestingly, the place-values associated with a Lebanese presence in Marrickville seemed to be less important to this group. This may be associated with their age at migration. Their evolving adult values would inevitably be cross-cultural.

Frontierism

The phenomenon of frontierism is evident in the way the Lebanese see themselves as pioneers. Unlike the Greek group who saw their frontierism as helping Australians build a new country, the Lebanese men in this group see frontierism as mutual Australian-Lebanese willingness to work and the experiences they have shared. Sam stated 'It is the Aegean tradition to work.' He expanded on links between Australians and the Lebanese. We are the fighters [pioneers]. We fought the environment, we fought the bad circumstances. We passed the bad time, the Depression, together. We

187 fought together against the Russians. Australians are like a [our] family. But it is not the petit bourgeois family. It is the really hard working family - and that is why you [Australians] eat- it is not the chic one- [instead] ... meat pie, sausage roll, fish and chips, simple things.... To me this is respectful of human beings. You don't spend a lot of time on lies -you go straight, no pretence (LM3).

The identification with a certain kind of Australianness, is evident in place values as giving importance to the relatively humble aspects of Australian urban life.

Egalitarianism

The phenomenon of egalitarianism is closely related to the phenomenon of frontierism. Group discussions revealed a form of synthesis between Lebanese cultural values and what are perceived to be Australian cultural values. This relates to subtle aspects of how this group values where they live and how they live. It is interesting to contrast this group's value for the simple Australian life with those of the Greek group who valued the emerging cosmopolitanism in Marrickville. Because of the focus on family life, fulfilled by large extended families living in close proximity and the growing acceptance of cultural pluralism in mainstream Australian culture in the mid 1970s, a certain synthesis of values seems to have occurred. This is evident in a particular discussion about Australian cultural traditions and their similarities with Lebanese cultural traditions. Sam initiated the discussion, [Australians] have no values [class system] - fzxed values . ... For example any Mediterranean teacher - I am a teacher - has petit bourgeois - don't feel humble ... Like when I came to Australia, [in his country] not good to be a teacher and to carry things in your hand - shopping - especially the female teacher. When you get to Australia, you think "Oh, my God, - Is this the judge I saw [shopping], is this the solicitor, is this the professor?" This really I was shocked to see. The Mayor ofMarrickville-painting! My God! Look at this! (LM3).

Oumima added with equal incredulity 'Can you imagine a Mayor painting? By himself! ' Sam continued to reflect on this aspect of Australian life and how it related to the Lebanese. Actually, it is our Aegean tradition to work. But when the French came to our country, they educated us badly. They put [introduced] the word[s] 'petit bourgeois' - status. Australians don 't do this. I am very proud to have this tradition [Australian] adding to my tradition (LM3).

188 Pragmatism

Although evidence of increased identification with Australian culture and an interest in Australian built heritage emerged as phenomena. The phenomenon of pragmatism, in discussions about what should be conserved, emerged as the stronger value. Sam explained 'If we are to keep our heritage, then houses ... ifyou look at the needs of the people - when you are forced to choose between housing and fifty families ... you must sacrifice' (LM3). Nevertheless, there was not consensus about pragmatism in discussions about the loss of Lewisham Hospital (Plate 4.27); an event which had aroused much community concern about heritage. Sam commented that the old building was inadequate ' I am not talking about the building, I am talking about the service. We need the service to be there. ' Hassan, however, felt differently. He argued, It [the hospital] did affect our lives. I am upset myself [at the loss of the hospital] because they let it deteriorate. Had they kept it up, you know, every year spend a little bit of money . . . Why didn 't they keep it going, you know, looking after it and, you know, leave it there? It is heritage, you know, because a lot ofpeople went there. A lot ofpeople seen it there. Like you can say to your children "This is part oftheir [your] heritage."(LM3).

PLATE4.27 Lewisham Hospital, erected in 1889, Valued by Greek and Lebanese community. (A.P.l994).

The apparent lack of interest in conservation of the physical evidence of migrant history in Australia by migrant groups themselves, indicated by both the Greek and Lebanese groups, highlights potential conflicts over values, where members of the mainstream community see evidence of other cultures as important aspects of Australian heritage. As Sue McHattie, a community arts worker in Marrickville pointed out,

189 ... one thing that interests me is who gets to nominate migrant heritage places? As someone who has the cultural background that I have [Anglo­ Celt arts worker]. I can nominate something from the Greek community in Newtown as a significant site for me. ... Whereas a member of the Greek community may come along and say "That is trash. Get rid of it". But it may have value to me for my perceptions of Greekness. (Armstrong, 1993b:46)

Contested values about migrant heritage places can be anticipated. This includes not only the exoticizing of the 'other' but also fears related to constraints on property development.

The values which have emerged from discussions with the Lebanese group are associated as much with their time of migration as with their particular Lebanese culture. It is therefore important to look at a migrant group who came to Marrickville more recently, the Vietnamese. This group has a strong physical presence as part of the character of Marrickville, but like the Lebanese, the physical evidence of their presence is not discussed in the heritage study.

1980s -The Vietnamese

Before 1975 there were few Vietnamese residents in Australia, most being students who undertook studies and then returned to Vietnam. The Vietnamese community in Australia today consists of two main groups; those refugees who came between 1975 and 1985, the first arriving soon after the fall of Saigon, and those who have come since the 1990s as immigrants from the northern part of Vietnam. Each of these groups defines itself as a separate community.

The first group do not see themselves as migrants, instead they consider that they are refugees in exile. There is a difference between the migrant experience and the refugee experience (Jupp,1994). Refugee experiences carry the shame of defeat as well as loss of homeland and its associated enforced displacement. Inevitably these experiences impact the way communities settle in Australia. Vietnamese men see a strong part of their heritage as their warrior culture, so to be in another country as a result of defeat in war is to be in a state of exile.

190 The Background to the Vietnamese Community in Australia

Because the phenomenon of migration is new to the Vietnamese, I have provided a short overview of the history of the different influences on Vietnamese culture to assist in understanding the nature of Vietnamese place-making outside Vietnam.

Vietnamese history has been one of continual resistance to invasion by the Chinese and internal battles between war-lords. For over 1000 years Vietnam was under Chinese protectorate rule resulting in the integration of many aspects of Chinese culture into Vietnamese society including Confucianism, the prevailing form of spiritual worship. In contrast to the harmony created by such spiritualism the period was also marked by guerrilla resistance. Continuous resistance to outside invasion and constant internal feudal wars established a strong warrior culture (Tran,1994; Viviani,l984).

Western contact began in the 17th century when different European groups sought to t establish the highly lucrative spice trade. Exchanges between East and West and the long heritage of spices are evident in much of Vietnamese culture today, particularly in poetry and gardening. This heritage was brought to Australia.

Equally pervasive in Vietnamese culture is the impact of 19th century French occupation. This led to the collapse of the traditional Vietnamese society, in particular the Confucian mandarinate. Instead a new French-educated elite developed and Vietnamese culture today still contains strong French influences.

Communism began in Vietnam in the 1930s and continued as a marginal movement until the French were defeated in 1954. At this time the fate of the Vietnamese who ultimately came to Australia was sealed when the Geneva Peace Treaty divided the nation into north and south along the 17th Parallel. Inevitably this peace was short lived and by 1956 the Vietnam War involving America and Australia started. By 1975, the North Vietnamese defeated the South. As a result Vietnam became unified under the communist regime. Those who had served in the South Vietnamese government and armed forces were interned in Re-education Centres and a massive exodus began (Thayer,l988; Tran,l994).

191 Thus Vietnamese culture can be seen as a close inter-weaving of ancient agricultural practices, spiritual worship and the secret sub-culture of guerrilla resistance; each reflected in the other.

Refugees to Australia

The fall of Saigon marked the first wave of Vietnamese refugees to Australia. This was followed by further waves in 1978,1979 and 1982. Refugees were people who were most affected by communist government policies. They included elite North Vietnamese who had been residing in the South, as well as elite South Vietnamese, Catholics and the Chinese.

People who fled during this period were known as 'boat people'. They were shipped under contract in small ocean-going vessels or in small private boats, landing in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand where they were interned in temporary refugee camps. Australia became the major receiving country for Vietnamese refugees, accepting the greatest number of refugees per head of population in the world (Kelly,l988:833; Lewins & Ly,l985; Viviani,l984).

Refugees arriving in Sydney were taken to migrant centres where they resided for a short time before settling in nearby suburbs. Many of the first intake were former army personnel, administrators, professionals and business people. By the early 1990s, with the arrival of North Vietnamese migrants, the South Vietnamese moved from their original settlement areas to other locations in Sydney. North Vietnamese settled in the areas vacated by the South Vietnamese (Castles,1994, Tran,l994). The presence of the Vietnamese in Marrickville began in the late 1970s and continues to the present, despite the growth of the major Vietnamese centre, Cabramatta, in Western Sydney (Burnley, 1996).

Cross-cultural Methodological Variation

Whether it was the result ofbeing in exile, the rawness of the community in Australia or a facet of Vietnamese culture, despite protracted contact with community leaders, the Vietnamese discussion group for this project consisted of only three members.

Typical of communities in exile, those most likely to be subject to reprisals in defeat, generals, army personnel and professionals were the first to be evacuated. It would

192 appear that these power structures were then transferred to the host country, particularly in the interface between the refugee community and officials of the host country. In this case the 'gatekeepers' making up the discussion group were a Sorbonne University­ educated Vietnamese police liaison officer, Loc, a welfare officer, Lam, and a community welfare worker, Lan. In this role they maintained two postures, namely blocking any further contact with the community while concurrently maintaining that they could not speak for the community. Loc stated 'We have no authority to call them in for that [this research project].' Lam agreed saying 'I can encourage !!1J!. people to respond to your request [but] It would be very hard to contact people to have a discussion like that [similar to the Greek and Lebanese discussions]' (VMl). As well they maintained that there were cultural reasons why the discussions I proposed could not occur with Vietnamese people. Loc explained ... even if I invite people who have knowledge and things like that, they wouldn't come, because the Vietnamese psyche is very strange ... they don't want to talk. They think to give your opinion or discussion is rudeness ... so they do it through writing. Because confronting is something Vietnamese people try to avoid at all costs. You say something, they smile even though they disagree .... They smile because they don 't want to say "no ", but when they turn around- there is nothing (VMl).

The others agreed laughing which encouraged Loc to expand, 'so the thing they want - to do it in private. Right? They don 't want to do it in public. They can give their opinion in writing (VMI). Lam and Lan agreed. The reticence to engage in open discussion is borne out by numerous articles about the Vietnamese in Australia which point out that Confucian ethics require respect for authorities (Tiep, Hein, & Huong,1994; Integration,1995).

Despite these comments, discussions with the three 'gatekeepers' provided important insights. Comments, however, tended to remain in the third person objectifying and essentialising the Vietnamese community. This is in strong contrast to the immediacy of the Greek and Lebanese subjective descriptions. Thus because of the anomalous structure of the group, I augmented the data with one-to-one interviews with two Vietnamese migrants, one an early military refugee and one a recent migrant. Analyses of transcripts of discussions and interviews resulted in five broad themes associated with place-making by the Vietnamese; 'being Vietnamese', 'being in exile', 'pioneering a Vietnamese presence in Australia', 'keeping the community together', and

193 'Vietnamese heritage places in Marrickville'. Table 4.15 summarises the themes and phenomena.

TABLE4.15 Summary of Vietnamese Themes of Migrant Experience and Related Phenomena

THEMES PHENOMENA

Being spiritual people. BEING VIETNAMESE Vietnamese warrior inheritance.

Fleeing the home country. BEING IN EXILE Selecting Australia. Remaining separate.

PIONEERING THE VIETNAMESE PRESENCE Pragmatism of exile. IN AUSTRALIA Locating first communities. Creating community.

Growth of organisations. KEEPING COMMUNITY TOGETHER Accommodating unification. Celebrating Vietnamese events.

MARRICKVILLE AS A VIETNAMESE PLACE Site of transition. Heritage as culture rather than place.

194 Being Vietnamese

The importance of understanding Vietnamese culture, particularly its origins in inter­ weaving ancient agricultural practices with spiritual worship and centuries of guerrilla resistance, provides insights into the nature of the Vietnamese community in Australia. A consistent aspect of this theme in group discussions was that Australians find it difficult to comprehend Vietnamese culture. Castles (1993:52), an expert in Australian multiculturalism, suggests that ethnicity and community formation are products of 'the interaction of self-definition and other-definition' where self-definition is based on ethnic identity and cultural maintenance. Discussions indicated there is strong focus on self-definition and cultural maintenance for the Vietnamese in Sydney. This was evident in consistent statements of single-minded essentialism (Bhabha,1990). To be Vietnamese was to sustain actively the position of 'other' in Australia thus ensuring the state of exile. Discussions about the Vietnamese commitment to spiritual life indicated that they were seen as private and separate people in the wider community. Equally the Vietnamese were proud of their warrior traditions and their fierce commitment to their country. Because of this, until 1976, migration and marginality had not been part of the Vietnamese experience evident in the seeming disinterest in mainstream Australian life. Phenomena associated with this theme are 'being spiritual people' and the 'Vietnamese warrior inheritance'.

TABLE4.16. Being Vietnamese: phenomena and places

Phenomena Places telling the story

Being spiritual people Gardens & shrines in houses

Vietnamese warrior inheritance Sites of community networks

Being Spiritual People

'Being spiritual people' was evident in discussions about the role of Vietnamese poetry where the landscape of the homeland is a vehicle for spirituality and ancient traditions. The group explained that their spirituality comes from three forms of worship; Buddhism contributing the practice of meditation and compassion, Confucianism contributing the concept of ethics with the family as the core of social relationships

195 overlain with strict obedience to social hierarchies, and Taoism contributing metaphysical understanding about the duality of nature. Over centuries, these religions have become fused into a vague code of ethics and philosophy of life. More recently Caodaism, an eclectic religious movement, incorporated most of the main belief systems in Vietnam. Their faith can be seen as a typically Vietnamese quest for harmony (Lewins & Ly,1985; Kelly,1988; Tran,l994; Viviani,1985). Loc explained, [for] the Vietnamese people, [their] culture is very much influenced by Confucianism and every man and woman have to follow the five essential virtues . . . humanity, righteousness, urbanity, wisdom [and] trustworthiness (VMl).

Later Loc explained how spiritual life is expressed as harmony with nature. According to Taoism, men should live in harmony with nature. So Vietnamese people, when possible - ofcourse in big city have to live in high rise building . . . but anywhere possible people tend to live with nature (VM2).

Not all refugees were Buddhist, numerous Vietnamese in Australia are practicing Catholics resulting from the long occupation by the French. The places which reflect Vietnamese spirituality include existing Catholic Churches and private flats and houses containing small shrines for families worship (Watson & McGillivray,l994:211). Other places include small offices which publish numerous Vietnamese newspapers and newsletters containing poetry about symbolic attachments to the landscape of Vietnam.

Vietnamese Warrior Inheritance

The phenomenon of deep respect for the Vietnamese warrior culture emerged in different ways. It became immediately evident in early discussions about heritage places. Loc heatedly explained ... in our Vietnamese heritage ... [it] is somewhere you have tofightfor- to die for is heritage. We can't say the first Vietnamese came here and lived in no. 5 Marrickville Street! That is heritage? That is nonsense to us!

Lan giggled nervously, but Loc continued It is nonsense. Because don't forget we are warrior people. OK? We've been fighting- so war and the reasons why we never left Vietnam in the war is because our heritage was there. It is not in Australia or America. That is what we have spilt blood for and that is real (VMI).

Warrior culture is also evident in that despite long periods of war, there has never been a culture ofmigration (Tran,l994:x). The concept of a warrior culture and that the fact that until now, Vietnamese have never been migrants, brings out issues related to

196 'fatherland' and 'exile'. Hage (1993:93) suggests that subjects of fatherland are not 'bodily subjects', but rather 'subjects of fatherland are subjects of pure commitment' and as such are abstracted from their bodies, in other words their commitment to the nation is such that they can die for it. This would explain the consistent intensity in Loc's statements about Vietnamese heritage in Australia being 'a nonsense'. Vietnamese civil war experiences are also different from Lebanese experiences. Humprey (1993: 105), in his analysis of modern civil wars, suggests that these occur when peaceful nation-states have been subject to something abnormal, whereas it would appear from Vietnamese history that war was not an abnormal phenomenon but a continuation of the warrior culture over many centuries.

Places which reflect this warrior culture in Australia are sites of community networks. This will become evident in subsequent themes. Other aspects of warrior culture contribute to the themes, 'being in exile' and 'keeping the community together'.

Being in Exile

The fact that the Vietnamese are relatively recent members of the Marrickville community heightens the distinction between being a migrant by choice or a refugee in exile. The Greek and Lebanese migrants, although similarly leaving civil wars, elected to be migrants and create new lives in Australia. They came from a culture of migration and there were small existing Greek and Lebanese communities already in Australia. For the Vietnamese, a non-migrant culture, people fled in boats often resulting in members of their family being separated. They were then incarcerated in refugee camps before being relocated to Australia. Thus phenomena that encapsulate this theme are 'fleeing the home country', 'selecting Australia as a temporary destination' and 'remaining separate from the mainstream Australian community'.

197 TABLE4.17. Being in Exile: phenomena and places

Phenomena Places telling the story

Fleeing the home country. Gathering places to share stories.

Selecting Australia. The hostels. RSL clubs.

Remaining separate. Marrickville Library.

Fleeing the Home Country

The trauma of being a refugee is carried to the host country. In the case of the Vietnamese in Australia, the community profile reflects particular conditions for former South Vietnamese after the war. The reasons for the first 'boat people' were the withdrawal of the heavy American presence, its devastating affect on the South Vietnamese economy, the ideological change from democratic capitalism to socialist communism, and the inevitable reprisals for those who had high-profile positions in the South. Early refugees were predominantly senior army personnel and educated professionals, soon becoming key community leaders in Australia (Kelly,l988; Mellor & Ricketson,1991; Viviani,1985). Subsequent boat people were predominantly Chinese and a mixed profile of Vietnamese. Loc explained, . . . the government in Vietnam wanted all the Chinese to leave . . . They said "OK, ifyou're Chinese, we will let you go by boat. You can put your money together and then you go and we won 't create any difficulties or anything. " So the Vietnamese [alsoJ took the opportunity, as security became a bit more lax during these two years. ... all the Vietnamese took the opportunity to buy boats and go (VM2).

The Chinese were encouraged to go, however for the Vietnamese, the process of departure was fraught with danger. A former officer in the Republic Army, Quynh Due, came to Sydney in 1980 as a refugee. Fearing reprisal after the fall of Saigon, he and his family fled in a fishing boat he had been secretly modifying. As they prepared to depart, they were surprised by coastal guards and in the ensuing melee, one of his daughters was left behind. They escaped and despite being attacked by Thai pirates, made the treacherous journey across the waters to Malaysia where they were placed in a camp. (interview.! 0/7/96)

198 Lan described her journey which took seven days from Saigon to a camp in Malaysia. Yes, it was a horrific experience because my boat, it had been attacked seven times all together; by the Thai pirates six times and by the Vietnamese communists one time. Because the police, they also attacked. . . . one hundred and seventeen on that small boat (VM2).

Lam, as a senior member of the army, took a group of people by boat sparing his wife and young family the dangerous journey until he was able to bring them out. His story is typical of many of the early group of 'boat people' in that, having arrived in Australia, he then heard . . . my first daughter tried to escape from Vietnam to Malaysia but unfortunately she was shot to death by the Vietnamese communist police. . .. My wife was in jail many times because she tried to escape- and well -[she] was very anxious to see me and be united with the family (VM2).

The places which bear witness to the impact of these horrors in Marrickville are the numerous welfare and support organisations formed by the Vietnamese community. Most are now located in Bankstown and Cabramatta, but some early meeting places in Marrickville still maintain their function, such as the Herbert Greedy Hall where senior Vietnamese meet and practice tai-chi (SMH, 27/3/93 :7) and the May Murray Centre (Plate 4.28) which was the frrst organisation in Marrickville to establish services for the Vietnamese community (Marrickville Community Profile, 1994: 187).

PLATE4.28. The May Murray Community Centre providing community services for the Vietnamese in Marrickville. (A.P.1995).

199 Selecting Australia as a Destination

The second phenomenon, selecting Australia as the destination, relates directly to these experiences. The Vietnamese wanted to stay in Australia because of its proximity to Vietnam so that people could reunite their families. Loc explained that early boat people were predominantly men, because, .. . after two years of terrible experiences with the pirates, most of the people to leave Vietnam are men. They didn't want to risk their sister or wife. So after 1981-83- have to sponsor their wife to come here (VM2).

Lam later confirmed this in his explanation of why he selected Australia as his destination. As an officer in the army, he had contacts with senior US generals who offered him residency in United States. He explained, ... the American delegation, they asked me to go to the US ... but I refused because I like to go to Australia and they asked me why. "You are a soldier of the republic of Vietnam, why don't you like to go to the US?" At that time I thought if I am in Australia, it will be easier to sponsor my wife and children who are still in Vietnam (VM2).

PLATE4.29. Marrickville R.S.L. where Australian ex-service personnel host functions for Vietnamese migrants. (A.P .1995).

Thus Australia was less a destination than a temporary location while repairing the damage of defeat and exile. Places which tell this story are the hostels and interestingly, MarrickVille Returned Service League Club (Plate 4.29) where ex-servicemen and Vietnamese from the South met to share their war experiences.

200 Remaining Separate

The third phenomenon associated with being in exile is the desire for Vietnamese people to remain separate from mainstream Australia. Loc struggled in his explanation of what this meant, . . . we are forced by circumstances to leave our fatherland to live somewhere else. Once you are there - a lot of people talking about - I mean- a lot ofpeoplefrom the wider community [Australians] talking about integration and things like that. I say it is impossible! You are not racist, but we consider ourselves as separate. It is different ... I never said you are racist, but the thing is we want to be separated. Without being separated, we have no identity anymore (VM1).

This is far from the enforced assimilation policies experienced by the Greek group. It is clear from Loc 's words that by the 1980s, there had been a shift in power relations between migrants and the mainstream Australian community. The Vietnamese felt free to decide whether they would become part of the mainstream culture.

Essentialism involved in maintaining a state of exile requires the community to resist the montage/collage phenomenon in culturally pluralist places described by Lechte & Bottomley (1993). Rapid growth of Vietnamese organisations and their high level of community involvement are further examples of Castles' ( 1993) notion of sustaining an ethnic self-definition. The assertiveness of the Vietnamese community in Sydney supports Bhabha's discussion of the paradox of modem 'nation-space' where the desire to represent the nation as one people intersects with 'a contentious internal liminality that provides space for the minority, the exilic, the marginal, and the emergent' (1990:300). Another paradox is that the desire to remain separate inevitably results in strong evidence of place-making, and yet any form of place attachment is denied. According to Low's typology of place attachment, there is reticence to acknowledge attachment to Australia because for the Vietnamese, attachment is 'linkage through loss of land' (Low, 1992: 169). Thus instead of local places, it is Marrickville Library (Plate 4.30) where the cultural production of Vietnam is readily available, which is valued because it enables continued connection with the former country.

201 PLATE4.30 Marrickville Library housing a collection of Greek and Vietnamese books. (A.P .1995).

Pioneering the Vietnamese Presence in Australia

This theme is strongly related to Vietnamese place-making. Phenomena in this theme are 'the pragmatism of exile', 'locating the first communities', and 'creating community'.

TABLE4.18. Pioneering Vietnamese presence in Australia: phenomena and places

Phenomena Places telling the story

Pragmatism of exile Carrying culture within, private homes with shrines.

Locating first communities Hostels, Vietnamese precincts, Housing Commission dwellings.

Creating community Houses & shrines, I 81 food shops, jewellery shops, Places for worship.

Pragmatism ofExile

The group explained that certain aspects of Vietnamese spiritualism reflect the particular crisis for the Vietnamese as they try to settle in the new country. Loc spoke personally, I believe that when you die your soul is still alive and then your soul goes to another life - but before going to be reborn, someone ... gave you a soup called the 'forgetting soup'. You drink it and you forget completely about your past life, so you can live this life without anything from your past

202 haunting you ... but people [the exiles in Australia] have been forced to make the transition without drinking the potion (VMl).

Poetry and literature are considered essential aspects of culture that individual Vietnamese carry within themselves to the new country. Loc referred to the writings of Nhu-Nguyen Duong, a refugee now living in United States, who writes of how her childhood memory of the fragrance of the cim1amon tree is deeply embedded in her subconscious. She writes of her state of exile in United States as The fragrance of cinnamon is bittersweet, both subtle and provoking; the fragrance of cinnamon travels somewhere between my consciousness and sub consciousness, links [my] past and present, yet exists only in that 'previous life' of[mine] ... ( Duong, 1990:26)

I simply want to transform into a small fish to cross the waves, searching for the fragrance I have long missed. (Duong, 1990:31)

The issue of having to forget in order to settle is in conflict with those Vietnamese in Australia who desire to stay in close contact with what is happening in Vietnam. As a result Vietnamese carried their culture within themselves, worshipping at shrines within their homes and keeping to themselves. The apparent disinterest in the host community and a desire to remain separate is evident as pragmatism towards the host country. This directly relates the phenomenon of locating first communities.

Locating First Communities

Because the Vietnamese had no former association with Australia, they formed their first communities close to the location of particular hostels; in Sydney, Westbridge, Villawood, East Hills and Maroubra (Wilson, 1990). Those who were in the Endeavour Hostel at Maroubra tended to find accommodation in Marrickville. The men of the group, Loc and Lam, suggested that Vietnamese chose Marrickville because it was close to the city and there appeared to be plenty of work. Lam explained ... most of the people were in the Endeavour Hostel [Maroubra]. They moved to Marrickville and surrounding area. The reason why? Because they think Marrickville is close to the city.

Lan who stayed in the Endeavour Hostel for six months corrected him. She said, No, first they moved to Newtown, because [at that time] the Department of Youth and Community Services provided them with furniture. So that is why they moved to Newtown a lot (VM2).

203 Whether they were initially in the suburbs of Newtown or Marrickville, the census data for the municipality shows that the Vietnamese had a high statistical presence. In 1986 when the MHS was undertaken, they were 15.4% of the overseas born population within the municipality, falling to 9.5% by 1991 (Census data,1991). It would appear that Marrickville was the first Vietnamese location, rapidly followed by Cabramatta.

The Vietnamese presence in Cabramatta developed because many refugees were housed in hostels in Villawood, Westbridge and East Hills, all in the outer south-west of Sydney (Bumley,l996; Wilson,l990). Loc explains 'Most people wentfrom Villawood Hostel to Cabramatta because at that time Cabramatta was dead - very cheap - the rent. ' Lam agreed 'Cheaper than Marrickville, the rent.' Loc expanded ' ... Cabramatta was really cheap because it was dead suburbia. I mean it was dead - way out and dead!' (VM2).

Creating Communities

The third phenomenon in this theme involved creating communities. This implies some acceptance of the exiled state and possibilities for some translocated qualities of 'motherland', that is, a place imagined as a 'habitual space where our need for security, peace, and plenitude are fulfilled' (Hage,l993:85). This is in strong contrast to the non­ bodily nature of 'fatherland' adding further dimensions to the paradox of Vietnamese place-making in Australia.

At first many Vietnamese moved out of hostels into Housing Commission flats or houses, flats being available in Marrickville and houses in Cabramatta. These formed temporary habitual space, within which were small shrines in living rooms for spiritual worship. Loc explained You can go to her place, to his place to my place and you can see a shrine in our house ... I mean, maybe not as in Vietnam ... Here [in Australia] can have on top ofa bookcase - thing like that ... so we don't have a big place. We have at my place, his place and her place and this is practice-you see? (VM2).

Despite the temporary nature of dwelling in exile, those living in houses rapidly created productive gardens in the back and flower-beds for the shrines in the front (Plate 4.31 ). Those in flats grew vegetables, herbs and flowers in pots on balconies and windowsills.

204 PLATE 4.31. Vietnamese back garden with sacred flowers, herbs and aviary. (A.P.l995).

Creating community involved the same need for food of the homeland as expressed in other migrant groups, as a result early Vietnamese shops were in Marrickville. The group discussed at length which were the flrst shops and whether they were in Cabramatta or in Marrickville. Lam suggested 'I don 't remember exactly but it was in 1978 they opened the [Vietnamese] grocery shop in Marrickville.' This prompted intense interest as they tried to reconstruct the early experiences of Marrickville. Lam flnally said definitively 'The first one is Hung Fu - that is the grocery shop. The second one is a butchery shop. Then came the jewellery shop. '(VM2).

This sequence is quite different to that of the Greek and Lebanese migrants. Jewellery shops had relevance to the community because wealth was always carried as gold, one of the main reasons why the boat people were constantly attack by Thai pirates. After jewellery shops, bakeries, noodles bars and restaurants opened.

The phenomenon of creating community assumed a different proflle in Marrickville to Cabramatta. The constant flow of migrants to Marrickville meant that the Vietnamese were just one migrant group amongst many, whereas in Cabramatta, although there was a small existing post-WWII European migrant presence, the community was predominantly Anglo-Celtic Australian. Many of the 1980s waves of Vietnamese described themselves as small business people and rapidly established new businesses in 'cheap and dead' Cabramatta. This would have been more difficult in Marrickville. Cabramatta quickly assumed a strong Vietnamese presence, shown in Plate 4.32. As a result, the first Vietnamese temples, Pha Bao and Phuo Chue, were established in South-

205 Western Sydney rather than Marrickville. The success of Cabramatta as a vibrant Vietnamese centre in Australia poses challenges for sustaining a mindset of exile, as seen in the next theme.

PLATE4.32. Ceremonial gates in Vietnamese centre, Cabramatta, N.S.W. (A.P.l995).

Keeping the Community Together

Given that the first refugees were the highly educated elite and those with senior positions in the army, it is not surprising that Vietnamese children were high achievers in school and that many of the first wave gained academic employment. Subsequent refugees were less well-educated but just as strongly independent of government welfare systems. Migrants from the South of Vietnam established their own welfare organisations. The final wave of immigrants, predominantly rural people from North Vietnam, have tended to be somewhat marginalised by the hierarchy established by the first group. The particularities of the Vietnamese community in Australia are evident in a number of phenomena, 'the growth of organisations and newspapers', 'accommodating unification', and 'events and frozen culture'.

206 TABLE4.19. Keeping Community Together: phenomena and places

Phenomena Places telling the story

Growth of organisations Marrickville Town Hall Marrickville Library

Accommodating unification May Murray Centre

Celebrating Vietnamese events Marrickville Town Hall

Growth ofOrganisations

The fierce sense of independence within the Vietnamese community has resulted in a proliferation of self-help networks. Since 1979 there has been a remarkable growth of community organisations which are considered to be one of the most important social resources in the community. The 1984 Directory of Community Organisations listed 42 Vietnamese organisations (Loh,1988:836). This is surprising as voluntary work on a community basis is not familiar to Vietnamese where the extended family normally carries this role (Loh,1988).

Vietnamese are unfamiliar with the phenomenon of migration and its associated accommodation of the dominant host culture. To resist this and address the fear that that their identity will be lost, refugees hold onto the anti-communist stance (Loh,1988). As a result the organisations, their annual conferences and high participation are ways of re-affirming the reasons why they are in Australia (Lewin & Ly,1985). Loc described Vietnamese refugees' anxieties. He is scared that one day we lose our identity, not because ofthe loss ofuse of language, but the distance in our heart - not the physical geographical distance ... but it is the distance in the heart (VM2).

Along with the growth of these organisations, early newspapers were established facilitating the culture of publishing special newsletters, often including poetry about exile. The first newspaper, the Bell of Saigon- 'Chuong Saigon', was established in 1979 and by 1994 there were ten Vietnamese newspapers in Sydney.

207 PLATE4.33. Ceremony for Vietnamese Conference held at Marrickville Town Hall, 1994. (A.P.l994).

The Vietnamese community holds annual conferences as umbrella events for their large number of organisations. These are commonly held in Marrickville Town Hall (Plate 4.33), with titles such as 'Vietnamese Settlement in Australia'. As well as newspapers and newsletters, there are journals and all are used as vehicles to publish local poems evoking nostalgic states of exile. Most of these publications are produced in Cabramatta and Bankstown, whereas Marrickville Town Hall continues as the venue for annual conferences. Likewise Marrickville Library fulfils an important role in housing a growing collection ofVietnamese reference material.

Accommodating Unification

The phenomenon of accommodating unification is complex. Group discussion revealed that Vietnamese from the South consider that they have sustained Vietnamese culture which has been lost in the North under many years of communism. Loc's comments reveal that essentialising occurs within migrant groups as well as externally. Loc indicated, I can recognise them [North Vietnamese] by, if they open their mouth, by their accent. But even if they don't speak anything, their manners I can pick it up. You see ... all the traditional values during twenty years under communist regime - I mean the communist regime never believe in culture or religion or anything .. . they try to erase that. Secondly, by economic reasons. North Vietnam- during the war- you have to live very harsh economic life .. . they don 't care about the other values, the social values - things like that (VMl).

208 In Marrickville, the profile of the Vietnamese community in the late 1990s consists predominantly of Northern people. Members of the discussion group, all community workers, discussed the difficulties associated with this. Loc explained Well they stick together. They don't want to mix with the South Vietnamese ... we don 't consider them to be the enemy or anything, but well, they don't want to have anything to do with the South Vietnamese. It is the legacy of the war. .. . The South Vietnamese are very well organised and we want to incorporate the North Vietnamese in these organisations but they never want to come ... psychologically there is some sort ofconflict (VMI ).

The May Murray Centre, a well-established community centre in the area, has become the focus of community assistance for North Vietnamese migrants in Marrickville. It is recognised that there are inevitable tensions in the theme of keeping the community together in a state of exile, now that the North Vietnamese are arriving as migrants.

Celebrating Events

The phenomenon of celebrating Vietnamese events has become a way of sustaining culture and so keeping the community together. The annual Moon Festival of Trung Thu is held as a street parade with fireworks outside Marrickville Town Hall (Plate 4.34). It is organised every year by the Vietnamese Seniors Association and the May Murray Centre, thus maintaining Marrickville's Vietnamese heritage despite the strength of the community in south-western Sydney. The group also recognised that they hold cultural practices true of Vietnam in 1976 and that as a result, their culture in Australia is frozen in time. Loc reflected on this, .. . I think that when there is a community living away from their land, the culture in some ways stopped developing. Like we are still listening to music - but music of twenty to thirty years ago because it was something they took out at the fall of Vietnam (VM2).

To maintain Vietnamese culture, Saturday language schools are held in Marrickville Library, heavily used by Vietnamese children as a source of much Vietnamese culture.

209 PLATE4.34. Moon Festival gathering at Marrickville Town Hall. (A.P.1994).

Marrickville as a Vietnamese Place

The fmal theme, 'Marrickville as a Vietnamese Place' embodies all the tensions associated with exile and can be summarise within two phenomena, Marrickville as 'a site oftransition' and 'heritage as culture rather than place'.

210 TABLE4.20. Vietnamese Heritage in Marrickville: phenomena and places

Phenomena Places telling the story

A site of transition. The hostels. Shopping strip along Marrickville and Illawarra Roads. Heritage as culture. Community places, Marrickville Town Hall and Library.

A Site of Transition

Marrickville as a site of transition allows recognition of places which explain why the Vietnamese are in Australia. Inevitably seeing such sites, as heritage places, elicits ambivalent emotions. Loc explained ... we fought in South Vietnam for so many years and come here. Why? Because of circumstances which forced us to be here. So we don't feel proud to be here. Most of us feel kind of hurtful, pain. We still express a lot ofpain for having left the fatherland. So we don't think anything here is close to our heart to be honest (VMl).

After much discussion it was finally agreed that the hostels were possible heritage places for the Vietnamese. As well, it was felt that the shopping strip along Marrickville and Illawarra Roads had an early Vietnamese presence which was culturally fulfilling for members of the community, as Loc explained, ... we are not European - we don't express ourselves. We are very esoteric . .. . one day I walked on Illawarra Road [Marrickville] on a Sunday. I saw the odd Vietnamese walking in the opposite direction. I don 't need them to be my friends. What I need - I can see the same people - so I feel comfortable and if I have to live somewhere far away - I need - some sort of urge -you need to be there - to walk on the street, to see the restaurant, although you don't know anyone - but you know - immerse yourself in the atmosphere-for why? It makes you feel a bit more comfortable- more at ease (VM2).

The Vietnamese presence in Marrickville is quite subdued compared with Cabramatta.

Heritage as Culture Rather than Place

Finally, the phenomenon that heritage is in culture rather than in places, a consistent theme running through all migrant groups, was re-iterated by Loc,

211 ... we don 't need a place to keep, we don 't need a symbol because what we keep, we keep in our heart ... we have in our brain - in our heart - because we are a very esoteric people. ...Basically you have to look at Vietnamese culture to understand the Vietnamese [in Australia]. You have to look at the way we are thinking. Vietnamese people don't need to express ourselves [in special places]. We are much more esoteric in a way. We don't need places as heritage places to continue our culture (VM2).

But the anger embedded in the community's recent exile is very close to the surface. Loc's scepticism about Vietnamese heritage in Australia is clear in his earlier comment It is nonsense. Because don't forget we are warrior people. OK? We've been fighting- so war and the reasons why we never left Vietnam in the war is because our heritage was there. It is not in Australia or America (VM1).

Despite Loc's comments, Vietnamese refugee experiences and everyday life has resulted in places that tell their story. Vietnamese heritage places in Sydney are the interface between such pragmatism and those elements which continue Vietnamese spiritualism.

Comparative Readings of Marrickville Heritage Places.

Using MHS (1986) as the benchmark, the following discussion compares the responses of the three migrant groups to the categories of cultural heritage identified in the MHS (1986).

Residential Heritage

Greek Residential Presence in Marrickville

The Greek group indicated that the residential areas have a discernible Greek presence. The group discussed how you could 'see things' such as 'the food, the clothes, the jasmine, the lemon tree in the front garden, the olives.' De spina observed ' ... ifyou hear one word of Greek you feel a difference.' Whereas Greg said 'you sense certain things - the basil in the front ... or there is a custom when Greeks come back from the resurrection at Easter, they make a cross with candles on the door.' Despina added ' ... in Sydney, to pass somewhere, it is easy to see it is a Greek house for first you see one olive tree, or you see a fig tree, or marigolds, oregano, basil and oh-jasmine or otherwise grapevines' (GM3).

When reflecting on whether the Greek elements were heritage, some of the group expressed that today they regret the changes they made to houses in the 1950s-60s. In

212 terms of the Greek character added to the housing, the group did not feel this was important as heritage. Instead they felt if reflected a 'phase' associated with settling in. When asked what the group would like to keep, it was felt that the 'Australian character' was important and should be kept, particularly the early 1880s housing. Greg reflected that although he did not understand the houses, over the years '/got used to it or came to appreciate it and sometimes I think - you know, this is the personality of Australia and that's why I love it.' (GM3).

Lebanese Residential Presence in Marrickville

There is a clear Lebanese precinct in the suburb of Marrickville, known as the Warren, consisting of a number of streets with small freestanding houses of the Federation era. Although little has been done to alter the houses from the front, there are small clues to a Lebanese presence, particularly in the garden. These signifiers include either concrete or tiled front gardens with surrounding beds of roses.

House interiors in the Lebanese residential precinct have been significantly altered to accommodate large families. Other evidence of a Lebanese presence is in the back garden, commonly concreted with grapevine covered trellises adjoining the back of houses and planting beds containing mint, parsley and spring onions - the ingredients of a Lebanese staple, taboulleh - and occasional olive and citrus trees. In some back gardens, traditional Lebanese bread ovens occupy back comer sheds.

Multi-layered meanings of gardens challenge heritage planners. If they are to represent the character of Marrickville in their study and have included shop fittings in the MHS, perhaps elements in residential gardens should also be included?

Although the Marrickville Heritage Study (1985 :49) has identified street-scapes as an important aspect of heritage of the area, there is no reference to Lebanese streets such Greenbank Street, which has been almost entirely Lebanese for at least seventeen years. The heritage study acknowledges precincts but they are made up of Anglo-Celtic Australian historic streets and houses (MHS,l985:9). For the Lebanese, precincts include the network of small parks and large parks such as Steele Park (Plate 4.35) as well as swimming pools. None of these places are included in the Marrickville Heritage Study.

213 PLATE4.35. Steele Park located beside Cooks River, used for Lebanese picnics. (A.P .1995).

Like the Greek group, the Lebanese also valued the older Australian residential character. They did not desire to keep Lebanese changes to residential areas. Their comments seem to indicate that the way of life they have established in Marrickville is their heritage rather than houses. There is, however, strong desire for local parks to be seen as part ofMarrickville's residential heritage.

Vietnamese Residential Presence in Marrickville

The Vietnamese residential presence is subtle. It is limited to changes to internal spaces of flats and houses in the form of shrines. The somewhat ephemeral changes confirm the sense that this group is in transition. The concept of physical heritage in the area is seen as irrelevant by the Vietnamese.

Retail heritage

Greek Retail Presence in Marrickville

Retail heritage significance for the Greeks is strong (Plates 4.36 and 4.37). Although Kensington and Kingsford were Greek communities before Marrickville, as Greg explained '[Greek], people came to Marrickville to shop'. The theme of change is also evident as the shopping area is now predominantly Vietnamese.

214 PLATE4.36 PLATE4.37. Olympic Milkbar, Stanmore. Greek New Greek bakery in Marrickville. owned and listed in MHS(l986). (A.P.1995). (A.P.l993).

Lebanese Retail Presence in Marrickville

Unlike the Greek group, the Lebanese shopped in Redfern and Surry Hills, where the earlier Lebanese migrants had established a strong Lebanese character. Later Lakemba and Punchbowl became Lebanese shopping areas. The Lebanese retail presence in Marrickville is evident in older isolated comer shops in residential areas. Although retail heritage is an important aspect of Lebanese heritage in Australia which will be explained in Chapter Five, it is not particularly strong in Marrickville.

Vietnamese Retail Heritage.

There is clear evidence of a Vietnamese retail presence both in the type of shops; fruit and vegetable shops, butcheries, bakeries and jewellers, and the physical form they take (Plate 4.38 and 4.39). They are characteristic of shops in Asian market places with metal roller shutters and clutter of boxes in the street. The concept of sustaining migrant shops as heritage poses the important issue of how low rents and marginal shopping areas can be sustained in the face of increasing gentrification and the impact of large enclosed shopping malls.

215 PLATE4.38 PLATE4.39. Vietnamese shop in Marrickville with Vietnamese butchery with evidence of boxes of produce on the street and roller former owners in signage. (A.P.l994). shutter doors.(A.P.l995).

Industrial Heritage

Greek Industrial Presence in Ma"ickville

There were two issues related to industrial heritage. The first was the social significance for the Greeks who had worked in factories from 1950-1970 and whether they saw value in the old factories as their heritage in Australia. Recognising the social significance of the factories did not appeal to this group.

The other issue related to whether the Greeks had established their own industries in the area. This could be seen as cultural heritage continuity. Such continuity is evident as Greek food manufacturers, timber yards, some large warehouses and a few remaining small knitting mills, now owned by Greeks.

Lebanese and Vietnamese Industrial Presence in Marrickville

The Lebanese have a particularly strong manufacturing heritage in Australia some of which is located in Redfern, Tempe and Alexandria, however, this did not emerge in the discussions. The particular Lebanese industrial heritage is explained in Chapter 5.

The Vietnamese have brought skills as small business traders rather than manufacturing skills. Added to which by the time they arrived in Marrickville the existing industries

216 had closed. There are some small manufacturing enterprises associated with the clothing industry and importation and these have occupied cheap space in the industrial areas. This can be seen as heritage in the form of continuity of use.

Topography, Views and Landmarks

Greek Reflections

The group generally agreed with the heritage study's observation that the undulating topography and layout of roads were part of the heritage of the area. The fact that this created many interesting vistas within the Municipality both as internal landmarks and as distant views over the city and to Botany Bay prompted much discussion about what was meant by views. Some argued that a view is what is seen when one promenaded in the street, whereas Angelos suggested that views meant vistas of open areas, such as the area near Cooks River. He commented, [there are] certain parts, if you can use your imagination you might think you are back in Greece. Actually, you know the name, Tempe? It is taken from the Greek. [There was a] Scotsman ... He went down there [Cooks River] and he was allotted this big [area of land] ... and he built a big mansion in there and he called the place Tempe because there was flowing around a [river]- remind him of- he had visited Greece (GM3).

Angelos added that there were also views of the rooftops 'even the rooftops you see, they give it [the view] character'(GM3). Such a response suggests a certain European urban sensitivity to elements within a view.

In terms of landmarks, the group felt that some churches in the area were landmarks. When it was pointed out that St. Nicholas, the Greek Church, (Plates 4.40 and 4.41) is listed in the heritage study, Greg commented with some intensity that 'it is not special ... it is just a typical Greek Church '. Freda added 'the Greek Church was designed by the Greek priest, so he had no knowledge ofarchitecture '. Greg was interested to know this and commented 'so that is why it is not specifically beautiful . .. like for example the Belmore Church - it is a beautiful building'. John added 'the Belmore Church was designed by the Professor di Architecture (GM3) '(Plate 4.42).

217 PLATES4.40 PLATE4.41 Front view of Greek church, built in 1966 Side view of church showing perceived and listed by MRS (1986). (A.P.l993). poor architectural detailing. (A.P.l993).

PLATE4.42. Greek Church at Belmore, designed by Greek Professor of Architecture and considered to be 'a beautiful church'. (A.P.l993).

Clearly views and vistas in Marrickville, particularly distant views and interesting views of rooftops were valued by the Greeks. It would appear that what is valued as a view is strongly related to cultural experiences. This is also evident in the Lebanese perceptions, discussed later.

Landmarks, in contrast, were well understood. Landmarks of importance to the Greek community included the Majestic Theatre which had social significance for everyone in the group. They did not feel St. Nicholas Church deserved landmark status because it lacked architectural quality, despite its important for the Greek community. In contrast, they felt St Brigids, the Catholic Church, deserved landmark status because of its elevated position on a hill (Plate 4.43). Clearly landmarks need to have a particular character or aesthetic to deserve the ·status of 'landmark'.

218 PLATE4.43. St Brigid' s Catholic Church, a landmark for the Greek community because of its elevated position. (A.P.l994).

Views and Landmarks for the Lebanese and Vietnamese

This Lebanese group had lived in apartments in Tripoli where they had elevated views of beaches and mountains. They were amused that Marrickville had a heritage of views and landmarks. Marrickville's views and landmarks had no significance to the group who represented the Vietnamese community.

Summary

The heritage study synthesis, represented as the Statement of Significance, suggests that the most distinctive aspect of the heritage is its diversity. I would argue that the statement of significance has not fully comprehended the nature of diversity in the area. The following tables 4.19 and 4.20 summarise the comparisons between the groups and the orthodox heritage study. It is clear that the MHS theme of 'process of change' is equally relevant to post-World War II waves of migrants as it is to earlier communities in Marrickville. From the results of the discussion groups, it is also evident that the attributed significance of many places listed by the MHS needs to be augmented with other layers of meaning. There are, however, a number of places which do not appear in the heritage study which are of high cultural heritage significance to the area. These

219 are places which reflect the migrant experience; houses and gardens, shopping precincts, places of spiritual worship, sites of work, and places for recreation. Table 4.21 summarises the specific places which need to be added to the MHS as migrant heritage places.

TABLE4.21. Migrant Heritage Places in Marrickville.

Places Heritage Significance

Lebanese residential precinct, 'The Warren'. Example of 'creating an enclave'.

Shopping precinct along Marrickville and Example of migrant shopping precinct Illawarra Roads. characterised by diversity of ethno-specific shops in low rental premises.

Majestic Theatre, The Hub. Example ofthe role ofthe cinema for 1950s 1960s migrant groups.

Marrickville Swimming Pool, Steele Park. Examples of recreation areas of specific significance for the Lebanese community.

Marrickville Town Hall. Significant places for the Vietnamese Marrickville Library, May Murray Centre. community as sites to facilitate the change from refugee to sojourner.

Marrickville RSL Club. Site of social significance for Vietnamese "soldiers.

The theme 'process of change' (MHS,l986) also needs to accommodate three specific sub-themes related to the experience of migration. These are 'change as consolidation' for the Greeks, 'change as maturation' for the Lebanese and 'change from refugee to sojourner' for the Vietnamese. Table 4.22 compares three migrant heritage interpretations with the original Marrickville Heritage Study. Finally Figure 4.2 is presented here as the revised Statement of Significance for Marrickville indicating that Marrickville is a key location for migrant cultural heritage in Australia.

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such FIGURE4.2. Revised Statement of Significance for Marrickville.

As suggested at the beginning of this chapter, it could be argued that the MHS Statement of Significance confirms that the 'national-space' of Australia does not include the values of marginal groups (Bhabha,l990; Hage,l998). I suggest, however, that the MHS is not an example of cultural exclusion, but rather an indication that current heritage assessment methods do not facilitate understanding about cultural pluralism. The MHS makes explicit reference to the immigrant groups present in the area, thus their existence is acknowledged but their cultural landscape remains outside the realm of heritage interpretations.

This chapter has shown how such unknown landscapes can be revealed and included in the heritage study process. In the process of doing this it became apparent that migrant places are complex manifestations of transformed and transposed culture which required

222 further study. The next chapter explores the phenomenon of migration hermeneutically in order to reveal deeper layers of understanding about how the experience of migration is reflected in 'place'.

223 CHAPTER FIVE

DEEP UNDERSTANDINGS OF MIGRATION AND PLACE

Background

The comparative study in the previous chapter revealed the diversity of values held about places within one locality at the same time suggesting the need for a planning method to reveal multiple readings of heritage and place. The values uncovered, however, merely touched the surface of how migration is manifest in places. Migration and its associated cultural pluralism have resulted in Australian heritage as not only multiply-valued (Lee,1986), but also as multi-layered phenomena. Despite recent work by Truscott (2000) on intangible heritage, the Australian Heritage Commission commonly locates heritage in tangible places and objects. Migrant heritage, however, is more complex because it is living heritage including cultural practices, ways of life, and values and beliefs, all of which are multiple and many of which differ from the mainstream community. Thus one needs to understand the inherent dynamics of places, if living heritage within an evolving contemporary context can be sustained. This concept has been alluded to in Raban's Soft City (1988) which he sees as a city exemplified by cultural negotiations and cultural diversity. This chapter takes on the challenge of finding a 'language' to interpret migrant heritage as living heritage through the art of hermeneutics.

It is clear that understanding place values derived from the experience of migration is not easy, particularly as there is a risk of essentializing both the concept and the cultural groups. The comparative study in the last chapter was effective in drawing out phenomena and associated places, however if hermeneutic analyses are to have depth, the essentializing tendency to equate 'phenomena' with 'things' in place studies needs to be scrutinized (Pickles,l984:249). To explore such issues, a workshop was conducted with significant scholars in the area of multicultural studies and leaders of different migrant groups. The object of the workshop was to speculate about the intentionality of phenomena associated with migration or the ways in which they are constituted. The outcomes of this workshop provided the impetus to develop a 'guide' for research with migrant groups on their heritage. A summary of this workshop, including the participants, is available in Appendix Two.

224 Hermeneutic studies reveal layers of meanings and are particularly pertinent when meanings encountered are not immediately understandable. In the last chapter, phenomena were derived from people's unstructured descriptions of their experiences. These phenomena were then used heuristically to show relationships between people, experience and place comparatively. This chapter is concerned with deeper understanding of the migration experience with a particular focus on how cultural continuity is evident. By interpreting discussions about migration as 'texts', it is possible to see different perceptions of heritage and how places become saturated with meaning. In some cases this evolves out of everyday life, in other cases it is the continuity of ancient cultural myths, expressions of which become altered in the new country. I have called these translocated and transformed cultural practices. Another concern is to show how the hermeneutic process can be a group process, designed as formalised steps which employ the hermeneutic circle (Kvale,l983; Patton,l990). By moving around the continuous circle of interrogation where understanding parts enables understanding of the whole, further facilitating understanding of the parts, a sense of coherence and depth emerges. In this work, the 'hermeneutic circle' allows different facets of phenomena to be linked, thus generating both inter-penetration and layered meanings. Such analyses, where analogies, metaphors and tropes play a key role, allow a form of 'language' to emerge that is pertinent to migrant heritage.

Chapter Five is not only concerned with hermeneutic analyses of migration experiences, it is alsp concerned with developing methods for identifying heritage values associated with these places as possible planning processes. To achieve this, given the subtlety of the issues involved, it was considered legitimate to build on familiarity with the project by using one of the discussion groups used in the comparative study. The Greek group was not considered appropriate because there were language difficulties for some of the elderly members. It was decided not to use the Vietnamese group because the settling process has not yet become 'time thickened' (Geertz,l983). Thus through a process of elimination, the Lebanese group was deemed suitable, providing cohesion, familiarity with the concepts and the added advantage of working across generations. This was possible because the extended family structure allowed the inclusion of some non-English speaking parents in the group. In keeping with the desire to engage with subjective and reflective responses, meetings were held in one of the homes of the group; a location which was more

225 comfortable for the non-English speaking parents and also allowed the women who had young children to participate in the group discussions. But most significantly, it encouraged ownership of the project by all participants. To embed this ownership, an older member of the group was appointed leader of the project. He was provided with a 'guide' indicating the objectives of each meeting and a set of discussion points around which to structure meetings. The shift in ownership of the project was a significant development from procedures used in the comparative study where the researcher had been in control of the process and carried some degree of authority as the 'expert'.

Thus this chapter builds on the comparative study, both by developing and reviewing the process as reflection-in and on-action (Schon,l983) and by hermeneutic analyses of concepts of migrant heritage in Australia.

Hermeneutics in Multiple Languages

Issues about the appropriate language to use are complicated because the information derived from the research is intended for two interest groups, migrant groups and heritage planners. The Lebanese group indicated that they would normally use Arabic to discuss the research questions amongst themselves because of the familiarity of expressions. The research process, however, involved both researcher and the group, so it was necessary to speak the language that both understood, in this case English. This group was particularly suitable, because they had come to Australia as adolescents and after fifteen years were comfortably bilingual. As a result the research team - the researcher and the group - were able to articulate and explore difficult concepts without language problems.

Designing the Process

The process used in the comparative study had been designed to compare specific issues within one urban location over three meetings. Phenomenological analyses showed that this process had potential to uncover deeper meanings embodied in migrant places. A particularly fascinating aspect of this work related to how unselfconscious actions, drawn from many centuries of cultural practice, intersect with a new culture. To render such unselfconscious actions explicit required a new set of meetings based on both an evaluation of the effectiveness of the meetings in the comparative study and the

226 specific fields of knowledge needed for henneneutic analyses in this study, shown in Figure 5.1. Transcripts of all the discussions were subject to content analyses and thematic development.

TABLE 5.1. The Meeting Sequence

·. :·:::: :::·.:.::::::··=:·::.·::::: =:: :::~. -:· ·:::::::::::·: :··:·.:,·: __ ~:-:::::::·x>-=: ·=:~::::-: .. : ::~;::::·::. :_::>-::·:·:; .. :::_:::_::·-:_::::: ::· :.:_.·>··- __ ; -- ··M~g:T~~:-~ppi#g~bk~~~¢~~~·tp~~tf~i~······················:·•• .. ·· M~~g ~~~~.~¥-!t~~-~•¢1iift#~•~l'~~~~s ~(f:l-zj~g·••••.··.·•··.··· ·····································.··················.·································· Traditions>.······ .. ········ .... · .. ······.··:·····································.·········.··.··········· ··· ... :: ~: ~! ~ ~ ~; i:i [:~: ~ [~~ [l ~ ~; ~: i~; ~~\~; :: ~: ~: i ~! ~ (i: ~ ~: ;_:: [!l\(~ ~ ~; ;t;; ~ ;t\: ~; i~ \; ~ ~ i: (~ \: ~ ~ ~ \:::\: i:: ~: j:: ~ :: ~: ~~ ~~- ~; !!; ~;; ~ \; ;\: \~:: :;\ \~ ~ i;:: :: (~: ~: ~; \;; (;; ~ \\ ;; \\ :; ::;; ~ ;~ \\ ~ ~: ~ ~ ~ ~ \;: j~ ~~: \~~::

···M~gf:~~·J~t~t~ga¢#~~$i~n~~~*'~~~¢~••··•••••·•·•·····P:iaBes i:ri Australia > ·p p •• • • ••• • • ••• •••••• •• • •• • • •• •••••• • • •• • • •••• ••• ••••••••• •• ••• • • • •• •• ......

The following discussions about the meetings analyse key points first as simple dialogue and then in terms of layers of significance. It has been presented in a particular way. Initially, the process is described. This is followed by an analysis of focussed conversations. After the meetings, the process is reviewed under the heading 'reflections-on-action' (Schon,l983). Thus there are two processes happening, one the interpretation of Lebanese heritage in Australia, the other a critical review-in-action of the effectiveness of the process. In both situations, the research is carried out by a team, the researcher and members of the migrant group. Their role as researchers will become evident in their reflective conversations.

Understanding Heritage Concepts Understanding the concept of heritage is complex. Studies on Australian heritage perceptions, described in Chapter Two, show that there is much confusion about the concept (Arm.strong,l994; Lowenthal,l985,1996). If cross-cultural examples are then introduced into an already hazy set of values, it becomes essential to identify the specific cultural context within which heritage concepts are located. Research shows that values of heritage and place are often conflated with concepts of culture and identity (Burgess,l988; Jackson,l984, 1989; Lowenthal,l985,1996). Most of the discussion about heritage theory in Chapter Two has Eurocentric biases, however, for heritage planners working with non-Europeans within Australia, a shift in sensitivity is required. By way of example, Connerton (1990) in his study, How Societies

227 Remember, brings out different shades of meaning associated with medieval crusades. He points out that for Muslims in the Middle East, historical writings about the 'Crusades' are described as attacks by 'Infidels', a different representation to Medieval Christian history with which mainstream Australians are familiar. Thus cross-cultural heritage work needs to recognise the cultural context of specific migrant groups. To address this, a process has been designed which leads the participants into the discussion through a series of steps. These are intended to provide a range of ways of seeing. Although such discussions facilitate broad conceptual awareness, they also open up the thorny issue of essentialising cultures in order to elicit values. As a cautionary note, this needs to be recognised and acknowledged.

The hermeneutic richness that groups provide also comes from their 'empathetic' and 'existential insideness' about their country of origin (Relph,1976:50). Accordingly questions for the opening meeting were developed to address general concepts of heritage within their original country. These reflections were intended to set the scene for subsequent discussions about heritage in Australia. Table 5.2 indicates the focussed questions used to open the meeting.

TABLE5.2. Questions focussed on Lebanon, Meeting One.

• What is the special heritage ofthe Lebanese? • What do you see as your heritage places in Lebanon? • What places in Lebanon would you like to be protected for your grandchildren's children- their inheritance?

Lebanese Cultural Heritage

Discussions about the special heritage of Lebanon were subject to content analyses (Minichiello et al, 1990). This revealed that heritage emerged as two categories, both related to places; those places remembered as part of their everyday life in Lebanon and places embodying appropriately 'noble' heritage qualities. The quotes all occurred during the first meeting and are coded LM2/l.

228 Heritage as Everyday Places in Lebanon

The ways in which everyday places are described bring out Relph's concept of 'existential insideness' of place where unselfconscious patterns and structures result in 'centres of meaning' (Relph,1976:22). Descriptions also support Lefebvre's valued places as 'space of collective experiences' (Lefebvre,1991:25). Collectively, places related to everyday life can be summarised as 'coffee houses', the 'chick pea fields', 'caves' and 'the beach'. These places reveal how closely they are integrated with life in the Lebanese landscape and as a result are less able to be directly translocated to the new country. Fred explained the significance of the 'coffee houses' as, . . . where we used to sit. I think it was very important to us in Lebanon. Like we were sitting down playing cards ... there are a lot of old men around from the villages .. . they talk - little stories . .. [Men] go to work early in the morning and then they come to 'the coffee' at 3.00 in the afternoon and may stay till 9. 00 pm - 5-6 hours.

Sam agreed adding, ... the value of these men's 'coffees' [houses] is that they are very simple -very humble- everyone can go and they play traditional -very, very old games . .. There is a 'coffee ' in Tripoli that I would like to be considered heritage. This is very old ... it goes back to the Ottoman Empire (LM211 ).

For Sam, heritage places needed to be old and have significant history. In trying to explain the significance of the coffee houses, the group drew an analogy with the 'Aussie pub' where men relax after work. The trope 'Aussie pub' provides an insight into the cultural benchmarks the group used for everyday places in Australia.

Aspects of everyday life were often gender-specific. The women in the group spoke about the small market-gardens within the city of Tripoli where chickpeas were grown. Inaam explained, . . . one of the things I would like to see kept as heritage in Lebanon is something they don't have here. We lived in high-rise apartments and behind us there was this land where they used to grow the chickpeas [for humus] .... People used to go and pick them themselves ... it was like a market-garden and the kids and parents used to go in the afternoon. ... It was very exciting, different .... (LM2/1)

Valued places were also age-specific. Memories of a child's life growing up in large apartments are revealed by Fred's evocative story, ' ... the caves ... we lived in apartments and we were not allowed to have dogs or cats ... so we would get a puppy

229 and put it in the cave and feed it cream ... we used to go to the cave and play with the puppies.' (LM2/l) A number of places emerged as sites of childhood memories.

In these unselfconscious reflections, everyday life in a city of high-rise apartment blocks is evoked, an example of 'empathetic insideness' or an emotional involvement with place (Relph,l976). Mohammed, Sam's father who spoke no English, described how he valued the beach. Inaam translated, ... surrounding the Port was a beach ... most of the people who worked in the Port when they finished work would go to the beach, swim and go home. As well, people used to walk on the promenade and fish ... It was like Bondi Beach - restaurants, coffee lounges, good views (LM2/l ).

Again the group used analogies with Australian places to explain qualities of places important to them, inadvertently providing insights into places they valued in Australia.

Heritage as Lebanese Cultural Inheritance

Because of the strategic location of Lebanon on the Mediterranean Sea, many of the places described evoked the sense of ancient traditions which go back to the Crusades or Infidels and other cross-cultural influences. Inaam left Tripoli aged nine. As she grew up in Australia, she was constantly drawn to the image of the 'fort' on Lebanese money. She explained, ... it was printed on the Lebanese money ... I said to my husband, I would really love to go and see this place and he took me .. . It was absolutely beautiful. To me that is the heritage. Coffee lounges and things like that, they are sort ofcommon; but with the Fort, it is very rare (LM2/l ).

For Inaam, heritage places needed to be noble and rare echoing traditional concepts of heritage derived from antiquarianism and connoisseurship (O,Keefe & Prott,l984). Sam, however, saw heritage value in the meanings places carried. He described the Port of Tripoli as having heritage significance because, ... the Port is a place for us because this is where we departed Tripoli. It is also a place which had very historical periods. When we have wars, the Port is all the paths to escape and when there is peace ... [it is] the place people go to another island [for pleasure] (LM2/1 ).

Places of departure and arrival, evoke strong significance in the migration experience. Description of changing meanings associated with the Port show how some places are layered and 'saturated' with meaning (Strauss and Corbin,l990). They also bring out

230 some of the symbolic meanings embedded in landscape, a phenomenon explored by Cosgrove in Social Formation and the Symbolic Landscape (1986).

Sam's observations prompted the group to think about their cultural and spiritual life in Lebanon. Sam indicated another important heritage place was ... the Hill ... is the place for major events, [where] we celebrate the beginning of Ramadan ... thousands ofpeople go there with their families to sit between the olive trees and ... caves. The place itself has the value of long time tradition ... They call it [the event] Sayran Ramadan ... Sayran means picnic (LM2/1 ).

The combination of everyday places with historic and spiritual places and the way their significance is described can be used to inform an emerging 'language' for migrant heritage places. Analogies between Lebanon and Australia bring out many issues about living in an 'old country' (Wright,l985) compared with values in a 'new country' (Carter,l992). The places described and their associated traditions have made an unusual transformation in Australia which will become evident later.

Reflections-on-Action

The key to this hermeneutic procedure is that everyone is engaged in the research process. Instead of the traditional hermeneutic approach where researchers work with completed texts, this chapter seeks to show the interactive and iterative process of working with spoken 'text' as a form of 'reflection-in-action' (Schon,1983). Reflecting on the effectiveness of the process, it is noted that the group avoided the opening question 'What is the special heritage of Lebanon?', preferring to. engage in remembering special places in Lebanon, the second question. It is interesting that the opening question did not engage them because the Greek and Vietnamese groups had no difficulty articulating concepts of heritage not related to place. In subsequent meetings, concepts about Lebanese cultural heritage emerged but it required the researcher to connect this through the hermeneutic circle. Most of the Lebanese group were young when they left their country which could explain their initial hesitation to expound on Lebanese heritage.

Lebanese Heritage in Australia

Having set the context for perceptions of heritage by considering what was valuable in their home country, the group was then asked to focus on migrating to Australia, and

231 how they saw the new place 'through Lebanese eyes.' The question was designed to assist the group to reflect further about culturally specific ways of seeing. Table 5.3 indicates the questions.

TABLE5.3. Setting the Scene for the Migration Experience

What is Lebanese Heritage in Australia: the Lebanese migration experience?

Your heritage in Australia may lie in a number of areas: * How you see the world through Lebanese eyes. What it is to be a Lebanese person with Lebanese values. * Lebanese way oflife and cultural practices. Your religious practices, family life, community culture. * The experience ofmigration. - leaving your country - what your country was like when you left - why you selected Australia - what you were expecting in Australia; - arriving in Australia - your reaction to Australia.

Inaam was drawn to the implications and significance of 'seeing the world through Lebanese eyes'. She mused thoughtfully, ... I just can't think off the top ofmy head, I have to think about it [more] because you are in two different cultures - you have to sort of adjust to one or other to be able to give the right answer. I am trying to forget there and be myself here, so that I can tell you what I think of here. Because here, the way of living is completely different to the way ofliving there.(LM211)

This evocative description of her state of transition echoes some of the comments made by individuals in the comparative study. Sam confirmed lnaam's thoughts, adding concerns already expressed by the Greek group in the last chapter. He commented, This question raises the point - are you loyal to your culture as Lebanese or do you become different? As Lebanese you have the values of your family, your values as a man or woman. But you come to Australia and you find it is your life, because after the years, you get familiar with this society, to this way of living. So after years, you are becoming Australians and this is the hard part.(LM211)

The phrase 'this is the hard part' implies both a sense of loss as well as the difficulty of being able to sustain a Lebanese world-view. He explained 'This question is not

232 easy - we, as individuals, all have different ideas and experiences of how we understand the Lebanese personality and what we see through Lebanese eyes. '(LM2/l) It is clear that Sam is aware of the problem of essentializing concepts.

In terms of articulating the experience of migration, Sam was the only member of the group to respond and he took a pragmatic view. All these questions - the experience of migration; 99% of the Lebanese will say the same answer. They left Lebanon because of the war! What was your country like when you left? - war! Why did you select Australia? Because it was the only place I could go to! What were you expecting in Australia? A place which had security, safety, jobs, the good life.(LM2/l)

The criteria sought in Australia, 'security, safety, jobs and the good life', provide an insight into many of Sam's responses. He frequently highlighted egalitarianism, democracy and other humanist qualities as reasons why he values living in Australia. In contrast to the migrants of the 1950s-60s, this group did not focus on Australia as a place for gaining economic wealth.

The group were asked about their arrival experiences. Much of this had already been discussed in the last chapter and interestingly they did not repeat the earlier observations. Instead their response was more reflective and inclusive. Sam remarked ... it depends on the period of time when the Lebanese arrived. ... It was hard for the people who came earlier but it was easy for us when we came [1975] because we had an open house ready to accommodate us. We had a good meal which we hadn't had in Lebanon. ... In Lebanon whether you had money or not you couldn't get things [food]. (LM2/1)

Both of Sam's comments bring out particularities of migrants as refugees, namely the inability to select where to go and arriving in a state of deprivation.

Reflecting-in and on-Action

During the opening meeting, the group consistently reflected with the researcher about the process. In part, this was attributable to the shift in ownership of the project but it was also related to the fact that the group fully comprehended the research question. This confirms the value of inter-subjectivity in this research, namely, where the researcher, through empathy, seeks to understand the group, and the group is

233 engaged in understanding the research. This interpersonal knowing transcends the gulfbetween 'insider' and 'outsider' (Burgess,l988a; Hannertz,l980).

The group constantly reviewed whether the process was achieving the goals. They assumed responsibility for the process by initiating discussions about the relevant language to be used, in particular the use of 'big words' when many Lebanese in Australia had been unable to complete school. They also commented on the time needed to reflect on some of the issues and the importance of recognising variations within any one migrant group. They explained that for the Lebanese, there were different cultural groups in different locations in Sydney. It was clear that the broad question about the concept of 'heritage' used to open the meeting was difficult for this group. This question appears to be introduced too early or groups need more adequate preparation through preliminary information about the concept.

At other times, the group responded in a highly analytic mode, using analogies, tropes and metaphors to explain phenomena. When describing the coffee houses, they compared them with the role of the Australian pub. Similarly, when describing a particular place in Lebanon, the Koshida Cave, they compared it with Jenolan Caves in NSW to ensure that the experiential qualities were understood. They also related certain cultural activities, such as the sacrificial killing of sheep to ensure the health of an ailing child, with an Australian practice of throwing money into wishing pools. Thus by actively seeking to ensure that the researcher understood, they were taking on the role of experts in their field, namely, the knowledge of the phenomenon of 'being Lebanese'.

At the end of the meeting, by way of a summary and to set the scene for the next meeting, the guide contained an explanation of why they had been discussing particular points and how to prepare themselves for the next meeting, indicated in Table 5.4.

234 TABLE 5.4. The Guide: Bringing Closure to the first Meeting.

How does this discussion lead to heritage place identification The places which are important to you as Lebanese in Australia will relate to your personal experiences of coming here and making Australia your home. Your shared memories will help you understand each other's experiences.

The kinds of places which could be heritage places for you may • be important to your group as landmarks, • have strong group attachment over time, • have a history of social gatherings for your group, • have group mempries of unhappiness and pain, • reflect the Lebanese enterprising spirit as migrants in a new country, • be associated with particular people in the Lebanese community in Australia. These are discussion points for you to think about before the next meeting.

To prepare yourself for the next meeting • talk to your friends about these issues, • bring photos of the early years in Australia, • find out about the Lebanese in Australia before you arrived.

Mapping Lebanese Heritage Places in Australia

Contextualizing the Australian -Lebanese.

The intention of the second meeting was to bring out the seamless presence of the Lebanese in Australia by encouraging the group to reflect on their stories within context of the Lebanese who came before them. A further prompt was given by encouraging the group to discuss special Lebanese people in Australia. Through this process, it was hoped that the group would see the value of anecdotes as a way of revealing collective memories thus determining social heritage significance (Connerton,1989; Johnston,l993). Table 5.5 provides the preamble and the discussion questions used to establish this context. All comments from the second meeting included here are coded LM2/2.

235 TABLE 5.5. The Guide: Preamble and questions to set the context, 2nd meeting.

What was the existing Lebanese heritage in Australia? After the first meeting you have an idea of the broad concepts of heritage and heritage places. As well you have had time to discuss and think about your Lebanese heritage in Australia.

Before discussing what could be your Australian heritage places it might be useful to record the history of the Lebanese in Australia before your group arrived. • When did the Lebanese first come to Australia? • Where did they settle? • What places tell the story of the Lebanese in Australia before you arrived?

Special People In the history of the Australian Lebanese there are special people who have done important things for the Lebanese community and for Australia. There are also special Lebanese writers who have written about Australia. There may be Lebanese who have been pioneers or particularly inventive in dealing with the Australian environment. • List these people and any places you associate with them and their work.

Questioning the Context

The intention was to set this group in the context of earlier Lebanese groups. Members of this group, however, were concerned to establish a context for their heritage within Australian cultural heritage rather than Lebanese heritage. Sam asked, 'Cultural heritage for Australians- what is it? How do we fit in? What is different to Australians about us?'(LM212)

In responding to this question, the researcher briefly summarised the four main categories of cultural heritage used by the Australian Heritage Commission, that is, historic, scientific, social and archaeological. She also mentioned the role of historic themes such as pastoral history, mining history, political history etc. When Sam was given the Australian frame of reference, he clearly felt more comfortable and as a result, rapidly summarised what he considered to be the existing Lebanese heritage in Australia, as ... when talking about [history],for our background it is George Street, you have the heavy posts that hold up the Bridge [pylons], the Town Hall, the old buildings, Andronicus coffee. There was a place called Ali Baba

236 Restaurant - very old - reflected Lebanese heritage in Australia. Scientific themes, [when] we came to Australia [we brought] the people's medicine - the herbals, like bush medicine. - The clairvoyants -fortune tellers -the culture ofthe Mediterranean ... (LM2/2).

Reflection-on-Action

The researcher's reply summarising Australian cultural heritage seemed to satisfy the need for an Australian context at that point, but it interfered with phenomenological and hermeneutic processes. In discourse analysis, it is the open, less directed process which is most effective in facilitating the emergence of phenomena (May, 1994; Knea1e,1995). Thus while Sam's response was interesting, it nevertheless risked closure by inhibiting further detailed discussion. As a result, the researcher brought the group back to discussions about the history of earlier groups of Lebanese­ Australians.

Repositioning the Context

Early Australian-Lebanese History

The group considered the different Australian-Lebanese written histories were able to supply adequate contextual information, so they did not answer the historical questions explicitly. Instead, in general discussions about earlier migrants, some valuable insights into the experience of migration emerged. Content analyses of discussions revealed that there were three important phenomena related to early Lebanese migration experience. These were the significance of special food given to travelers for the long journey by boat, the translocation of traditional village ways of trading and the contrast between difficult experiences of earlier migrants with those who came later. Ali described the significance of food from the homeland indicating, .. . when they used to come ... the Mums and Dads used to give them a supporting life on the early trip via Alexandria through the Suez Canal - used to take thirty days. And the food they used to bring with them - one ofthem is 'shangleish' [the cheese] and the other is oregano.(LM212)

The metaphor 'supporting life' applied to special food given to the traveller is a symbol of family love. Likewise the trope 'Mums and Dads' implies the care and concern felt for migrants as they embarked on the journey.

Discussions about history in the 1920s prompted Sam to muse about the translocation of the village way of trading,

237 .. . the Abboud family came early. They came to NSW . . . They used to trade in the village way - the traditional way. Sometimes they carried goods and they go to rural Australian villages to sell from carriages. They carried everything. This is how Mansours [ a Lebanese chain of drapery stores] actually started. (LM2/2)

In contrast, the Lebanese in the 1950s -60s were described as city-dwellers living in Redfern. Again Sam described, ... our group, [ the Muslims from Tripoli] we have been in Australia since early 1950. - from Redfern, some went to Punchbowl, some to Dulwich Hill, some stayed in Redfern. . . . They have very interesting stories to tell. They used to go to the factories where they lived- how many people lived in one room - how they shopped without English, using body language. [They] used to walk long distances because they couldn't use the public transport [because of their inability to speak English]- used to walk from Marrickville to airport simply because they came from the villages, so it was a tradition to walk.(LM2/2)

Recognition of the hardship experienced by earlier migrants also emerged in Greek group discussions in the comparative study. Such hardship seems to take on mythic characteristics which were as much associated with humiliations experienced due to the Australian community's reaction to difference, as they were to the hard work and poor living conditions they experienced.

Special People

Discussions about special people revealed different frames of reference between the researcher and the group. The researcher anticipated that they would talk about the Australian-Lebanese writer, David Malouf. But they did not mention him. Instead they spoke of the Dahdah family because they 'owned the Penrith Panthers [a football team]'. Content analyses of discussions highlighted that particular Lebanese families such as the Abboud, Gazal, Mansours, Scarfs, Dahdah, and Moubarak families were 'special' Lebanese people. Interestingly all these families were successful in the textile industry. They had established textile and clothing factories and associated retail outlets. There are a number of places which reflected this heritage such as the first Scarfs' shop, selling men's suits, recently demolished, and the Gazal textile factory site in St Peters, still existing. Joseph Saba's shirt shop in Flinders Lane, Melbourne is another example of the early Lebanese connection with the clothing industry. The group suggested reasons for the Lebanese success in the clothing manufacture area could possibly be traced back to early traditions of silk production,

238 but also to travelling traders who carried fabrics to Lebanese villages, a practice they continued as migrants. According to the group, trading traditions, described by Sam as 'the Phoenician trading tradition', were continued in Australia by early Lebanese migrants, such as the Mansour and Scarf families, who started trading as 'hawkers' in country areas in the early 1900s (Batrouney, 1985).

The 'Phoenician trading tradition' is a trope heavily laden with multiple meanings. It implies ancient connections with the sea as well as exotic Middle East trade in spices and silks. Reflecting on this significance, Sam recognised the depth of cultural meaning embedded in this expression. He said, . . . one thing I would like to tell you - maybe deeper than history - is that in Lebanon, all the mountains used to be very famous in silk production - many thousands of years - and all of the areas were covered by blackberry [mulberry] trees- and the Lebanese- 2000 years ago, they discovered the dyes - the dark red colour. They used to dye the silk and they were the first in the Mediterranean.(LM212)

Reflections-on-Action

The recognition that there are phenomena that are 'deeper than history' contrasts with Sam's initial summary of Lebanese heritage in Australia, prompted by trying to fit Lebanese heritage into Australian heritage criteria. The intriguing heritage implications opened up by the discussion of 'special people', namely linking the current Lebanese involvement with textile and clothing manufacture with Lebanese silk heritage and Phoenician trading traditions, confirms the value of open-ended discussion and validates the design of the first stage of Meeting Two.

Locating this Group in the Australian-Lebanese Context

The second stage of this meeting was designed to elicit group reflections about their settling in process in Australia, much of which has already been discussed in the comparative study. Despite this or possibly because of this, the discussion did not repeat what had already been said but instead built on existing knowledge with different insights. Table 5.6 shows the process of this stage.

239 TABLE 5.6. The Guide: discussion points to locate group's migration experience.

Your Experiences as Lebanese in Australia Your own history in Australia will help you decide what you think are your heritage places. In discussing the following questions you will see which memories or associations with places your group shares. Also in discussing the questions and telling stories about your life in Australia you will realise how your migrant experience has created heritage places for you.

Lebanese community places -places with collective histories Consider the following questions and record the different places which are mentioned.

* where did you first live? * where did you meet other Lebanese men and women? * where was your place of worship? * where did you shop? * where did you work? * where did you go for special events in the Lebanese community? * where did you spend your leisure time? * what are the stories about settling in to Australia and making it feel more like home?

Discussions about Lebanese community places, as a result of content analyses, have been grouped into three categories, 'where Lebanese resided', 'working in Australia' and 'leisure and recreation'.

Where Lebanese Resided

The group had already gained insights into their particular Lebanese enclaves of houses, small parks and local shops. The character of the houses that they first lived in and the ways in which they made the transformation from a Lebanese way of life to an Australian-Lebanese way of life were now understood. Taking this as a given, the group embarked on discussions about broader aspects of where the Lebanese community lived and why, as well as deeper understandings of the heritage significance of their own houses. Sam remarked

240 .. . When we came to Australia - [he gives the address of the house] -we were all single. That house is our heritage! We begged the owner to sell it to us many times but she won't. Ifyou were able to buy it, what would you do with it? (Researcher). Move our parents in and keep it. (Sam).(LM2/2)

This is a somewhat contradictory response, given the phenomenon of 'pragmatism' evident in the last chapter. The complexity and paradoxical nature of values, which emerge continually beg further research beyond the limits of this study.

The group again stressed that they were only one example of the complex Lebanese community in Sydney. Sam explained that, apart from the earlier Lebanese who lived in Redfern and then moved to Canterbury, Punchbowl and Dulwich Hill, there were spiritual reasons which determined where the Lebanese lived ' ... for example, the Shi 'ites have experiences in Rockdale and Arncliffe and they have areas in St George area too ... the Christian people who came from Beirut, they live in Parramatta.' (LM2/2) Thus the Lebanese in Sydney reside in an interlocking net of enclaves based on their spiritual affiliations and the needs of extended families.

Working in Australia

Descriptions of places where the Lebanese worked provided a time-line which not only described the history of Lebanese migration to Australia but also the changing nature of work from the tum of the century to the 1990s. Sam talked about the early Lebanese in Australia who '. . . traded in the village way - carried the goods to Australian villages.' They also discussed how in the 1950s some of the Christian Lebanese ' ... went to Dubbo, Broken Hill- [towns in the west ofNSW] because very similar to living in Lebanon'. Sam explained that 'They worked on the farms but they concentrated in grocery shops. ' (LM2/2) The fact that earlier migrants went to country towns was also true for Greeks and Italians. As a result, migrants who came immediately after World War II were the group who established the strong Mediterranean presence in Australian cities.

Migrants who came in the 1950s -60s worked in factories in the city. Sam described his father who 'lived in Redfern and walked to Leyland factory in Waterloo.' (LM2/2) Many worked in a brewery in South Sydney, others worked in sheet metal and white goods factories, some also worked in the large textile mills in Marrickville, unaware of the significance of the embryonic Lebanese-dominated, heavy duty clothing

241 factories just starting. In the early 1970s, Lebanese migrants, particularly those with qualifications which were not recognised in Australia, chose to work as porters at Central Railway and Darling Harbour. Reflecting on why this occurred, Ali suggested that onerous factory work and the humiliations migrants were subjected to, all of which he had experienced, were unacceptable to educated Lebanese. Working as porters was less strenuous, less demeaning and provided quiet times when Lebanese could study English in order to practice in their professions. Less well­ educated Lebanese worked in the building industry as skilled tradesmen or owned smallgoods and fish shops. By the 1990s, issues of unemployment were resulting in many Lebanese returning to Lebanon. Thus unlike the Greek and Vietnamese groups, sites of work are more diffuse.

Recreation and Leisure

The group's response to the question 'where did you meet other men and women?' was ' ... parks in general, beaches, nightclubs, mosques and churches. '(LM2/2) In both the comparative study and this study, the group made frequent reference to large gatherings in different parks. In the last chapter, Ali had described the way they would go to Royal National Park in a convoy of cars. The significance of the Lebanese picnic was beginning to emerge from this question. Earlier Sam had said ' ... back to traditional things, we have a Lebanese BBQ, sha -wi, meat is cooked on the coals and salad. '(LM2/2) Frequent references to gatherings in parks also highlights Sam's reflections in the first meeting about 'Sayran Ramadan' or picnics associated with Ramadan.

In contrast to extended family gatherings in parks, some of the Lebanese community enjoyed the Lebanese nightclubs established around Cleveland Street, Surry Hills. The group spoke of 'Beirut by Night' and 'Le Roi Rouge' which had 'red satin walls and ceiling'. They also described the 'Ali Baba Cinema' in College Street near Hyde Park which screened Arabic movies. Hala reminisced ' ... extremely romantic to go to the [Arabic] movies... ,' (LM2/2) a description that is a far cry from the Greek experience of movies in the 1950s described in the last chapter.

242 Reflections-on and in-Action

Meetings had been designed so that each would open with a brief summary of the outcomes of the previous meeting, given by the researcher. In this case, the summary was a list of the places in Lebanon the group had discussed. Reflecting-in-action, the group concurred that the summary was accurate but were anxious to point out that their heritage was not in places but in the culture related to places.

Reflecting-on-action, discussions about heritage revealed the need to understand how Australians perceive cultural heritage. This was also was evident in other discussion groups in this research. Remaining open and letting meanings emerge, rather than limiting the process through explicit frames of reference, is the dilemma posed when using hermeneutics in active discourse instead of completed texts. Such frames close down possibilities of lateral and creative interpretations. Thus, recognising that collaborative processes used in this research require Australian frames of reference for migrant groups; the challenge is how to supply referential frameworks without being prescriptive.

By the end of the second meeting, discussions had revealed that there were clear connections between each era of Lebanese migration to Australia and that their heritage was evident as a mosaic of places, both urban and rural. Hermeneutically, connections were starting to be made between the heritage of silk trading and the way the early Lebanese established themselves in Australia. These connections were explicitly related to different Lebanese families, all of whom now dominated heavy­ duty clothing manufacturing. At another level, the value of community picnics in large parks was also emerging. The issue of heritage embedded in ways of life could now be explored in the third meeting with a clear sense of why such issues were important.

Lebanese Cultural Practices and Living Traditions in Australia

Lebanese Heritage as Ways of Life

The third meeting was intended to reveal how cultural heritage is embedded in everyday life. Intriguing aspects of this phenomenon for migrants are that some cultural traditions are able to be transferred to Australia unaltered, a translocated heritage; other traditions have been modified by living in Australia, transformed

243 heritage. A third issue of heritage significance is that some cultural practices translocated to Australia, have been sustained unaltered. They have become frozen in time and as such, are a form of cultural heritage for the country of origin.

The meeting was designed as a set of prompts to focus discussion on aspects of everyday life. Given the comments about remaining open, these prompts may appear prescriptive. Phenomena associated with everyday life in different migrant groups, however, are so rich and engaging for the group that the prompts were also used as ways to contain discussion. Table 5. 7 shows how the discussion was introduced, all discussions included here are coded LM2/3.

TABLE5.7. The Guide: Introduction to Meeting Three.

Lebanese Heritage as Ways of Life During the last meeting you looked at places which tell of the story of your migration to Australia and how you settled in. Your heritage places can mean more than this. They can also reflect your ways of life and allow for your living traditions to continue.

Detailed cultural heritage The following points of discussion might help you identify those aspects of your heritage related to your ways of life.

Points for discussion:

*language Do you speak the same Arabic or has it changed? Has the Arabic spoken in Lebanon changed since you left? *cooking Did you create special shops to get the food you like? Has the food you prepare and changed in Australia? Where are traditional ingredients available? *houses Have you changed your Australian house? What have you changed to make your house suit your way oflife? *gardens Did you have a garden in Lebanon? Do you have a garden in now? What have you planted? How do you use it? Do your friends come to the garden? *music Do you have special Lebanese music and dancing? Can you still practise this in Australia? Has it changed?

Summarise the discussion and list changes that have occurred in Australia and places which are associated with these aspects of your cultural heritage.

244 Many of these issues have already been discussed both in the comparative study and in the first two meetings. One interesting aspect of everyday Lebanese life is the way in which trading is undertaken. This is of particular interest because it supports the heritage connection between early Lebanese travelling 'hawkers' in rural areas and subsequent Lebanese clothing and drapery shops. This heritage is not just a reflection of the 'grand' tradition of the 'Phoenician silk traders', it is also the 'little' tradition of everyday market bazaars (Stilgoe, 1982). Two quotes supporting observations about 'little traditions' are, Talking about traditional ways of trade; I went to my uncle's place in the village. He sells ice-cream - no money, bartered. It still existed in the 1960s. (Ali LM2/3)

My mother found it difficult when she came here .. . I used to get embarrassed ... In Lebanon they are used to bargaining and when she came here she used to make me bargain for her. It is difficult, really embarrassing. In her mind it was still the same, nothing has changed. (Inaam LM2/3)

The following is an abbreviated summary of content analyses of the animated and extensive discussions occurring around everyday life.

Language

Discussions centred on the lack of existing purity in the Arabic language because of the influence of the French, British and Turks as well as variations in dialect. There was also discussion about their language in Australia and how expressions were reordered in Arabic to reflect Australian syntax. The group had many amusing anecdotes of how the mixture of English words in Arabic caused confusion. The role of language in the process of migration has been explored in a series of essays called Displacements edited by Brammer (1994). Brammer suggests that language is both 'carrier of national and familial traditions and emblems of cultural and personal identity (1994:xvi).' In another essay, Kaplan (1994:60) explores how the migrant in mastering English has to lose his/her family tongue which is the 'intimate, private, family language' whereas 'English is the language of the public sphere.' Hirsch (1994:79) adds that the most distressing aspect of having to live in a new language is that the signifier becomes severed from the signified. She evokes the power of this by explaining ' ... "river" in Polish was a vital sound, energised by the essence of riverhood, of my rivers, of being immersed in rivers.

245 "River" in English is cold - a word without an aura.' These are the phenomena related to language that the young Lebanese migrants experienced.

Issues around migration and language have also been explored by Chambers in Migrancy, Culture, Identity (1994) where he describes a form of Creole which exemplifies the modem migrant. Because the Lebanese language is a form of Arabic already influenced by many cultures and constantly changing in Lebanon, there was a lack of concern about changes in the language in Australia. The significance of the local schools, however, as places where Lebanese children were humiliated because of their language difficulties highlights the complex values in place meanings. The lack of concern about changes in language is in strong contrast to the intensity they felt about the changes in food and cooking.

Food and Cooking

The group was unanimous about how Lebanese ways of cooking and types of food eaten in Australia had changed. Not only have they modified their eating to conform to Anglo-Australian norms, they have also been influenced by other cultural groups in Australia such as the Indian community whose shops are interspersed with the Lebanese shops in Surry Hills. Food was a consistent theme during the first two meetings. Ali had spoken about traditional food as 'a supporting life' given to the early migrants travelling by ship. There were also many stories of the distress they felt, when gifts of special food, given to them when leaving their country, were thrown away by customs officials. Clearly these items of food were laden with deep value adding to the significance of points of arrival in Australia. There were also Lebanese individuals renowned for their skills in relation to particular foods. Sam, when describing the heritage significance of the Port of Tripoli added, In the Port of Tripoli there was a place which is very famous for its ice­ cream .. . everywhere in Tripoli they came to that place .. . the owner - Hadler - he emigrated to Australia. He is in Bankstown and he makes the same ice-cream.(LM2/3)

Discussions about their food in Australia centred on three mam changes, the introduction of new foods, often from other migrant groups, the lack of time to prepare traditional dishes and the fact that some Lebanese foods tasted different when prepared in Australia.

246 The availability of contents [has changed our food.] We had to use something else. Plus being here we learned other cooking such as Turkish, English, Chinese. (Hassan, LM2/3)

Women have taken to easy cooking -for example stuffed vine leaves, by the time you prepare it - it takes six hours - especially as we are a large family. Believe me, this is one of the cookings that is fading away. Now we only do it once or twice a year. (Ali, LM2/3)

In Lebanon, my Mum used to always cook the cracked wheat with chickpeas and she used to boil lambs tongue and put the juice on the cracked wheat and humus. Over there it used to taste beautiful but when we came here she cooked it a few times but nobody liked it any more. It tasted completely different. We never cook it now. (lnaam, LM2/3)

Some traditional dishes, still prepared, were described. The preparation and eating of food is an important part of the Lebanese cultural heritage in Australia where most meals are eaten in the home, except for large family picnics. The ritual of specific foods prepared and eaten these large picnics places adds to their significance. Throughout the discussions in each meeting, places where large picnics were held were emerging as important to this group.

Houses and Gardens

Houses have already been discussed in the last chapter. The Lebanese found that the Australian inner suburban house did not allow for the customary large family gatherings, so they selected a particular type of house which allowed them to op~n up the interiors. As apartment dwellers in Lebanon, they did not have gardens, so their relationship to their gardens in their Australian houses was ambivalent. Initially they were self-mocking, describing their gardens as 'green concrete,' despite the fact that many front gardens of Australian-Lebanese homes are paved with richly glazed tiles, shown in Plate 5.1.

247 PLATE 5.1. Lebanese front garden with glazed tiles bordered by rose beds, in Marrickville. (A.P.1994).

Sam, however, indicated that were symbols of the Lebanese landscape in their gardens, such as the Cedars of Lebanon and olive trees both of which have ancient meanings for the Lebanese. The Cedars of Lebanon are considered to have been the timbers of the fleets of the ancient Phoenician traders (Macoboy, 1979). The olive tree is also closely associated with the history and culture of Lebanon. In some places olive groves are said to be older than the villages themselves (Macoboy, 1979). The olive, greatly valued for its culinary oil, was also used as the basis of the exotic Middle East scents. Inaam described the rose used for traditional Lebanese rose water as another element in the Lebanese gardens. Back gardens contain extensive beds of parsley, mint and other vegetables used in Lebanese cooking. Thus the heritage of a number of Lebanese traditions, seen by the West as exotic, are evident in even the most humble of Lebanese gardens in Australia.

Dancing

Exotic traditions are also associated with Lebanese dancing, particularly the 'belly dancing' performed in Lebanese nightclubs already mentioned. There is an Academy of Dance in Lebanon, which constantly changes the traditional dance. As a result, the traditional dancing done by many of the older Lebanese in Australia is a form of culture frozen in time. The group spoke about how much the younger people, including themselves, had been influenced by popular Western dancing resulting in new hybrid forms of Lebanese dancing. This hybridization, resulting from intersecting cultures

248 associated with contemporary migration, has also been explored by Chambers (1994). Thus new hybrids are developing along side the 'frozen in time' traditional dancing of the 1950s. The group suggested there are particular places associated with music and dancing. Some have been established in Sydney since the 1960s and are known about in the mainstream community, such as nightclubs and restaurants. Others, established in the 1970s, are located in large rooms above local shops in :(3ankstown, Punchbowl, and Parramatta and are only known about within the Lebanese community.

Calendar of Cultural Life

Ways of life and cultural ceremonies have traditionally been associated with specific seasons. This is also applicable to spiritual worship. When migrants from the Northern Hemisphere come to Australia, they fmd that many of their significant cultural events occur in opposite seasons. In most cases, however, they maintain the same calendar and the same rituals with some subtle modifications. This has been true of all the migrant groups starting with the British. In order to see whether there are Antipodean modifications, the guide asked for a 'Calendar of events'. Being Muslims, the group spoke of Ramadan and the picnics they hold both before and after the fast, a tradition they followed in Lebanon. Some of the large parks already mentioned have significance for the both Arabic people in general and other Muslims. They spoke of Steele Park in Marrickville as the place where they all used to gather for Arabic Day. This has now been replaced by Gough Whitlam Park in Amcliffe.

Reflections-on-Action

The sequence of meetings is intended to be an iterative process where places become saturated with understandings about the migration experience, a form of constitutive phenomenology and the phenomenology of appearances (Spiegelberg,1975). At this stage the group was helped to see where their discussions were leading in the form of a summary of outcomes of each meeting and the ways in which this summary could be used.

It is clear that translocated and transformed culture is richly embedded in the 'little' traditions of everyday life. The enthusiasm for discussions about changes tended to overshadow the reflective process. In many cases, this was the first time the group had considered how much their everyday life had altered since being in Australia.

249 Interestingly, unlike the 1950s Greek group, who considered they had changed the culture of Australia as much as Australian experiences had changed them, the Lebanese did not comment on their contribution to the Australian way of life despite the physical evidence of Lebanese culture in large Australian cities.

Interpreting the Heritage Significance of Lebanese Places in Australia

The Synthesising Process

The fourth meeting was designed to synthesise all discussions and arrive at a hermeneutic of migrant heritage for this group. Phenomena associated with the migration experience were summarised as four lists; • existing Lebanese places in Australia, • list of places associated with special Lebanese people in Australia, • list of Lebanese community places with collective memories, • list of places associated with the Lebanese way of life in Australia.

Hermeneutically it was possible to determine how these places had distinct Lebanese significance, rather than merely expressions of migration. Hermeneutic studies require fields of knowledge within which interpretations can be located and substantiated. In this study the initial knowledge field was Australian heritage theory, in particular criteria used to designate heritage significance for listing places on the Register of the National Estate. By working through the criteria, it was possible to identify layers of Lebanese significance in particular places. Where places were multi-layered, they were considered more significant than other places. Nevertheless, there were limitations to this field of knowledge as will be shown in the following discussion.

Working with Lists of Places Derived from Previous Meetings

Four lists were developed as summaries of categories derived from content analyses of all discussions over the previous three meetings. The first two lists show significant people and existing Australian-Lebanese places, from the 1900s to the 1970s, mainly in Sydney. This provides a lens through which to view the context of the Lebanese in a large Australian city. The other two lists provide summaries of post-1970s Lebanese migration experiences in Sydney. The lists not only generate categories and summaries, they also reveal how some places reflect many aspects of Australian-Lebanese life. Tables 5.8-5.11 detail the lists.

250 TABLE5.8. Existing Lebanese Places in Sydney and Melbourne

Sydney suburbs where the Lebanese Lived Redfern, Punchbowl, Parramatta. Marrick.ville, Bankstown, Lebanese factories, clothing and drapery shops Mansours, Scarfs, Gazal Factory, Tempe Joseph Saba's shirt shop, Flinders Lane, Melbourne Important Sydney Parks for the Lebanese Redfern Park, Sydney Parramatta Park, Parramatta Carrs Park, Blakehurst Steele Park, Marrick.ville Enmore Park, Marrickville Royal National Park. Early churches and mosques StGeorge Orthodox Church, Redfern, (established 1901) St Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church, Melbourne ( 1931) Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church, Harris Park (1930s) Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church, Melbourne (1956) Muslim Mosque in Surry Hills Hall, Cleveland St Sun'ni Mosque for Lebanese Muslims, Canterbury (1950s)

The first list, Table 5.8, summarises places existing in Sydney before this group arrived in the 1970s. It includes where the Lebanese lived, their particular economic niche, the importance of parks and places of spiritual worship.

251 The second list, Table 5.9, provides another way of understanding the Lebanese community, namely the role of various significant Lebanese people in Australia.

TABLE5.9. Some Special Lebanese people in Australia.

Significant Lebanese People Places Families with textile and clothing factories and retail outlets Abboud family Moubarouk family Their factories Dahdah family Mansours and shops Gazal family Scarfs Writers David Malouf South Brisbane Lele Saklawi Other Special People Mayor Nicholas Shehadie, Former Lord Mayor of Sydney Sydney Town Hall Dr Nini Alain, famous Lebanese herbalist practice in Campsie. Michel El-h-Yek, traditional Lebanese clairvoyant. practice in Bankstown. Hadler, famous in Tripoli ice-cream shop in for his ice-cream, Bankstown.

252 The third list, Table 5.10, summarises the Lebanese community places reflecting community memories in Sydney.

TABLE 5.10. Muslim Lebanese community places in Sydney.

Places where the Muslim Lebanese lived 1950s, Redfern, Punchbowl - in rooming houses 1960s, Redfern, Marrickville, Punchbowl, Bankstown 1970s, Marrickville, Dulwich Hill, Arncliffe, Punchbowl, Bankstown. Places of work Central Railway, rail yards in Darling Harbour - as porters Factories - Leyland, Resches, Lindemans, AGL, Vicars, Pye, Email. Smallgoods and fish and chip shops. Building industry often as stone masons and bricklayers. Food and Shopping Paddy's Market Al-o-mawi - first Lebanese pastry shop (Moorhead St, Redfern) Cleveland Street, Surry Hills -restaurants and shops. Marrickville, Punchbowl and Bankstown shopping streets. Places of Worship First Muslim mosque, Islamic Federation Centre, Surry Hills First Arabic mosque, Lakemba.

Places for Recreation Carss Park, Blakehurst Steele Park, Enmore Park, Marrickville. Beirut nightclub- Le Roi Rouge -Chalmers/Cleveland St, Sydney. Arabic Cinema- Ali Baba Cinema, Anzac House, College St, Sydney. Place of Political significance Glen Street, Marrickville - notorious for Lebanese street gangs

253 The final list summarises places derived from discussions about ways of life, shown in Table 5.11.

TABLE 5.11. Places associated with the Muslim Lebanese way oflife in Australia.

Lebanese Restaurants Ways of Life Cleveland St, Surry Hills } Dulwich Hill, Marrickville} for Lebanese food

The Parks- for Lebanese picnics Steele Park, Enmore Park, Marrickville Gough Whitlam Park, Marrickville Carss Park, Blakehurst Lebanese nightclubs for music and dancing Community Centres 144 Addison Road, Marrickville } for continuing Lebanese 44 Carrington Street, Marrickville } culture The Mosques for worship Lakemba

Reflections-on-Action

Preliminary lists were prepared as a result of rapid analyses of the transcripts between meetings. Lists were developed iteratively over meetings and were confirmed with the group before each meeting. They were later refmed by orthodox content analyses of transcripts (Patton, 1990). Of particular interest are the factories and retail outlets for clothing manufacture associated with successful Lebanese families. Another category of interest is the 'Park'. Parks appear to have been important for early groups and also continue to be important for Arabic picnics.

From these lists, the group then worked through the eight criteria for Australian Heritage Commission (AHC) significance (Pearson & Sullivan, 1995). This was undertaken to determine which places had sufficient significance for the group to be worthy of consideration for listing on the Register of the National Estate as an example of Lebanese heritage in Australia.

Hermeneutics Informed by Heritage Theory

As stated, heritage theory was used as the field of knowledge. In the previous chapter, the focus was on limitations of statutory processes at State level, namely heritage

254 studies as precursors to Local Environment Plans. As indicated in Chapter Two, broader conceptual approaches to heritage interpretations are undertaken at the Federal Government level through the Australian Heritage Commission (AHC). The criteria for heritage significance prepared by the AHC are an effective vehicle to take the conceptual process, hermeneutics, to an applied process, heritage planning.

As Pearson & Sullivan (1995) point out, it is not enough to have general agreement of value by the community to designate a place as significant. In heritage planning, the term 'significance' is used to mean 'the degree to which a place possesses a certain valued attribute' and why it is valued (1995:17). As was shown by the places valued in Lebanon by this group, communities tend to value places for their historic, aesthetic and social attributes. Pearson and Sullivan indicate that different cultures have different traditions about the past (1995:20). As a result, the AHC's formalised and categorised systems for heritage assessment may not be the most appropriate way of dealing with values held by minority groups. Such limitations will become evident through the application of this field ofknowledge for hermeneutic interpretations.

Accordingly, the group was given an explanation of the eight criteria of significance developed by the AHC. Working through them, the group first tried to understand what the criteria were looking for and then which of their valued places, if any, was appropriate for each criterion. Table 5.1:?- shows the way in which the group interpreted their valued places according to these criteria. A number of culturally specific insights emerged through this process. The historic criterion, A, included places which reflected the history of the Lebanese in Australia. Criteria B and C were not considered relevant. The representative criterion, D, was seen to be applicable to the migrant experience rather than items that were representative of Lebanese culture. Accordingly, the group selected boarding houses as representative of a certain class of place pertinent to Lebanese migrant experiences. Fred mused 'Some people rented the houses and rented the people in them' (LM2/4). He described a number of places in Redfern that were examples suitable for this criterion.

Criterion E, the aesthetic criterion, prompted much debate about what was an aesthetically beautiful place. Inaam said 'I think the National Park is beautiful'. Fred agreed but Sam remarked, 'It is not the beauty, really.' To which Inaam responded 'It is the nature - the waterfalls.' Fred put forward a different idea of beauty when he

255 suggested 'What about Gough Whit/am Park - it is beautiful for all ethnic groups [because of] Multicultural Day.' (LM2/4) The issue of aesthetics in cross-cultural discussions is complicated. The Greek group in the comparative study had revealed the same varied responses to perceptions of a beautiful view and landmarks. Perhaps one of the most interesting responses was Hala' s reaction to criterion F, creative or technical achievement. She suggested the recent discovery of an Arabic shipwreck off the coast of Australia. The awareness of the importance of the Arabic shipwreck in heritage interpretations is sophisticated in heritage assessment terms. Sam supported Hala's suggestion by linking the Lebanese Muslims to other Muslims. He explained, .. . actually you could analyse that from the history of the Muslims -from Malaysia - or - the story is the Muslims came to Australia ... and did trade with the Aborigines and there was a mosque in Western Australia and that one is from the Afghans. If so, maybe the Arab traders could [have] come with the Afghans - camel trains - came via India. . .. take silk and spices. India is well known in our histories and stories. In our stories, there is a huge sea - after that land- this could be the land ofAustralia. They spoke ofthe Sea ofDarkness .... (LM214).

The group did not pursue these speculations, however, Hala and Sam's comments highlight how a non-professional group can bring refreshing and innovative perspectives to heritage criteria sometimes perceived as jargon.

256 TABLE 5.12. Australian-Lebanese heritage significance according to the AHC criteria.

CRITERION ABC SIGNIFICANCE AUSTRALIAN-LEBANESE SIGNIFICANCE A A place which is important in The group felt that a number of places could be Historic the pattern of Australia's natural considered,Redfem Park, as a meeting place or cultural history. for Lebanese migrants from 1920s - 1970s, e.g. places which show the the first Scarfs' shop, as an example of the unusual richness of plants, Lebanese clothing production, and Audley, in animals, landscapes or cultural Royal National Park, as a site for early group features. picnics. e.g. places which are associated with events or cultural phases None of the Lebanese places seemed to fit this which have a significant role in criterion. the evolution of the nation.

None of the Lebanese places were considered B A place which shows rare or endangered aspects of appropriate for this criterion. Rare& Australia's natural or cultural Endangered history.

c A place which reveals The group considered that the rooming houses Educational information about Australia's where Lebanese rented out rooms to other natural or cultural history. Lebanese could be relevant to this criterion.

D A place which is a model Members of the group suggested, waterfalls at Royal National Park or Representative example of Australia's natural or cultural environments. Gough Whitlam Park

E A place which shows a Hala suggested the site of an Arabic shipwreck Aesthetic particular aesthetic character found off Western Australia as an appropriate valued by the community or a place. cultural group. This criterion prompted intense discussion and F A place shows a high degree clearly had the most relevance to this group and many places were suggested. Creative or of creative or technical Technical achievement at a particular time. The group did not think that the people that were important in their community had G A place with strong associations significance for the wider Australian Social with a particular cultural group community. This is interesting as David for social, cultural or spiritual Malouf, the Lebanese writer, is of Australian reasons. significance.

H A place which has special associations with the life or Special people work of a person, or group of people who have been important in Australia's history.

Reflections-in and on-Action

Omissions of significant places brought about by conforming to AHC process are just as important as insights gained. By maintaining the rigour required by heritage practice,

257 one can see the limits of the process even though it was possible to locate some places of heritage significance within relevant criteria. The choice of heritage theory as the field of knowledge, nevertheless, is too limited for a full hermeneutic analysis for migrant groups. Thus by using the process of the hermeneutic circle we can re-engage with interpretations using a different field of knowledge. It would appear Criterion G - community places with social value - is highly pertinent for this group. Accordingly, engaging in place theory as the knowledge field, other layers of understanding can be derived for community places.

Hermeneutics Informed by Place Theory

Place theory, particularly cultural landscape theory, seeks to identify the ways in which places become layered with changing uses over time (Sauer,1925; Relph,l976; Riley, 1992; Taylor, 1999). Recent interest in place and the politics of identity have explored the value of locality and everyday life (Lefevbre,1990; Hayden,l995). The AHC has taken up the challenge of finding value in local places through the work of Johnston (1993) in What is Social Value? As a result, the AHC uses five exemplars to determine whether a place has social heritage significance. These are indicated in Table 5.13.

TABLE5.13. Guide for identifying places of social heritage significance.

* a place which is important to the community as a landmark;

* a place to which ethnic communities have strong collective attachment;

* a place which has a history and ongoing use for social interaction;

* a place to which the community has a strong enduring attachment;

* a place or an event which has a profound effect on the Lebanese community.

The following discussion reveals how slippery heritage terms can be for different cultural groups. The concept of 'landmark', the first point, prompted much interest. The group felt that Glenn Street, Marrickville was a landmark because it was notorious. Hassan explained ... some youths formed a gang - related to the Lebanese and other multicultural groups. Used to hang out in Glenn Street - police would

258 come. Glenn Street had a lot of units. When the kids get bored, they come down to the street .. . People thought it was a big gang and TV making out it was 'colours' gang, plus they were not angels. .. . A lot ofmedia attention was focussed on that street (LM2/4).

This concept of a landmark created by the media is in strong contrast to the way 'landmark' was interpreted in the comparative study. It raises some pertinent issues in terms of media driven perceptions of place evident in the recent work of Burgess (1993).

The second point, a place to which ethnic communities have strong collective attachment, was seen to be relevant to Steele Park, Marrickville, shown in Plate 5.2. The group explained that it was not only a place of importance to them, but it was used by other ethnic groups as shown in the following discussion between Sam and Hassan. Sam indicated, The Greeks [use the park]. Islanders, Fijians, South Americans -not Turkish - but the Greeks because ofthe soccer. They have a club there. (Hassan) This spot is very famous for walking, BBQs- (Sam) Picnics, sports, birthday parties, Multicultural Day. (Fred. LM2/4).

This brings out the phenomenon of places with multiple values, layered over time as well as being meaningful for a number of groups.

PLATE5.2. Typical Lebanese picnic in Steele Park. (A.P.l994).

The remaining three points, while pertinent to migrant places, did not fully address the significance this group was seeking. By this stage, the group felt there were two places of high heritage significance, the first was Steele Park, Marrickville as an example of a

259 place with a history of Lebanese use facilitating on-going traditional everyday life. The other was a place which told of the transformation of their 'Phoenician trading heritage' into the Australian context.

Hermeneutic Reading of a Socially Valued Place

The AHC criteria indicated that places which convey most significance for the Lebanese group are places with social significance, Criterion G. The group decided to test their interpretations by nominating Steele Park, Marrickville, for the Register of the National Estate. Table 5.14 shows their assessment of social heritage significance using the five exemplars to establish their context.

TABLE 5.14. Assessment of social heritage significance.

• The park was not considered to be a landmark, • The park was considered to have strong collective attachment for ethnic communities; the Lebanese, the Greeks, the Islanders, the South Americans. • The park was a place which has a history and ongoing use for social interaction, • The park has a strong enduring attachment for the Lebanese community, for example it was the first park they used for family picnics, all the birthdays are held there, Multicultural Day in November is held there. The Lebanese picnic has particular characteristics which reflect their cultural heritage both in Lebanon and in Australia • The park has not experienced an event which has a profound effect on the Lebanese community, rather it is in continuous use as a place of pleasure and recreation. (Derived from group discussions LM2/4).

Under the current processes of heritage assessment, at this stage a Conservation Plan would be undertaken which would include a Statement of Heritage Significance, conservation policies and strategies for implementation. According to Pearson and Sullivan, a Statement of Significance is 'a succinct summary of the reasons why the place is of value' which can be supported with appropriate documentation (1995: 130). The following Statement of Significance was prepared collectively by the researcher and the group.

260 The Heritage Significance ofa Lebanese Picnic in Steele Park­ Criterion G. Social Significance

Steele Park has been used by the group for traditional Lebanese picnics since they first arrived in Australia in 1975. The use of Steele Park marked the change from single Lebanese men gathering in Enmore Park before 1975, to large family picnics with the arrival offamilies due to the outbreak of the civil war in Lebanon.

A Lebanese picnic involves at least 30-40 people. The group arrive at 10.00 am and start the barbeque. They use the picnic tables in the park as well as bringing their own chairs, in order to accommodate the extended family. They bring Arabic music which is played on a cassette player, the 'bong' for smoking, cards and games. The group stay until sunset. The children and some of the adults use the sports facilities, fish, ride bicycles. Such picnics in Australia are a continuation of practices carried out in Lebanon. The group used to go to villages outside Tripoli and picnic on open spaces beside rivers. The natural qualities of the river, grass and trees at Steele Park remind them of those places. The open spaces in the villages were an important aspect of their cultural heritage because seasonal festivals were held there including the picnics before and after Ramadan. Because of the high density living in Tripoli and Beirut, people go to the villages every weekend for large family picnics.

Apart from continuing a culturally specific way ofusing recreational parks, group picnic continues Lebanese traditions offood and music. Food brought to the Australian park consists of traditional dishes. It starts with a late breakfast of shangleish, olives, bread, coffee. Lunch includes chickens, kebabs, kefta, barbequed on special charcoal. There are garlic dips, tabouli, chickpeas, coffee, tea, beer. After lunch, the coffee pot is put on the barbeque and the group play cards, sport etc until sundown ..

FIGURE 5.1. Statement of Significance for Steele Park, Marrickville.

It is clear that the group have a strong collective attachment to the park. It is the first park in Australia that they used for their picnics and they have been using it for over twenty years. They celebrate all the family birthdays in the park and it allows the group to maintain their strong family traditions which they see as their cultural heritage in Australia. They had documentary evidence in the form of photographs from 1975 to support the social heritage significance of this park.

Hermeneutically, this Statement of Significance is more than a simple description of a locally valued park. Connerton (1990), in his study on How Societies Remember, devotes particular attention to those groups, such as migrants, who have broken with an older order. He calls these communities, 'self-interpreted communities', and indicates that there is always an attempt to mark a beginning. He says that 'The attempt to establish a beginning refers back inexorably to a pattern of social memories.' (1990: 13). Relph's observations add to the reasons why this park has value. He remarks in his study on Modernity and Reclamation ofPlace, that 'places are made largely through the involvement and commitment of people who live and work in them. Places have to be

261 made from the inside out.' (Relph,l993:34). Interestingly, Steele Park was one of the new parks created in the early 1970s as part of the program to revitalise the environmental state of Cooks River by creating a number of riverside parks. It would appear that the Lebanese community was one of the earliest groups to colonise the new park, adding to the sense that the park marks their beginning in Australia.

Hermeneutic Reading of an Historically Valued Place.

The other aspect of Australian-Lebanese heritage, namely translocating the 'Phoenician trading tradition' to Australia and its transformation from the early 'hawkers' working in Australian country areas, to drapery shops in country towns and ultimately to the successful factories and retail outlets associated with heavy duty textile and clothing manufacture, was not easily addressed within the current heritage assessment procedures.

Valle and Halling (1989) discuss the process of transformations in qualitative interpretations. Their observations provide insights hermeneutic processes involved in moving from a trope, 'the Phoenician trading tradition', to identifying places which embody this meaning in a new country. They suggest that this is accomplished by two processes, 'reflection and imaginative variation' (1989:55). Reflection involves immersion in the concept, a process already clearly demonstrated. Imaginative variation requires that the researcher intentionally alter the meaning through imagination and analogy. Thus by intentionally altering the meaning of 'hawking' to 'Phoenician trading tradition', a cultural connection could be made between ancient cultural myths and contemporary everyday life in a new country.

Despite this, the group, as Lebanese, struggled with the concept of a factory being a Lebanese heritage place. There was also difficulty in fitting the particular significance of these family factories into Criterion G, social heritage significance. After many attempts to get a Lebanese clothing factory to conform to Criterion G, the research team finally suggested that there should be an extra criterion of heritage significance for migrant places. Ali suggested it should be a place which reflected 'pride and success ', a concept which was strongly endorsed by the group. Hassan suggested the criterion should be 'a place which tells the story of migration.' It is interesting to see the developing heritage expertise that emerged in the group over the four meetings. Finally, because of the uncertainty about which place to nominate for this aspect of Lebanese 262 heritage, it was agreed that I, as prime researcher, would consult an accepted leader of the Lebanese community whose family had been in Australia since the 1920s. He confirmed that the interpretations of Australian Lebanese heritage were correct and that the site of the first Lebanese clothing factory was in Redfern, shown in plate 5.3, and would be appropriate for nomination (Interview NS. 12/6/94).

PLATE5.3. The former Stanton Melick warehouse building in Redfern. (A.P.l995).

The shift from trying to reflect transformed cultural practice by a 'representative' place to the 'first' place enabled the heritage significance to be broadened to include Criterion A, historic significance, that is, 'a place which is associated with a cultural phase which has a significant role in the evolution ofthe nation' (AHC,l990). It was also possible to attribute representative heritage significance, Criterion D, as an example of a factory where post World War II migrants worked. The significance as a place which represents transformed cultural practices, however, was still not addressed adequately. Criterion G, social significance, does not fully allow for the complexity of cultural changes involved in the phenomenon of migration.

The following statement of significance explains the heritage significance of a Lebanese clothing factory in Australia. Despite the clear evidence of historic significance, the desire for heritage significance to be applied to successful migrant experiences was important to the group. Clearly the heroic nature of the migrant experience is one that many groups want recognised.

263 Stanton Melick Warehouse Site, Elizabeth St, Redfern - Criterion A: Historic significance

Criterion D: Representative significance Criterion G: Social Significance

This site reflects Lebanese heritage in Australia as a translocated cultural practice of trading silks throughout the Lebanese countryside to early travelling traders in fabrics in rural Australia in the 1900s. In the 1920s, the Lebanese established drapery and clothing shops carrying the names of large Lebanese families such as Mans ours and Scarfs. By the 1940s, factories for clothing manufacture were established such as the Gazal, Dahdah enterprises. The Stanton Melick factory is the site of the earliest examples of Lebanese heavy duty clothing manufacturing in Sydney. It is a representational example ofa heritage site with historic and social significance for the Lebanese community in Sydney.

The representational significance lies in the history of the Post World War II migrant program with its focus on providing workers for Australia's industrial development. Many of the migrants who came to Australia felt that they were contributing to Australia's economic development. Because there was a lack of recognition of professional qualifications many highly trained people worked in the factories, along with people who had come from an agrarian village life. Collectively, the factories are redolent with stories of hardship, humiliation and humour. Some factories became the focus for specific migrant groups who had specialised skills such as the Portuguese women who worked in Paramount Shirts because of their skill in needlework. The Stanton Melick factory is a representative example ofsuch a migrant heritage place in Australia.

Historic significance lies in early Lebanese clothing factories in Australia. Many Lebanese migrants from 1900 to the 1920s travelled throughout the rural areas in Australia bringing fabrics to isolated farming women. Their 'Phoenician silk trading' tradition was known as 'hawking' in Australia. Later they settled in rural towns opening clothing and fabric retail outlets. Scaifs and Mansours are retail outlets which are examples of this process. With increasing economic consolidation Lebanese families opened clothing factories, particularly focussing on the manufacture of heavy-duty clothing. The Melick factory site has historic significance as one of the earliest examples of these factories.

Social significance of this phenomenon lies in the cultural transformation of a centuries old tradition of silk manufacturing and trading in Lebanon to a trading in fabrics and ultimately fabric and clothing manufacture in Australia. It also lies in the way these successful enterprises carry Lebanese family names indicating 'ethnic ' attachment and the valued role of the extended Lebanese family. The Stanton Melick factory has social significance as a symbol of this cultural transformation for the Lebanese community in Australia

FIGURE5.2. Statement of Heritage Significance for a Migrant Heritage Site.

264 Reflection-in and on-Action

The process of synthesising all discussions and working towards understanding the heritage significance of places which not only reflect the migrant experience but also show translocated and transformed culture was difficult for the group. Unlike the first three meetings there was suddenly a shift in ownership because one of the group, the researcher, was the 'expert' in heritage practice. The group could be described as 'working hard' as they wrestled with the process of determining heritage significance, however it was agreed that they could not have undertaken the process on their own. Ali remarked .. . in some instances, since the first session and here now - some of the things we said we thought was not valuable. But now we see everything has value. [What] we were focussing on at that time, [we thought] it is not heritage. But now you [the researcher] widen it up (LM2/4).

Despite their reservations, I could not have interpreted Lebanese heritage places in Australia without the group as part of the research team. The process of four semi­ structured meetings appeared to be appropriate and the sophisticated understanding of the process by all team members verified the method. Because of the high level of understanding, limitations in the current system of designating heritage places became evident.

Conclusion

This chapter has sought to find a 'language' to interpret migrant heritage by addressing three issues; the use of hermeneutics in migrant studies, cross-cultural understandings of heritage and the development of an effective process to reveal the many layers of meaning involved in the experience of migration.

Hermeneutics is an art and skill as well as the theory of interpretations. Although hermeneutics is most commonly used with completed texts, it can also be used to understanding the significance of human actions and utterances (Bullock et a1.1977). The richness of hermeneutic studies lies in the layers of meaning and multiple ways of seeing. In this chapter I have tried to show how perceptions and meanings can shift as migrants moves from one culture to another, but also how ways of seeing can remain culturally specific. This state of 'betweenness' is part of the 'language' needed to interpret migrant heritage. It is here that one can unravel the complexity of the experience of migration and the way this is manifest in certain places. 265 The chapter looked at cross-cultural concepts of heritage for one specific migrant group, the Muslim Lebanese in Sydney. Notions of heritage in the country of origin were Old World history and myths as well as contemporary everyday cultural life. Heritage for migrants in the new country is evident as the continuation of everyday life and cultural mythologies as transposed culture which often becomes transformed when practices are adapted to the new culture. Heritage for migrants is also embodied in the experience of migration and the process of settling in to the host country.

The third concern of this chapter has been the development of a process which facilitates an analysis of the experience of migration; namely a process which leads people through the steps needed in order to interpret values. This was done through a series of semi-structured meetings where the migrant group and the researcher explored concepts while at the same time reflecting on processes. As a result of this process, two places were seen to embody the cultural heritage of Muslim Lebanese in Sydney and these places may well be representative of other places in Australia. One place reflects a form of translocated culture as living heritage, a park for the traditional Lebanese picnic. The other place tells of an aspect of the history of the Lebanese in Australia and the unusual way cultural traditions can became transformed in the new country; namely an old factory marking the transition from silk trading in Lebanon to fabric traders in rural Australia and ultimately to heavy-duty clothing manufacture in large Australian cities.

In the process of interpreting this heritage and seeking to make the heritage significance relevant to Australia's cultural heritage, it became apparent that current forms of heritage assessment do not give significance to transfonned culture as a result of migration. The richness and pervasiveness of this phenomenon within Australian history requires that its heritage significance be addressed.

266 CHAPTER SIX

DYNAMICS OF MIGRANT PLACES IN TIME AND SPACE

The migrant presence in the Australian cultural landscape is pervasive and diverse. In some places, such as the inner city suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne, there are many layers of migrant groups over time. This has been explored in Chapter Four where each layer has contributed an environment which facilitated the assimilation of the next.

The sense of place derived from the migrant presence in the cultural landscape arises through complex processes. Chapter Five looked at the way unselfconscious transformations of culture occur within specific migrant communities and the way place-making changes over time. The focus in Chapters Four and Five has been on inner suburban areas. Many migrants who came to Australia settled in country towns or on the edge of larger cities where they created market-gardens in areas of fertile soil. Thus large Australian cities in the late 1990s, more than forty years after the major post WWII migration program, reveal complex changes in the migrant cultural landscape. Many Greek and Italian migrants of the 1950s have moved from their inner city terraces to affluent houses on the city outskirts. Others, whose first destination was the rural fringe, have sold their small farms for new housing developments and moved into inner suburbs.

Chapter Six looks at the changes that occurred within one migrant group in space and time, thus challenging the perceived harmony and seamlessness of pre- and post-WWII migrant groups. The chapter examines how one migrant group occupied niches in both the periphery and the centre of a major Australian city as two separate and distinct communities, despite coming from one country of origin. Some of this can be attributed to the opportunism associated with migration whereas other aspects lie in the particular cultural heritage of each migrant group which predisposes them to settle in particular ways. The chapter examines the particularities related to migration from Malta to Australia resulting in a Maltese profile in Australia which ties together cane-cutting in Queensland, market-gardens and small farms at the periphery of Sydney and inner city enclaves associated with factories, wharves and the Catholic Church. Despite having occupied two significant niches in the urban fabric of Sydney, their presence is barely discemable in contrast to the migrant groups examined in Chapters Four and Five. A

267 study of this group shows how vulnerable migrant places are in rapidly changing cities of the 21st century, particularly those exemplifying the culture of 'little traditions'.

The Maltese Context

The history of Malta, an archipelago of small islands, is one of occupation, starting with the Phoenicians in approximately 800BC and finishing with the British who departed in 1964. Perhaps the most significant period of occupation occurred from mid 16th century to the end of the18th century. During this period, the Crusading Knights of St John transformed the archipelago from rocky, windswept islands supporting a few exposed citrus and olive groves to massive limestone fortifications behind which were towns, orchards and intensive agriculture. The Knights, recognising the strategic importance of these barren islands, carried soil and other essentials as ballast for their ships thus transforming the difficult and unproductive landscape into one of intensively cultivated small farms and towns behind fortified walls. This established the practice of small­ scale, family-based agriculture; a tradition the Maltese brought to Australia (McCraken,1997; Seward,l995; Sire,1994).

Despite the ingenious use of rock walls, imported soil and intense cultivation, the islands had little natural water and were subject to strong prevailing winds. As a result, they could only support a limited population. To ensure sustainability, the islands were dependent on seasonal emigration, predominantly to North African countries to the immediate south. Migrating permanently to more distant lands was not considered until population crises demanded such drastic choices. In these circumstances, North America was the first preference, particularly in the 191h century, however, Australia,

New Zealand~ Canada, Brazil and Argentina were other possibilities.

In association with the culture of seasonal migration, everyday life in Malta focused on small farms surrounding villages whose core was the Church. The whole family worked on farms and in village cottage industries. In the larger town ofValletta, those workers not working on the docks were mainly involved in assembling goods. Maltese migrants translocated these traditions to Australia.

Throughout the continuous occupation by different cultures, the Catholic Church has been the most consistent element in Maltese culture. As a result, the Catholic Church and the State of Malta have been closely interwoven; the interaction of religious and

268 secular life being as much a part of the Maltese migration profile as they are a part of everyday life in Malta. Another factor impinging on secular life and emigration has been the role of the British. As the most recent occupiers, Britain realised Malta's high strategic value, particularly as the opening of the Suez Canal provided easier access other British dominions in the East including Australia. By the 1880s they had embarked on massive dockyard and harbour works which continued into the first decade of the 20th century. This was followed by unemployment when the British encouraged Maltese migration to Australia (York, 1988, 1990; Cirillo, 1959).

Maltese Emigration

The British exploited the islands' vulnerability to population numbers and the need for emigration as they saw advantages in having agricultural labour, loyal to Britain, in colonies such as Australia where the climate in northern areas was too hot for British workers. As a result they encouraged the Maltese to migrate under the banner of 'peopling the Empire' with passports designating them as white British settlers (York,1988:693). For those Maltese who migrated to Australia, the status given to them by their passports contributed to the particularly unfortunate experiences many of them suffered. Australian attitudes to migrants were consistently dominated by Union positions about importing workers. This position was inextricably locked into the racism born from the Chinese migrants' willingness to work diligently for low wages. Policies associated with this racism, described in Chapter Two, affected all people who did not speak English and whose skin colour was not similar to the British. When the Maltese arrived with passports which indicated they were 'white British' and yet their skin colour was swarthy and they did not speak English, they became marked for particularly vindictive racism by Unions and politicians (Campbell, 1992; York, 1990).

The first organised migration to Australia did not help the reputation of the Maltese as suitable migrants for Australia. More than fifty Maltese men, led by a Catholic priest, arrived in Townsville in 1883. They were contracted to work on the cane-fields, however, they found the bright lights of Townsville too attractive and refused to go to the cane-fields. They were scrappily dressed, lacked shoes and moved around Townsville in groups of ten to twenty. They refused to obey the priest's instructions and ultimately had to be arrested in order to get them to fulfill their contractual obligation. Many subsequently absconded and the enterprise was considered a failure

269 (York, 1990). Nevertheless, a few Maltese migrants recognised they could earn sufficient money in the cane-fields to buy small farms outside the southern cities of

1 Sydney and Melbourne. This was the situation in Australia until the early 20 h century.

The next era of Maltese migration began in 1912 when Maltese migrants, mostly illiterate labourers and farmers in groups of twenty or so, started to arrive in Australia. The powerful Australian Workers Union, having been instrumental in the White Australia policy, mounted a fierce anti-Maltese campaign which climaxed in 1916 with the prohibition of Maltese migrants, even though small numbers of Italians and Greeks were acceptable. The Maltese were particular targets because they entered Australia with British passports, deemed by the Unions as a British plot to rid themselves of unwanted workers (Campbell,1992). The demeanour and behavior of the Maltese migrants, however, helped feed community anxiety. Unlike the 19th century group who were led by a priest, these Maltese were unaccompanied groups of up to twenty men who moved around the city, badly dressed, unkempt, and bare-footed (York,1990).

Maltese bravery during the First World War forced many Australians to relinquish their prejudices particularly as they fought beside each other at Gallipoli. But more significantly, the Maltese community provided hospitals and nursing care for the allies during World War I. They were renowned for their compassionate care of war casualties, many of whom were Australian soldiers. This inevitably tempered the Australian racist attitudes towards Maltese migrants (Dugan, 1988).

After World War I, Malta was again faced with unemployment and the need for emigration. Britain was particularly alarmed at the growing Socialist unrest in ports associated with a pro-Italian Nationalist revival. In this climate, they saw large scale migration to Australia as a 'safety valve (York,l988:694). Using the rhetoric of 'bonds of Empire' and shared war experiences between Australians and Maltese, they succeeded in having the Australian ban on the Maltese lifted. Maltese migrants could come to Australia if they were agricultural workers of good character and literate with at least colloquial English (Dugan, 1988). Under this scheme Maltese migrants began arriving in 1924, prompting further outcries from the Unions. Once again debates raged about who was eligible to occupy the Australian national space. The government had initiated a migration program to develop the country, particularly the large Murrumbidgee Irrigation Scheme in south-west NSW and the mining and sugar industry

270 in the nmth, through a policy of accepting 'white friendly aliens'. But the Maltese, despite being skilled as agricultural workers, were still victimised because of the colour of their complexion, preference being given to agricultural workers from Czechoslovakia, Estonia, and other northern European countries (York,l990:115).

Nevertheless, the Maltese consolidated their presence in the 1920s in the Queensland cane growing areas of Mackay and Innisfail gradually purchasing small farms on fertile soils of Pendle Hill and Blacktown, west of Sydney where they established market­ gardens and poultry farms. Smaller numbers settled in Woolloomooloo near the wharves. With this sense of stability they began to bring out their wives and children. Apart from Union hostility, a further serious problem for Maltese migrants was their lack of literacy. They arrived as agricultural workers where entire families worked on small farms, including the children, as a result there was little schooling (York,l990).

During World War II, Malta was subjected to such intense bombing that little remained after the war. Despite their award for bravery, the post-war Australian migration campaign once again discriminated against the Maltese. Although criteria for entry now encouraged skilled trades-people rather than agricultural workers, British migrants were sought. The Australian authorities drew up a racial priority list with British on the top, followed in decreasing order by Scandinavians, Netherlanders, Swiss, Czechs, then Italians and Greeks. The Maltese did not even appear on the list (York,l990:196). Maltese government representatives in Australia requested, characteristically politely, that the Maltese be given white British status. This was strongly debated but finally agreed to, however without all the benefits that British migrants received such as assisted passage and housing. As a result of these protracted negotiations, sixty four Maltese migrants arrived in 1949, marking a trend away from Queensland in favour of Sydney and Melbourne (Dugan,1988; York,1990).

This overview of Maltese history and the migration profile has been explained in order to provide the necessary background to the following interpretations about Maltese places in Australia.

The Maltese in Australia: a Culture of Little Traditions

Building on the techniques developed last chapter, a discussion group of Maltese migrants was set up in order to reveal the heritage of the Maltese in Australia and how

271 this is reflected in places. In the last chapter, the Lebanese group migrated at a specific time, that is the early 1970s. The Maltese group, in contrast, was made up of people who had arrived in the 1920s, children of the 1920s group who were born in Australia, as well as people who came to Australia immediately after WWII. So there was strong variation in time of migration. The group also varied in location, some having spent all their lives in Western Sydney, some having spent their adult lives in Woolloomooloo, inner Sydney and others who had moved between the two groups. Another unusual aspect to the Maltese group compared with the groups in Chapters Four and Five is that it included a priest. Thus, this group was diverse representing the profile of the Maltese in Sydney.

Discussions were held in a Maltese community centre in Western Sydney in late 1995. All the participants were elderly, one having arrived in Sydney as a child in 1914, and all spoke English comfortably. The sequence of discussions followed the methodology described in the last chapter. The first meeting discussed Maltese cultural heritage, the second, Maltese migration experiences, the third, everyday life of the Maltese in Sydney and the final meeting explored potential heritage places for the Maltese community in Sydney. The following thematic analyses are considered within these four areas. Participants, locations and dates are listed in Appendix One. Quotes are coded as MM 1- 4

The Cultural Heritage of the Maltese.

The Maltese described their culture as Mediterranean with a British overlay. Despite a long history of foreign occupation, from the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Saracens, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Franks, Knights Hospitallers, French and finally the British and the great traditions associated with each culture, the Maltese group insisted that their cultural heritage lay in being people of small islands. Associated with this was the culture of farming and being 'masters of little things'. They did, however, acknowledge that their heritage was closely connected with the Catholic Church. Table 6.1 summarises phenomena and places associated with the cultural heritage of the Maltese.

272 TABLE 6.1. Cultural heritage of the Maltese.

Phenomena Places telling the story

Being a small island culture: masters of The islands of Malta, farms, small little things. industries.

Catholic Church as cultural heritage. Churches in Malta. St. Pauls Bay. Festas in villages.

Being a Small Island Culture; Masters ofLittle Things

Because the islands making up Malta are small and there is little natural water, the group felt that their culture lay in small industries involving the whole family. As John, a post-WWII migrant who came from the village of Dingli as a young man, said with warmth in his voice ' [in] Malta, everything is there - on a miniature scale. What there is, is in miniature and it is beautiful' (MMl). It is interesting to compare this with what was said about the Maltese settlement in Western Sydney when John would have been a young boy in Dingli. The Sun in April 1930, described the Maltese settlements at Pendle Hill, Prospect and Greystanes as 'Little Malta' where 'farms and market gardens look a picture of productivity'. The Sun attributed their success as farmers to qualities they brought with them from Malta (York, 1990: 160).

The island culture also focused on the sea and protected bays. The group spoke of how everything had to be imported and reassembled on the island. Because of this, a culture of cottage industries involving the whole family developed including women's fine lace-work. Maltese women developed particular strengths associated with seasonal emigration because they were required to maintain farms or cottage industries while their husbands were away. York (1990: 135) points out that Maltese women are not just housewives maintaining the home; they are also required to administer family finances and 'this role of wife/mother as financial manager occurred in all social classes'. The group discussed how Maltese migrants were independent. The priest in the group spoke of Maltese people as 'ingenious, with a strong work ethic and a desire to do things their own way' (MMl).

273 Given the culture of continuous occupation, these comments imply that the Maltese existed as two classes; the educated elite who were closely affiliated with the different cultures of occupiers and the uneducated workers who appeared to ignore changing mores and power structures. George, a retired administrator in a shipping company and post WWII migrant, remarked ' Maltese heritage in Australia would have to be working class-farming, village- the values you have to survive.' Jolm, a similar post WWII arrival, reflected 'what George says is partly right, that we are "masters of little things " but it has produced a people . . . they are jack of all trades and they do it right ... ' (MMl). The Maltese migrants' independence and disregard for authority came through repeatedly in discussions.

The Catholic Church as Cultural Heritage

In contrast to disregard for rules and authority, the group showed intense allegiance to the Catholic Church. In this aspect of their cultural life they acknowledged the significance of ancient events and traditions, in contrast to their dismissive attitudes to the heritage of the Knights other occupiers. They suggested that their most significant heritage place in Malta was St Paul's Bay where St Paul is said to have been shipwrecked, bringing Christianity to the island. The pervasive evidence of the church and its role in the culture of the Maltese was brought out by George 's observation, 'If you stood on a hill you could see all the church domes. You could identify all the villages by the churches. You practically could see them all because the island is flat' (MMl). The group agreed with Father B, a priest who came to Sydney to give pastoral care to the Maltese in the 1960s, also observed, ... places of culture are our churches - built by our forefathers ... and when you realise they follow the same thing in Australia. So it is in their blood ... so wherever they go they look at the church as something that combines them, gets them together. Where there is a density of Maltese, you always find the church there ... (MMl).

The church is seen as comforting and supportive. Priests are part of everyday life in the community and are considered essential for pastoral care. George explored this further by pointing out, Father has highlighted the closeness of the church -not the hierarchy as such, but with the church. What is the church? It means fathers, nuns, big dome, stone, festas, the bells. One of the things we used to listen for when we first arrived in Australia were the Bells of StMary's- "Oh gee!" We would say, "this sounds like Malta! "(MMl)

274 Mary, an Australian born Maltese who had lived both in Woolloomooloo and Pendle Hill, added when she made her first trip to Malta, As soon as you go to Malta, the first thing they take you to see is the church - as soon as I went to my Auntie's, before she even made me a cup of tea she said, "Come with me" and she takes me to show me the church.

Father B agreed with Mary saying' ... the churches are monuments. They were built in poor villages, so you can see them everywhere .... ' (MMl).

Earlier emigrant groups set out from Malta accompanied by a priest who would be responsible for their pastoral care, whether they were migrating to Australia, United States, Canada or even Brazil. As York (1990:57) points out 'The Roman Catholic faith is inseparable from the Maltese identity and way of life and such rituals as Confession must be conducted in the Maltese language.' Because Confession is regarded as essential to Maltese spiritual well being, York suggests that the lack of success of Maltese settlements in Northern Territory and Tasmania could be attributed to the lack of priests in contrast to their success Queensland, Sydney and Melbourne (York, 1990). Mary T., an Australian born Maltese who grew up in Western Sydney, confirmed that the Maltese church in Australia is her cultural heritage. She indicated how much the Maltese mass meant to her even though she did not understand it, [the Maltese mass] draws them . . . especially like us, we were are born here ... as you know [speaking to Father B] I come to mass here [the church in Blacktown]. I can't understand all the mass in Maltese but I am getting better ... I prefer to come here because ... it draws me, as a Maltese born in Australia ... (MMl).

Another aspect of the heritage of the church are the festas. George and John, both post WWII migrants, spoke of village festas where patron saints of villages are celebrated with street processions and feasts. Although the group considered festas were part of their cultural heritage, there was much tension about this between those who were born in Malta and those who were born in Australia. The following discussion reveals palpable nostalgia for something experienced in the context of the country of origin compared with the translocated facsimile in Australia, .. . every village had its festas and saints and everything ... you know how it starts, continues -a lot offireworks and you eat certain things, you know? George, post-WWII migrant

No! Because we were born here- to us, we don't know. Mary, Australian-born

275 Well, I think the fascinating thing about the festa is leading up to the festa .. . all the kids, they go there make flowers, post flags .. . it doesn 't only relate to the religious part of it. It relates to the way we think . .. I would say here [in Australia] we are dead in that respect we do not have that back up leading to something. John, post-WWII migrant (MM1).

The Feast forSt Peter and St Paul is considered very significant. In Sydney it is held at the Maltese Centre, La Valette Centre, in Blacktown. A Maltese mass is conducted with Maltese folk singing known as ghana and celebrations continuing for many days. Frank, a post-WWII migrant who had a farm in Western Sydney, renowned for his folk singing, described the atmosphere in Malta ' ... this ghana for the feast of St Paul and St Peter goes on all night under the trees with little bit of light and there is groups everywhere and you can go and listen. They go all night .. .'(MM3). Marc interrupted 'It doesn't happen here [like that]'(MM3). Nevertheless a typical calendar for the Maltese in Australia consists of numerous Saint Day festivals and masses. The role of the priest was fundamental and yet Marc, a Maltese historian, indicated that from 1928 to 1946 there was no Maltese priest in Sydney.

Maltese Migration Experiences in Australia

The culture of emigration in Malta resulted in a different form of migration experience to that described by the Greeks, Lebanese and Vietnamese, all of whom fled wars or civil unrest. Nevertheless, for the Maltese, migration. to Australia appears to have been particularly fraught. It would appear that they were the target of particularly vicious racism led by the tabloid press. This was invariably initiated by the unions who feared the arrival of non-British workers. Unions in Australia were very powerful, often led by militant migrant British unionists. In 1924 there were only eight Maltese amongst the 792 other British immigrants arriving on the Ormonde. Despite this the Daily Guardian (8 April 1924) reported 'Maltese ... Smelly Migrants by the Ormonde' and subsequently called for 'deodorisation' of all future Maltese arrivals (York,1990:109). The Bulletin

1 on 25 h December 1924 described the Maltese as' ... a little Asiatic, a good deal African, undersized, the wrong colour of head, the wrong kind of hair; and in the main no fighters except with a carving knife and from behind.' Another tabloid, the Truth (18/6/1925) suggested that the Maltese 'strong sexual passion was a menace to our womanhood'. It was not only the tabloids who marginalised the Maltese, Punch writing

276 in June, 1925 described the Maltese as 'descended from the Phoenicians, Western Asiatic people ... They are by our standards, illiterate and backward.' York (1990: 11 0) points out that all these disparaging articles were published and discussed in Malta. Despite suffering such levels of discrimination the discussion group made little reference to it unlike the Greek group who still felt distressed by the humiliations they experienced. It seemed that the Maltese were not concerned about these aspects of their reputation, as negative publicity about Maltese migrants was quite common. In a report prepared for the British Foreign Office in 1959 about Maltese migration, most ofwhich was to Australia, there were frequent references to the bad behavior of young male migrants (Cirillo,l959: 21). Table 6.2 summarises the phenomena emerging from the Maltese migration experience.

TABLE6.2. Maltese migration experiences in Australia

Phenomena Places telling the story

Tensions between earlier & later migrants. Farms at Pendle Hill. Why Australia? Destruction of Malta during 1939-45 war. Arriving in Australia. Woolloomooloo and Walsh Bay wharves. Culture of boarding houses. Boarding houses in Darlinghurst. Culture of single men. II Boys Club, Darlinghurst.

Tensions Between Earlier and Later Migrant Groups

Maltese migration experiences were similar to Italians in Australia in that they started arriving in the last century mostly as small groups of men. They worked in cane-fields and mines eventually gravitating to Sydney and Melbourne. Differences lie, however, in their British status which seemed to act against them rather than giving them more opportunities than other Mediterranean groups. In Sydney, earlier Maltese ultimately became market-gardeners or poultry farmers in Western Sydney, although a smaller community in Woolloomooloo worked on the wharves.

The group arriving under the post-WWII migration scheme occupied an indeterminate space where their stories of hardship and bravery during the war resulted in them being seen as British heroes, worthy of the George Cross, while at the same time, they were treated as 'dirty Dagos'. There was also tension within the Maltese community itself where children of the first Maltese had grown up in Australia in surprisingly deprived

277 conditions. This tension was palpable in the group, emerging with intensity when discussions occurred about expectations of Australia held by the post-WWII migrants.

Mary T's father had come to Australia in the 1920s and eventually settled on a farm in Pendle Hill. She felt particularly disconcerted that the plight of the Australian-born Maltese was not recognised. She argued heatedly, ... youse came to Australia when Australia was coming good. After the war, Australia was starting to come good. We were born when Australia was bad. I guarantee that you Maltese that came to Australia [post WWII] were far better offthan the Australian Maltese that were here and that's right!

The children of my age, Mary and me, we weren 't educated. Our parents had farms. We had to stay at home to work. We had no welfare - welfare would not send for you to come to school. I was never educated. IfI went to school for 2 or 3 years I would do very well- but at that time... I can remember not having a pair ofshoes and I was born in Australia!! (MMJ).

Why Australia?

Given the humiliating experiences the Maltese suffered, why did they continued to come to Australia? It would appear the need to emigrate was so pressing, that negative stories about Australia were overridden by propaganda from Maltese officials suggesting Australia as the preferred destination. Members of the group indicate that they came 'to better ourselves.' John indicated that 'I wanted to get out. England lost the War and they needed to rebuild London and I wanted to get out ... '(MM2). This is a revealing remark as England had won the war and so was ineligible for the post-war rehabilitation money available to those who lost. Malta was in the invidious position of having been almost destroyed by the war but, although witnessing the rehabilitation of nearby Italy, was unable to get assistance because of their allegiance to Britain.

George indicated that the Maltese came to Australia for economic reasons 'running away from insecurity'. The Australian-born greeted this remark with derision. Mary V. remarked 'everybody seems to think that because we were in Australia we were wealthy. But we didn't own our own property. We only rented it. ' Mary T. joined in 'They thought we were shoveling it[ money] in a bag- one held the bag- the other shoveled it in.' John tempered these remarks by saying, ... there was big expectation. Why? Because we always had people migrating from Malta and the few that came back, they struck luck or something ... that left an impression on people that if you go out and do

278 something outside, you can be rich, ... that must have been on everybody's mind, including mine ... (MM2).

Arriving in Australia

Arriving in Australia shows how the earlier and later Maltese migrations connected. Unlike Greek and Lebanese migrants, the Maltese were examples of chain migration, also characteristic of Italians in Australia. Jean arrived in 1914. She indicated there was already a small community of Maltese in the streets near the wharf, ' ... when we arrived in Nicholson Street, [Woolloomooloo] our father got a house ready for us. There was twelve [Maltese] families there, all just around that area.' (MM4). Her home in Nicholson Street, now gentrified, is shown in Plate 6.1.

PLATE6.1. Woolloomooloo house formerly occupied by Maltese, belonging to Jean B. (A.P .1996). 1--, John, a post-WWll migrant, explained 'my two uncles left Malta late last century, one went to Canada and one went to Australia ... he cut cane for 27 years. My uncle was here fifty years before me ... '(MM2). Although this implies close kinship ties, they were often quite tenuous. John, arriving in Sydney as a young man of twenty, described his uncle's greeting at Woolloomooloo wharf. The S.S. Asturias, a former British troop carrier docked at Woolloomooloo at about 8 am and by 10 am I was cleared by Customs, as I ambled between moveable mounted wooden railings ushered into a world I've had yet to discover. A sudden hard clasp on my right elbow brought me face to face with a familiar face. I could swear he looked like my archangel. Joseph M; like myselffrom Dingli, had arrived in Sydney two trips ahead ofme.

My uncle appeared. Joe yelled out "Ganni, here is your nephew, Johnnie, your sister Berta's son". Uncle looked quite old and his toothless grin didn't help either. Years of living by himself in some humpy under the stars,

279 in hard times, in the outback of Queensland as I found out later were no basics to promote for an ebullient or talkative extrovert. He was exactly my opposite.

Here I was 10,000 miles from home confronted by my lost relative. These were the thoughts as I rushed over for a hug, shouting "We've met at last, Uncle John". As we pulled apart, Uncle stood silent with his piercing black eyes searching all over me as if to elevate and to evaluate some miniscule trait or resemblance passed on to me through our forebears. In real Dingli drawl and with a deep familiar voice and shaking his head, he declared "I do not know you". He followed with a long pause, and then "truth is that I have never set eyes on your mother. I left well before she was born ". (personal correspondence, 31st Jan.1996).

Despite the camaraderie, there were clearly as many painful experiences for the young men as there were for the young Greek 'brides' described earlier. Points of arrival for migrants in Australia are highly significant aspects of the migrant cultural landscape.

The Culture ofBoarding Houses

Maltese migrants were neither accommodated in hostels as European migrants nor given assisted housing to which the British were entitled. Once again they were caught between identities. As a result, from the early 1920s a culture of Maltese boarding houses for men grew in Woolloomooloo, shown in Plate 6.2,.

PLATE6.2. Early boarding house for Maltese men, Woolloomooloo. (A.P .1996).

280 The phenomenon was not only attributable to particular disadvantages suffered by the Maltese, it was also a result of their willfulness and independence. Although bureaucrats in Australia and Malta wanted the Maltese to go to the tropical north to work as agricultural labourers in thel910s-1920s, the Maltese tended to settle in Sydney or Melbourne. The Maltese desire to 'do things our way', indicated by John and Father B, was a strong factor in the types of communities they created. York (1990:50) describes the boarding house phenomenon, Maltese boarding houses, located near the wharves in both cities, fulfilled an all important function guaranteeing the new arrival an immediate "home" in which the mother tongue could be spoken ... [In Melbourne], the 'Rizzo rooms' assumed special importance to new arrivals from Malta in the years 1911 -1914.

Jean, Mary V's mother, had arrived in Sydney in 1914 as a young girl. By the 1920s she was married and operated her home in Woolloomooloo as a boarding house. Mary V recalls ' ... we were the first ones. Mum always had people with us to help pay the rent.' Jean remembered a number of other boarding houses around them in the area, 'Mrs F. run her house like a boarding house- men only. But she had a lot of men there ... when she had no accommodation she used to put a mattress on the floor under the stairs ... ' (MM4). These stories were greeted with much amusement by the group. Clearly there was a sense of camaraderie about the living conditions, unlike the sense of distress expressed by the post-WWII Greek group. This may have related to bonding through marginal status, but also because they had come from two small islands and extended families were well known. Frequently discussions were interrupted as the group tried to make family connections, as the following exchange revealed, Excuse me ,but don't mind me asking. You talk about your brothers- what nickname did they have? Mary V Dante, they call them both Dante, even at home. Sam was Cilia. John Sam! That's Rosie's Sam? MaryV Yeh, that's from my fathers- John What is he -your cousin Sam, is he? MaryV Yes he's a cousin to my first cousin to my father. John(MM2).

Despite the solidarity, John acknowledged the poor conditions in some boarding houses for single men working to earn money to send back to Malta. John said, ... things were so bad ... I know an area down Woolloomooloo way, they used to rent the house, three shifts. So you have a bed and you alternate the bloke that's on the morning shift - and eh, will sleep and the one at night - you know, they rotate like that. They have only the one bed for three of

281 them . . . sometimes four bunkers, so twelve - . . . They would have a bite at the club ... (MM2).

Maltese had to be 'guaranteed' that someone would provide them accommodation. Jean confirmed this saying, I made many guarantees for single men. All right, I had a big house - kept three in a room, just until you get them settled. You know what I mean! ... My husband used to take them to find work ... just to get them wages, the first week they get here. You know it was easy to get work then.(MM4)

Father B reflected that boarding houses not only provided immediate accommodation for Maltese migrants but by the 1960s they were also places for retired cane-cutters. He reminisced, I remember a boarding house in Stanley St [Darlinghurst] ... so I think it is an historical place for the Maltese people ... I remember in the 60s it used to have these old blokes who used to work in the cane fields, one was always with a cutting dog .. . it was like a meeting place for them .. . ten, fifteen, twenty people talking in the house ... (MM2).

Thus place attachment for the Maltese in Australia continued over generations and reflected the movement of seasonal workers, a characteristically Mediterranean phenomenon.

Boarding houses were typical terraces in the W oolloomooloo/Darlinghurst area. The following conversation conveys the way the group recalled the different boarding houses, '234,236,238 Bourke Street, there were always Maltese there.' John, Farrugias, in a lane offlower Riley St -John, Joe and Tony Attard, Corner of Riley and Liverpool St, . . . they were two bachelors - they had that corner. They had a residential in that street. There was a lot around there. " Vince, De Piro House, 19 Stanley St, Meilak's, Ta' Gizumina - rooms available upstairs, Godfrey, Row of terraces between Crown and Riley St, on the northern side of Liverpool St. There were about five boarding houses there. John (MM2).

Plates 6.3 and 6.4 show some of the buildings in Darlinghurst which were former Maltese boarding houses.

282 PLATE6.3. PLATE6.4. Maltese boarding houses in Darlinghurst. Maltese boarding houses in Liverpool (A.P.l996). Street, Darlinghurst - pastizzi factory was located in one basement (A.P.l996).

The exchange above conveys a tightly knit community, providing an important service for the Maltese migrants. Jean, the oldest in the group, spoke of the way they helped each other, . . . my husband had his brother coming from Malta and he went down to meet him and this DavidS was with his brother. He had no accommodation and my husband's brother said 'You think you can take David home?' ... so my husband -you wouldn't say no to anyone - so he brought him home and introduced him. I said to David Tve got a boy ... he's got a room on his own. You go with him and then we will try and get something... '(MM4).

Despite this compassion, Jean recognised that the help they provided was basic' ... well I can tell you, in those days, you had no kitchen for them. You only gave them a room and that was it. They all went down to the restaurant to eat.' (MM4).

The Culture ofSingle Men

Although society in Malta was described as being sustained by women, in Australia, the culture was dominated by single men. The descriptions about life in Woolloomooloo and Darlinghurst provide insights into the life led by seasonal male migrants whether in Europe or Australia. Maltese men worked on cane-fields, then moved to mines in Broken Hill during the off-season, returning to the cane-fields when cutting re­ commenced. John, post-WWll, and Therese, an Australian-born Maltese who grew up in Blacktown, discussed this, ... my uncles used to mention going to Broken Hill. During the off-season they would travel and end up in Sydney or Broken Hill because you don't make enough money; in fact your lucky ifyou just exist. The wages for the

283 Maltese were poorer than the wages for the locals. It was the Kanak legacy that hit us.

Therese added, My uncle was like yours. He used to work in Queensland, working backwards and forwards... (MM2).

During these journeys, they also came to Sydney for brief periods joining the Maltese wharf labourers. John tried to convey what it was like in Darlinghurst before the Maltese men's clubs were established ... all the migrants [Maltese], on Sunday, it used to spill out into- about four or jive hundred people- on the footpath every Sunday or Saturday for those that didn't work ... After the War, when all the Maltese were coming in droves -all around the area of Darlinghurst . . . where we lived, they all congregated there in huge numbers and they were all young like myself. .. (MM2).

John described how in the late 1940s there were laws against assembly where no more than three people could congregate. His descriptions add to the social situation which sustained prejudice against the Maltese, ... and during this time there was no meeting place until the Club was opened in 1951 and the Maltese were coming in numbers. We used to go along William St [a main street in Darlinghurst] where there would be a bit of light - like moths to light - and we used to gather around and hope that when the coppers come -you would see the Paddy Wagon coming - and you just disperse. But that was how it was. There was no meeting place until the Club opened in 1951. There were too many ofus and we were all single and living in boarding houses - it was very hard (MM2).

Throughout discussions, the phenomenon of two distinct Maltese communities emerged. Early cane-cutters either settled in Western Sydney on farms or in Darlinghurst IWoolloomooloo living in existing terraces, working on the wharves and in numerous factories in the area. The everyday life in these two areas is a clear example ofthe 'little traditions' that Stilgoe (1982) refers to in the cultural landscape created by migrants to America.

The distinction between pre- and post-WWII was less evident. There was nevertheless a change after WWII. Previously, priests looked after the interests of the community. After WWII, the migrant profile changed from farmers, often illiterate, to include educated industrial workers. George, one of the educated workers, described how post­ war Maltese formed a Maltese Settlers Association in St Peters Hall in Darlinghurst in

284 1946. Increasing bureaucratic approaches to the needs of Maltese migrants had to compete with the tight support system embedded in the clubs and the church.

Recent writings about cities often appear to be 'enthralled by diversity' (Fincher & Jacobs,l998; Hayden,l996; Sandercock,1996), however, this diversity is often evident in mundane aspects of everyday life (Bass Warner,l987; Westmacott,1992). As a marginalised group, the Maltese could be said to occupy the in-between spaces described by Fincher and Jacobs (1998) where they ignored the way society had marginalised them and developed group solidarity around everyday activities. This confirms Jacobs (1998:259) observation that 'the accounts of social polarization rarely attend to the various ways in which racialized groups might negotiate and subvert their historically constituted marginalization.' In many ways they also exemplify Anderson's (1998) claim that contests around identity and poverty turn space into place. This is brought out by the descriptions of everyday life in Woolloomooloo and Pendle Hill.

Everyday Life In Woolloomooloo/Darlinghurst

Because of the place sensitivity of group discussions and their heightened sense of locality, it is important to describe the cultural landscape of Woolloomooloo/ Darlinghurst. Many quotes bring out the way that the Maltese occupied the urban landscape as a close-knit neighbourhood.

Woolloomooloo/Darlinghurst occupies a valley sloping north to W oolloomooloo Bay and the large wharf. The western ridge enclosing the valley is part of the old City with its impressive Catholic Cathedral, StMary's, surrounded by parkland which originally made up the Government Domain. The eastern ridge consists of terrace houses and occasional mansions of Kings Cross. To the south, the ridge-line is defined by the main thoroughfare of Oxford Street, an old but vibrant shopping precinct. Half way up the southern ridge Woolloomooloo becomes Darlinghurst but it is not a clear demarcation. The precinct consists of parallel roads running north-south intersecting with lesser streets and narrow lanes forming a complicated grid. At the peak time of the Maltese presence, houses in the precinct were mainly terraces of various sizes, many with rooms in attics, some humble single and two-storey dwellings, others large three-storey terraces with below street level basements. Interspersed in the close fabric of terrace housing were occasional factories, schools and churches. There were also comer shops and pubs along the waterfront. Much of this still exists.

285 The area is renowned for its Australian working class character and has been the site of intense battles between urban development and Australian worker housing culminating in the Builders Labourers' Federation Green Bans (Ashton,l993). Despite all the notoriety that this area has received little has been said about the fact that this has been a strong Maltese precinct since the 1920s. The following descriptions of aspects of Maltese life in the area reveal a cultural landscape of little traditions that appear to have gone unnoticed by the mainstream Australian community. Table 6.3 shows the phenomena and places developed about everyday life for the Maltese in W oolloomooloo/Darlinghurst.

TABLE6.3. Everyday life for the Maltese in W oolloomooloo/Darlinghurst.

Phenomena Places telling the story.

A religious community. St. Mary's Cathedral, Sacred Heart, Darlinghurst.

A gambling community. Wentworth & Harold Parks, the clubs, comer stores.

A working community. The wharves, Crown St hospital, factories.

Life for women Streets of Woolloomooloo, Maltese shops.

Meeting other Maltese Clifton Gardens picnic sheds, Paddy's Markets, La Perouse.

A Religious Community

Maltese migrants are considered to be one of the most devoutly Christian ethnic groups in Sydney (York,1988:699). The Parish church is the centre of community life. In W oolloomooloo, St Mary's Cathedral was the Maltese parish church. It was important, however, for the Maltese to be able to confess in Maltese, and the only Maltese priest, Father Bonett, was at St Fiacre, Leichhardt. Father Bonett came to Australia in 1916 and was the first resident Maltese priest in Sydney. His particular importance emerged during the meetings. When we were living in Nicholson St [Woolloomooloo] - the beginning of our life here[1914], the Maltese used to go to Leichhardt to Father Bonett for confession. Jean B.

286 There was no one else though. They had to find someone who spoke Maltese. Mary V (Jean's daughter) (MM4).

Father Bonett died in 1928 leaving the Maltese without a priest until 1946 when Father Cassar, a Maltese migrant who had grown up in Woolloomooloo and trained as a priest in Malta, returned to take on the pastoral care of the Maltese in Sydney. Both men are highly revered and their graves at Rookwood were suggested as important heritage sites for this community.

The church not only provided pastoral care, it also provided schooling for Maltese children growing up in Woolloomooloo. Members of the group also describe their school days at St. Mary's school. All their weddings, christenings, and funerals occurred in St. Mary's Cathedral.

Thus the Maltese lived in Woolloomooloo as if they were in a village, working locally, and worshipping in similar large impressive churches to those in their villages in Malta. As George said 'One of the things we used to listen for when we first arrived in Australia were the Bells of StMary's - "Oh gee!" We would say, "this sounds like Malta!"'(MM1).

As the Maltese community grew in Woolloomooloo people began to move up the hill towards the convenience of Oxford St, as a result, Sacred Heart Church in Darlinghurst became the focus of community worship. George tried to analyse the changes which occurred, ... they went to St. Mary's because it was closest and that was their parish church and they all lived down there, ... And when they started moving up, after the war, .. . Darlinghurst -Sacred Heart is up here and it became Maltese-ish ...

John, corrected him, StMary's was just as far, only you go down hill for us ... the first one we baptised in StMary's, the other three was in Sacred Heart and college, they went to St Mary's, but for primary the four of them went to Sacred Heart. (MM2).

Tensions between George, the bureaucrat who tried to speak for the Maltese people, and John, the factory worker who spoke anecdotally about himself and his community, highlights the value of discussion groups where generalisations can be challenged by individual experiences.

287 A Gambling Community

Despite being such a devout community, there was an equally strong male culture of clubs and gambling. Men's clubs in Malta play a key role in everyday life. They are places to eat, drink and gamble as shown in Plate 6.5. In Malta clubs are part of village life, but in Australia, because the Maltese were mainly single men, clubs also had a significant role as migrant places.

PLATE6.5. Interior of Sydney Maltese club in 1957. (Photo supplied by Joe B., Maltese group participant).

There had been one club in Woolloomooloo in the 1930s, the Ta'Rizzu Club. York (1990:149) indicates that although they were little more than gambling dens, clubs fulfilled important functions associated with boarding houses, including acting as post offices for the cane-cutters. In an attempt to provide something more wholesome the Melita Club was established in William Street, Woolloomooloo in 1922, with Father Bonett as the honorary president. It had a family orientation, holding dances on Saturday nights and prohibiting betting but did not last long in this form. By the early 1930s it had moved to Bourke Street, changed its name and reverted to a male gambling club (York, 1990: 165). By the time the large number of Maltese men arrived after WWII, it no longer existed. John conveyed the pressing need for a club in the late 1940s, ... after the War, when all the Maltese were coming in droves -all around the area of Darlinghurst . . . where we lived, they all congregated there in huge numbers and they were all young like myself ... There was no meeting place until the Il Boy Club opened inl951. There were too many of us and

288 we were all single and living in boarding houses - it was very hard ... (MM2).

John added 'Il Boy lasted from 1951 and right through to about 1976-78.' Joe, the post WWII migrant who supplied the photograph above, explained the atmosphere of the clubs, ... it was a carry on from the old coffee shops in Malta - we had one in our village. They [the men] come from work - they talk about football - you don't see any women in there; the women are at home cooking ... (MM2).

John spoke very warmly about II Boy club, 'The twenty five years that I lived in the 'Loo I didn 't miss one night ofgoing to the Club - I couldn't live without it!' ... when I went back to Malta ... that's what my father did and my grandfather' (MM2). Plate 6.6 shows the site of the former ll Boys club in Darlinghurst, now a restaurant, while Plate 6. 7 shows the back of the club which is relatively unchanged.

PLATE6.6. PLATE6.7. Site of former II Boys Club, now a Back lane behind former club with few restaurant, Woolloomooloo. (A.P.l996). changes. (A.P.l996).

Post-WWII clubs were more than gathering places, they were also kitchens and dining rooms for single men. The network of boarding houses relied on the clubs to feed their boarders who were not given cooking facilities. To accommodate the need for Maltese food, particularly 'pastizzi ', a cottage industry making these specialised pastries, grew in the basement of one of the large terraces opposite the back entrance into II Boy Club.

289 Clubs were always hidden from the mainstream community, often as rooms on the first floor of terraces, or at the back of shops or their location was not fixed because of strict laws against gambling. They were further examples of the many hidden migrant places in Australia.

Clubs not only sustained cultural practices, they also fulfilled the important role of providing scribes because many migrants were illiterate, having grown up on farms in Malta where they received no schooling. Again John described ' ... at the Boy's Club, there would be half a dozen or so [scribes] - and someone would say "I received a letter from Malta". Others would go to the priests or come back and said 'The priest wasn't there; read it for us "(MM2).

George had been a scribe, however, his activities were within a formalised system. He describes how the Catholic Centre, Cusa House, made available a small room where George and a few other men were able to read and write letters for illiterate Maltese in Sydney, ... In 1948, Father Cassar gave us a little room in Cusa House in Elizabeth St. The room had a couple ofdesks and every Saturday we used to go there for these poor people to come for us to read their letters. I mean read letters in 1948 that were written in 1939 from mothers. I also read police summons .... We used to say "listen this is what the letter is saying- your ~~~~~~~w~w~&~~w~ back ... (MM2).

Gambling was an everyday aspect of life. Mary described how as a child she would take her father's bets to the comer shop in a jar of sugar. Illegal SP betting operations were located in different terraces. Maltese were also keen followers of grey-hound racing and trotting at Wentworth and Harold Parks. Some of the big punters of the time were Maltese living in Woolloomooloo. John explained, ... well, when there was the trots, the dogs, remember, these were all single men and races and horses were just the only pastime .. . Wentworth Park was full of Maltese. They had their own dogs. Some had dogs, some of them were just punting. It became an affliction (MM2).

Some members of the Maltese community were also closely involved with the prostitution which was located in three interconnected laneways in Darlinghurst. John described the Maltese man who control the prostitution as the 'Vice King'. But as Mary pointed out most of W oolloomooloo and Darlinghurst residents were families, the prostitution being confined to three lanes. Despite this, Mary described her unwitting

290 involvement in a local Maltese counterfeit racket when she carried shiny 'two shilling pieces ' to the local shop to get 'a penny worth of lollies ' and return the change to some local men (MM2).

York (1990) brings out the frequent references to the Maltese being involved in petty crime, particularly during times of economic hardship. Maltese were not eligible for the dole and were not allowed to register for work, resulting in acute poverty during the depression. York (1990:161) highlights that at this time, the Maltese in East Sydney were noted for their poverty, and as a result their crimes were frequently singled out in the press. One Judge remarked in 1932 'in my experience, the Maltese are the most troublesome class of migrants that have come to Australia.' (York,l990:157). Such negative attitudes were not limited to Australia. In Cirillo's report about Maltese migrants in London, he pointed out that 'The opinion of the English people about Maltese residents is not consistently good. This is due chiefly to the court cases of some Maltese concerning their immoral earnings from exploiting prostitutes.' (1959:31).

A Working Community

In contrast to this image, the Maltese were thought of as hard working migrants. Those who lived in Woolloomooloo worked on the wharves, shown in Plate ·6.8, as they had done in Malta. John explains, ' ... a lot of Maltese worked at the wharf. Even today there are a lot ofMaltese ... ' (MM2).

PLATE6.8. Woolloomooloo Wharf, a site of work for Maltese men in 1950s-70s. (A.P,.1996).

291 Others worked in the numerous large factories in South Sydney. Crown Street Hospital, a leading hospital in Sydney at that time, employed many local Maltese. Women also worked in small industries in the area. The members of the group who lived in Woolloomooloo commented that due to their ingenuity they would work wherever there was work. John explained, ... Sergeants Pies factory, hundreds ofMaltese worked there; others worked in the Glass Factory- a lot ofMaltese worked there. ... in 1962 they were making the Mini Minor at General Motors. There were a lot of [work] places where ifyou didn't speak English , it didn't matter. I brought a lot of people from my village . ... Crown St. Women's Hospital, they always had a lot ofMaltese working there- always- even after 1950s, 60s, 70s ... (MM2).

Jean recalled a Broom Factory, comer Crown and Liverpool St, .. . a lot of Maltese worked there - women especially ... in Riley St near Oxford St. There was a factory there and I went there to work making men's shirts and underpants and pyjamas and things like that...12s6p a week. .. . the girls working with me in the beginning, they used to go to an Italian factory opposite. (MM4).

The Maltese tradition of fine lace-work often resulted in women working as seamstresses in clothing factories. The Portuguese women from Madeira, similarly known for their fine lace-work, worked at Paramount Shirts in Surry Hills where the factory became known as 'little Portugal' (Santos, personal interview, 1994).

George summarised the work profile thus, You had in East Sydney, 'the whar:fies '. They started in cane-cutting and when that dwindled, they came to Sydney. There were two of us [types of Maltese] -there was the one who was a farmer at heart and came to Pendle Hill, bought an acre and started a garden - and the other who knew nothing about farming, decided to go on the wharf- had plenty of muscle, didn't need literacy and he became a whar:fie. So you got the East Sydney wharfies and the Pendle Hill farmers (MM2).

Thus like their relationship with the church, the nature of work had some similarities with Malta where women worked locally in small industries and men worked on the wharves. In Australia, differences lay in work associated with large industries and that village farms, unlike their proximity to the cities in Malta, were geographically separated from the centre of Sydney.

The picture of a tightly-knit community, devout and hard working families, priests and nuns, criminals and prostitutes and an endemic culture of gambling conveys much of the culture of 'little traditions'.

292 Life for Women

Lives for men and women were quite different. Women ran the boarding houses, younger women worked in factories, children attended school and played in the streets because there were few parks in the Wolloomooloo/Darlinghurst precinct. Mary who grew up in the area, but moved to Blacktown when she married, described everyday life for the women, .. . When we lived in Bourke St, Riley St, Crown St - they were all terraced houses. Well, of a night, after tea, everyone came outside there. It was nothing to have twenty, all with their chairs sitting out there. And that was the only enjoyment we had. We would all sit out there. That is why when I went to Malta I thought it was fascinating because it was like how I was brought up [in Darlinghurst]. I used to think 'Oh, this is good!' Not like when we moved out to the suburbs. I used to say to my mother 'It is like a cemetery.' But when we lived down in Woolloomooloo, East Sydney, everyone sat out there and we knitted and crocheted (MM2).

Maltese women used the Greek shops along Oxford Street but there were also some Maltese shops, particularly small comer shops. Plate 6.9 shows some of the Maltese shops scattered through Woolloomooloo.

PLATE6.9. Former Maltese comer store, Darlinghurst. (A.P.l996).

Mary recalled, when she was in Woolloomooloo, ' ... my father used to send me down to Gato's shop to back a horse for him.' To which John replied 'They used to back winners after the race was over because he couldn't write. ' Mary agreed 'Dad used to rip it out of the paper and wrap it in a thing of sugar and send me down to the shop'(MM2). Plate 6.10 shows comer the site of the former Gato's shop.

293 PLATE 6.10. Former comer store (Gato's) near lane. (A.P.1996).

Once II Boy Club opened in 1951, even though it could not be seen, ' ... everything grew around the club', John remarked, 'We had the Pastizzi shop- the barber on one corner - three Maltese groceries - all in the area between Liverpool, Crown and Riley Streets' (MM2). Plates 6.11 and 6.12 show the Pastizzi shop which still exists.

PLATE6.11. PLATE 6.12. Maltese pastizzi shop in Darlinghurst. Interior of shop, Maltese men eating (A.P.l996). pastizzi. (A.P.1996).

Before the 1950s, Mary recalled 'Well, I remember, when we lived in Woolloomooloo, a man used to come with a horse and cart and sell rabbits and he would kill the rabbit while you were there and skin it! I used to think what an awful thing to do! Because the Maltese wouldn 't buy it unless he did that to them.' Most of the Maltese in W oolloomooloo/Darlinghurst kept rabbits for eating in hutches in their tiny back yards. John explained they were kept for rabbit pie, ' ... a Maltese dish and no-one will do it like the Maltese do. It is always the same wherever you go. It is a tradition' (MM2).

294 On weekends, families would go to Clifton Gardens picnic area by ferry or visit the Botanic Gardens. Mary remembered family picnics and outings 'Dad rolled up a blanket with a tent, make it with a handle and off we would go to Clifton Gardens . .. . The Botanical Gardens - on a Sunday, we would all go down there and buy 3d worth ofpeanuts. That was our big outing. We lived in Woolloomooloo and it wasn't far and you went round there [to the Gardens] and all the Maltese, that is where they used to be ... (MM2).

The families would also fish from wharves. John described, ... we used to like to fish on the wharves. There was every kind offish in the Harbour. We used to go there when the mackerel was on. . . . We fished from all the wharves, Woolloomooloo, under the Bridge, Walsh Bay - all the different communities - Greek, Maltese - all with a bucket .... These were families ... that was our entertainment ... (MM2).

Meeting the Other Maltese Community

There were a few places where the two communities met. One was Paddy's Market. When inner city Maltese went to the market for fresh produce they met the Maltese from Western Sydney. John explained, 'When I came[to Woolloomooloo] in 1950s, a lot of the Maltese went to the Markets -from Darlinghurst to get cheap vegetables - It was all full ofMaltese farmers .. . (MM3).

Nostalgia for Maltese farms took on many aspects of 'imagined communities' (Jacobs, 1990, Anderson, 1993) for some Maltese men who had no farming experience. Mary described how her father longed to have a farm but when he tried he failed due to lack of experience. John similarly spoke longingly of the desire to farm. It was the Maltese farming experience that recreated Maltese small farms on the rich soils of Blacktown and Pendle Hill.

Everyday Life in Pendle Hill/Blacktown.

Table 6.4 summarises the phenomena and places which tell the story of the Maltese in Western Sydney.

295 TABLE6.4 Everyday Life for the Maltese in Western Sydney.

Phenomena Places telling the story

Tradition of little farms. Market gardens, chicken farms and mixed farms at Blacktown and Pendle Hill.

A religious community. Wentworthville & Toongabbie Catholic Churches, St Bartholomews at Prospect.

Places for scribes Solicitors' offices at Wentworth ville, Cusa House.

Life for Women Farms & selected shops.

Getting together Ettalong Hall, La Perouse.

Tradition ofLittle Farms

The first Maltese developed farms in the Blacktown/Pendle Hill area in 1927. Nick's father was one of these early farmers. My father came here in 1927 - settled on ten acres of bush and that developed into one of the biggest poultry enterprises in Sydney. Before that why did he come here? He came to Sydney in 1916. At that time the biggest industry in Australia for the Maltese was a season cutting cane in Queensland .. . We were one of the first families in Blacktown and in those days ifyou done a season on the cane, you could ifyou were frugal enough to save money to come here in Blacktown, Pendle Hill with 100 pounds ... would buy you anything from two to ten acres ofland .. . (MM2).

The Maltese tradition of small intensively cultivated family enterprises translated well in the Blacktown!Pendle Hill area. Most farms were only two to three acres. Nick describes how the area was like a Maltese garden ' ... all that was hill after hill of little farms. The biggest farm was two to three acres ... they were all small farms and they used to grow their vegetables to markets ... ' (MM2). Mary B., a younger member ofthe group who was born in the area, described how one could see the Maltese farms ' .. .you'd stand on Windsor Road and you'd look down and it was all farms, all farms you know ... '(MM2). Therese described how her parents started to farm in the area, .. . well my father, he traveled cutting cane, then he went to his uncle ... who had a poultry farm .. . and he worked there ... He married my mother in 1939 and they bought land in ... partnership with another gentleman ... after they paid for that property they bought their own ... near Uncle Paul and Uncle Vince ... they drew lots to see who would draw the corner 'cause

296 it had a house. There was fifteen acres and they each had five acres ... (MM2).

Therese's description is characteristic of the process of cane-cutting, share-farming, often within families and then owning individual farms.

Many farms grew vegetables, particularly lettuce, however, the Maltese became well known as chicken farmers and by the 1970s-1980s, they dominated the poultry industry in Sydney. Plates 6.13 and 6.14 convey some of the qualities of these farms. Early stages of this industry involved selling eggs from door to door as Nick described his father, ... started growing chickens and he would go to Sydney from Pendle Hill ... with fifteen dozen eggs to sell - half a dozen here , a dozen there. Go and knock'n on the doors to sell 'um- in the park with the sulky, he had a little sulky and that's how things started so whether that's called 'ingenuity'! (MM2).

PLATE6.13 PLATE6.14 Maltese chicken farm, Pendle Hill in Maltese chicken farm, Pendle Hill in 1950s, photo supplied by Mary V. 1940s. Photo supplied by Therese G.

Although the farms looked like Malta, houses were generally rudimentary cottages with pitched roofs characteristic of farming communities in Western Sydney. There was however one house which was built with a flat roof. Therese described how her father, .. . built a big house. It was mostly corrugated iron and he tried to make it like in Malta. He planted all Maltese plants like prickly pear and figs. We had rabbits ... and ano.ther thing my father planted was olives ... he planted a lot of olives, yes he wanted to make it look like Malta as much as possible ... (MM3).

Mary V. recognising the description of the house commented ' .. .I used to think ... you still had to put the roof on.' This remark was prompted by her commenting in an earlier

297 discussion that when she saw the flat roofed houses in Malta, because she had grown up in Australia, she thought they were incomplete (MM3).

Going to Market

The sense of community was strengthened by sharing trucks which carried produce to market, shown in Plate 6.15. Nick described ' ... Chileste used to take the vegetables down to the markets. There was two or three other Maltese carriers and there was a lot ofgrowers used to take their own vegetables down there - and there was little stalls ... and you'd sell your vegetables case by case... '(MM2).

PLATE6.15. Maltese carriers -lettuce trucks in 1940s. Photo supplied by Mary V.

Mary B spoke about the excitement of going to the markets with her father. She commented' ... the old markets [Paddy's Markets], they would be all Maltese.' Others agreed with her. She evoked a child's experiences,' ... that was a good experience. We used to get up at midnight, put on a dress because you're going to the markets . . . and all the Chinese with their vegetables ... There was Chinese and Maltese ... '(MM2).

298 A Religious Community

Unlike many other migrant groups, the Maltese did not build their own churches instead they used existing churches. Only recently have significant financial contributions resulted in the new Maltese Catholic churches in Pendle Hill, Horsley Park and Greystanes.

Maltese in Western Sydney were just as devout as the inner-city Maltese but their churches were small weather-board buildings and they would walk for long distances to worship unless they were lucky enough to get a lift in one of the trucks. Mary T. said 'we used to go to church in the truck. All of us. The ten of us sitting in the back [on lettuce boxes]. (MM2). They frequented local catholic churches in the area following the Maltese or Italian priests from Leichhardt. Mary T explained, ... the Churches were Wentworthville Church, Toongabbie and Prospect - St. Bartholomew's. You had to do the circuit, because 'Wentie' was one day - Toongabbie was another Sunday and Prospect was another Sunday. . . . But there were about two to three and a half miles we had to walk to get to church ... (MM2).

There were no schools associated with these churches. In the 1920s -30s, this did not concern the Maltese community because their children did not go to school. Later, children went to Catholic schools in Parramatta.

Places Associated with Illiteracy

Maltese farmers in western Sydney had grown up in Malta without formal education and their children in Australia had similar childhood experiences. As a result many were illiterate. Mary V described the anxiety her father felt about his lack ofliteracy, . . . Dad couldn't write. Dad had no education. I can always remember every cigarette paper that has a top, they had all had written E. Barrett. Every piece ofpaper you could find. 'Cause Dad had learnt to write his name and when Mum used to say to him "Every paper! You're wasting the pens I" He used to say, " So I won't forget. " (MM2).

Isolation generated by this phenomenon was compounded by the fact that few farmers had trucks and unlike Woolloomooloo, clubs were few and far between. As a result men walked to the nearest township to find someone who could read their correspondence and advise them. They described a particular solicitor in

Wentworthville who acted as their scribe. Mary B. conveyed the imp~ct of this, . .. my father could only sign his name so when he had to write letters home to his family he had to walk from Baulkham Hills to Wentworthville to get

299 somebody to write a letter back home and when he received any bills, he would always go to the solicitor... this solicitor had an orchard up near Bilpin ... Dad used to go and help him with the fruit trees ... if he got a bill, say the water or electricity or anything like that, he'd always go to him ... (MM2).

The 'little traditions' and ingenuity are again evident in this quote. There is also a hint of bartering expertise which would have lessened the humiliation caused by illiteracy for those in outer Sydney where there was not the camaraderie of clubs.

Isolation for Maltese Women

Illiteracy and intense work involved on farms meant that many women led isolated lives in contrast to Maltese women in inner Sydney. Therese, Australian-born, spoke of her mother's life unreflectively and yet her simple description provides a strong contrast to the way Mary described life for the women in Woolloomooloo, ... she never went out. ... The only friend she has was Mrs S up the road here [gesturing out the window] and she used to go there. But then the grocers used to come and he used to bring the groceries and then you give him the order for next week. The baker used to come every day with a horse and cart - beautiful fresh bread, crusty crust and the butcher used to come, twice a week , I think and we used to eat the meat fresh then. But then the rest of the time, we'd kill a chook . . . and the milkman used to come but we only ever bought when the cows were dry because we always had our cows at home. Then Dad started to go to the markets - well he used to bring fruit home by the box, macaroni by the box ... -rice by the bag, interjected Mary T. remembering. -sugar too, flour by the bag, added Mary B. (MM2).

The convenor asked 'So you were buying food from the Italian shops. You were not establishing your own Maltese food?' This prompted an interesting response from the women in that it provided clear examples of the cultural diversity already present in Australia in the 1920-30s. No, our shop was the Chinaman's 'Sings' ... They used to come. Therese replied. We used to get Bortelli 's. Mary B. added. What was that man used to come in the van? Mary V asked. There was a gentleman who used to come and he had material and he'd have dresses. The Lebanese man! All the women replied in unison. (MM2).

Isolation was considered acceptable because women worked hard from sunrise to sunset on the farms. Mary V, married at sixteen, went from Woolloomooloo to a Blacktown farm. She described her farming life,

300 ... when I married a farmer, I was only brought up on a block of cement in Woolloomooloo. I'd never seen soil ... and I think three weeks after I was married, I was cutting out lettuce and we worked. You didn't need a clock .. . he would say from when you could see in the morning to when you couldn't see at night .. . (MM2).

Living conditions were poor for the Maltese on farms, furniture was often made of lettuce boxes and houses were makeshift. Mary V described the house in which she started married life, ... I went to a timber house that wasn 't lined inside. My husband, he put bags on the inside of the bathroom so when you went to the bathroom and got undressed you couldn't be seen ... you had all bags pinned up there ... (MM2).

Therese described how her mother came from Malta via Woolloomooloo to a tin shed on a farm in Wentworthville. She ' had a few chooks' and ran the rented farm while Therese's father worked on the railways, selling eggs in Sydney before and after work. When they had saved enough money, they bought a ten-acre farm in Blacktown. Therese said 'We had a market garden and poultry and like she said, we used to thin out the lettuce and pick beans and cauliflowers. We were famous for our cauliflowers.' (MM2).

Mary T described how her mother ' used to work a two acre ground she had a market garden by herself and us kids. ' This prompted another exchange as members of the group tried to connect the stories with their own memories. Mary V suddenly called out, Youse grow strawberries! We grew strawberries. Mary T replied. Your brothers used to sell them on the corner of Western Highway and, what was that, Greystanes Road? Mary V. exclaimed remembering. (MM2).

Getting Together

Social life for the Maltese in Western Sydney was quite different to life in Woolloomooloo. There were a few men's clubs, usually in sheds on properties or part of someone's home. The women would meet at dances in a Hall on Ettalong Road in Greystanes. Mary V described the way they would gather in the hall on a Saturday, ... for a long time we used to go there every Saturday. The mothers used to sit down while the girls danced and the men used to sit that side and the girls this side .... It used to have a verandah on the side . . . used to leave the prams there - it was a closed in one and . . . Charlie F . . . he was single at

301 the time and it was his job to rock all the prams when the babies started to cry ... (MM2).

This light-hearted description evokes different images to dances held at the Trocadero or Paddington Town Hall for inner city Maltese.

Picnics were occasionally places where the two Maltese communities would meet. La Perouse was a favourite picnic place for the western Sydney Maltese. Mary V ... La Perouse was another spot. You would see the Maltese trucks - the farmers would have their trucks and in those days you could put as many people as you liked on the truck ... We would put lettuce boxes in the back of the truck, .. . and people would sit on them ... You would always see someone you knew! ... It wouldn't take us long because at 5. OOam in the morning we'd be gone (MM2).

They were, however, always conscious of the responsibility of having a farm. Mary V explains, 'And when we went to the beach, all we had on our mind was if it is too hot, the lettuce won't come up or we've got to leave because we got to go back and cut the lettuce ... ' (MM2).

The close proximity of the Maltese community in the inner city was in strong contrast to the distance and separation experienced by Maltese in outer Sydney. They would walk long distances to go to the cinema in Parramatta on Saturdays.

These descriptions convey the everyday life of the Maltese in inner and outer Sydney and how the Maltese experience in Sydney resulted in a set of places which tell their particular migrant story. Many of these places in inner Sydney continue to exist but are not known as Maltese places. In contrast, few Maltese places in Western Sydney remain. The following discussion summarises Maltese heritage places in Sydney.

Heritage Places for the Maltese Community

Unlike the Lebanese group in Chapter Five, the Maltese did not reflect deeply about the significance of their heritage places in terms of Australian cultural heritage. They considered that the Maltese cultural landscape can best be described as two distinct precincts with some tenuous connections, Woolloomooloo/Darlinghurst and Blacktown/Pendle Hill. They represent a form of continuity which linked the early cane-cutters, farmers and dock workers. Both precincts evolved in parallel representing

1 a time-line of Maltese migration to Australia from the late 19 h century to the present. The communities were known about in Malta, so the Maltese knew before they arrived

302 m Sydney where to go and whom to see. Because of the tightly knit community structure built around the Church, precincts rather than single places more clearly represent Maltese heritage places in Australia. The following Statements of Significance describe the meaning of their heritage for the Maltese.

W oolloomooloo/Darlingh urst Precinct.

The Woolloomooloo/Darlinghurst precinct from Woolloomooloo Wharf up to Oxford St and from Bourke St west to St Mary's Cathedral represents the site of the inner Sydney Maltese community from 191 Os to 1970s. The precinct still has the same street layouts despite the intervention of the Eastern Suburbs Railway and the Eastern Distributor Tunnel. It also has sustained much of the nineteenth century building fabric which was used by the immigrant Maltese. The precinct includes a number of Maltese heritage items including the boarding houses along the north side of Liverpool St between Crown and Riley Sts, sites of shops and clubs and the existing churches (St Mary's and Sacred Heart) and their associated schools. Other buildings are sites of former factories where the Maltese worked. W oolloomooloo Wharf at the northern edge of the precinct was a point of arrival in Australia, a site of work for Maltese wharflabourers. It was also a site for recreational fishing for Maltese families.

FIGURE 6.1. Statement of Significance for Woolloomooloo/Darlinghurst Maltese precinct.

The Pendle Hiii/Biacktown precinct The Pendle Hill/Blacktown precinct, formerly Maltese market gardens and poultry farms, was the other Maltese Sydney precinct from the 1920s up to the present. Although many Maltese still live in the area, the market gardens have been recently subdivided into new housing developments. The Maltese heritage precinct now only exists as the road layouts and road names as many of the new roads are named after local Maltese families. Within the boundaries of the precinct there are still a number of Maltese heritage places such as St Bartholomew's, Prospect and more recent Maltese churches as well as the La Valette Social Centre, sites of former clubs, dance hall and Maltese shops. Although evidence of the extensive market gardening has gone, there is still evidence of chicken farming including local Maltese chicken businesses. Unlike the W oolloomooloo/Darlinghurst Precinct, the Maltese in the Pendle Hill/Blacktown area were able to build a few houses which more closely resembled their houses in Malta. One of these houses, built in the 1950s, is still in the area.

FIGURE6.2. Statement of Significance for Pendle Hill/Blacktown Maltese Precinct

Maltese heritage in Australia highlights the vulnerability of migrant places as tangible evidences of heritage. Tangible Maltese heritage in Western Sydney has virtually disappeared, whereas in Darlinghurst, the physical fabric of old houses, streets and lanes remain but perceived as working class Anglo-Australian heritage. The Maltese presence persists as anecdotes within the Maltese community, with few clues to an outsider of their former presence.

303 The Maltese contribution to a sense of place in the urban cultural landscape of inner ,Sydney has been subtle. In contrast, the Maltese presence in the peripheral areas of Western Sydney has been more tangible as a collection of small market-gardens and poultry farms. The Maltese study draws attention to the ephemerality of migrant places. Most farms have disappeared under new housing developments and the visible Maltese presence in Darlinghurst exists as one shop- the pastizzi shop in Crown Street. These are Hayden's (1995:100) 'fragile traces' but not because the Maltese have been marginal economically, but because the community has aged. Such 'fragile traces' were willingly relinquished in order to realise their economic assets in their retirement.

Spatial Relationships Emerging from the Maltese Study.

In Chapter Two, I argue that the central concept that links migration, place attachment and identity is 'national identity'. For the Maltese, a culture of continuous occupation by others, there is a schism in the concept of national identity. This appears to be based on class, the educated aligned with the national identity of the occupiers and the uneducated aligned with the church rather than 'nation'. This apparent lack of identification with the nation appears to have enabled Maltese migrants to occupy a marginal space of their own making. Within this space, they have been able to live out their lives of 'little traditions' creating, unselfconsciously, an environment which is in many ways similar to that of Malta.

The experience of migration has also resulted in their occupying a different space; the space of itinerant cane-cutters and miners, both activities unknown in Malta. There were nevertheless some similarities, as the Maltese island culture has long been based on seasonal migration. The distinguishing characteristic of self-sufficiency and independence may also result from their small island culture on which they only ever had a tenuous hold because of the ever-present threat of over-population and unemployment.

By avoiding competition for a position in the exclusive white national space of Australia, they have been unaware of changing policies from assimilation, integration to multiculturalism. Such changes did not affect their self-contained lives in inner and outer Sydney. Because they had been victims of a form of dispossession by the British and early and persistent victims of White Australia, their world was assuaged by the Catholic Church. They coped by showing intense interest in their local space and their

304 effective and independent forms of support in this space. Interestingly, despite the racism experienced by early Maltese migrants, Australia was the preferred destination for the post-WWII migrants. Propaganda about Australia being the appropriate place for the Maltese, explained by York (1990), was a clear example of the British trying to control 'colonial space'.

The mainstream Australian essentializing of Maltese identity (Bhabha, 1990) has often been associated with petty crime. For the Maltese, however, it became evident from discussions that petty crime was seen as a larrikin phenomenon associated with Maltese male culture. In the main, the Maltese saw themselves as predominantly devout and family-based and were not embarrassed about their reputation in the mainstream community. I would argue that the stigma of marginality (Shields,1991) is only a stigma if the group accept 'positional inferiority' (Said,1978). The Maltese, fortified by the church and the pastoral care of their clergy, maintained a social autonomy which accommodated opportunistic behaviour as legitimate within a marginalised group, particularly in times of economic hardship. The role of the Catholic Church transcends Australian national space. Maltese clergy answered to the Vatican, not Britain nor Australia.

Their disregard for authority, noted by York (1990) and Cirillo (1959), and freely discussed by the group, could be attributed to their independence and disinterest in being accepted by the keepers of the national space. It is interesting that they created few territorial signs. Their presence was palpable but invisible in contrast to the Greeks, Lebanese, and Vietnamese. Nor have the Maltese been exoticized as different. For the inner city Maltese, their cultural identity has eluded appropriation by those seeking the 'exotic other' because their humble and everyday traditions superficially appeared to be so similar to the working class Australian.

The Maltese are an example of a group who has occupied a form of 'space-in-between' where they have been neither British because of their complexion nor European, because of their British passports. In a similar vein they have occupied a space where they have eshewed connections with the noble traditions of their various occupiers unlike other peasant communities such as the Greeks, Italians, Lebanese and Vietnamese. There has also been space between their geographic locations where they occupy both centre and peripheral spaces with only slight connections. Similarly their

305 connections over time are ambivalent. The apparent seamless connection from the late

1 19 h century up to the present is tenuous, shown when a nephew met his uncle, who had never known .his sister, the boy's mother. The Maltese have shown their continuity more by being true to their 'little traditions'. They have not moved into the gentrifying phase of the last period of the migration process so evident in the Greek, Italian and Lebanese communities.

In this space-in-between, most of the traditions have been translocated from Malta unmediated in the inner-city enclave however, the farming community has been separated from traditional village life in Australia. In many ways the Maltese farmers explored Jupp and Freeman's (1992)'frontier space', sustaining the isolation of the frontier despite their proximity to Sydney. Unlike the notion Australian frontier space described in Chapter Two, the Maltese in western Sydney have occupied a frontier space which has been egalitarian and communitarian and therefore similar to the North American model. They have sustained this until recently when they have sold their farms for residential developments thus obliterating any evidence of their quiet presence.

Traditionally, place attachment for the Maltese migrant was tempered by their reluctance to relinquish Malta as their home. Their migration was always contained within the ethos of a geographically- and time-extended version of seasonal migration. It is therefore interesting to witness the place dislocation experienced by Australian­ born Maltese who were having to identify their Maltese culture, such as Mary T's description of trying to learn the Maltese mass in a church in western Sydney. Place attachment for the Australian-born was more evident as memories in Australia. It was here that Lechte and Bottomley's notion of hybridity and the collage/montage effect (1993) was located but in a reverse order, Australian-born incorporating Maltese traditions rather than Maltese incorporating Australian culture.

Place attachment is revealed in the power of everyday life and 'little traditions'. The Maltese exemplify Greenbie's (1981) 'proxemic-distemic' descriptions of space/place territorial dynamics. Inner-city Maltese sustained a 'proxemic' village community life within the urban fabric of a major 'distemic' city where the main Cathedral complex was their parish church and local school. The Maltese also exemplify Low's (1992) observation that the process of place attachment can simply occur by unselfconsciously

306 living in a place. Like other migrant groups, they sustain 'geneaological' (Low,l992) attachments to Malta even though for half the community these attachments are for an 'imagined community' (Anderson and Gale, 1992; Jacobs,l992).

For the farming community, their cultural identity was visibly evident as a collection of small farms, but not strongly sustained as a close-knit village community. Instead their isolation provided a tenuous hold on what it was to be Maltese. The physical evidence of the farms has now gone, but the Maltese presence has evolved into a new form, a retirement village and community centre associated with the church. It is here that we see Fincher et al 's (1998) concept of migrant culture as a 'recomposition' of cultural identity, the result of two forms of place making in Sydney finally coalescing in a retirement centre. It should be noted that this is also true for the Croatians in Sydney.

Finally, although much has been written about urban redevelopment and gentrification of inner cities and the resulting loss of cultural heritage (Zukin,l988, 1995; Harvey,1993; Hayden,l995), little appears to have been written about the loss of the cultural heritage in the peripheral landscapes of large cities. The cultural landscape of migrant market-gardens and small farms are as much a part of the cultural heritage of Australian cities as the dynamic migrant presence in the inner city. They pose problems, however, for cultural and planning theorists because the migrants themselves are the developers, erasing their own history. They do not conform to the concerns about marginal disadvantage expounded by Sandercock ( 1998a,1998b), Hayden (1995) and Jackson (1993). As a result, such heritage will be lost to both the migrant and mainstream communities.

307 PART THREE

ACCEPTING CULTURAL PLURALISM AS AUSTRALIAN CULTURAL HERITAGE

308 Preamble

The story of what has become valuable and meaningful to us all requires continuous narration and interpretation ... the development ofa varied but national cultural consciousness is of great importance because of the strangely broken and fragmented chains of meaning that characterise Australian culture to date. (Manion.J991:55)

The last section of this thesis draws together the different narratives of various post­ WWII migrant groups as a form of cultural heritage in Australia. In doing so, yet

another dimension is added to the 'strangely broken chains of meaning that ~­ characterise Australian culture' Manion,1991:55), which supports arguments for the value of intangible heritage. Migrant heritage in Australia is particularly vulnerable because so much of it is unknown to the wider community and is therefore unprotected Thus this Section addresses two challenges. The first, Chapter Seven, identifies the qualities of the urban cultural landscape which indicate the presence of different migrant groups as a typology of places.

The second challenge relates to interpreting and managing cultural pluralism as heritage. Using the term 'cultural pluralism' rather than 'multiculturalism' allows for a more sensitive response to difference suggesting an openness and sense of enquiry about new ideas on the blending or hybridization of cultures within Australia. Cultural pluralism as heritage includes individual heritage values as well as collective heritage values. It also includes the importance of the multi-layering of heritage values in contemporary cities and the cultural transformations that are producing a uniquely Australian response to the phenomenon of migration. Thus the final chapter, Chapter Eight, presents a revised theoretical position about concepts of heritage and place which acknowledges the migrant presence and their particular contribution to Australia's cultural heritage.

309-10 CHAPTER SEVEN

A TYPOLOGY OF MIGRANT PLACES

The process of migration has resulted in particular ways of place-making. This chapter develops the findings of Section Two by integrating the range of places created by migrant communities into a typology. Migrant places tend to fall into two broad groups, those which are readily observable because of their difference and those which are concealed and are known only to specific migrant groups. Within these two broad categories are various types of places. Migrant places are rich in social heritage significance. As such they are an important aspect of the collective cultural heritage of Australia, particularly as Australia has been one of the major migrant receiving

1 countries since the mid 20 h century. Thus by bringing this myriad of places together as a typology, the national significance of such places can be assessed.

The typology and associated explanations add further dimensions to theories about migration, namely that the phenomenon of migrant place-making takes on tangible form in host countries. Explanations about why places created by migrants in the host country have value are informed both by in-depth discussions with migrants and. workshops with representatives of migrant communities.

Reviewing Typologies

The use of formal typologies in cultural landscape studies can be contentious. Cultural geographers (Relph,l976;Tuan,l974) often express strong reservations about the way planners focus on systematic place classification. They argue that places do not fit into neat and exclusive categories; instead one can always find exceptions to any particular type. One can also find examples which fit into more than one category. Thus a typology of migrant places needs to accommodate the fact that places can have multiple meanings and that they exist as a richly textured network of interpenetrating places. Accordingly, the typology presented here has been determined phenomenologically where places tend to aggregate around themes rather than rigorously defined, hermetic categories.

Typologies are also contentious in heritage planning where there is a risk that they can be misused. There are numerous examples where heritage places have been lost due to

311 categorisation (Armstrong, 1994c ). Heritage categories lend themselves to conservation management practices where only the rarest or best example of particular categories are conserved. This acts against the complex planning involved in sustaining the intricacy of diverse precincts. Migrant places pose further heritage planning challenges in that they are dynamic representations of living heritage involving transposed and transformed culture.

Because this typology is intended to assist heritage planners, the Australian Heritage Commission (AHC) procedure of using criteria and thresholds of significance for listing places on the Register of the National Estate (Pearson & Sullivan,l995) is used as an organising framework. This enables a degree of compatibility in terms of process. The process is nevertheless a departure from the AHC procedures because new criteria to assist in judging the eligibility of places are proposed for migrant places. The criteria, summarised in Table 7.1 are based on phenomena considered to be the essence of the migrant experience and to have Australia-wide relevance. Places can conform to all, some or only one criterion.

TABLE 7.1. New Heritage Criteria Suitable for Migrant Places

• Demonstrates the choice to migrate and live in Australia.

• Demonstrates an enterprising or pioneering attitude towards living in Australia.

• Demonstrates the experiential process of settling in a new country, making the unfamiliar, familiar.

• Demonstrates aspects of unselfconscious transported cultural practice from another country.

• Demonstrates aspects of transformed cultural practice as a result of living in Australia.

Places which reflect these criteria and thereby have meaning for migrant communities form the core of the typology. Such places can be saturated with sufficient meaning to reach a threshold of significance similar to AHC listed heritage places. Meanings associated with these types have been rigorously interpreted through a hermeneutic process requiring that interpretations about places be coherent, comprehensive and

312 thorough. They should also be penetrating, contextual and appropriate while at the same time having potential for further levels of interpretation. Table 7.2 demonstrates the hermeneutic principles which determine interpretations and hence the significance of place meanings. The background to these interpretative principles (Madison,1988) have been explained in Chapter Three.

TABLE 7.2. Hermeneutic Principles to Determine Thresholds of Significance for Migrant Places.

Interpretative Application for Interpretation of Meanings and Values of Principles Migrant Places

Coherence Interpretation must be coherent and convincing for places which reflect migrant experiences. Comprehensiveness Interpretation must cover the experiences comprehensively rather than one-off examples. Thoroughness Interpretations must be thorough rather than stereotypic or superficial. Contextual Interpretations need to recognise the context of the country of origin and contextual issues in the host country. Appropriate Interpretations should be appropriate or fitting as an interpretation of the experience of migration rather than generalised experiences. Penetrating Interpretations should be penetrating and sensitive to different states of mind of the migrant such as loss, alienation, hope, safety, or adventure. Potential Interpretations should generate a reflective process which brings out the potential for further interpretations.

Thus the typology has been constructed around types of places which demonstrate relevant criteria for migrant places and have reached the threshold of significance in terms of the meanings they have for migrant communities. Meanings are derived from various culturally-specific attitudes as well as general phenomena related to migration including transported and transformed culture, different reasons for migration, and ways the experience of migration result in values and beliefs that are common to many migrants.

Transported and Transformed Culture as Phenomena influencing Migrant Places

Like many forms of heritage, migrant heritage is complex. It can be revealed by history, artefacts and place, however, it includes more, namely cultural practices, ways of life and cultural transformations. This form of heritage can be distinguished by its particular cross-cultural character which is evoked by the experience of leaving one culture with roots in certain socio-physical contexts in order to establish oneself in

313 another culture within new physical and political environments. The process highlights a number of heritage issues. First, the memory of the culture of the country of origin is transported as it was at the time of migration. This memory is enacted in the new country and sustained unmediated by changes occurring in the country of origin. As a result cultural practices become frozen in time - a transported heritage. The implications of this are not only important in terms of Australia's cultural heritage, but also because Australia becomes a repository for cultural heritage of countries of origin. In parallel with this phenomenon, some cultural practices are also transformed in the Australian context. The Australian way of life, altered seasons and issues of assimilation all impact on the transformation and modification of particular migrant cultures within Australia.

A further heritage issue is that in the late 20th century transported and transformed heritage are located within the context of globalisation of world values and homogenising of the character of places. When migrants came to Australia in the 1950s, it was culturally different to the countries of origin. Since the late 1970s and 1980s migrants arriving in Australia tend to find it similar in many ways to the countries they have left. All types of food are now available in supermarkets and the media representations of urban places are now similar in cities all over the world. This phenomenon has taken away the need for migrant groups to encode their culture in the new country other than through language, signage, and religious practices. The homogenising of contemporary world culture thus heightens the heritage significance of those migrant places created in the 1950s-60s when cultural differences were strong.

Reasons for Migration

Decisions to migrate to Australia are closely connected to conditions within the migrant's home country. In some countries such as China, Italy and Malta, there is a culture of seasonal migration where one leaves to earn money, always with the intention of returning. In these circumstances, migrants are usually men and the places they make in the host country embody the impermanence of the sojourner. Deep place values for these men are in their homeland where their families lead stable lives closely connected with the heritage of village culture and intense farming.

Other migrants are forced to leave their country because of wars and civil unrest. This was true for European refugees from World War II, and the Lebanese and Vietnamese

314 from their respective wars. In these cases whole families travel, often in very distressing circumstances, with little expectation that they will return. Their journeys are less journeys towards Australia but rather departures from loved homelands. Places they create reflect a process of grief and then gradual acceptance. More recently, a new form of migrant has emerged, economic migrants, who come to Australia in relatively affluent states. Table 7.3 summarises the different reasons for leaving one's country and ways this affects place-making.

TABLE 7.3. Reasons for Migration.

Reasons for Examples of Influence on Place-making in Australia Leaving groups

The culture of Includes Chinese, Attachment to home country, Australia perceived as a migration. Italian, Maltese. temporary place.

War and exile. Includes Lebanese, Loss of home country; starting again in Australia. Vietnamese, WWII Europeans.

Poverty and Includes Greeks, Rejection ofhome country. High expectations of hope. Maltese. Australia.

Adventure. Individuals of any Period in Australia seen as temporary; lack of nationality. commitment.

Economic Hong Kong Chinese, Pragmatic attitude to Australia. More autonomous than Security. white South Africans. other groups.

The Experience of Migration - The Process

The third issue is the way the process ofmigration itself is a major influence on migrant places. Cultural values coupled with the pioneering spirit, the enterprising ethos and its associated hard work, as well as the humiliations derived from assimilation and integration policies are just a few of the experiences associated with migration.

Reflecting on these experiences involves understanding phenomena of leaving one's country, journeys and arrival, initial accommodation, carving out one's own life, such as where to live, how to continue culturally specific forms of worship, where to work, what to eat, where to play and finally what is involved in becoming Australian. All of these phenomena are associated with places. Key influences on kinds of places created were government policies towards migrants, explained in Chapter Two. During the

315 period of Assimilationist policies, migrant places tend to be hidden to conceal their difference. This was gradually relaxed during the period of Integration, and finally difference was celebrated during the policy of Multiculturalism.

The Categories

Categories are any general or comprehensive division. Accordingly, to accommodate the dynamic nature of migrant places and complex phenomena associated with the experience of migration, the typology, shown in Table 7 .4, has been developed as twelve broad categories of places representing a relatively consistent chronology of the process of migration. Categories reflect the experience of migration sequentially from arrival, through processes of settling in, until forms of integration have occurred within the mainstream society. Within each generic type are variations or sub-sets depending on the time of migration and countries of origin. Generic types and sub-sets are not definitive. Only selected examples are included and the range of types is suggestive rather than conclusive.

TABLE 7.4. Typology of places reflecting the migration experience.

• Points of Arrival • Places of Temporary Accommodation • Places for Chance Encounters • Permanent Accommodation • Shopping Streets • Sites of Work • Sites of Spiritual Worship • Places for Leisure • Places to Sustain Cultural Heritage • Places of Illness and Death • Migrant Enclaves • Hybrid Places

The following descriptions of types expand the classification by explaining generally why each type is significant as migrant place-making. This is followed by a concise summary which brings together generic types, subsets within these types and reasons for their significance.

Points of Arrival

The ways in which migrants make the journey to Australia are highly relevant to the nature of places they value in the host country. The pertinent criterion for this migrant

316 place type is 'demonstrating the choice to migrate and live in Australia for an extended period of time', indicated in Table 7.1. The criterion, generic place types, their levels of meaning and Australian policies about migration which influenced the migrants' first experience of Australia are brought together in Table 7.5. Plates 7.1 and 7.2 are examples of this category.

PLATE 7.1 PLATE 7.2 Ship at Overseas Terminal, Circular Quay, Woolloomooloo Wharf, place of arrival Sydney, 1962. Photographer R.Armstrong. for many post WWIT migrants (A.P.1994)

TABLE 7.5. Type: Points of Arrival as Migrant Places.

Criterion Sub-Sets Meanings for Migrants Australian policies

Demonstrating the Ports Arrival after long journeys. Assimilation. choice to migrate Expectation of the new country. and live in Australia. First encounter with the new land. Meeting unfamiliar people. Assimilation bureaucratic processes. Loss of treasured food and plants through customs.

Airports Aerial views of new country. Integration to Meeting family members. Multiculturalism. 'Integration' or 'Multicultural' bureaucratic processes.

The significance of places associated with this type is reflected in the degree of meaning 'points of arrival' have. Meanings are influenced by different states of mind, namely whether migrants have travelled in states of loss, fear of the unknown, hope for a future, relief to be in a safe place, in a state of adventure or a combination of these states. For European migrants arriving before the 1970s, the significance is also heightened by the

317 distance and time taken in travelling to Australia by ship, thus generating a stronger sense of separation from the home country.

PLATE 7.3. Sydney Heads, place of arrival for 1950s-60s migrants arriving in Sydney. (A.P.l993).

First sightings of the Australian coast carry powerful meanings. The landmark of the Sydney Heads and Sydney Harbour are examples of a deeply meaningful migrant place of arrival, shown in Plate 7.3. In all large Australian port cities, wharves, such as Woolloomooloo Wharf, also have significance for migrants. Wharves are laden with meaning associated with alienation in a strange land, meeting members of families or not being met and the sense of abandonment. Added to which, many had to surrender valued food seen as 'supporting life' to unsympathetic customs officials. Chapters Five and Six contain evocative descriptions of the alienation experienced by some on arrival. Further influences on meanings associated with points of arrival were current government policies towards migrants and associated bureaucratic processes which determined where migrants would go and ways in which they were welcomed. Some writers (Riemer,l992) and photographers (Moore,l988:122,123) have captured the experience of arrival and this information together with oral histories, provide a resource base for interpreting the meanings of these places.

Migrants who came after 1970 arrived by plane. Most airports around the world are similar, but aerial views of cities in which they were arriving carried strong associations for different migrants. For many, it established their first awareness of Australian cities as characteristically low density suburbs, consisting of houses with red terra-cotta roofs,

318 reflecting the Australian dream of a 'house on its '14 acre block' (Stretton, 1989), seen in Plate 7.4.

PLATE 7.4. Aerial view of suburb near Sydney airport, first experience for migrants after 1970s. (A.P.l993).

Places of Temporary Accommodation

Places of temporary accommodation include migrant centres and hostels, boarding houses and refuges run by non-government charitable organisations. The criterion for this category demonstrates first experiences in the process of settling in to a new country where after disembarking, most migrants were taken to some form of temporary accommodation for a period of time. Table 7.6 draws together the range of places, their meanings and relevant migration policies influencing migrants' experiences.

319 TABLE 7.6. Type: Places of Temporary Accommodation

Criterion Sub-Sets Meanings for migrants Australian policies

Remote rural places in a strange landscape. Assimilation Barracks and communal eating. Migrant Centres. Bureaucratic processes. National tensions and/or camaraderie. Pioneering spirit associated with helping to Demonstrates build a nation. The experiential Urban Hostels Barrack-type accommodation in cities. Assimilation to process of Adjustment to new country. Multiculturalism settling in to Forming networks with other migrants. Australia Finding out where to live.

Compassionate Havens for young migrant women. Assimilation Hostels Places of courtship.

Boarding Houses Predominantly male environment. Assimilation to Improvising and sharing. Integration Both support and exploitation. Male camaraderie, female tension.

Migrant centres, known as 'camps', consisted of barrack-type accommodation with communal dining, meeting rooms for information briefings about Australia. One major migrant centre, Bonegilla Migrant Centre, established in 1947 in rural NSW, is recognised as an important aspect of Australian cultural heritage on the Register of the National Estate. Post-war tensions existed within various migrant groups but there was also a pioneering spirit associated with coming to help build a nation.

Along with migrant centres, all of which were in rural locations, migrant hostels within cities were other official places of temporary accommodation. In the 1950s, such places were often experienced as stigmatising because the Australian community did not readily accept the large influx of migrants. The significance of these places relates to this marginality, but there was also to a sense of camaraderie within the hostels including the establishment of migrant networks facilitating their transition into permanent accommodation. Catholic priests, giving pastoral care to new arrivals, were often instrumental in assisting this transition, particularly Italian migrants who relocated to areas near the priests such as Leichhardt in Sydney.

320 Hostels were also instrumental in another type of migrant place in that they brought about significant change to adjoining suburbs. In Northern Sydney, Bradfield Park, Kuringai, was a destination for many British migrants, a number of whom subsequently moved into houses near the hostel and created neighbourhood facilities reflecting their cultural needs. Because these migrants were mainly British, their presence is barely discernible to the mainstream community but is evocative and meaningful for migrants who live there. This is in strong contrast to the migrant hostels in Villawood and East Hills, South-West Sydney, which housed Vietnamese refugees in the 1970s and 1980s. These migrants similarly moved into adjoining suburbs, but in re-creating their culture they have made a migrant enclave, the suburb of Cabramatta, which is visibly different to the mainstream community.

Refuges or havens as places of temporary accommodation are less well known. The former Salvation Army Hostel in South Dowling St, Darlinghurst, Sydney shown in Plate 7.5, unknown to the mainstream community, was a refuge for the few Greek 'brides' who were abandoned after arriving on 'bride ships'. This place, now luxury apartments, is rich in human stories associated with Greek migration in the 1950s.

PLATE 7.5. Former Salvation Army Hostel, Surry Hills.- a place of temporary accommodation for Greek 'brides'. (A.P.l994).

In contrast to official forms of temporary accommodation, there was also an informal network of support for first arrivals, the boarding houses. Where migrants were not given government supported accommodation, such as the Maltese, they responded by developing a network of boarding houses. Unlike hostels, boarding houses were not obvious to the mainstream community because they often consisted of rented rooms

321 within existing residences, shown in Plate 7.6. Their significance is associated with exploitation as well as camaraderie, including multiple lettings of rooms, often with rosters for the use of beds. The conditions in many places of temporary accommodation were not pleasant and migrants sought relief from the crowded conditions in public parks and city streets where they often saw other migrants.

PLATE 7.6. Place of temporary accommodation­ Maltese boarding house Darlinghurst. (A.P.l996).

Places for Chance Encounters

These are places which symbolised the possibility of meeting people from the same country of origin. Their significance lay in the sense of isolation generated by being so distant from the country of origin, and the alienation experienced when only English is spoken. As a result, meeting places developed where men in particular could make contact with people of their own country. Criteria for this type of place include demonstrating experiential processes of settling-in and enterprising attitudes towards living in Australia. Table 7.7 summarises the interrelationship between criteria, places, their meanings and Australian policies which influenced this experience.

322 TABLE 7.7. Type: Places for Chance Encounters

Criteria Selected Meanings Australian Sub-Types for migrants policies Demonstrating the Places to discuss Promenading in the European Assimilation to experiential European news - manner, discussing issues of Multiculturalism process of settling Jewish gathering the homelands. in to a new places. country. Meeting men to find work and Assimilation to Places to join networks, accommodation. Integration Lebanese meeting places. Demonstrating Eating together. White Australia enterprising Places to confirm policy to attitudes cultural belonging, Multiculturalism Chinese meeting places.

In Sydney, the Bondi Beach steps in the 1950s, shown in Plates 7.7 and 7.8, were important for Jewish men as a place where they could meet other European men. It was here, while promenading along the beach front, that they could discuss in their own language issues in Europe which concerned them. The Curator of the Jewish Museum in Sydney, Alan Jacobs, explained that the steps represented 'the experience of sticking together, a sense ofcompanionship' (Armstrong,1993:8).

PLATE 7.7 PLATE 7.8 Place for chance encounters, Bondi Beach Jewish men continue to meet on Bondi steps- a meeting place for Jewish men in Beach promenade. (A.P .1995). 1950s. (A.P.1995).

Similarly Redfern Park became a meeting place for Arabic-speaking men. This was considered the place where one went in the hope of meeting Lebanese men who could explain where to get work and which boarding houses provided accommodation for

323 Arabic-speaking people. In the same way, Chinatowns have traditionally provided meeting places for men from Asia.

Permanent Accommodation.

Migrant responses to establishing permanent accommodation revealed both a pioneering and enterprising spirit as they tried to adjust to the Australian context and adapt their cultural needs. Migrant places of permanent accommodation, shown in Table 7 .8, demonstrate the experience of settling into a new country and the unselfconscious manifestations of transported culture.

TABLE 7.8. Type: Permanent Accommodation.

Criteria Selected Meanings Australian Sub-Types policies

Demonstrating the Inner city terraces. Shared housing, crowding. Assimilation experiential Altered houses and back process of settling gardens. Concealed difference. in a new country.

Accommodation for extended Inner suburban Integration to families by opening interiors. Federation cottages. Multiculturalism Demonstrating unselfconscious transported Small farms as family Suburban/ rural edge cultural practice. enterprises. market-gardens and Assimilation to houses. Isolation and self-sufficiency. Integration.

Unlike many British migrants who were given assisted housing, most non-British migrants endeavoured to purchase their own homes as soon as possible. This often involved house-sharing where people pooled their resources and paid off loans for their accommodation rather than pay rent. Language difficulties often resulted in people seeking houses near places of employment. In Sydney and Melbourne, these were cheap inner-city terraces near factories, considered to be 'slums' in the 1950s. In order to accommodate as many people as possible, front verandahs of terraces were enclosed and additional accommodation was created at the back. In the 1970s, Middle East migrants, accustomed to living in large open apartments, avoided the restricted terraces.

324 Instead they moved into single storey cottages in inner suburbs, whose interiors they opened up in an attempt to accommodate extended families.

All migrants created gardens to grow familiar food. Initially, distinguishing elements in these gardens were confined to the back of inner-city houses. Front gardens were left to look 'Australian' in order to avoid discrimination by the mainstream community. Other migrants moved to areas where cheap land suitable for intensive cultivation provided them with the opportunity to create market-gardens or small farms. Plate 7.9 shows a typical house in remnants of its market garden.

PLATE 7.9. PLATE 7.10 Remnant of large Croatian market garden Greek alterations to house in Marrickville. in Blacktown, Sydney. (A.P.1996). (A.P.1993).

In most migrant groups, people from the same original country tended to live near each other. As they became more settled, they began to alter their houses in ways which evoked the countries from which they had come. Greek houses were painted blue and white, Italian and Greek houses were adorned with columns and arches, shown in Plate 7.10. Lebanese front entries were tiled with highly glazed dark tiles. Small windows were removed and replaced with aluminium-framed sliding windows to make the Victorian-era terraces look more modem and to open dark interiors to more light.

Shopping Streets

As a result of establishing migrant home ownership, enclaves of people from particular countries emerged. Shopping streets, originally developed to service Australian residents, were often the first indication of this change. Over time a range of migrant shopping streets evolved. These are summarised in Table 7.9.

325 TABLE 7.9. Type: Migrant Shopping Streets.

Criteria Selected Types Meanings

Demonstrating the Chinese shopping Traditional ways of shopping, such as internal arcaded experiential precincts. bazaars. process of settling Shops for familiar eating, restaurants and food shops. in a new country. Shops to sustain cultural life, such as Chinese healing centres and herb shops, jewellery shops. Unselfconscious transported Mediterranean Finding familiar food, including delicatessens, butcheries, cultural practice. shopping streets. fruit shops. Shops to sustain cultural life, such as bridal and furniture shops, restaurants and coffee shops. Shops to provide a way home such as travel agents. Transformed Rooms for community service for scribes and advisers. cultural practice as a result of Middle East Shops to sustain traditional eating, such as spice shops, living in Australia shopping streets. restaurants, rooms for traditional healing, such as herbalists, clairvoyants.

Vietnamese Traditional ways of shopping, such as arcades, back lanes. shopping Shops for familiar eating, such as noodle bars, bakeries. precincts Shops to sustain cultural life such as jewellers for gold Demonstrating exchange, bridal salons. Hybridity and Shopping streets layers of culture of multiple Blended cultural practices such as Greeks buying between migrant cultures Vietnamese breads, Lebanese buying Indian spices. groups.

Chinese shopping streets were the earliest of this type. They were traditionally located in Chinatowns adjoining central market areas of major Australian cities. First established in the 19th century, they served the needs of the Chinese community providing Chinese stores as well as cheap restaurants. Shops providing traditional medicine also sold cooking implements and other household goods. Chinese gambling clubs for men and women were behind inconspicuous doors fronting streets. In the 1970s, shopping streets underwent urban improvements, initiated by non-Chinese urban designers. Streets were redesigned to reflect Chinese cultural elements because restaurants were popular destinations for the wider Australian community. During the 1990s, a large influx of Hong Kong Chinese resulted in Chinese-initiated redevelopments taking the form of large multistorey internal arcaded streets. Associated with the increasing affluence, large opulent restaurants have become well­ established features of Chinese shopping streets.

326 In areas where migrants from Europe lived, delicatessens and coffee shops started to appear soon after WWII. Mediterranean shopping streets were characterised by fruit shops and delicatessens. As people settled, travel agents and shops for traditional Greek and Italian bridal wear were established. During this period, men's coffee clubs developed above shops as well as rooms for solicitors and scribes.

By the late 1960s, Middle Eastern migrants established spice shops and Lebanese pastry shops in the same shopping streets. Similarly, by the late 1970s, Vietnamese shops such as distinctive bread shops, butcheries and jewellery shops for trading in gold started to appear beside the Greek and Lebanese shops.

It is the diversity of migrant cultures which characterise the inner suburban shopping streets where European-like coffee shops, Lebanese 'take-aways' or Vietnamese noodle bars are common. A number of the 1950s coffee shops and delicatessens established by the Austro-Hungarian diaspora still exist, Plates 7.10 and 7.11. In some inner city enclaves such as King Street, Newtown, Sydney, Australian shops co-exist beside both Asian and European restaurants. Where migrant shopping streets represent early stages of settling in, they are characterised by family enterprises in low rent premises.

PLATE 7.11. PLATE 7.12. Mixed migrant shops in Marrickville Cyrils Delicatessen, established for the Road, Marrickville. (A.P.1994). Austro-Hungarian diaspora in 1950s, Haymarket, Sydney. (A.P.l994).

Shopping streets also contain other essential places such as rooms for solicitors acting as scribes for official documents, healers and clairvoyants and above street-level gambling clubs for men. In some cases, certain people provide key services to the local community in rooms behind shops such as the room behind a delicatessen in Marrickville which was the place for counselling services for the Greek community and

327 later the Vietnamese community. Sophia Catharios, the Greek representative on SBS Radio explained, ... It is owned by a Greek woman who manages the financial affairs of an entire community ... she had a lot ofguts and dynamism and managed to be called 'Mother of the Greek Community - the counsellor, the interpreter, the financial adviser, everything, and now she has the same role for the Vietnamese community [in Marrickville]. She receives people in the back of the delicatessen. Politicians have been made there. ( Armstrong,l993b:22.)

The character of shopping streets depends on the era in which the different migrant groups settled. Migrant streets formed during the period of Assimilation and Integration resulted in an unusual blend of cultural practices because of the diversity of migrant groups using the streets. Apart from selecting aspects of Australian foods and merchandise, migrants also selected food from other unfamiliar cultures. Greeks enjoyed the Vietnamese bread, and the Lebanese experimented with nearby Indian spices. Migrant streets emerging during the period of Multicultural policies, particularly those of the Lebanese and Vietnamese communities, are strong and overt cultural expressions. More recently, changes in shopping streets are occurring as a result of gentrification activities of second generation migrants. This is particularly true of the Italian community in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle where gentrified Italian streets have become tourist destinations.

Sites of Work

These are places of high significance in terms of the experience of migration to Australia. Many professionally qualified migrants arriving in the 1950s-60s found that they had to work as manual labourers in large industrial projects because Australian authorities did not recognise overseas qualifications. Migrant neighbourhoods tended to develop near industrial areas. In Sydney and Melbourne this occurred in inner-city areas such as Marrickville, Newtown and Carlton. Industrial cities such as Wollongong and Newcastle also became migrant centres. Table 7.10 shows the range of sites of work, meanings associated with them and the criteria they address as migrant places.

328 TABLE 7.10. Type: Migrant Places as Sites of Work.

Criteria Sub-sets Meanings

Demonstrating an Large non-urban Frontierism, pioneering and enterprising, contributing enterprising and enterprises. to Australia. pioneering spirit. Many nationalities, more migrants than Anglo- Australians. Earning good money. Predominantly male.

Demonstrating the Urban industry and Humiliation, lack of recognition of education and experiential infrastructure. skills, camaraderie, process of settling Shift work, good money, men and women. in a new country. Small factories. Local places, drawing on culturally specific skills, predominantly women. Demonstrating Unselfconscious Market gardens, Tradition of family enterprises, transported farms, vineyards. Located on edge of cities, culturally specific. cultural practice. Central market Tradition offresh produce markets. places. Meeting place for many cultures. Demonstrating Transformed Culturally specific Adjusting to Australia, transformed cultural practice. cultural practice. migrant enterprises. Drawing on culturally specific skills.

Large non-urban enterprises, exemplified by Snowy River and Murrumbidgee Irrigation Schemes, were sites set up to attract migrant workers. Migrants established their culture in new settlements such as Adaminaby or in existing rural towns such as Cooma and Griffith. These were places rich in frontierism as well as a sense of contributing to the development of Australia.

In the cities, particularly in the 1950s - 60s, large factories and urban infrastructure such as railways and wharves were predominant sites of work. Such places are redolent in stories of hardship, humiliation and comradeship. These include 'the glass factory', AGI, South Dowling St, Sydney, the site of Vicars textile mill in Marrickville, and the steel mills in Port Kembla. Similar examples exist in all states and territories in Australia.

There were also small factories often associated with the clothing industry, which employed women skilled as seamstresses. These were commonly located in back lanes in the inner city such as Paramount Shirts in Surry Hills. Likewise there were cottage industries which serviced specific food needs for migrant groups, such as the Maltese 'pastizzi' factory in the basement of a terrace house in Woolloomooloo.

329 Other sites of work involved all members of the family such as market-gardens, farms and vineyards. Chinese market-gardens were well-established migrant places, plate 7.13 shows a Chinese market-garden established in the 1890s. These gardens, which still exist, provisioned most of the east of Australia during the second half of the 19th century. Other market-gardens, established by Europeans on the edges of large Australian cities in the1950s-60s, carried strong significance as migrant places but are now lost under recent speculative housing subdivisions. Both Chinese and European market-gardens are examples of the translocation of Old World intensive agriculture and as such are important heritage places for migrants. Agricultural practices have resulted in other migrant sites of work such as the banana farms established by the Sikhs in Coffs Harbour and the Chinese in North Queensland, as well as the vineyards established by the Germans in South Australia.

PLATE 713. Chinese market garden established in 1890s on sandy soil at Rockdale, near Sydney Airport. (A.P.1993).

Main produce markets are associated with farms and market-gardens. Such places are rich in migrant culture. In Sydney, Paddy's Market was steeped in migrant significance, from early Chinese produce markets to Mediterranean migrant market stalls of the 1950s. Even in its relocated site of Flemington, it retains significance for all migrant groups, including the most recent migrants from Africa. There is living heritage significance in produce markets. Their importance is as much embedded in buying produce in a market environment as it is in selling the produce different migrants have grown. Melbourne, unlike Sydney, still sustains the produce market within the fabric of its inner city. Sydney, however, has an intriguing migrant post-modem simulacrum in

330 the form of a re-invented, 'boutique' Paddy's Market created by a Chinese developer on the former market site.

Some sites of work carry culturally-specific heritage for certain migrant groups. The Lebanese heavy-duty clothing factories are connected to the culture of silk manufacture and trading in Lebanon. Connections are made via a circuitous route of numerous adaptations resulting from different experiences in Australia. This is another form of transformed heritage. The great 19th century sandstone buildings in Sydney are sites of work for skilled Italian stone-masons who have grown old maintaining the stone in significant buildings including replacing gargoyles and statuary. Italian tile­ manufacturing in Australia has created migrant places that reveal blends of cultures, for example, the· gilded, Australian-Italian-made mosaic tiles decorating interiors of Greek Orthodox Churches. The range of migrant sites of work described here is not conclusive. There may be further examples of ingenious culturally-specific enterprises, the knowledge of which is yet to be shared with the mainstream community.

Sites of Spiritual Worship

Sites of spiritual worship have high significance for migrant groups. They include both culturally-specific places and mainstream places which are shared with migrant communities. Given that so many forms of spiritual worship have seasonal origins, it is interesting that they appear to be an unmediated translocation despite the seasonal reversals in moving from the Northern Hemisphere. Sites of worship embrace both hidden and obvious places associated with the settling in process and the gradual willingness of the Australian community to accept difference. These are summarised in Table 7.11.

331 TABLE 7.11. Type: Sites ofWorship

Criteria Sub-sets Meanings

Demonstrate experiential Existing Churches Primacy of the faith, sharing succour with other process of settling in a cultural groups, pastoral care. new country. Halls or former Hidden places, concealing difference, sense of Demonstrate churches. community, spiritual succour. unselfconscious transported cultural New Churches and Consolidation, exhlbiting difference, political practice. temples divisions, spiritual succour.

Shrines in homes Individual worship, faith-specific. and gardens. Private rituals. Demonstrate transformed cultural practices Processional places Group rituals, living heritage, marking seasons. Demonstrate hybridity and layers of cultures. Layered sites Changing congregations. Italian mosaics in Greek Churches.

Many migrant groups were able to worship in existing churches in Australia. Major Catholic cathedrals in the centre of large Australian cities were and continue to be important to Italian, Maltese, South American and Philippine migrants. Other migrant groups found existing faiths in Australia inappropriate for their forms of worship. Initially they used halls or deconsecrated churches to establish temporary places of worship. Later, as migrant groups became established, they built their own churches, temples and mosques.

Observing spiritual practice often goes beyond visiting churches and temples. In many Vietnamese homes there are Buddhist shrines. In a number of Greek and Italian gardens there are shrines to saints. Jewish houses in the eastern suburbs of Sydney have special women's baths or 'michvahs' built into the fabric of houses. Muslim Lebanese have areas in the back garden in which they spread out their prayer rugs to pray to Mecca.

Spiritual worship also involves living heritage in the form of processions for Saints' Days, services for the Blessing of Italian fishing fleets, shown in plate 7.14, Moon Festival processions, shown in plate 7.15, and Chinese New Year Dragon dancing.

332 These activities animate familiar Australian shopping streets or market places at different times of the year, making ephemeral migrant places.

PLATE 7.14 PLATE 7.15. Blessing the Italian fishing fleet, Sydney Dragon in street procession for Fish Markets. (A.P.l993). Vietnamese Moon Festival, Marrickville. (A.P.1995).

Places of spiritual worship have also become places of political division within migrant groups. This has particularly been the case with older Greek Churches in Sydney. Although most sites of worship appear to be direct translations of similar places in countries of origin, there are some examples of transformations such as the Afghan Mosque in Broken Hill, built by the camel traders. Although conforming in its orientation towards Mecca, the Mosque is built in corrugated iron instead of stone.

The layering of values in some sites of spiritual worship is another aspect of this type of migrant place. Where migrant groups used existing churches in Australia, subtle changes often occurred, such as a particular former Methodist church which became a Greek church. The layering of values is described by Sophia Catharios, SBS Reporter. The first service the Greeks held in this church, they invited Billy McMahon [a former Prime Minister], because he used to go to the Church when it was Methodist. It was significant to him. It did not alter that fact now the Church was Greek. This Church also involves the Italian community, because it was constructed by Mollucco Bros. It is very interesting what happens to places. What is Greek now, may not be in 60 years, but we must recognise the passing of the Greeks and in so doing, we recognise the multifaceted fabric ofour society. (Catharios in Armstrong, 1993b:25).

Places for Leisure

Places for leisure reflect adaptations to the physical environment of Australia , in the process, translocating many leisure activities of former countries. They also indicate the

333 influence of different policies about migration. They range from early hidden places to recently built clubs as flamboyant expressions of cultural difference. Table 7.12 summarises the range of places making up this type and their associated meanings.

TABLE 7.12. Type: Migrant Places for Leisure.

Criteria Sub-sets Meanings

Demonstrate the Hidden places Translocated social practices such as male clubs. experiential process of Domestic back gardens. settling in a new country. Inconspicuous Culturally different, men and women enjoying leisure. places. Family events, nostalgic.

Demonstrate Unselfconscious Ephemeral Culture of extended family recreation in natural or transported cultural places. parkland settings. practice. Highly visible New places to sustain culture and celebrate difference. Demonstrate places. Opulent and impressive, imagined representations of Transformed cultural culture. practice. Layered places. Adapting existing places for culturally specific groups, shared leisure places.

Early places for leisure, often reflecting direct unmediated translocation such as Greek coffee clubs for men, tended to be hidden. As heritage places they are most vulnerable to being lost. Greek cafe neros have all but disappeared above the shops in Marrickville. Maltese men's clubs have gone but the buildings remain. Such hidden places reveal gender differences in leisure activities for many migrant groups. Lost leisure places include Greek theatres, first performed as a 'hidden theatre' in the Minerva Restaurant in the Greek area of central Sydney, and later in the Elizabethan Theatre in Newtown, both now demolished. Chinese clubs used by women and men remain, such as the headquarters of the Australian Chinese Cultural Association in a lane in Surry Hills, Sydney which resounds with the noise of elderly Chinese playing mah-jong. The building that once housed knitting-groups for young Greek, Italian and Lebanese migrant mothers, still exists, but is no longer used in this way. Instead the Italian mothers are now retired grandmothers and frequent bingo clubs run by local Catholic Churches, whereas elderly Greek and Lebanese grandmothers tend to spend their leisure activities within their extended family homes. Significant hidden places of leisure were the back gardens of European migrants.

334 Inconspicuous places of leisure were local cmemas temporarily transformed for different migrant communities. In the 1950s, Greek films were run in the various art deco cinemas in Redfern, Newtown and Marrickville in Sydney. Lebanese films were run in the ANZAC Hall in the city. Chinese films continue to be shown in Sydney's Chinatown. Less hidden are the Lebanese nightclubs, readily recognised in the streets of Surry Hills and Redfern, Sydney although some are inconspicuously above shops in places like Bankstown. These are sites of translocated heritage which are undergoing natural evolutionary change with the introduction of Western music, much as in Lebanon. Similarly Spanish and Russian dancing clubs persist in central Sydney.

Other places are ephemeral in that migrant use animates existing Australian places during the time they are being used for migrant leisure. Ephemeral migrant leisure places include places where culturally-specific celebrations occur. These also include places for picnics as ephemeral migrant places. In Sydney, in the 1950s-60s, Italian families predominantly picnicked at Balmoral Beach. The Maltese were some of the many European groups who picnicked at Clifton Gardens, often arriving by ferry. The Maltese also walked in the Sydney Botanic Gardens and picnicked at La Perouse arriving in the back of trucks, perched on lettuce boxes. The Lebanese in Sydney went in convoys of cars to Audley in Royal National Park and later to local parks such as Parramatta Park, Carss Park, Blakehurst and Steele Park, Marrickville.

Highly visible places of leisure are the second wave of migrant clubs. The first migrant clubs were a new form of place created in host countries in response to the experience of migration. Many were built in association with soccer teams made up of migrants of particular countries. Subsequently, in Sydney, imposing buildings such as the Italian Apia Club, the Jewish Hakoah Club, the different Greek clubs (Plate 7.16), were constructed. More recently, clubs built as exaggerated monuments to cultural difference, such as the Assyrian Club, shown in Plate 7.17, have emerged in Western Sydney. Similar clubs exist in other major Australian cities. Less monumental, but sustaining a strong presence are the Folkloric Centres, such as the migrant centre in Marrickville consisting of former army huts, occupied by a range of migrant groups.

335 PLATE 7.16 PLATE 7.17 'The Great Greek Club', late 1960s club, Recently built Assyrian Club in South Livingstone Road, Marrickville. Western Sydney. (A.P.1995). (A.P.1994).

Finally there are the leisure places which were used by many migrant groups as well as the mainstream community. This was particularly true of large dance halls such as the Trocadero and Paddington Town Hall in Sydney. In many migrant groups, dances would included the whole community from babies to grandmothers. Other places were highly sophisticated such as the Italian nightclub in Sydney known as Romano's and the Italian restaurants in Melbourne such as Pelligrini's and Florentino's. Another multi­ use place was the swimming pool in Marrickville which had particular significance for adolescent Lebanese boys. The range of leisure places described here represents those revealed through the research. Further research with different migrant groups would reveal other culturally-specific places.

Places to Sustain Cultural Heritage

Migrant places established to sustain cultural heritage are evident in the early stages in the migration experience and in the later consolidation phase. Table 7.13 shows the range of places pertinent to this type.

336 TABLE 7.13. Type: Places to Sustain Cultural Heritage.

Criteria Sub-sets Meanings

Demonstrating the Newspaper Culturally specific, providing networks and Experiential offices communication. process of settling in a new country. Local libraries Providing connections to country of origin, repository oflocal history, meeting places to discuss cultural rituals.

Neighbourhood Local government meeting places for culturally Centres specific activities.

Demonstrating Folkloric centres. Custodians oflost cultural practices of original self-conscious countries. Practicing cultural rituals and performance, transported cultural celebrating difference, acknowledging other migrant practice. cultures.

Saturday Schools. Keeping culture alive in Aus~ born children of I migrants.

Places where newspapers in languages other than English are produced are highly significant for the Vietnamese community. The first newspaper, The Bell of Saigon, was produced in the mid 1970s, after which numerous newspapers and journals emerged. There are similar places which produce newspapers for Italian, Greek, Lebanese and Chinese communities. Such places play key roles in sustaining community links, but are located in inconspicuous places such as rooms above shops.

Local libraries in culturally diverse communities also play an important role m providing newspapers from a range of countries as well as books, tapes and videos in a range of languages. Marrickville Library, Sydney is seen as a highly valued migrant place, acting as a repository of local migrant histories.

Local neighbourhood centres run by Local Government Community Services often become places to sustain cultural heritage, particularly now that the post-WWII migrants are aging. Newtown Neighbourhood Centre has been a meeting place for migrants from former Yugoslavia for the last thirty years. The May Murray Centre in Marrickville continues to be a place where different migrant groups meet to discuss programs to sustain their cultural heritage. St Peters Neighbourhood Centre continues to be a meeting place for the Portuguese-speaking community from Portugal and the

337 more recent migrants from Brazil. As Sue McHattie, a community arts worker for Marrickville Council pointed out ... very few members of that community [former Yugoslav] live in Newtown any longer. They all live in places that are at least half an hour away and they travel to the neighbourhood centre to meet at least once a week . . . If you look at a Municipality like Marrickville which has had a series of community groups through it, some have decided to stay and maintain their sense of place; others have left but still have that collective 'eye' on the place. A sense ofcustodianship remains. (Armstrong,l993b:35)

Australian places are also custodial for migrants where Australia has become the repository for cultural practices no longer evident in the original country. There are many areas in Australia which carry the 1950s heritage of a range of countries. This is most evident in the language, values and ways of sustaining cultural rituals. They reflect a heritage of their original culture which has become frozen in time. This culture is sustained through various rituals held in shared places such as processions through city streets but it is also sustained in folkloric centres such as the large folkloric centre in Addison Road, Marrickville.

Other places which sustain migrant culture are the Saturday Schools run by different migrant groups for their children, so that they can learn the language of their parents and other aspects of their cultural heritage. These Saturday Schools are often located in different migrant clubs or migrant centres shown in Plate 7 .18.

PLATE 7.18. Place to sustain migrant culture - Islamic centre, Carrington Road, Marrickville. (A.P.l994).

338 Places of Sadness and Death

Migrant groups have particularly poignant associations with large older hospitals. Because migrants formed enclaves in inner suburbs, they were taken to large central hospitals when they were ill. This was often very distressing because migrants were unable to speak the necessary English to explain their symptoms, added to which strict visiting hours and rigid hospital schedules meant that family members could not always be with them. Many large inner hospitals in Sydney have gone. This includes Crown Street Women's Hospital where numerous migrant women had their babies, Sydney Hospital where migrants living in the inner-city were taken and Lewisham Hospital which is of high significance for the Greek and Lebanese community.

Cemeteries are also important migrant places. Different migrant groups have different rituals associated with death, but some cemeteries have a strong migrant presence such as the rows of imposing Italian mausolea at Bunnerong Cemetery in Sydney, shown in Plate7.19. The Chinese section of Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney is marked by a pagoda, built and maintained by the Chinese community. Table 7.14 summarises these places and their significance.

PLATE 7.19. Bunnerong Cemetery adjoining Chinese market garden on sand hills at La Perouse, Sydney. (A.P.1995).

339 TABLE 7.14. Places of Sadness and Death.

Criteria Sub-sets Meanings

Demonstrating the Hospitals. Places of distress due to language difficulties. experiential process of settling Places of sadness due to illness but also joy due in to a new country. to childbirth.

Demonstrating the Cemeteries Places of sadness, choice to live in Australia for Places for culturally specific rituals. an extended period of time.

Migrant Enclaves

Because migrant places reflect ways people have tried to settle in Australia and make the unfamiliar become familiar as they go about their everyday lives, they are commonly aggregated into enclaves. Such enclaves include houses, shops, places of worship, places of recreation, schools, and hospitals. In the 1950s -60s, the Post Offices in these enclaves were also significant. They were places where migrant men stood in queues to post back money they earned to their families in the home country. For migrants who arrived as children, local schools are often remembered as places of persecution. Table 7.15 summarises the three types of enclaves associated with Australian cities.

TABLE 7.15. Type: Migrant Enclaves.

Criteria Sub-sets Meanings

Demonstrate the Inner urban/ Dense local places, close to sites of work, close to the city. experiential process suburban Interpenetrating complex of houses, shops, places of of settling in to a enclaves. worship reflecting different cultural groups. new country. Shared facilities such as schools, hospitals, leisure places.

Demonstrate Rural/urban Collection of small farms and market gardens managed by Unselfconscious edge specific cultural groups. Local churches, shops, and hall. translocated cultural practices. Hostel generated Generated by location of hostels, for example Cabramatta, Demonstrate enclaves. originally Anglo-Australian, then Eastern European, now Hybridity of cultures. Vietnamese. Rapidly growing collection of small businesses.

340 Inner urban/suburban enclaves include places developed near inner-city markets such as Chinatowns and the more recent post-WWII enclaves developed near large industries, wharves and railways. Chinatowns have a long history in Australia. These are now so integrated into the centre of large Australian cities that they are beginning to form parallel central business districts. As an enclave, Chinatowns include people from Mainland China with a history in Australia of one hundred and fifty years as well as the more recent economic migrants from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore since the 1980s. Thus in Chinatowns, there is a complex layering of groups, both in time and in space, the original enclave is often located some blocks away from the rapidly evolving Asian shopping Malls and business centres.

Other enclaves developed at the rural/urban edge where fertile soils enabled migrants to continue their culture of small farms and market gardens. The third type of enclave developed as a result of migrant hostels. Enclaves such as the British migrant dominated Bradfield Park, and Vietnamese dominated Cabramatta were areas adjoining migrant hostels in Sydney.

Enclaves also had meaning for migrants who did not live there. The following quote by a 1950s migrant from Bagdad described how different migrants were drawn to enclaves which resonated with their former culture . ... I remember Mum, as we were growing older ... all she wanted to do was to go to Redfern - and it wasn't because my Mum felt that Redfern people were really part of us. But it was the smell of the place. In those days, in the early 1960s, Redfern was a place where my Mum felt comfortable walking around there ... It has a mould of cultures that made people feel 'this is part of me in here. It is part of me and I am feeling comfortable. ' (E.A. in Armstrong,l993b:18).

Migrant enclaves in Australia are places where migrants have chosen to live rather than marginalised places created by the mainstream community such as the ghettos in North America. In Australian cities, enclaves are layered with different migrant groups occupying the same area at a similar time or replacing certain groups over time. They are characteristically heterogeneous, consisting of members of different migrant groups together with mainstream Australians.

341 Hybrid Places

Hybrid migrant places are a particularly significant form of Australian cultural heritage because they reveal the complex blends of culture which occur between different migrant groups and the Australian way of life. These places highlight the shallowness of ethnic stereotyping. Cultural pluralism is a deeper phenomenon, where mutually­ altering processes of interactive exchange generate complex hybridity rather than a stereotypic display of difference. Table 7.16 summarises the criteria and meanings associated with places of this complexity.

TABLE 7.16. Type: Hybrid Places.

Criteria Sub-sets Meanings Demonstrates the Cross-cultural blending Unusual proximity to cultures not formerly experiential process between migrant groups. encountered. Overlays of different cultures of settling in to a in unplanned ways. new country. Blending between Cultural osmosis over time. Demonstrates mainstream Australian and Influence of wars & refugees. unselfconscious migrant groups. translocated cultural practices. Trying to be Australian. Empathy with inner city working class Demonstrates Australians by some migrant groups. transf01med cultural practices. Unselfconscious Cultural osmosis over time. Demonstrates incorporation of migrant hybridity of cultures into mainstream cultures. Australia.

Fulfilment of migrant Newly created imagined places, aspirations. representations of the original country.

Places which reflect cross-cultural blending between different migrant cultures often result where groups, who have no former history of contact, inadvertently occupy a similar area of Australian cities such as the blending of Lebanese and Indian cultures in Sydney. Similarly, Chinese and Italian cultures have made unusual connections where the Chinese Centre, Australian Chinese Cultural Association, occupies the site of the former Italian community centre. The Chinese have chosen to keep the opulent Italianate interiors but the formal central reception space is now filled with heavily used mah-jong tables.

Another form of hybrid place involves the connection between an iconic Australian place, the Returned Servicemen's Club or RSL and the Vietnamese community. A

342 number of ex-service men and women fought in the Vietnamese War and have close affiliations with the Vietnamese refugees in Australia. Marrickville RSL Club, shown in Plate 7.20, is an example of this form of hybrid place where various functions are held for the Vietnamese community. Plate 7.21 shows the fulfilment of the 1950s-60s' migrant aspirations, an imagined representation of an opulent home in the country of origin, realised in Australia.

PLATE 7.20. PLATE 7.21. Hybrid migrant place, Marrickville R.S.L., Recently constructed Greek migrant's a meeting place for Vietnamese refugees house in Marrickville. (A.P.l995). and Australian ex-service personnel. (A.P.l994).

Trying to be Australian has generated another group of hybrid migrant places. Some Lebanese community groups have shown strong empathy with a perceived sense of Australian 'egalitarianism' and lack of pretension. Places which reflect this are commonly shared inner-city suburbs where the hybridity is evident in the persistent presence of working-class Australians, although the subtlety of this relationship is being altered by gentrification. For others, this form of hybridity has occurred gradually, a form of cultural osmosis, simply by living in Australia for a long time, so evocatively expressed by Melba, in Chapter Four, when describing her sense of being Greek­ Australian and her wish to restore her house to its former Australian character.

343 There are certain migrants who tried to become Australian by actively denying their culture in order to forget their country of origin. This tended to occur with people who were escaping persecution and did not want to be subjected to another form of persecution in Australia, namely the discrimination practices associated with the policy of Assimilation. The phenomenon is explained by a migrant who came from the Middle East in the 1950s. [Denial of cultural heritage] catches up with you, no matter how much you deny it. I denied myself anything to do with my background for ten to twelve years. Then I went back to Europe .. . it was incredible - people spoke other languages and they identified with stuffI had learned as a kid­ it was amazing- this great big civilisation and I denied it in Australia and I had to forget it. But I felt so comfortable in Europe that when I came back, I started digging into my background and expressing my individuality and my culture. (E.A. in Armstrong,l993b:24).

It is interesting that despite the overt need by the mainstream community to deny difference in Australian heritage, some hybrid places reflect an Australian unselfconscious incorporation of the migrant presence. Pervasive examples of this are the Greek cafes in most Australian country towns, of which the Paragon Cafe in Katoomba is considered the 'high culture' form. In a similar vein, the ubiquitous Chinese restaurants in Australian occur in country towns. Neither the Greek cafes nor the Chinese restaurants bear any resemblance to coffee houses in Greece or local eateries in Asian villages.

Generic Typology Summary

This chapter has drawn together all the material from the discussion groups held with Greek, Lebanese, Vietnamese, Italian, and Maltese groups as well as individual interviews with Croatians, Latvians, French and Chinese migrants. Material from workshops with representative leaders of migrant communities, leading academics in migrant studies and heritage planners has also been used. The overall typology, summarised as Table 7.17, shows how migrant place-making is an important contribution to the urban cultural landscape of Australian cities.

344 TABLE 7.17. Generic Typology and Sub-sets of Migrant Places in Australia.

Main Types Sub Sets Significance

Points of Arrival. Shipping Ports. Decision to live in Australia for Airports. an extended period of time.

Places of Temporary Migrant Centres/Camps. Early stage of settling in to the Accommodation. Urban Migrant Hostels. new country. Boarding Houses. Compassionate Hostels.

Accidental Meeting Places to Discuss European News. Early stages of settling in. Places. Places to Join Networks. Places to Confirm Cultural Belonging.

Permanent Inner-city Terraces. Settling in and making unfamiliar Accommodation. Precincts of Federation Cottages. familiar. Outer Urban/rural Market Gardens.

Shopping Streets. Mediterranean/European Shopping Streets. Settling in and making unfamiliar Chinese Shopping Precincts. familiar. Vietnamese Shopping Precincts. Multiple Cultural Shopping Streets.

Sites of Work. Large Non-urban Enterprises. Enterprising spirit and hard work. Urban Industry and Infrastructure. Small Factories. Market Gardens, Farms, Vineyards. Central Market Places. Culturally Specific Migrant Enterprises. Translocated cultural practices in Sites of Spiritual Halls or Former Churches. the new country. Worship. Existing Churches. New Churches and Temples. Shrines in Homes and Gardens. Processional Places. Layered Sites. Translocated and transformed Places for Leisure Hidden Places- men's clubs. cultural practices as settling in Inconspicuous Places- nightclubs & cinemas. process. Ephemeral Places -picnic places. Highly Visible Places- new clubs. Layered Places.

Newspaper Offices. Consolidation ofmigration Places to Sustain Saturday Schools. process. Cultural Heritage Local Libraries. Folkloric Centres. Neighbourhood Centres.

Hospitals. Consolidation of migration Places of Sadness or Cemeteries. process. Death Inner Urban/suburban Enclaves. Consolidation of migration Migrant Enclaves Rural/urban Edge Enclaves. process. Hostel Generated Enclaves.

Cross-cultural Inter-migrant Places. Integration between host country Hybrid Places Cross-cultural Australian-migrant Places. and migrants and migrants with Becoming Australian Places. migrants. Becoming Cosmopolitan -Naturalised Places.

345 Non-Generic Migrant Places

In the introduction to this chapter, I suggest that migrant places fall into two broad categories, those that are readily observable and those places that are hidden. I put forward the proposition that these places are derived from the experience of migration and everyday living as one strives to make an unfamiliar culture more familiar. This research , however, suggests that there is a third group of places. These are the unusual places that have emerged through the unique combination of a particular migrant group, ... their reason for migration and their specific responses to Australia in socio-cultural and environmental terms.

The research suggest that the guided discussion procedure designed for this thesis not only reveals the culturally-specific ways migrants have settled in Australia, it also has potential to reveal unusual places of high significance. These are non-generic places. Generic places became evident in guided discussions as types of places which consistently occur during the process of migrating and settling in Australia, regardless of the country of origin or the time of migration. Non-generic places are, however, specific to each cultural group. Non-generic places can only be determined by using guided discussions where mutual migrant specific problem-solving occurs iteratively. The case studies show how Greeks, Lebanese, Vietnamese and Maltese all have culturally-specific places of high significance. For the Lebanese, non-generic places emerged from deep searching for cultural connections embedded in the phenomenological hermeneutic process, shown in Chapter Five. Through this process, links between ancient silk trading traditions and heavy-duty clothing manufacture in Australia were revealed. In Chapter Six, the Maltese indicated culturally-specific places that related to their 'larrikin' life style in tightly-knit communities both in inner city and outer farming areas.

Other non-generic places became evident when I used the guided discussion process with other migrant groups, often using different coordinators. These included an Italian group in Coburg, Melbourne using a member of the community as the coordinator and a multinational group who had worked on the Snowy Mountain Scheme, led by a local Anglo-Australian historian.

The unusual non-generic place for the Italian group was a suburban house in Melbourne where the Italian labour movement, FILEF, was said to be born. The application of the

346 process with the Snowy Mountain scheme group revealed that it was the pioneering spirit of a multinational group who became a 'distemic community of strangers' (Greenbie,1981) which was seen as most significant. This was exemplified by an avenue of international flags erected in the 1950s in a local park in the nearby town of Cooma,NSW.

Thus the guided discussions show that there are characteristic places associated with the experience of migration which are generic to all migrants and non-generic places which have deep significance for culturally-specific migrant groups.

Summary

The data gathered in this research has resulted in a vast amount of raw text. In Section Two, three case studies showed three different ways of analysing discursive texts, each of which confirmed that the experience of migration has resulted in places that can be a complex blend of specific cultures, reasons for migration and different eras of migration policies. The case studies also showed how migrant groups can work towards an understanding of what their heritage places are in Australia.

A second way of working with the data was to look for commonalities between migrant groups. This resulted in generic themes about the experience of migration and places reflecting this experience. Accordingly, this chapter has been presented as a set of tables and explanations which make up a system of classification for migrant places. Each of the place types is laden with meanings and values which are culturally-specific. These meanings have been derived from an analysis of transcripts from numerous in­ depth discussion groups from a range of migrant groups. The interpretation of such meanings has been derived from a hermeneutically rigorous process so that the meanings are not gratuitous or subjective whims, but are judgements based on reciprocal confirmations of successive experiences where the final interpretation is seen to be the most appropriate.

Despite some reservations, classifications have value in that they allow disconnected phenomena to be integrated into an organising framework. This framework also enables new information to be added and comparisons to be made which confirm similarities or bring out differences. In this way, the classification is a rudimentary form of theory making.

347 The classification used in this chapter has been organised around a broad chronology reflecting the generic process migrants go through as they settle into a new country. Places which reflect this chronological experience are thus generic types. There are also broader phenomena which inform these types, some of which apply to all types and others which are only pertinent to specific types. I have called these phenomena, criteria; namely the criteria which demonstrate the way the migrant experience influences places.

Finally, there are a group of places which reveal the unusual richness associated with Australian migrant place-making. These are the non-generic, culturally and time­ specific migrant places.

348 CHAPTER EIGHT

SPACE/PLACE/HERI';rAGE: RECONCEPTQALISING THEORY

Bonegilla, Nelson Bay, the dry-land barbed wire ships from which some would never land.

In these, as their parents learned the Fresh Start music: physicians nailing crates, attorneys cleaning trams, the children had one last ambiguous summer holiday.

Ahead ofthem lay the Deep End ofthe school yard, tribal testing, tribal soft-drinks, and learning English fast, the Wang-Wang language.

Ahead ofthem, refinements: thumbs hooked down hard under belts to repress gesticulation;

Ahead ofthem, epithets: wog, reffo, Commo Nazi, things which can be forgotten but must first be told.

Andfarther ahead in the years ofthe Coffee Revolution the Smallgoods Renaissance, the early funerals:

the misemployed, the unadaptable, those marked by the Abyss,

friends who came on the Goya in the mid-year ofour century.

Immigrant Voyages, Les Murray,1982:184-5.

Les Murray's poem encapsulates and condenses all the stories described by migrants in this study. He is one of many Australian writers who have evoked the powerful resonances of the migration experience. Despite the recognition of these experiences in literature, it would seem that until this study, little has been systematically documented about the experience of migration as actual places created by migrants. Layers of meaning embodied in these places have enabled existing theories about heritage, cultural landscapes, migration/identity and place attachment to be taken further. In this,

349 the last chapter of the thesis, such theory development is presented in two parts, reconceptualised place theory and revised heritage theory.

Revisions in heritage theory resulting from insights gained where the four theoretical areas intersect enable cultural pluralism to be included in concepts of cultural heritage. Such revisions involve deepening the theoretical nexus between heritage and cultural landscapes. They also question the primacy of natural heritage, suggesting a living heritage of little traditions is of similar value. The issues which emerge from these revisions call for a review ~f heritage planning, partic~larly mechanisms to identify migrant heritage and ways to work with fluid and contested values.

Reviewing place theory is the necessary precedent to such changes. This includes reconceptualising space/place theory, revised forms of place attachment, reconsidering cultural discontinuity, and theoretical implications related to migrant places in the space-in-between.

Locating the New Theoretical Space

New theoretical understandings have emerged by moving between the theoretical superstructure created from the overlap of heritage, cultural landscape, migration/identity and place attachment theories. Figure 8.1 restates this theoretical superstructure.

FIGURE 8.1. Theoretical Superstructure.

350 At the fine-grained level, the zone between Australian migration theory and theories about place attachment, provide insights into how migrant places emerged during the different migration policies. These places tell the story of the process of settling into a new country and making unfamiliar aspects of Australian life feel more familiar.

The zone between place attachment theory and theories about identity, enable understanding into how unselfconscious everyday activities are acted out in Australia as places reflecting translocated culture. This phenomenon, together with the nostalgia for former countries have resulted in particular types of places in the new country. The third zone, that is, between migration theory and theories about identity provides insights into hybrid places reflecting cultural transformations which occur as a result of living in a new country. Figure 8.2 shows these particular spatial relationships.

FIGURE8.2. Space/place Relationships between Migration, Identity and Place Attachment Theories.

There is a site of specific significance in these overlapping theories and that is the dense area where all theories intersect and react with the host country's concept of 'national space'. The resulting collage/montage effect can be·· described as multi-cultural hybridity or a new form of 'national space'.

Migration has particular relevance to concepts of Australian 'national space' where migration to Australia has been a persistent phenomenon since the early 19th century. It is the post-WWII migration however, that has had the most significant affect on Australian places because of its unique characteristics, namely as a mid 20th century

351 migration program, it was incomparable internationally because of its size in relation to the population of the host country. It was also unusual in that Australia, as a First World society with a low birth rate, used the migration program to double its size within the short period of forty years. Over this time, no other nation-state was as active in recruiting migrants, nor had the source of migrants been so diverse (Castles et al,1988).

Space/Place Theoretical Revisions

Throughout this study the interplay between national space, local space and imagined space has been evident. The effect of migration, particularly in large Australian cities, has been such that concepts of 'national space' have shifted from one dominated by white sun-bronzed pastoralists, evident in many forms of cultural production, to one occupied by dynamic multicultural peoples living in big Cities. Both representations of Australia's national space are, in fact, imagined communities.

Emergents in a New National Space

The paradox of modem territoriality or 'nation space' is seen in the desire to represent the nation as one people while at the same time recognising 'the liminal point' (Bhabha,1990:300) or threshold where spatial boundaries are differentiated. This has been evident in a range of Australian policies towards migrants. Bhabha (1990:300) describes this as 'a contentious internalliminality that provides space for the minority, the exilic, the marginal, and the emergent'. The case studies identify spaces different migrant groups occupy, however, as shown in the case study analyses, representations of where migrants are located in the 'national space' reflect a state of 'emergence' rather than 'marginality'. Marginality in Australia is a complex concept. Until recently, most Australians saw themselves as culturally marginal from Europe (Jose,1985). The lack of assertiveness about an Australian identity, referred to as the 'cultural cringe', in contrast to Old World or even North American identities could well explain why migrants have been so successful in carving out their position in Australian national space.

The concept of migrant groups as 'emergent' members ofthe national space, in contrast to 'marginals' or 'minorities', supports Hage's (1998) challenges to the presumed homogeneity of contemporary Australian culture along with the supposed hegemony of Anglo-Celtic Australians. From the case studies, it is clear that the diversity of cultural

352 capital, which now contributes to the 'national space', cannot be ignored. As Hage states it is 'national belonging that constitutes the symbolic capital. '(1998:53). This 'belonging' is complex involving more than shifts in allegiance. 'National space' needs more subtle understanding of cultural dominance within Australia than the usual binaries of 'Anglo- ethnic; dominant- dominated' because, as Hage states, notions of 'belonging' in Australia today are not so clearly constructed around the 'Anglo-ethnic divide '(1998:49). Themes about 'belonging' evident in the Greek group discussion in Chapter Four and the Lebanese group's observations about 'becoming Australian' in Chapter Five show that migrant Australians are discriminating about what they incorporate from Anglo-Australian culture and what they reject. Despite this, they are also aware of the gradual osmosis of culture that occurs simply by living in a place for a long period of time.

Common representations of Australia's cultural pluralism in the late 1990s are said to be due to the success of the post-WWII migration program. Migrants are seen to have added their distinctive culture to Australian life, a process which simultaneously provides continuity with their country of origin while adding diversity to Australian society. At the same· time there are critiques of such simplistic positions about advantages for both migrants and Australian society. Nicholas Jose's (1985), in his essay 'Cultural identity: "I think I'm something else'", uses the work of contemporary Australian writers to examine questions of Australian identity. His exploration of marginality in Australia suggests the result of the migration program presents a dilemma for the country as a whole. He proposes that many Australians, particularly those on the fringe ' ... are adrift in a world of enormous diversity ... one imported artefact or concept vies with another for consumption. The talismans of old nationalism, such as the bush, childhood, and the past itself, are placed in disconcerting conjunction with the supermarket riches of the new cosmopolitanism' (Jose,l985:316). Similarly, representations of an apparently seamless cultural transition for migrants has been criticised by Fincher et al (1993), particularly as it assumes migrants are members of homogeneous ethnic communities. As the case studies show, there is marked diversity within groups of migrants from any one country of origin. Fincher et al (1993) indicate diversity is evident in migrants' different levels of education, whether they are urban or rural people, their political affiliations and the time at which they migrated to Australia. This thesis reinforces such internal complexities within any one migrant

353 group, for example, the time of migration has revealed significant tensions between Australian-born children of pre-WWII migrants and post-WWII migrants of the same ethnic group, shown in Chapter Six. There are also changes which occur as a result of certain intangible forms of acculturation. The Greek migrants in this study spoke eloquently of this phenomenon.

New Migrant Landscapes

Phenomenological analyses in the case studies call into question place theory based on geographic determinism such as the early cultural landscape work of J.B. Jackson

(1951) and the phenorn,enol~gical work of Norberg-Sch~lz (1980). Both believe that places have a 'genius loci' which influences how people occupy the land. From conversations in the case studies, migrants continually altered the landscape to make it more like the landscape of 'home' instead of accepting the new landscape as having an Australian 'genius loci' or as being culturally determined either by the traditional owners or European colonisers. Nevertheless a form of acculturation does occur, particularly as experiences migrants have in the new country start to saturate places with meaning. So there are two processes happening concurrently. Migrants are consciously trying to recreate former homelands, while unconsciously absorbing the culture of the new place.

Associated with the desire to alter the new place, there is a persistent concept of Australia's national space as 'frontier space' (Freeman and Jupp,1992), accepted by both migrants and the mainstream community. The sense of a vast empty 'interior' waiting to be peopled by enterprising migrants continues to surface in political debates about migration. The case studies show that concepts of 'frontier space', the space for enterprising territoriality, are also acted out at the local level.

The Migrant in a Divided State of 'lnsideness'

The nexus between 'national' space and everyday 'lived' space of migrants reveal paradoxes and spatial misconceptions. This thesis supports Relph's (1976) concept of 'existential space' where migrants are constantly making and remaking space by their unselfconscious alterations to houses, the development of local shops and so on. Through these activities local space becomes 'place with meaning' which results in powerful relationships between migrant communities and local places. It is when the

354 'identity' of the enclave or local space is explored that contradictions or inconsistency become evident. Here the tension of being both 'outsiders' who recognise the identity of a place and 'insiders' who identify with a place, becomes palpable for migrants. They are caught between different states of 'insideness', one in the original country, the other in their enclaves in the new country and as a result, they are in a 'state of being in­ betweenness'. Relph (1976:60) suggests that once a community image of place has been developed, the identity of such a place will be maintained 'so long as it allows acceptable social interaction ... and can be legitimated within the society'. From the case studies it appears that this creates problems for migrant groups because of the ephemeral and changing nature of migrant places. Migrant places are in a state of flux because migrants are in a constant state of adapting and 'becoming' (Heidegger,1971). For migrants, both these states are different. This study shows how early places associated with migration were expressions of unselfconscious activity and adaptation, 'existential insideness' (Relph,l976). Later migrant places became meaningful as places where a sense of 'becoming' and belonging emerged in the form of 'empathetic insideness' (Relph, 197 6).

Gradually, the state of 'empathetic insideness' in relation to the country of origin results in further facets of 'imagined space'. Migrants hold images of home countries through memories, both personal and collective, so that over time they are no longer reflections of 'real space' in the home country. As, Connerton in his study on How Societies Remember (1989:12) states ' ... self-interpreted communities, i.e. ones who have broken with an older order, reveal that the most powerful of these self-interpretations are the images of themselves as continuously existing'. It could be suggested that this 'continuous existing' takes the form of re-establishing a former imagined existence where an 'imagined space' is recreated in the host country, leading to extreme versions of the country of origin. Exaggerated versions of the country of origin are not all attributable to distant memories. The Vietnamese migrants, through a state of pragmatism and denial. of ~mpathy with Australia, hav~ created a place which is a Vietnamese enclave with strong expressions of 'existential insideness', that is an expression of unselfconscious activities (Relph,1976). Interestingly, the Vietnamese enclaves are unusual in that until 1975, the Vietnamese had no history of migration, so their enclaves are new migrant places.

355 Thus imagined communities for migrants are derived from particular constructions of place which bind together space, time and memory, often in opposition to an imagined 'other', the host community. Migrant places, as representative of imagined communities, are a blend of memories of places left behind, an attempt at being similar to the host communities, and more intriguingly, the migrant as an imagined pioneer carving out a new life in a land of opportunity.

Big and Little Traditions: Intriguing Marks on the Landscape

There are iconic qualities about the migrant's home country which become evident in the new country. Both Cosgrove (1986) and Stilgoe (1982) see this phenomenon as the interplay between big and little traditions, reflecting a form of unselfconscious accumulated wisdom associated with long established cultures. Migrant places also support Dennis Cosgrove's 'landscape idea' (1986) where ideologies are embedded in the landscape/place as metaphors for different aspirations. As Cosgrove states ' . . . in the landscape we are dealing with an ideologically charges and very complex cultural product' (1986:11). Migrant places in Australia, like Cosgrove's 'landscape idea' of the United States (1986: I 0), are fulfilling the European aspirations that the new country was a place where migrants consolidate material wealth in a climate of politically benign egalitarianism. This was exemplified by discussions with the Lebanese community in Chapter 5. Migrant places in Australia also support the concept that they are a combination of little traditions of semi-literate peasants, as explained by the Maltese in Chapter Six and 'great traditions' of a minority of professional people, as shown by Greek and Vietnamese discussions in Chapter Four. These concepts also add weight to Lefebvre's (1974, 1991) recognition of the importance of everyday life as well as supporting Marwyn Samuels' (1979:62) discussion about the authorship of the landscape where he attributes the quality of places to the work of archetypal figures as well as individuals.

The 'landscape idea' is also translated to the New World as pioneering new settlers exemplifying capitalism's appropriation of land as commodity (Cosgrove,1986:162). In the case of Australia, migrants came to a land imbued with the symbolism of an antipodean Garden of Eden - a tropical paradise or land of abundance and plenty (Jose,l985; Smith,1989). This is evident again and again in the conversations with migrants in this study. My study asks whether the 'landscape idea' is different for the

356 migrant and the pioneering new settler? It is significant that migrants arrive in the host country with received wisdom generated by the pioneers. Thus the state of divided 'insideness' also included unmasking the idealised Australia imagined by Europeans. The Greek and Lebanese migrants in Chapter Four reveal how disappointed they were when the 'imagined Australia' was dispelled.

Changes in time emphasise the ephemerality of migrant places derived from 'little traditions'. The European village farming culture, manifest in Australia as market gardens, has almost disappeared. It is hoped that by revealing the fragile and ephemeral nature of many places associated with migration and the subtlety of their social value, migrant communities can make more informed decisions about the future of such places.

Revisions about Power and Place

Theoretical work about power and place often shows marginal groups to be victims in urban planning because of the lack of recognition of their needs and values (Hayden,1995; Sandercock,1998). This is also true of my earlier work (Armstrong, 1994b). The thesis, however, shows that migrants do not always see themselves as marginal groups in 'positional inferiority' (Said,l978; Shields,l991) but rather that they are aware that they are 'emerging' groups having gone through a period of transition from one country to another. They are also 'emerging' in terms of revised concepts of Australia as a 'white' nation (Hage,1998) where mainstream community attitudes about migrants have gone from insisting that difference is relinquished to a celebration of diversity.

The cohesiveness of migrant enclaves and the ways in which they fulfil most migrant groups' needs, buffer migrants from the patronising attitudes of the mainstream culture. This was certainly the case after 1964 when the Policy of Integration was introduced. It was, nevertheless, the earlier discriminatory assimilationist policy, 1947 to 1964, which generated the growth of enclaves. During this time, policies aimed at ensuring that non­ British migrants blended into Australian cities, contrary to expectations, resulted in migrants gravitating to enclaves which allowed them to maintain their difference. In many ways emerging enclaves exemplified Henri Lefebvre's (1991) concept that the space of representation is the space of collective experiences. He describes the symbolic meanings and collective fantasies around space/place, and the resistances to

357 dominant cultural practices which result in forms of 'collective transgression ' (Lefebvre, 1991 :25). It is the collective transgressions against hegemonic requirements under assimilationist policies which has resulted in subtleties in those migrant places which were hidden from the prevailing culture's eyes. Although Lefebvre's main focus is on the production of space under capitalism, he acknowledges that there is an interplay between spaces of. capital, spaces derived fro~. planning and the State, and spaces of representation. Migrant places in Australia exemplify this interplay between capital, planning codes and government policies as well as symbolic meanings and collective fantasies. Rather than disempowerment, they reflect the ingenuity and enterprising ways migrants established themselves in Australia.

Revisions about concepts of power and place related to migrants are also required for issues of empowerment (Jackson,1983; Jacobs,1991; Keith & Pile,1993). In Australia, some migrants find the concept of empowerment patronising. This is particularly true for highly educated migrants as shown by the following comment. This migrant came to Australia in the 1950s as part ofthe Austro-Hungarian diaspora. . .. I don't want an Anglo-Celtic society to be condescending to me, understanding and sympathising and respecting my difference. It is unwitting, not consciously done, but nevertheless condescending. Whereas what I hope is that in the forty seven years that we have been in this country that we have developedsome sort ofhybrid. We have developed a hybrid of cultures. (Armstrong,l993b:28)

Interestingly, the phenomenological analyses in Chapters Four and those of the Italian group, not described, show that some migrant groups have patronising attitudes towards Australians. Members of the Greek group spoke oftheir 'high' culture in contrast to the 'low' culture of the Australian working-class male whom they referred to as a 'mate', spoken in a derisively broad Australian accent. Members of the Italian group were similarly conscious of their contribution of 'high' culture to Australia, a place they considered to be culturally undeveloped. Clearly, theorising about power and place for

1 migrants in the late 20 h century needs to include the postmodem revisions initiated by the work of Chambers (1994) on the migrant as the modem metropolitan figure.

New Forms ofPlace Attachment

Case studies reveal that place attachment is a complex phenomenon for migrants. They . ' '. confirm Low's (1992) observation that attachment consists of many inseparable and mutually defining features which not only acknowledge emotion and feeling but also

358 include knowledge, beliefs, behaviour and action. Different forms of place attachment were described in Chapter Two, using Low's typology (1992:166) of symbolic linkages of people to land.

It would appear that migrants have symbolic linkages to their homelands, particularly through 'loss of land' or destruction of the continuity of their linkages. They also have 'narrative symbolic linkage' to their original countries through storytelling and place­ naming. Migrant places in Australia are yet to develop symbolic linkages, instead they confirm Low's observations about place attachment achieved through the process of living in a place (Low, 1992). The potential for Australian places to have symbolic linkages is complicated by ambiguous place values held by migrants. 'Cosmological symbolic linkage' to place through religious, spiritual or mythological relationships are . . .. complicated in Australia because of cross-cultural allegiances. Low's 'economic symbolic linkage' to land through ownership, inheritance and politics is also complex in the New World. Land is a commodity, but in terms of inheritance, ownership and politics, symbolic linkages are yet to emerge. Interestingly, places which have resulted from the large Murrumbidgee Irrigation Scheme which was implemented with predominantly Italian migrant labour in the 1920s, such as the town and environs of Griffith, carry some of the qualities of territorial ownership and political positioning and possibly an emerging sense of inheritance (MG., personal interview, Nov,1995). Symbolic linkage through 'secular pilgrimage' and celebratory cultural events is evident in migrant places but not necessarily valued in Australia. In many migrant groups the 'little traditions' of seasonal cultural events have been translocated to Australian places which are gradually developing symbolic associations. The annual 'Blessing of the Fleet' by Italian priests and the celebration of the end of Ramadan by Arabic-speaking Muslims take place in particular places which are gradually becoming saturated with symbolic linkages.

Migration and Cultural Discontinuity.

The results of this study show that the impact of cultural discontinuity is another important aspect of the theory about migration. The inevitable severance with the country of origin, exacerbated by vast distances involved in migrating to Australia, has strong significance for European migrants. This appears to be less significant for the

359 Vietnamese community who chose Australia over United States in order to be near Vietnam.

Theoretical work on place and identity, or sense of place, such as the work of J.B. Jackson (1984), Relph (1976), Norberg-Schulz (1980), and Tuan (1974) has focused on different ways to understand cultural continuity rather than discontinuity. For migrants, sense of place starts with the impact of disconnection from the lost homeland and ways nostalgia influences potential place attachment. Often in this state, the new place becomes a tabula rasa on which to inscribe an imagined life.

Cultural discontinuity is thus reflected in negotiations about identity. Uncertainty and change associated with migration, initially appears to affirm the migrant's identity because of the clear cultural differences between the migrant and the host country, even for British migrants. Over time, cultural identity becomes blurred, as seen in the Greek migrants' evocative descriptions of this phenomenon in Chapter Four. It is worth re­ stating here David Lowenthal's observations about the particular qualities of Australian heritage where 'Australians confront the past less as generational continuity than as a tableaux from discrete moments.' (Lowenthal, 1990: 15)

The discourse in the case studies also provides further insights into Fincher et al' s (1993) reflections on cultural identity for migrants. They argue that migrant culture is a 'recomposition' of identity or reconstitution of culture, involving the dynamics of migration often associated with contests and strategies used in the settlement process.

Cultural discontinuity and issues of identity require ceaseless negotiations between cultures and complex configurations of meaning and power. The cultural disruption experienced by migrants has particular resonances in Australia where cultural discontinuity is true for most Australians, including those Aboriginal Australians who have been forcibly separated from their land and families. One could say the concept of identity in culturally plural Australia is an elusive phenomenon and is often misunderstood. Thus heritage planners need to interrogate the stereotypes embedded in notions of 'multiculturalism' and re-interpret the concept within post-structuralist terms. The phenomena in this· study reinforce Jameson's (1991) description of 'postmodern values ' which require constant negotiation and reflection so that inner contradictions and inconsistencies can be acknowledged and included in the discourse. This is highly

360 relevant to urban planning where planning decisions in many Australian cities seem to misunderstand the complexity of issues involved in migrant place-making, particularly when there is pressure for tourist consumption of ethnic identity.

Despite the break with the country of origin, migrants bring with them a form of transported culture, commonly expressed as the 'little traditions' in everyday life. Gradually, aspects of the original culture are modified by conditions in the host country resulting in certain cultural transformations related to everyday life. The adaptations and adjustments are as much forms of place-making for migrant groups within Australia as are the continued cultural practices from the former country. The work in this study shows that the experience of migration and settlement is. highly diverse and it is the inter-weaving of place, migrant culture and the host culture which contributes to the diversity of Australian places.

Migrant Places in the Space-in-Between

Finally, there is the theoretical contribution that this study has made to the concept of the space-in-between. In the first section of the thesis, I indicate that I have derived the term, space-in-between, from the landscape theorist, Beth Meyer, who argues that the use of binary opposites, such as architecture-landscape, implies the same differential status as culture-nature and man-woman; in other words the ground or background to the main figure, architecture, culture, man. She points out that interpretations about place that are based on binary opposites are ways to control meaning and power. I suggest that migrant places have been defined by a number of binary opposites, the most readily recognisable being the notion of 'mainstream/other'. There are two forms . .. .. of 'other' applied to migrants, 'alien other' or 'exotic other'. Both are stereotypes and are constrained and limited by being in binary opposition to concepts of mainstream Australian culture. To address the limitation of interpretations through binary opposites, Meyer proposes a different form of interpretation using a 'conceptual quaternary field' (Meyer,1994:33). In this field, interstitial and liminal spaces are occupied by tropes or characters with complex relationships to one another. This is her space-in-between.

The space-in-between for migrant place studies is a quaternary space, which can be experienced in terms of volume and time. The volume of the space is filled with interpenetrating networks, interstitial and liminal spaces, which are created by complex

361 relationships and different ways of seeing. The interpenetrating networks support Pratt's (1998) 'grids of difference' where connections occur between cultures and within cultures in space, as shown in the Greek and Maltese discussions and between cultures over time, in places such as Marrickville. In older inner-city migrant enclaves, interpenetration is evident in the way that all groups remain in the space, connecting with each other in new ways. The space-in-between is filled with discursive sites about the experience of migration, enriched by layered interpretations, often expressed as tropes. The richness of tropes is evident in Chapter Five where everyday figures of speech for the Lebanese opened the door to new interpretations about migrant places. The different layers and complex relationships between different migrant groups are revealed in Chapter Four where Marrickville can be a quaternary conceptual field as much as it is a physical place in real time. In the space-in-between, the fourth dimension, time, is not only chronological time it is also phenomenological time where past, present and future are in a constant state of reflexivity.

The concept of the space-in-between also enables us to see how migrants exemplify Chamber's (1994) concept ofthe migrant as the metropolitan figure in an ever-changing city. From the case studies, it is clear that post-WWII migrants have created a new metropolitan aesthetic and life style, re-inventing private and public places. We have been able to understand this because the fluid nature of late 20th century cities allows us to enter the localities of the everyday worlds of migrants. Contemporary cities embody the concept of space-in-between where we can interpret gendered places, places of ethnicity, territories of different cultural groups, and shifting centres and peripheries. The fluidity of this space enables conceptualisation of fixed places - houses, shops, public buildings, parks - to be simultaneously fluid and changeable as well as sites of transitory events and memories. Such is the richness of migrant places.

Theories about identity can also be revised in the space-in-between. Australian cultural theorists write about the fragmented evolution of an Australian identity (Manion, 1991 ). More recently David Malouf, in his 1998 Boyer lectures, pointed out that when Australians seek to understand the Australian identity, they should avoid concepts of 'either/or' and instead consider that Australian identity is sufficiently fluid that it should include 'both' (Malouf,1998).

362 I have also used the concept of space-in-between to describe the theoretical space where both overarching theories on heritage, cultural landscapes, migration/identity, and place attachment overlap and where migration, identity and place attachment theories intersect and interpenetrate concepts of national space. Whether overarching or interpenetrating, this theoretical space allows ambiguity and paradox as legitimate states. Ambiguous values were frequently encountered in the way migrants see themselves in Australia and the places they have created. Paradox exists in the migrant's insider/outsider status and in the patronising way many migrants see Australian culture. Similarly, parallel values can be accepted in such a theoretical space. The state of 'in-betweenness' inevitably results in parallel values about place, where values for the home country co-exist beside values for places in Australia. Although it is possible to sustain parallel values, nevertheless, over time values shift. From the case studies, migrants valued their enclaves in the early stages of migration, then with increasing affluence rejected them, only to return to the values embodied in these places, often after visiting their original country.

The richness of hybrid expressions of culture and place also nest in the space-in­ between, where the fluid nature of interstitial spaces and phenomena give rise to various hybrid forms. Migrant places are commonly multi-authored. The space-in-between allows for these different expressions within a negotiated field of difference, more akin to Raban's (1974) Soft City, where places are re-conceptualised. Figure 8.3 shows how the theoretical relationships overarch and interpenetrate to generated the space for migrant place-making theory.

363 FIGURE 8.3.

Overarching and Interpenetration of Theoretical Relationships. Locating Cultural Pluralism within Revised Heritage Theory

As in space/place revisions, so also revisions in heritage theory lie in the interface of the overarching four theoretical areas, heritage, cultural landscape, migration/identity and place attachment. Over the last twenty-five years, there has been a move towards more inclusive concepts of heritage so that values of one minority group, the indigenous people of Australia, can be recognised. This has inevitably involved recognition of heritage values embedded in cultural landscapes. The heightened awareness of Aboriginal cultural heritage allows all Australians to connect to the landscape as an ancient and continuous cultural place, rather than only a heritage of wilderness flora and fauna. The paradigm shift, .however, is more complex :fuan simply moving towards inclusiveness. In the process of revising cultural heritage to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, the pervasive issue of cultural discontinuity emerges, albeit inadvertently. By acknowledging the significance of another minority group, migrants, as part of the collective Australian culture, a perpetual New World paradox, namely cultural discontinuity, is re-inforced. Migrant heritage is central to an understanding of

364 Australian culture as all non-Aboriginal Australians have a history of some form of migration.

The inclusion of cultural landscapes as part of Australia's heritage does more than recognise the human impact on the land. It also opens the door to a heritage paradigm which is holistic and inclusive, where heritage is a living, functioning phenomenon. Figure 8.4 shows how the space-in-between, when working within the overarching theories can contribute to rev.ised heritage theories which ip.clude cultural pluralism .

•• •• •••••••••• • •• •• •• ••

SPACE-IN-BETWEEN NEW HERITAGE PARADIGM FOR CULTURAL PLURALISM

FIGURE 8.4.

Emerging Heritage Paradigm from Theoretical Interrelationships

The proposed new heritage paradigm requires three aspects of current heritage theory to be reviewed. First is deepening the nexus between heritage and cultural landscape theories. This includes challenging the primacy of nature over culture, allowing a heritage of 'little traditions' and incorporating the changing nature of knowledge in heritage paradigms. Second is the way migrant places have generated particular forms of heritage associated with New World countries such as North America, Canada, New

365 Zealand, and Australia where the phenomenon of migration has been central to their development as First World countries. Finally, there are revisions related to heritage planning practice which enable much of the new insights to be applied.

Deepening the Nexus between Heritage Theory and Cultural Landscape Theory.

In the late 20th century, cultural landscape studies have strongly influenced changing perceptions of heritage. The central issue for heritage interpretations is the range of human engagements with the broader concept of landscape, rather than a heritage of specific sites. This includes the ways different cultural meanings and values can be explicated from particular aspects of the cultural landscape.

The World Heritage Convention (WHC) recognises three types of cultural landscapes; garden or parkland landscapes, organically evolved landscapes and associative cultural landscapes (Bennett, 1996). Within these three categories, it is the second category, organically evolved landscapes, ' ... result[ing] from an initial social, economic, administrative, and/or religious imperative and develop[ing] their present form by association with and response to the natural environment. (Bennett,l996:6), which seems most relevant to migrant places.

Although this category allows for the inclusion of migrant places, there are problems in the implicit connection between human actions and the underlying natural environment. Certainly the natural environment determined where migrants, who wished to continue their heritage of intense cultivation, settled. European migrants interested in maintaining small scale farming practices settled in areas of fertile soils. Using Sydney as an example, this was the clay band in Western Sydney, Blacktown, Pendle Hill, Dural and isolated pockets of rich soils in undeveloped land to the north, such as the valley behind Mona Vale. For Chinese migrants, the settlement choice for those seeking to undertake cultivation, were the sandy river flats in various locations throughout Australia.

This simplistic notion of cultural landscapes, however, removes the interconnectedness between layers of human actions which may have come about subsequently and thus may not have been influenced directly by the physical environment. Urban cultural landscapes with their many layers of 'social, economic, administrative and/or religious

366 imperatives' (Bennett,l996:6) often have quite tenuous connections to the original natural environment. Thus the WHC category allowing the inclusion of cultural landscapes of migrant places is limited.

Shifting the Primacy ofNatural Heritage to 'Living Heritage'.

In heritage terms, the significance of the natural environment as the underlying determinant of cultural landscapes has been generated by the primacy of wilderness as heritage landscapes. By requiring a direct connection to the physical landscape, those cultural landscapes seen as heritage landscapes risk being limited to rural landscapes. This is definitely limited in terms of broad philosophical concepts of 'cultural landscape'.

The requirement for a nexus with the natural environment ignores the complexity embedded in urban cultural landscapes. Clearly urban migrant landscapes are not a response to the natural environment. Instead it would appear that two factors influenced the growth of urban migrant landscapes, the location of urban hostels and sites of work. Urban hostels were commonly located in former army barracks, implying that they were areas of peripheral land set aside by the Ministry of Defence. There seems to be little connection with a former ~atural landscape. The sit~s of work have a stronger connection in that at some time, physical landscapes determined where industries requiring port facilities would be. Similarly, undeveloped low lying and brackish land was often left undeveloped. When at a later date these areas were drained, they became industrial areas. To this degree industrial cultural landscapes have been a response to the natural environment. The migrant connection, however, is as sites of work.

If the dynamic qualities of urban cultural landscapes are to be recognised as heritage, then current cultural landscape definitions used by UNESCO need to be revised. Despite this, the important contribution that cultural landscape studies make to planning is that they deal with integrated systems which have been developed by human activity and that these systems are living phenomena -living heritage.

The 1996 European Cultural Foundation's overview of planning for cultural landscapes in France, Germany, Great.. Britain, the Netherlands, ~d Spain, revealed that all participating countries focussed on cultural landscapes as functioning systems. Bennett (1996:8) in his introduction to the study points out

367 Many of the landscapes we have inherited ... were formed as a means to serve the purposes ofthe communities that lived in them; they are the living artefact ofdynamic social and economic processes.

Migrant cultural landscapes, although predominantly urban, have the same qualities in that they embody dynamic social, cultural and economic processes. Bennett goes on to say that 'the way in which many cultural landscapes are managed is therefore crucial ... ' (1996:8). A key factor in cultural landscape studies is the recognition that their designation as heritage does not necessarily infer protection. Instead the most common consequence of heritage designation is a requirement for land-use planning related to development plans. The European Cultural Landscapes study (Bennett, 1996: 131) concludes that .. . the preservation ofa shell ofa historic building is a second best solution compared with the continuation of an appropriate use and occupation .... Precisely the same arguments apply to cultural landscapes, although on a far larger scale and to a far more complex artefact. In principle, it is better to apply structural measures that will support the local or regional economic systems and prevent the disintegration of the social structures on which the management regimes that created and maintained the landscapes, are dependent.

Thus the major contribution that current cultural landscapes studies make to heritage theory is that it allows a shift from single sites to the inclusion of whole areas with all their internal complexities, including their on-going sustainability as 'living heritage'.

Noble Heritage vs the Heritage of'Little Traditions'.

Meanings and values embedded in the cultural landscape range across perceptions of 'noble' places to everyday places full of 'trifles and common things' (Lowenthal,1996:x). The nexus between cultural landscape studies and heritage theory explores these different meanings and values embedded in the landscape. In Australia, Taylor (1999) has been a strong exponent of cultural landscape interpretations as heritage, however his work has been consistently located in historical terms (Taylor,l990). More recently he has discussed meanings in everyday landscapes (Taylor, 1999). His approach to the interpretation of meanings has been a simple set of questions asking 'Where have things occurred? What has occurred? When did it occur? Who promoted the action and Why?' (Taylor,1999:109; Jacques,1994:96). In this thesis, drawing from the new critical geographers and phenomenological hermeneutics, meanings attributed to the cultural landscape are shown to be much more

368 complex than those derived from the Taylor model. Instead, using guided discussions and hermeneutics, it has been possible to explore both the multiplicity of meanings embedded in one place as well as paradoxical and ambiguous meanings. As forms of heritage, migrant places in the urban cultural landscape allow the past to engage with the present as living heritage. The key to understanding the heritage implications which lie in these landscapes, is the way they are interpreted. In seeking to address this, it is not simply a matter of empowering people whose values may not have been included. It is also necessary to recognise that many values can be held concurrently. As the cultural geographers, Cosgrove and Daniels (1988:8), point out ... from a post-modern perspective landscape seems less like a palimpsest whose 'real' or 'authentic' meanings can somehow be recovered with correct techniques, theories or ideologies, than a flickering text .. . whose meanings can be created, extended, altered or elaborated

Migrant places as cultural landscapes include values and meanings derived from existential understandings, iconographic interpretations, and the value of everyday and familiar places. Thus the definition for cultural landscapes of migration that I have developed for this study is Cultural landscapes reflecting migration are human constructs derived from physical places and their human modifications. This may be conceptual or actual. Cultural landscapes are Steeped in meanings and values which have evolved over time. Such values lie in life world stories, myths, and beliefs. They can represent national identity, local folklore, and symbolic landscapes invested with mythological meaning. They are continually reconceptualised where their meanings are extended, altered or elaborated Migrant landscapes include urban places, rural landscapes, and ordinary landscapes reflecting everyday life.

This definition allows cultural pluralism and its 'flickering' place values to be included in cultural heritage determinations. Using this definition, a place such as Marrickville is not only a palimpsest of migrant places, it is also a place of multiple meanings between different migrant groups and mainstream Australians. It is not enough to recover layers of history. It is equally important to recognise how fluid and dynamic such places are. In this regard, cultural landscape theory and heritage theory needed to be broadened so that they can accommodate contested and shifting values ...

Incorporating the Changing Nature ofKnowledge into Heritage Interpretations

Post-modem revisions about the nature of knowledge have allowed heritage concepts to include the value of everyday places and the validity of subjective interpretations about

369 place. In the same way, post-structuralist thought has provided a rich vein of contemporary theory to inform the nature of migrant place-making. By rendering places into texts which can be read, a discourse about the experience of migration is generated. Hermeneutic techniques can then be employed to unravel forms of heritage where metaphors and tropes provide keys into cross-cultural interpretations. This process can reveal the richness of cultural pluralism within Australia's cultural heritage.

Because narrative heritage is such an important aspect of the heritage of New World countries, post-structuralism and textual analyses can make a significant contribution to heritage understandings: The· role of narrative heritage applies as much to the relatively recent European occupation of New World countries as it does to the heritage of their indigenous peoples. Similarly the contribution of post-structuralist thought explains why 'imagined communities' are more powerful in the New World than the Old.

The changing nature of knowledge which has given voice to the values of marginal groups allows concepts of heritage to reflect more inclusive understanding of history where all the people who make up a nation contribute to a richer sense of national identity. But also by dealing with marginal people or strangers in the mainstream community, there is the possibility that Australians can begin to reflect on the 'stranger within themselves' (Kristeva, 1991 ). As many cultural theorists have pointed out, non­ Aboriginal Australians are uncertain about national identity evident in the constant re­ invention of what it is to be Australian (Lohrey, in Armstrong,1993b:50; Jose,1985; Manion,1991; Malouf,l998;,.Morris,1993). Migrant gro:ups provide insights into the culture of Anglo-Celtic Australians that are not readily understood by mainstream Australians, as exemplified by the Lebanese perspective on certain aspects of Australian culture shown in Chapter Five. Australian culture, unlike North American culture, is considered an elusive phenomenon, for many complex reasons. Migrant place­ attachment has generated a particular form of heritage associated with New World countries such as North America, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia where the phenomenon of migration has been central to their development as First World countries.

Place Attachment, Migration and New World Heritage

In Western terms, migrants are a fundamental aspect ofNew World. During the 19th and 20th centuries, migrants to North America, Canada and Australia were essential to

370 the development of these nations. Thus understanding how the experience of migration is translated into 'place' is fundamental to heritage interpretations of these countries.

I• '' Without migrants, New Worlds would not have consolidated the capitalist and colonial agenda and its inevitable shift from indigenous to non-indigenous cultures. The pervasive phenomenon associated with this shift is cultural discontinuity, both for indigenous people, forcibly removed from their land, and the occupiers who have come from somewhere else. Cultural discontinuity inevitably results in broken chains of meaning so that what is valuable and important has to be constantly restated (Manion,1991).

Within this concept, place attachment in migrant communities influences heritage theory in two main ways. First there are attachments to places and ways of life in the old country, the memories about which are brought to the new. Ways of life once in Australia continue unmediated by changes occurring in the country of origin. The role of memory in restating what is valuable brings into play Connerton's 'unconscious collective memory' (1990:i:). Collective community memories are often seen as recollections of cultural traditions thought to be inscribed and immutable. In this context, the New World acts as custodian for the Old World where cultural practices, long relinquished in the Old, are continued unchanged thus representing a heritage frozen in time.

The second way place attachment contributes to migrant heritage lies in the importance of social heritage significance, namely where places have heritage significance if they are considered to have strong social, cultural or spiritual association with a particular cultural group (Pearson & Sullivan, 1995). All the case studies show how places have social significance for particular migrant groups. Chapter Five also gives more detail about how migrant places can be considered for listing on the Register of the National Estate within the eight AHC criteria (Pearson & Sullivan,l995). An important outcome of the process of assessjng ~igrant places under these cri~eria was the desire for 'pride and success' to be a criterion for migrant places. This emerged with the increasingly sophisticated understanding about heritage displayed by the Lebanese group in Chapter Five. Such a criterion brings into play the concept of intangible and ephemeral heritage. Intangible aspects include unselfconscious ways of being; heritage as lived everyday experiences and cultural practices. Ephemeral aspects relate to the fact that migrants are in a process of change, so holding these forms of heritage becomes difficult.

371 This brings us to the final aspects of revisions to heritage theory, heritage planning. How does a heritage planner deal with migrant places which are characterised by fluid and contested values, as well as intangible and ephemeral qualities?

Revised Heritage Planning Theory

There are four major issues related to heritage planning for migrant places. The first is the urgent need to identify places before they are lost. The second is how planners can interpret migrant places as Q.eritage and the third is wha~. to do with contested values related to migrant places. Finally, there is the challenge of planning within the 'space­ in-between'.

The Need to Identify Migrant Places

Given the richness that exists within culturally plural neighbourhoods, there is an urgent need to find out about the migrant history in any area because migrant places are highly vulnerable. Greg Young, a heritage planner, supports this by indicating ... Post World War II [migrant places should be examined] because ofthe ephemerality ofthe heritage that is left. . . . it is a particularly brittle and vulnerable representation (Young in Armstrong,l993b:28). Migrant places in inner-city areas are being lost at a rapid rate due to the redevelopment of former-industrial sites which obliterate evidence of migrant sites of work and associated enclaves. Migrant places are also being lost on the urban fringe at an equally rapid rate due to speculative housing developments. . ,. ..

An effective means of identifying and managing these places lies in a revised form of heritage studies. In NSW, heritage studies have been shown to be most effective vehicles to interpret the character of Local Government Areas. Through thematic histories, heritage studies provide potential for sophisticated interpretations and innovative planning recommendation. Heritage studies also inform Local Area Plans, thus providing legislative mechanisms for conservation zoning or other forms of planning control.

If heritage studies are to be vehicles for identifying migrant places, then planners need to work with migrant communities to reveal the complex web of places. The guided discussion process developed by this research has proved an effective tool for such work, particularly as it can be used at two levels. At one level it sets out a methodical way to uncover culturally-specific aspects of everyday life, normally not known about

372 .. outside migrant groups. At another level, it can be used to gain deeper insights into the ways threads of culture intersect with place. This requires the use of phenomenological hermeneutics.

Given that those heritage planners interested in social heritage significance already work with community groups, it can be anticipated that the procedures developed in this research would be acceptable and feasible for consultant planners. Trials with planners and historians indicated the key issues were how to work with migrant groups, how to generate discursively rich material and how to undertake deep levels of interpretation. Various techniques have been developed during this research. They are included as Appendix Three.

Heritage planners to date have tended to use histories and heritage planning texts as their theoretical base. Interpreting migrant places requires that planners become familiar with some of the work of the new critical cultural geographies described in Chapter Two. As Stephen Davies, the former Environment Director, NSW National Trust explained I think it [knowledge of cultural diversity and new geographies] should be fully employed in planning the inner city but heritage people like myself don't traditionally have that sort of exposure ... [an example] is the Bondi Pavilion. I would traditionally think of the Pavilion in terms of its architectural and urban conservation potential ... [not] a place that gave migrants a sense of living in Australia.... I think bureaucrats and people in conservation organisations, we still have difficulty in dealing with intangibles.

He amplified these observations by discussing the range of prejudices that exist about heritage, . .. one of the connections I have in dealing [with migrant heritage was a site in Kensington, Melbourne] ... a local shopping centre which was an early 1 20 h century shopping .centre - had virtually closecf down and was almost blighted. The Vietnamese community had moved in and were closing up shop fronts and operating small clothing workshops behind closed doors. This was a real concern, because of the loss of vitality of the shopping centre, even though it was dying. An Italian born person who had lived there for a long time came up and said " you know the problem with this area is that these wogs have moved in and they are destroying the place. "

I suppose this is the effect of layering. One group exists, another moves in, overlaying occurs which produces prejudice. . .. The National Trust has a very strong grounding in Anglo heritage. ... If one looks at the way the membership is organised and the way we present houses to the public and

373 the sort of things we think are important, there is still a very strong feeling ofprejudice in the community. (Davies in Armstrong, 1993b:53).

This comment highlights issues of contested values about what are heritage places in Australia and the contested nature of values between mainstream Australians and migrant groups and within migrant groups.

Working with Contested Values

Contested values about place have been the focus of a number of studies (Anderson,1993; Auge,l995; Burgess et al,1991, Hewison,1987; Macnaughten & Urry,1998; Pratt,1998; Shields,l991; Urry,1995). In this study, contested values emerged in both the broad overview, evident in the two workshops, and in the in-depth work. It became clear that the application of current conservation policies is likely to meet with opposition when applied to migrant heritage places. While commonalities emerged in in-depth discussions, strong differences were evident when representatives of the migrant groups discussed the issues (Arrnstrong,l993b). Migrant place values are political and dynamic and the values related to some sites are highly contested. In discussions with Greek, Croatian, Vietnamese, Lebanese and Turkish representatives, it is clear that there are complex political allegiances within each group predominantly related to the political issue~ in the countries of origin a~. the time of migration. It is important to locate place values in the political context of a particular migrant group. Planning with cultural pluralism is far more complex than the recognition of different nationalities.

Competing values held for migrant places by insiders, migrant groups, and outsiders, namely other people who value evidence of migrant groups, raise areas of contestation related to the aesthetics of cultural representation. This was particularly evident in the Greek community where conflicting values were held about the addition of Greek columns to houses. Some Greek participants valued such Mediterranean elements while others considered they degraded Greek culture. Similarly the Paragon Cafe in Katoomba, NSW was seen as representative of characteristic Greek cafes found in Australian country towns and therefore an important element in the cultural landscape. Other Greek participants saw it as an example of 'high kitch' and that it was not an appropriate place to record as Greek cultural heritage in Australia (Armstrong,l993b).

374 Clearly there are differences, both within migrant groups and by outsiders, about the meanings attributed to migrant places.

Other contested values relate to places which have multi-layering ofvalues. The current building used by the Australian Chinese Cultural Association in Surry Hills, Sydney was previously the site of the Italian community's first welfare centre in Sydney. During the period of Italian use a benefactor contributed to the creation of opulent Italianate interiors. Now it is an active and highly valued centre for the Chinese community who may find it unacceptable to recognise this building as part of the Italian heritage in Australia. Likewise, King St, Newtown poses problems where examples of 19th century Anglo-Celtic Australian shops with intact interiors have been altered to accommodate cultural expre~sions in different migrant sl)pps. Cabramatta, Sydney, is currently a Vietnamese centre but until recently had significance for Greeks, Lebanese and Turkish. Most of the physical evidence of these groups has disappeared within the last five years. Multi-layering of values is characteristic of many areas with high migrant populations and this raises issues of what are appropriate ways to manage such urban cultural landscapes.

There are also conflicting heritage values about the conservation management of housing heritage, particularly in inner-city areas with altered older housing. If migrant heritage is acknowledged, then the restoration of much of this housing stock will involve the loss of migrant cultural alterations which may now have social significance for that group and others. As well, a number of Greek migrants expressed a desire to restore their houses to the former 19th century Australian character thus removing the changes they had made (Armstrong,1993a).

Issue of management and conservation of migrant heritage places are contentious within migrant groups. Many participants in this research felt it was enough to record the stories rather than sustain the physical fabric of places. Others felt the perpetuation of cultural practices was more important than conservation of places. Such concerns are not confined to migrant groups and much of the work on social significance (Johnston,1992) is leading to broader ideas of conservation. Cultural continuity, particularly continuity of uses of places, are the current challenges for heritage planners.

375 The concept of conservation for many migrants raises ambivalent feelings about heritage in their adopted country. For migrants from an Old World, conservation of heritage inevitably is seen in terms of antiquity. Australia, in contrast, is seen as 'a land

of opportunity', where. pro~erty, unfettered by bureauc~atic controls, is a means to increased material assets. This is particularly true for post-WWII migrants of the 1950s-60s. It is therefore understandable that heritage conservation, which interferes with property change and development, results in conflict for many migrants.

Issues of cultural equity are other contested areas. In Australia, arguments appear to be centred on the empowering/patronising debate, whereas inclusiveness is the issue in the United States. Antoinette Lee's overview on issues about managing cultural diversity within heritage planning in the United States (Lee, 1992:36) refers to the management implications when cultural groups view heritage resources in different ways. Spennerman (1993:24) has taken the discussion further by suggesting that individual cultural groups should manage their cultural heritage places. This raises problems for places which Lee describes as 'multiply-esteemed' (Lee,l992:36). In my study, some migrant leaders considered that there should be affirmative action for migrant heritage places where heritage plamiers could 'redress the balance of listings and cultural representation' (Galla in Armstrong,1993b.6). This attitude is derived from the concern that migrant communities do not know what heritage in Australia means and that an active program of information should be implemented. In contrast, other migrant leaders consider empowering migrant communities is patronising. Others feel empowerment needs to be inter-generational because some second and third generation Australian migrants have been denied their cultural heritage because their parents and grandparents concealed such heritage due to the tyranny of assimilation activities (Armstrong, 1993b ).

Ironically, contested values now arise from the growing interest by the wider Australian community in places which reveal cultural diversity within Australia. Places reflecting the rich encoding of different cultures are now seen as the 'exotic other' by many

Australians. As such, their ~onservation may be preferre.d by outsiders rather than the migrant groups themselves. This conflict is similar to the continued problem heritage conservationists face when heritage is valued initially by a small group in the community and not necessarily by the majority. It is only some time later that the

376 greater community recognises the value of such heritage. It can be anticipated that the same process will apply to migrant heritage places.

Apart from conflicting cultural values between 'insiders' and 'outsiders', there is also conflict within particular migrant communities. Paddy's Market in Sydney is a case where the Chinese community values the area as cultural heritage and yet the developer of the site is also Chinese. Many Sydney migrants see the importance of Paddy's and Flemington Markets where migrant groups are both consumers and producers. The market place is a meeting-place, social place, work place and for many migrants

resembles the tradition pf b~ars in their country of orig~n. Paddy's Market, however, has been redeveloped as a site for 'yuppie consumption' (Milner,1993:135), thus changing its migrant heritage significance.

Significant individuals and their setting pose difficult heritage planning challenges. How does heritage planning address the significance of the Greek delicatessen in Marrickville where a Greek woman has presided for the last thirty years, helping members of the Greek community and now the Vietnamese community? Is the heritage only associated with the woman and her services, or is the physical location of the site the heritage? Under the aegis of social heritage significance, should community counselling continue in that location? Similarly, European migrants have indicated the importance of coffee shops and delicatessens, both as meeting places and suppliers of the food which has been such a strong part of their cultural life. Examples in Sydney include No.2 I, Double Bay, seen as a cultural heritage place for the Austro-Hungarians, as is Cyril's Delicatessen iri Haymarket. There are mariy similar examples in other Australian cities, particularly Melbourne and Fremantle.. Is it possible to recognise the heritage significance in such places when their significance is so closely aligned with particular owners? What does listing mean in planning terms? Does No 21 have to continue as a coffee shop and Cyril's, a delicatessen? Can planning codes protect such continued uses?

Finally, there is the complex issue of sustaining heritage for countries oforigin. There are places in Australia that are seen as European heritage such as the work of outstanding European architects who fled to Australia after the War. This is particularly the case for Czechoslovakia where early work done in Australia by Czech architects is considered to be an outstanding form of Czechoslovakian architecture (Jeans in

377 Armstrong, 1993b). Does the ARC's criteria allow for the 'community or cultural group' referred to in Criterion E (Aesthetic Significance) and G (Social Significance) to be in another country? In a similar vein, Australia is the custodian of cultural practices long relinquished in the countries of origin. This important aspect of migrant heritage is not addressed comfortably under AHC Criteria because communities for whom it has most value are communities in other countries.

As with all phenomenological research the deeper one probes into phenomena the more the complexity in the essences of life-world is revealed. This is the case in migrant cultural landscapes. The search for a simple application of a method of identification and management of values will continue to be challenging when dealing with the dynamic situation of cultural pluralism. This leads to the final major issue for heritage planning addressed here, accommodating planning procedures within the 'space-in­ between'.

Planning Within the Space-in-Between.

The 'space-in-between' in this study is where the 'particular' is in tension with the 'universal' and where the 'orthodox' meets the 'unorthodox'. Some heritage planning theorists (Armstrong,l994c, Pearson & Sullivan,l995) suggest planning practice should resist the confines of orthodox codes and rules, which have been shown to act against rather than for heritage conservation. Integrated planning is a move in this direction but it does not go far enough to enable planners full engagement with the complexity involved in cultural pluralism.

It is the space-in-between, a post-modem space (Meyer,l994; Soja,1996), which allows for flexibility and multiple values and as such eludes rigid planning control. In this space planners can work differently. The research in this study does not provide strategies for planners to work in the space-in-between. Instead, it provides a theoretical space for understanding some of the dynamics involved in cultural pluralism. The insights gained from this space should assist planriers to resist the pressure for simplistic image-making. It is also the space to provide opportunities for planners to work with others to achieve innovative heritage planning.

378 Working with Others: Community Arts as Heritage Planning

In planning terms there is an important role for community arts and cultural mapping. Marrickville has pioneered the use of community arts as a way to assist migrants to express their values about the localities in which they live. The 'Mapping Marrickville' art project (Young,1995) was seen as a successful method of opening up the process of heritage identification which had previously been the domain of heritage planners. Dolores Hayden (1995) and the Common Ground movement in Britain (Clifford and King,1985,1993,1996) have .also explored the role of community arts to identify and sustain locally valued places. Building on the work of Common Ground and Creative Village (Armstrong, 1994e), Greg Young has produced a Guide to Cultural Mapping (1995). The concept of cultural mapping can be extended to include narrating sites. The writer, Amanda Lohrey, a key speaker at the migrant representatives workshop, reflected ... my ideas about heritage sites are [that they]are rarely adequately narratised. Such enormous amounts of time and resources - money- goes into preserving, buying, or restoring places and yet if you visit these sites there is not even a simple stand to tell you the history of the place.... The capacity to tell the necessary stories and make the necessary links has been a big problem. .. . at the national level there is a process of assessing national narratives. This process and the rewriting and reinventing ofthese narratives has been accelerated since 1988 and the Bicentennial.... This is characteristic of Anglo-Australians. Anglos in Australia are constantly reinventing themselves and retelling their own narratives or deviate from the standard narratives. Each generation ofAnglos tries to come up with a new version ofthemselVes ... · · Lohrey in Armstrong, 1993b: 49-50.

This is supported by other cultural theorists commenting on Australian heritage such as Malouf(1998), Manion (1991) and Morris (1993).

Community arts have been shown to be particularly effective in sustaining networks of places which reflect living heritage as everyday life (Clifford & King,l985,1993,1996). The community arts worker in the 'Mapping Marrickville' project, Sue McHattie, suggested ... the community can make decisions about development in the community. Conservation decisions should be made in the same context as other decisions made in the community. The important issue is how to develop community structures which facilitate such decisions . (Armstrong, 1993b:4 7).

379 She also criticised the impact that gentrification, so strongly associated with heritage conservation, has on migrant communities, noting that, ... some communities choose to leave, but other communities are in a situation where originally they didn't have a choice about coming to Australia ... and are now being moved on, again through the process of gentrification. Heritage is one ofthe things that contribute to that process. (MacHattie in Armstrong,l993b:48).

The implications of these different positions highlight how inadequate orthodox planning is for migrant places. There is potential to address these problems by working creatively with the space-in-between with its many authored realms of conflicting values. The post-modern status of the space-in-between, while providing flexibility and inclusiveness, also makes it vulnerable to other aspects of post-modernity in particular commodification and consumption.

Avoiding 'Image' Planning: Integrity vs Commodity

The new reflexive theory of place coincides with intense discussion about the role of heritage in contemporary society and the growing phenomenon of the 'heritage industry' (Hewison,l987; O'Hare,l997). Debates about differences between history and heritage surface at a time when former parallel heritage impulses - a concern for rigour, a concern for inclusiveness and a concern to commodify heritage - collide, causing confusion and in many cases a retreat to former orthodoxies. The heritage industry has seen economic potential in the commodification of so-called 'ethnic places' for the tourist industry (Anderson,l993; Fowler,l992; Urry,l995). Thus not only are heritage places multipy authored, their heritage interpretation are also strongly contested. Distortions of concepts of heritage, described by Lowenthal in his book Possessed by the Past (1996), occur in all areas related to heritage, but more particularly at the popular level when heritage is associated with tourism. Migrant cultural heritage is not immune from this phenome~on. The dilemma for migr~t heritage places is that many of them are marginal economic enterprises created to fulfil minority cultural needs. They are vulnerable economically and physically, often to be replaced by bigger brighter versions of a commodified ethnicity. As Urry (1995) points out the 'imagined community' has now become a new focus of production for tourism. Migrant places are at risk of losing their subtle and complex identity in order to represent, self-consciously, a simulacrum of their former culture in the form of the 'exotic other'.

380 Harvey (1989) also explores the issues of time and the consumption of place. He suggests that because of the post-modem time-space compression and the resultant homogeneity in culture, commodity and place, there is increasing sensitivity to the variations in places. As a result, there is an incentive for places to be differentiated in ways that are attractive to capital, migrants and tourists (Harvey, 1989). But as I have suggested earlier, this is a Faustian bargain. The unselfconscious expression of differences evident in migrant places will be lost once they become part of the image­ making process used to lure capital. Migrant places are complex and require sophisticated interpretation, all of which takes time to be studied. Fowler's work ( 1992) on the 'invisibles' in the landscape and their subtle relationship to space and time adds weight to the value of working with phenomenological time. It is therefore alarming that superficial aspects of migrant places are becoming sites for consumption, often under the aegis of planning before these places have been fully understood. Fortunately there is other work on the consumption of place which is providing valuable theoretical support for the importance of different approaches to planning.

In many ways, Australia has been the crucible of these issues in the 1990s. Australian society reflects the complexity of the ancient and the modem found in New World places such as United States, Canada and New Zealand but it is both more ancient in terms of its indigenous· culture and more recent in terms ·of cultural pluralism and all that is entailed in the interpretation of the cultural landscape. There are opportunities for Australian planners and theorists to contribute to an understanding of how to work within this complexity.

Summary

The importance of migrant places as part of the character of Australian cities means that planning and heritage planning in particular, are key areas which can address the continued contribution of migrant places to Australian culture. This requires a shift in heritage planning techniques in order to embrace the difficult area of managing social significance. Inherent in this process is the recognition of contested values and ways in which multiple values can be negotiated.

Conservation issues arising from an active program of identifying and assessing migrant . ,. .. heritage places are likely to be contentious. Migrant groups have expressed interest in understanding their heritage in Australia, but are not necessarily interested in conserving

381 places. As well, a number of conflicting values are likely to become evident which will need to be dealt with sensitively.

A further conflict may emerge where the greater Australian community values some migrant heritage places while migrant groups themselves do not hold the same values and do not want potential redevelopments to be constrained by heritage provisions. Many of these issues are common to all heritage practice in Australia, but some are particularly pertinent to migrant places and cultural diversity.

A key to working in a negotiated field is the revision of current theoretical positions. This last chapter in this study has looked at how the process of understanding the experience of migration to Australia by working with migrant groups has enabled new insights into existing theories about place, heritage, cultural landscapes, migration, and identity. The richness in the reconceptualised space/place/heritage theories include the particular qualities of New World countries with their fractured sense of cultural identity and the power of their imagined communities, enriched by big and little traditions. All of this has been mediated in the changing concepts of national space.

382 CONCLUSION Introduction

This section draws together the main findings of the study. Particular attention is given to the theoretical significance of the findings and the wider practical applications of this work. The study approach is reviewed in terms of the purpose of the research. Major arguments are presented as a review of the structure of the work and the results are presented as a response to the research questions. A general conclusion summarises the contribution to knowledge, the implications of this work and further research directions.

Review of the Study Approach

The purpose of this study was to identify the qualities of the Australian urban cultural landscape that have been created by waves of different migrant groups. There were two main thrusts to the thesis; understanding how the experience of migration is manifest as place-making and the incorporation of cultural pluralism into concepts of Australian cultural heritage.

+· •• The study was prompted by the desire to develop a deeper reading of an Australian sense of place. The outcomes of the work show that sense of place goes beyond the phenomenological concepts of genius loci proposed by Norberg-Schulz (1971) or the heritage approaches to cultural landscapes seen as layers of human activity on a pre­ existing natural landscape (Bennett, 1996). The research indicates that sense of place includes complex meanings and values which can be unravelled through a process of phenomenological hermeneutics. A particular aspect of the sense of place derived from migrant communities is associated with the unselfconscious activities of everyday life. Using phenomenology as a methodological approach, the everyday life-world experiences of migrants provided invaluable insights into understanding the dynamics of migrant communities in Australian cities.

Major Arguments

The major arguments put forward in the thesis are sunlinarised within the tripartite structure of the work. The first part, Cultural Pluralism Outside Cultural Heritage, argues that the pervasive phenomenon of cultural pluralism within Australian culture has not been considered part of mainstream Australian cultural heritage. When I began

383 research into cultural pluralism as a dimension of heritage, this was a clear departure from accepted notions of cultural heritage. Despite this, paradigm shifts from heritage as predominantly patrician places to concepts of heritage which include the value of vernacular places, provided an opportunity to explore heritage aspects of migrant places.

A review of these paradigm shifts in Chapter One , the first theoretical chapter, shows that by the end of the 20th century inclusive notions of heritage have emerged from the increased interest in localism and social significance. The concept of social heritage significance, however, is a difficult area for planning practice. There is clearly a need to move it from somewhat 'warm and fuzzy' concepts to· "interpretations supported by theoretical rigour.

The theoretical review also argues that there are distinguishing elements between Old World and New World notions of heritage including the significant role of the migrant, the importance of narratives in interpreting heritage values, and the pervasive phenomenon of cultural discontinuity in interpretations of New World heritage. To engage in understanding these issues, post-modem revisions of the nature of knowledge, which accept parallel values, ambiguity and contradictions, opened the door to empowering marginalised groups to be involved in the re-negotiation of cultural heritage in Australia.

Chapter Two, the second theoretical chapter, locates the theoretical space where theories about migration, identity and place-attachment intersect with an overarching and interpenetrating concept of national space. This space allows for an exploration of politics, race, class, and the spatial implications of the different policies related to post WWII migration from 194 7 to the present. It suggests that paradoxically the celebrated qualities of cultural pluralism in cities today lie in the racist and discriminating practices associated with early post-WWII migration policies.

Migration is a broad theoretical area but this research focusses on migration to Australia which has a number characteristics that distinguish it from other New World countries, all of which saw migration as essential to the successful establishment of New Worlds as capitalist enterprises.

384 In exploring identity, the chapter looks at three policies associated with post-WWII migration and shows how there was an increasing acceptance of difference. It also reveals the particular construction of migrant enclaves · and the evolving change in cultural dominance in Australian national space from the presumed binaries of 'Anglo­ ethnic' to a complex accumulation of different forms of cultural capital. This chapter challenges the simplistic notion of migrant identity as marginal. It points out that in culturally plural communities in Australia there are distinct spatial arrangements and place images which relate to the experience of migration but are not reflections of marginality. Instead they are dynamic intersections of culture, power and the sense of being multicultural.

Theories on place-attachment highlight the particular dilemma for migrants as they try to reconcile an emerging attachment to the new country with their strong attachment to the old. Concepts of cross-cultural identity also add to the interrupted identity issues characteristic of all Australians.

The third chapter of the first' section reviews the various research methods which could be used in this work and presents a particular methodological construction derived from phenomenological hermeneutics where both places and narratives are used as texts. Case studies of selected migrant groups interpolated with workshops of selected interest groups have been used to generate the data

The second section, Migrant Place-Making, uses three case studies to show the different facets of the issues involved in understanding how the experience of migration results in distinctive places and whether these places are valued sufficiently to be considered part of Australia's cultural heritage. Chapter Four explores these issues by drawing comparisons between an existing heritage study in a culturally diverse inner-city area with concepts of heritage seen by three migrant groups living in the area who reflect a time-line of migration policies. Chapter Five builds on the outcomes of the comparative study by working at a deeper hermeneutic l~vel with one migrant group while concurrently developing a method for all migrant groups to understand how their specific experience of migration has resulted in places in Australia which reflect their translocated and transformed culture. The third case study, reported in Chapter Six, applies this method using a migrant group who occupied two areas, an inner-city precinct and an urban/rural peripheral area. The application of the method concluded

385 with a detailed discussion about the interpretation of place values drawing from the theoretical field established in Section One.

The final section, Including Cultural Pluralism in Australian Cultural Heritage, synthesises the data from the case studies and workshops of key interest groups into a typology of migrant places as well as a revised theoretical position about heritage and sense of place in the urban cultural landscapes of Australia. In doing this, issues of cultural discontinuity draw attention to the vital significance of narrative knowledge in interpreting Australian place .values.

Chapter Seven confirms that the process of migration results in particular ways of place­ making. In presenting a typology of places, it reviews why people migrate and the significance of translocated and transformed culture. The typology is determined by phenomenologically-derived themes about the migration experience and the process of settling in the new country.

The last chapter, Chapter Eight, shows how layers of meaning have informed the typology of migrant places. Existing theories about heritage, cultural landscapes, migration/identity and place-attachment have been re-conceptualised so that cultural pluralism can be included in concepts of Australian cultural heritage. Fundamental to these revisions is the interplay between national space, local space and imagined space.

A number of points arise from Chapter Eight including an argument that migrants have moved from the marginal space of the 1950s to occupy an emerging position in the national space of Australia by the end of the 20th century. As well, because migrants are in a divided state of identification with place, new cultural landscapes form where migrants are consciously trying to recreate aspects of their former homeland while unconsciously adjusting to the physical and social landscape of Australia.

Revisions to concepts of place-attachment include the particular importance of narrative knowledge in determining the significance of places in the New World. Many of these places are migrant places and they often embody cultural attributes of the Old World which have become frozen in time. The chapter shows that migrant cultural landscapes include existential understanding of place, iconographic interpretations of cross-cultural places and the values of everyday places in which people carry out familiar traditions.

386 Included in revisions of space and place is the role imagined communities play for both the host community and the migrants. For the migrants there are particular constructions of place that bind together space, time and meaning in opposition to a dominant 'other', the host community; whereas the host community imagines migrant communities as 'exotic' or 'alien others'. A key to re-conceptualising space/place theory to accommodate cultural pluralism lies in the conceptual space-in-between which consists of discursive sites about the experience of migration, often expressed through metaphors and tropes.

Revisions of heritage theory include the value of narrative knowledge and how to provide a rigorous procedure to interpret such material. Revised heritage planning focusses on methods used to identify and manage migrant heritage places including issues of contested values. The space-in-between not only allows for layered interpretations, it is also a negotiated field where multiple values can be explored and negotiated.

Discussion of Results

Five research questions were generated to address the two main thrusts of the work, migrant place-making and cultural pluralism as cultural heritage. Broadly, the answers confirm that the experience of migration is reflected in place-making and that this phenomenon, which exemplifies cultural pluralism, should be included in concepts of Australian cultural heritage. There are also detailed outcomes related to each question.

Question One: Can the presence of different migrant groups in Australian cities be discerned in the urban cultural landscape?

The thesis shows that the migrant presence can be discerned in the urban cultural landscape but it is more subtle than obvious signs of ethnic difference. Chapter Four reveals that current methods used to discern the migrant presence in the urban fabric are limited to stereotypic signs of ethnic difference. This belies the pervasive and complex nature of the migrant presence. Physical evidence in places shows that migrants contribute to the sense of place in Australian cities by a combination of their own cross­ cultural difference and intersections with the host community and other cultures. The clarity of this evidence varies according to the willingness of the host community to accept evidence of cultural difference.

387 Research shows that the evidence of the migrant presence is not limited to physical fabric. The urban cultural landscape is laden with layers of meaning which can be retrieved through narrative knowledge. The richness of the migrant presence is also witnessed by observing people carrying out everyday, taken-for-granted activities as existential insiders in local places. These activities are often translocated unmediated from the migrants' original countries.

Interpreting the migrant presence requires in-depth hermeneutic analyses which have been explained in Chapter Three. Chapters Four, Five and Six show not only is the migrant presence layered and complex, it is also ephemeral because it is dynamic, responding to different cultural rituals and changes over time as part of the sequence involved in the migrant experience.

Question Two: Is the experience of migration with its associated translocated and transformed cultural identity reflected in places?

The evidence of the migrant presence in the urban cultural landscape, discussed in the first question, is the way the experience of migration is manifested as a form of place­ making. Analyses of in-depth discussions with a number of migrant groups showed that there is a sequence of events which relate to settling in a new country and trying to make it feel more familiar. . The sequence includes finding places to live and work, finding familiar food, locating places for spiritual worship, and finding places to sustain culture through recreation.

The focus in this thesis has been the significant post-WWII migration experience, however earlier periods of migration influenced where post-WWII migrant groups settled and established their lives in Australia. The sequential process is mediated by attitudes held by the host community about the migrant presence. In Australia this has evolved from early resistance to signs of difference to the recent acceptance of cultural pluralism as an aspect of an Australian metropolitan identity.

Places created as unmediated translocated culture tended to be hidden during periods when the host culture did not accept evidence of cultural difference. More recent migrant groups have felt free to create overt replicas of their life in their former countries. In contrast, places which reflect transformed culture indicate the mediating

388 effect of the host culture as well as the physical qualities of Australia and the influences of other migrant cultures.

Migrant places in Australia not only reflect translocated and transformed culture, they also reveal complicated responses to the notion of marginality. In this respect, migrant places in Australia are different to those in North America, reflecting different responses to the migration experience, different interactions with the host culture and interesting interactions with other cultures.

Question Three: What are the types of places which reflect this experience in Australia?

Broadly such places fall into two groups; those which are readily observable because of their difference and those which are concealed and kno\vn only by specific migrant groups. As well, there are characteristic places associated with the experience of migration that are generic to all migrant groups, and non-generic places which have deep significance for culturally specific migrant groups, revealing unusual cultural transformations.

Characteristic places are presented as a typology based on phenomenologically-derived themes rather than physical parameters. The themes have generated twelve broad generic place-types which are organised around a loose chronology of the migrant experience. From the range of in-depth discussions with different migrant groups who have come to Australia during the different periods of migration policies, it would appear that all migrants go through this broad thematic sequence.

The final generic place-type in the typology, referred to as hybrid places, is particularly interesting as Australia has been a major migrant-receiving country over the last fifty years. Hybrid places reveal unusual relationships with both the host culture and other cultures within the migrant population.

Question Four: Can places which embody the migrant experience and have value for migrant groups be considered heritage places reflecting cultural pluralism?

This question is the major thrust of the thesis. It is clear that urban cultural landscapes are storehouses of social memories. Many of the places valued by migrant groups may also be valuable to the mainstream community, but for different reasons. Places such as

389 Sydney Heads are high in natural heritage value and historic value for the Australian community, but for migrants they have powerful social value as points of arrival. Similarly, the old wharves, where migrants disembarked, have historic and archaeological significance as Australian heritage places, but their meanings for migrants are caught up with the overwhelming experience of leaving one's country, often as refugees, in order to live in another place which is unknown. The wharves are the beginning of this experience in the new land. Such values need to be added to the heritage significance of these places.

In considering migrant places as heritage places, increased importance is placed on social significance and its associated narrative knowledge. This also involves an acceptance of ordinary, intangible and ephemeral places plus the concept of living heritage.

Embedded in this question is the constantly negotiated concept of what comprises Australian cultural heritage? This is a complex area associated with the inevitable paradoxes embedded in heritage in the New World. Migrant places add to the phenomenon of cultural discontinuity and interrupted identity and how this is accommodated in concepts ·of heritage. Heritage is inextricably linked with national identity, a concept which is often difficult to articulate in New World countries. In Australia, this has traditionally been tied up with the 'Australian Briton'; a concept which palpably affected non-British migrants in the 1950s but now appears to be anachronistic as Australia comes to terms with its cultural pluralism. Thus if migrant places are accepted as heritage places, concepts of what determined a heritage place in Australia need to incorporate post-structuralist theories about working with parallel values, inconsistencies, contradictions and paradoxes.

Another aspect embedded in this question is whether migrant places have heritage value for migrant groups. Apart from the cross-cultural allegiances which interfere with valuing their places as their heritage in Australia, migrants have many places which tell of the humiliation and pain associated with the migration experience. The concept that these are migrant heritage places does not always sit comfortably with migrant groups. . ' .. Instead, migrant groups felt that a special criterion should be used for migrant places which recognises places telling the story of 'pride and success'.

390 Question Five: What is the most effective method to elicit such understandings from migrant groups?

The final question addresses the fact that until this research, little was known about how migrant places in Australia reflected the experience of migration and translocated and transformed culture. The increasing acceptance across a number of disciplines of phenomenological hermeneutics as a rigorous method of interpretation of meanings and values has enabled a technique to be developed which can reveal the intricacies of migrant place-making. This technique is derived from a phenomenological focus on the everyday lived-world experiences using metaphors and tropes hermeneutically to interpret the subtlety involved in translocated culture.

The process of interpretation has also required an understanding of the dynamics of race, class, marginality and concepts of national space. These dynamics change over time, so a quaternary conceptual field or space-in-between has been deployed in order to allow for complex and interpenetrating interpretations rather than more orthodox answers derived from historical sources.

A key to the method developed to understand migrant places has been the reflexive role of the migrants themselves. Though a process of reflection-in and on-action, migrants and the researcher have been able to unravel the complex values caught up in the migrant experience.

General Conclusion

This work has gone beyond simple descriptive readings of cultural landscapes and place-making in that it has explored social and cultural place meanings in the political context of Australian 'national space'. Urban places where people from non-Anglo­ Celtic countries gather have a vitality and difference which goes beyond the replication of the culture of the countries of origin suggesting that migrant place-making is worthy of study. The thesis shows that the vitality is derived from an amalgam of the experience of migration, the culture of the host country, cultures of original countries and the intersection with other cultures in Australia. It also suggests that cultural pluralism is deeply rooted in mainstream Australian culture.

391 Contributions to Knowledge

The study has extended the knowledge and understanding of migrant heritage places in a number of ways: • by revealing the experience of migration and the process of adjusting to the host country, as a series of stages, all of which are associated with particular places. This moves empirical concerns about heritage places away from a single focus on historical places to include heritage concepts as living culture and everyday ways of life. • by developing a typology of generic migrant places as well as indicating examples of non-generic places known only to specific migrant groups. The typology extends the understanding of Australia's cultural heritage places to one which is more inclusive. The study also acknowledges that such places could not be identified through orthodox heritage practice which relies heavily on documentary and physical sources. • by exploring the merit of using research processes that acknowledge the value of the spoken word and memory. Research processes, which draw from phenomenological techniques, allow access into closely held values by using in- depth discussion groups. Such processes also explore the value of mutually informing research between the researcher and the researched. • by examining the contested nature of urban place values where tensions between New World ideologies of 'progress' are in conflict with values related to history and identity. The study has focussed particularly on specific heritage planning tensions related to some migrant places. The issues are complex and require considered and innovative planning and management strategies. The work challenges accepted planning practice, particularly where stereotyping and commodifying of ethnicity occurs.

Practical Implications

Effective planning and management of places which reflect cultural pluralism is not a simple process. The history of migrant groups in Australia reflects the challenges of making one's way in a new country. Urban migrants have tended to live in concentrated clusters with others from the same country creating enclaves which reflect their culture. With rising economic strength the second and third generations disperse into other

392 areas, possibly away from strong community bonds. This process is played over and over again in inner-city and peripheral neighbourhoods resulting in changes and possible loss of valued places for different migrant groups.

The methods developed in this research provide planners with a way of engaging with migrant groups which can result in more informed decisions about the heritage of migrant places in Australian cities. There are also other empowering aspects to this process for migrant groups who participate in this process.

Future Directions

Managing fluidity and change raises the question of whether the community wishes multicultural Australia to be represented as a cultural unity or as cultural pluralism. Either way it would appear that there is a risk of leaving the interpretation of cultural pluralism within Australian cultural heritage at the level of stereotypic 'ethnic' places derived from the viewpoint of outsiders, unless migrant groups are actively involved in the heritage identification process. Clearly this is an important area for further research.

By opening up the process of what defmes migrant heritage and by giving value to cultural pluralism, there is the possibility of making more transparent the current heritage standards and criteria for all heritage assessments. This will facilitate an understanding between different cultural groups about the richness of Australian cultural heritage. As well, Australia is the custodian of cultural practices no longer sustained in the Old World.. Given the history of AustJ;~lian racism, by some ironic twist, Australia has the opportunity to lead the world in innovative practices in the acceptance of cultural pluralism as part of cultural heritage. The application of this research can lay the groundwork for such leadership.

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417 APPENDIX ONE

LISTS OF PARTICIPANTS

In-depth Discussion Groups Interviews.

418 LIST OF PARTICIPANTS OF DISCUSSION GROUPS.

CASE STUDY ONE

Greek Group in Marrickville.

Location: Marrickville Local History Library. • GM1 - 111 October, 1992, • GM2 - 14'11 October, 1992, • GM3- 21st October, 1992. • Convenor: Helen Armstrong Organisers • Assistant: Trevor Edmond • Community Liaison Worker: Freda Economides. • Angelos A. from Athens, Migrant Group: • Despina A. from Lesbos, • Greg C. from Peloponnese, • John M from Northern Greece, near Macedonia, • John S. from Athens • Melba P. from Athens, • Mersina P. from Lesbos, • NickS. from Rhodes, • Rena S. .from Rhodes. Lebanese Group in Marrickville

Location: Community Hall, Illawarra Road, Marrickville. • LM1 - 6'11 February 1993, • LM2 - 13'11 February 1993, 11 • LM3 - 2d F, e bruary 1993 • Convenor: Helen Armstrong Organisers • Assistant: Trevor Edmond • Migrant Liaison: Planner Marrickville Shire Council. .. • Alii .. Migrant Group • Saml • OumaimaH • Fred Y. • ZawatY. • Inaam W. • Hassan I • Halal • Mohammed I

419 Vietnamese Group in Marrickville

Location: Marrickville Library. • VM1- 28th June 1995, • VM2- 5th July 1995. ,. .. • Convenor: Helen Armstrong Organisers • Assistant: Dr Walter Baker • Marrickville Ethnic Liaison Officer: Nelson Contador. • Lam Son Lee: Vietnamese Community Migrant Group. Liaison Officer. • Loc Tran: Vietnamese Police Liaison Officer. • Lan Nguyen: Vietnamese Community Worker.

Vietnamese Interviews: 1oth July 1996, Quyenh Due, Vietnamese refugee. gth June 1996, Phuong Ngung, Vietnamese migrant.

Other Migrants In Marrickville Mr & Mrs Santos, arrived in 1950s from Madiera, Portugal, interviewed in 1993, 1996. Italian Members of St Brigids. Bingo Club, interviewed September, 1994.

CASE STUDY TWO Lebanese Migrant Group

Location: Home of Coordinator, Arncliffe, Sydney. • LM2/1- 21h March 1994. • LM212 - 3rd April 1994 • LM2/3 - lOth Apri/1994 • LM2/4 - 17th Atprz '11994 • Convenor: Helen Armstrong Organisers • Coordinator: Sam Iskandar. • Alii Participants • OumaimaH • Fred Y. • ZawatY. • Inaam W. • Hassan I • Halal • Mohammed I (NES parent) • Rima I (NES parent)

420 CASE STUDY THREE

Maltese Migrant Group.

Location: La Vallette Centre, Blacktown, Sydney. • MM1-18'" November 1995 • MM2- 25'" November 1995 • MM3- 2"d December 1995 • MM4 -1" December 1995. • Convenor: helen Armstrong Organisers • Coordinator: Marc Carvana • Reporter: Godfrey Sultana • Tom G. Participants • Fr Benedict S . ,. • John F. .. • George G. • Nick A . • Joe F . • Mary T. • Lorenza V. • Teresa G. • FrankS. • Mary V. • Mary B . • Jean B . OTHER CONTRIBUTING DISCUSSION GROUPS Snowy Mountain Group.

Location: Cooma, NSW. • Meeting 1- 11" February 1996, • Meeting 2- 24'11 February 1996 • Meeting 3- 2"d March 1996 • M eetzng 4 - 9111 Mi.arc h 1996 • Coordinator: Helen Armstrong & Joy Organisers McCann (AHC) • Convenor: Janet Stalvies, Local Historian • Elido F. (Italian) Migrant Group • Eva G. (Norwegian) • KurtH (Norwegian) • George M (Czeckoslavakian) • Danitza M (Polish) • Gino R. (Italian) • Nata/ina C. (Italian)

421 Italian Group

Location: Coburg, Melbourne. • Meeting ]-18th December.J995 • Meeting 2 -13th February 1996 • Meeting 3 -20th February 1996 • M.eetzng 4 - 27th F,e bruary_ 1996 • Co-ordinators; Helen Armstrong & Joy Organisers McCann (AHC) • Convenor: Frank Filardo . • Lucia C . Participants • Franco G . • TontD'A . • Carlo C. • BettyS. • JoeP. • DomenicoN. • Silvia B . • Giovanni S . • Joe B . • FrankDiB. • GuiseppeB. • Anthony D 'U.

CONTRIBUTING INTERVIEWS

Italian: • Sam, Cartiona, Salvatore M 1995-1996. • Merlina G. 1994-5. • Mario X 1994.

Croatian: • Ivana M, Strathfield, Sydney 1995. • Coordinator: Wally Lalich, Sydney. • Nina & Andrija S. Blacktown, January 1997 • Marko & Jakica M Blacktown, January 1997. • Franco & Elizabeth P. Blacktown, 1997.

Latvian: • Karl & Edire Z. Brisbane, 1997. • Edgar & Valentine R.; Amity Point, Queensland. 1997.

422 APPENDIX TWO

Workshop One: Migrant Representatives

Workshop Two: Heritage Professionals

423 WORKSHOP ONE: WHAT IS MIGRANT HERITAGE?

Location: Redfern Town Hall, June 1993.

List of workshop participants • Alan Jacobs Sydney Jewish Museum • Amanda Lohrey University of Technology, Sydney • AmarrGalla University ofCanberra, Cultural Heritage Management Centre • Andrew Riemer University ofSydney • Askin Kemikoglou SBSRadio • Barry Jordan SBSRadio • Cinzia Guaraldi Liverpool Migrant Resource Centre • Christine Inglis Multicultural Centre University ofSydney • Claire Roberts Curator, Asian Decorative Arts, Powerhouse Museum • Edytta Super Jewish Community • Elsa Atkin Evatt Foundation • Eric Sierins Photographer, Max Dupain & Associates • Francis Lee ·2EARadio • Greg Young Pac Rim Planning Pty Ltd • Helen Sham-Ho Chinese Community, Parliament House, Sydney • Jane Morrison Australian Heritage Commission, ACT • Jenny Trinca South Sydney City Council • KingFong Chinese Community • Louise Berg Parramatta Council • Lynette Simons SBSRadio • Mandy Jean Marrickville Council, Heritage Adviser • Marie de Lepervanche Sydney University • Martin Brine Australian Heritage Commission, ACT • Meredith Austin Office ofMulticultural Affairs, Canberra • Nicholas Bates Ethnic Communities Council ofNSW • Peter Thomas Waverley Municipal Council • Sam Iskandar Lebanese Community • Sophia Catharios SBS (Sydney) • Stephen Davies National Trust NSW • Susan McHattie Community Arts Marrickville • Susan Thompson University ofNSW School of Town Planning • TongPham Vietnamese Community • Trevor Edmond ·Community Facilitator, University of Western Sydney • Veronica Fenning University ofNowra (Student) working with Helen Sham-Ho

424 Workshop One: what are migrant heritage places?

A workshop was held on 9 June 1993 with leaders of migrant groups, theoreticians on multicultural studies, writers whose works reflect the migrant experience, SBS Radio and TV presenters, representatives of the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Federal and State Level, representatives of the Ethnic Affairs Commission (EAC), Federation of Ethnic Community Councils (FECCA), Ethnic Communities Council (ECC), and local Government community workers who work in ethnically diverse areas. As well representatives of the Australian Heritage Commission, the Heritage Branch (NSW) and the National Trust were invited.

The Structure of the Workshop

Tlte Venue The choice of venue was considered to be important. It was decided that Redfern Town Hall in Sydney was a fitting venue as the focus of the study is Post World War 2 migrant heritage places and Redfern was an important area for migrant groups during the 1950s and 1960s.

Ambience Because the study deals with many different minority groups it was felt that is was important to make all groups feel welcome. Accordingly a significant effort went into the organisation of the food, music and setting for the workshop.

Purpose of the Workshop The purpose of the workshop was to bring together a group of people with a range of expertise about immigration in Australia. The workshop was divided into three main areas of investigation:

• * What is migrant heritage - artefact, memory or place? • * The migrant experience and heritage places. • *Identification and conservation ofmigrant heritage places.

Workshop Folders Each participant was given a· persdnal folder containing a program, explanatory material about the project and a set of workshop sheets- the Open Forum, Workshop I -the Migrant Experience and Heritage Places and Workshop 2- Methodological Issues.

Speakers The workshop was divided into 4 sections.

*The broad issues about migrant heritage speakers - Associate Prof Andrew Riemer, writer Gregory Young, heritage planner Mandy Jeans, heritage architect

* 2 examples of migrant groups and their heritage places speakers - Claire Roberts, Curator, Asian Decorative Arts, SA. Helen Sham-Ho, Chinese community representative. Sam Iskandar, Lebanese communityrepresentative.

*the practicalities about assessing migrant heritage places speakers - Margaret Wyatt, local historian Sue McHattie, community arts Lynette Simons, SBS

* an Australian response to migrant heritage speakers - Amanda Lohrey, writer, Max Bourke, Australia Council Stephen Davies, National Trust

425 Each section of the workshop was designed so that speakers would provide short introductions to the issues in order to facilitate the discussion which followed. Workshop sheets were provided to participants to record their responses to the speakers and the discussion.

Workshop Summary

Broad issues about migrant heritage The speakers and the ensuing open forum raised issues about personal heritage values versus collective heritage values; the importance of the intangible heritage; the multilayering of heritage values in contemporary cities and the cultural transformations which are producing a uniquely Australian cultural heritage

Open forum as a method of identifying issues

When a group of experts from a number of fields are brought together, a forum can be an important catalyst for subsequent discussion groups.

The Migrant Experience and Heritage Places

Two speakers were invited to talk about the heritage places of two specific migrant groups- the Chinese and the Lebanese. Claire Roberts; the Curator of Asian Decorative' Arts, Powerhouse Museum, spoke about "Some thoughts on Chinese Heritage Places" and Helen Sham-Ho responded as a representative of the Chinese Community. This was followed by Sam Iskandar who spoke about some valued Lebanese places in Sydney.

Following the speakers' presentations, the participants broke into four groups often people and addressed the following set of questions: • Ql. Js migrant heritage expressed in physical places? • Q2. Is migrant heritage the experience ofmigration? • Q3. Do the values attached to places shift during the migrant experience? • Q4. Are the migrant heritage places those associated with employment programs such as the construction ofmajor public works? • Q5. Can migrant heritage be conserved in places or is such heritage only in the realm ofhistory and memory? • Q6. Is migrant heritage the continuation oftraditions and practices in a new country?

Each discussion table was taped and the discussion was transcribed and analysed. The taped discussions were an invaluable resource of information. Although there was a reporting segment, it merely summarised the issues. The in-depth discussion at the individual tables provided the necessary details to be able to interpret issues of concern.

Methodological Issues of Identification and Conservation This session addressed th~ practicalities of identifying immigr~t heritage places and possible conservation practices. · Three speakers were selected to highlight particular issues - * Margaret Wyatt, the local historian with Ku-ring-gai Council, spoke of two immigrant places in her municipality and methods of documentation.

* Sue McHattie, Community Arts Coordinator with Marrickville Council, spoke of community mapping as a method of identifying heritage places for immigrant groups,

* Lynette Simons, Coordinator of Language Training, SBS Radio, spoke of the communication issues in terms of immigrant groups.

426 After the three presentations, discussion groups considered the following set of five questions dealing with the methodological issues of this project:

• Ql. What is the best way to communicate to immigrant groups about this project? • Q2. How should language differences be addressed? • Q3. How do we avoid ethnic stereotyping? • Q4. How do we access immigrant groups in different geographic locations? • Q5. How do we conserve immigrant heritage places?

Again the taped discussion provided the interpretive material. The group reporting session provided feedback to other participants but contained little discursive material.

The Aussie Response

Following a light-hearted afternoon tea oflamingtons, iced Vovos and pikelets, with background music of Rolf Harris singing "Tie me Kangaroo Down, Cha Cha Cha", three Anglo-Celtic speakers responded to the issue of immigrant heritage places.

Amanda Lohrey, writer

Max Bourke, General Manager, Australia Council

Stephen Davies, Environment Director, National Trust

This section was a light-hearted gesture to thank participants for contributing to the project. The presentations were, however, deeply meaningful and provided further perceptions to a highly complex aspect of Australia's cultttral heritage.

General Summary of Issues

The first stage of this project has revealed that discussion whether in a community of 'experts' or in immigrant communities provides invaluable access to values and opinions. During the workshop a number of valued places emerged that could only have been identified by immigrant groups themselves.

The following is a summary of the transcriptions of the workshop discussions.

What is Migrant Heritage -Artefact, Memory or Place?

The presentations and discussions revealed that migrant heritage is all of these things and something more, namely cultural practices, ways of life and cultural transformations as a result of migration.

The Migrant Experience and Heritage Places.

Six questions were discussed around this issue. The reasons why the particular set of questions was developed was explained in the text of each question together with a detailed discussion and a summary. This is contained in the report submitted to the ARC at the completion of Stage One. The following questions are summarised briefly:

*Is migrant heritage expressed in physical places?

The response showed that many .places have high immigrant heritage significance. A list of possible heritage places is included at the end of this appendix.

427 * Is migrant heritage the experience ofmigration?

Responses indicate clearly that this is so. It is therefore important to establish an oral history program to provide documentation for immigrant places.

* Are there shifts in values attached to places during the migrant experience?

The responses to this question highlight the fact that values in relation to places change for immigrant groups and that more work needs to be done in understanding this phenomenon.

* Can migrant heritage be conserved in places or is it only in the realm ofhistory and memory?

There are differences of opinion about whether immigrant heritage should be conserved. There are also concerns about potential community divisions caused by exploring immigrant heritage. There is, however, a recognition that Post World War 2 immigrant heritage places are particularly vulnerable and these places are most important in forming a broad concept of culture in a culturally diverse society.

*Is migrant heritage the continuation oftraditions and practices in a new country?

Discussion confirmed that this is so and that many potential immigrant heritage places are places where traditions can be maintained. Discussion also highlighted that immigrant heritage is dynamic and is associated with the continuity of a way of life.

* Identification and conservation ofmigrant heritage places.

Speakers addressed a number of issues including the role of the local historian and oral history programs, the role of community arts in identifying heritage places and the vital role of SBS radio and TV in communicating to immigrant groups.

A number of specific questions were discussed. Details about the reasons for the questions, the responses and conclusions are recorded in the text of the report submitted to the AHC on completion of Stage One of the project. Selected questions and responses were:

* What is the best way to communicate to immigrant groups about the AHC project?

A range of communication techniques were suggested. Despite this, there was an agreement that communication is a problem at many levels and that there should be co-ordination with the many experts currently working with immigrant groups.

*How can ethnic stereotyping be avoided?

The responses to this question highlighted the complexity of immigrant communities and the inappropriateness of stereotyping. It was suggested that the AHC should develop an immigrant community profile to assist heritage professionals.

*How can immigrant heritage places be conserved?

Discussion centred on what does conservation mean for immigrant heritage and a number of methods were considered.

The workshop concluded with three 'Aussie' responses. The results of the workshop reveal that the concept of immigrant heritage is highly important and further understandings in this area will prove to be a rich aspect of Australia's cultural heritage.

428 Table of Suggested Heritage Places • Place: Sydney H(!ads • Meaning: Many immigra~ts first introduction to Sydney • Place: r' Sikh Temple in Australia (1968) • Meaning: Places of worship for Sikhs who settled as banana farmers in North Coast of NSW • Place: Migrant hostels • Meaning: Early memories ofmigrant childhood • Place: large brick 2 storey houses in Woolgoolga- Indian • Meaning: Testify to migrant success as settlers • Place: Kings Cross • Meaning: so-called 'heart ofSydney' for new arrivals • Place: Chinatown Gateway (Pailon) • Cabramatta Gateway (Pailon) and 12 animal sculptures • Meaning: 1980s, marks the prosperity ofthe Chinese in Australia • Place: Pagoda, Chinese section, Rookwood Cemetery • Meaning: Totally community funded and maintained, commitment ofChinese • Place: Leichhardt 'Little Italy' • Place: Chinese Buddhist temple, Bonnyrigg • Meaning: Indo-Chinese commitment to Australia • Place: Bondi (Jewish area) • Meaning: Hearing European languages and seeing physical characteristics ofpeople • Place: Arncliffe, ·Lakemba • Meaning: Lebanese-Arabic heritage place • Place: Carlton, Melbourne • Meaning: Italian community place • Place: Roy Grounds building, a home for Claudio Alcorso, Tasmania • Meaning: Australian Italian architecture • Place: Redfern, Newtown • Meaning: 'They smelled right', familiar, sense of belonging • Place: Churches • Place: Graveyards • Place: Marrickville • Meaning 1960s view ofGreece Other possible heritage places derived from research • PLACE HERITAGE VALUE • Bondi beach steps Place where Jewish men met in the 1950s • Afghan mosque, Broken Hill Dates back to camel traders • Great Wall ofChina, Chinese place name of 1860s.Mungo National Park • Kinchega Woo/shed Built by Chinese labour • Chinese burial ground, Reflecting Chinese labour in the area • Outdoor cinema, Broome, ivA Chinese cinema · · • General store, Glen Innes Run by Chinese family for over 100 years • Campbell St, Sydney The original Chinatown • Buddhist Temple, Chinese heritage place ofhistoric significance Glebe Point Road, Sydney • Redfern Park, Redfern Lebanese meeting place in 1960s • Salvation Army Hostel, Hostel for Greek bridges from the • South Dowling St, Sydney bride ships

429 • Glass factory, AGI Where many Greek women worked. South Dowling St, Sydney • Banana farms, Coifs Harbour Important Sikh community • Italian places • Cairns railway Italian labour in 1880s • Dam site, Healesville, Vic Italian labour in 1920s • Quarry, Great Ocean Rd, Vic Italian labour in 193 Os • Farmhouses, gravestones, Community/rom North Italy • Abandoned vineyards, Daylesford, Vic • Farmhouses in Cobar, NSW Built by Veneto, named Tozzi • Maria Island, Tasmania Former convict settlement transformed Into agricultural colony • International Club, Stanthorpe Monument to group solidarity • Queensland shared by local Trevisians and Sicilians

430 WORKSHOP TWO: A WORKSHOP FOR HERITAGE PROFESSIONALS Location: The National Trust, Observatory Hill, Sydney

2nd November, 1994

431 List of participants • Ms Helen Armstrong Project Co-ordinator • Mr Greg Young Project Consultant • Mr Alex Marsden Australian Heritage Commission • Ms Joy McCann Australian Heritage Commission • Ms Elsa Aitken National Trust (NSW) • Mr Stephen Davies National Trust (NSW) • Mr Michael Kokot Department ofPlanning • Ms Sheridan Bourke Historic Houses Plann'i'ng • Ms Meredith Walker Heritage Consultant • Ms Jyoh Somerville Heritage Consultant • Ms Jocelyn Colleran Heritage Consultant • Mr John Poulton Local Government Planner- Liverpool • Mr John Neish Local Government Planner- Parramatta • Mr David Ryan Local Government Planner-Auburn • Ms Tamara Winikoff Australia Council • Ms Mary Dymock Australia Council • Ms Libby Ozinga Main Street Program • Mr Barry Gamba Ethnic Community Council • Mr Nelson Contador Ethnic Community Worker, Marrickville Council • Mr Brendan Stewart University of Western Sydney, Historian • Mr Duncan Marshall Heritage Consultant

432 SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP FOR HERITAGE PROFESSIONALS Twenty selected heritage professionals from private consultancies and government agencies were invited to participate in a workshop which introduced the Guide and discussed its implementation. Participants were sent a copy of the draft Guide and a summary of the trial with the The Lebanese group prior to the workshop.

The workshop focussed on: • * how heritage practitioners and agencies could use the Guide, • * working with multicultural communities in terms ofheritage issues • * translation and distribution ofthe Guide, • * linking up with other community organisations and resources, and • * dealing with community expectations.

The issues were addressed in three sessions. The first session started with a typology of immigrant heritage places as a frame of reference in which to discuss eight issues which reflect conflicting heritage values. There was not time to discuss all these issues, they were merely presented to provide a quick introduction to the broad issues of immigrant heritage.

The second session looked at the Guide- why a Guide?, how to use it, terms and defmitions, issues of translation, training the co-ordinator, and interpreting the information.

The third session looked at the implications of using the Guide and what to do with the outcomes. It addressed liaising with other agencies, community expectations, and on-going programs.

Summary ofDiscussion

First session. Discussion at the first session centred on the fact that current heritage practice and heritage legislation is based on Anglo-Celtic Australian heritage places. It was felt that these processed were nevertheless flexible and could be broadened to include migrant heritage perspectives.

It was felt that the problems will occur when developing appropriate conservation policies. This was of particular concern in relation to migrant housing. In general it was suggested that conservation areas were the most effective mechanism to conserve migrant heritage areas.

Second Session. Discussion about the Guide endorsed its value as a heritage place identification procedure. It was felt that the co-ordinator would need training and there may be need for an outside facilitator.

It was suggested that previous heritage studies should be revised to include migrant heritage places. It was also felt that the Guide could be used by any community group, not just migrant groups.

The translation of the Guide raised questions about whether it needed complete translation or just a summary of important points. It was also felt that certain organisations such as local government should be targeted before launching the Guide.

Third Session. There was general agreement about liaising with other agencies and that the outcomes could be particularly useful to some agencies such as local schools, libraries and peak ethnic organisations. There was particular concern that community expectations be clarified before the project commenced. It was felt the aims should be clearly stated. The issue of on-going programs is also closely tied up with community expectations. It was suggested that there should be further follow up with the Lebanese group, with perhaps a video or book.

Generally the participants felt the Guide was a useful document and that the important issues lay in the area ofwhat to do with the information gained and the raised community expectations. The production of a video, book and exhibition would address both the AHC's aims and the broad based nature of the outcomes.

433 APPENDIX THREE

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR WORKING WITH MIGRANT GROUPS

Setting up a Migrant Group

Generating Discursively Rich Material

Interpreting Migrant Places as Heritage.

434 Setting up a Migrant Group

Contact Process Accessing the community will always be sensitive, as I have shown in Chapter Three. The various methods I used were specific to each group, however, in general the Community Development Officers in Local Government consistently provides useful leads, particularly if there is a community arts officer. Another way to access the community is through key people in different migrant communities such as local community or religious leaders. The local librarian will know active people in particular migrant groups. Umbrella migrant organisations such as the Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia (FECCA) and the Ethnic Communities Council (ECC), or specific migrant organisations such as the Italian organisation known as COASIT or the Australian Chinese Cultural Association (ACCA) can also provide contacts with key people in different migrant communities. These various contacts can help planners to form discussion groups. Feedback from the planning workshop indicated that there was a concern that community expectations be clarified before these processes were commenced. It was felt that liaison with agencies such as local schools, libraries, community arts and peak ethnic organisations was necessary so that on-goii:lg programs could occur (Armstrong, 1994d).

Issues of Language The issue of which language to use is important. Initially I believed that the guide document should be translated into relevant languages and used by the migrant groups themselves. This did not work for two reasons. First, the presence of an outsider, say the heritage planner, encourages members of the group to fmd ways to describe their experiences so that they have meaning for a wider audience. Most commonly this will be English unless the planner speaks the language of the group. The other reason why it is preferable to use English relates to the importance of everyday expressions or tropes as signifiers to deeper meanings. When an interpreter converts what has been said into English, most of this richness is lost. Halting expressions and particular figures of speech, evident in the many quotes used in the case studies, show how rich the language of discussion can be. The power of tropes and metaphors as clues to values can also act as a stimulus to group problem-solving. The Lebanese case study in Chapter Five shows how this process works. Despite this, there are language issues. SBS Radio representatives pointed out at the migrant representatives' workshop that there are particular problems with jargon and cliches. Similarly abbreviations and acronyms can be difficult. Sophia Catharios, the Greek SBS presenter, indicated 'It took me six months to find out what CBD meant because I was too ashamed to ask, particularly because I was a communicator.' (Catharios in Armstrong, 1993b. 43).

Group Leader It is essential to have a nominated leader of the group and a reporter, both of whom speak English and the language of the group. Not only do they assist in clarifying material, their role ensures ownership of the project and a commitment to the process. The nominated leader can convene the group and the reporter can manage the tape recording as .well as locating much of the local historical material related to the community.

Ethical Issues Confidentiality and ownership of the material is a concern, much of which I have addressed in Chapter Three under 'ethical considerations'. Ownership of information was also seen to be an important issue for heritage planners and representatives of migrant groups. The process of using guided discussions might reveal information that the group does not want to share with the wider Australian community. Issues of privacy, copyright and appropriation by commercial interests associated with cultural tourism all need to be considered.

435 Generating Discursively Rich Material The use of community meetings and guided discussion that leads to joint problem-solving is a departure from accepted heritage practice.. The skills requires are in marked contrast to the skills needed for archival research and observational field work. Instead the heritage· planner is working as a facilitator. Planners, as facilitators seeking discursively rich material, need particular expertise which first involves being able, as an outsider, to get the discussion with migrants started. After this, the skill involves allowing stories to emerge and being able to recognise when a significant point has been reached which needs further discussion. As facilitator, planners also need to have on-the-spot, problem-solving skills and to include the group in this process. Planners are not just eliciting oral histories, they are actively engaging in mutual problem solving processes. To assist planners and groups to produce rich texts, the guided discussion has been designed in such a way that through an iterative process, themes will emerge.

If the process is to elicit discursively rich material, planners need to be aware of various problems and how to deal with them. After undertaking nine guided discussions with migrant groups, I have recognised that there are particular problems which interfere with the generation of material that can be used hermeneutically. The following discussion explains the particular problems encountered. These include managing people who dominate the discussion, bringing reticent people into the discussion, avoiding leading questions, preventing early closure of discussions and encouraging ownership of the process. The following table lists some points which weakened the potential for rich text.

Points for Guided Discussion Managing people who dominate the discussion. Bringing reticent people into the discussion. Dealing with prepared lists of places. Avoiding leading questions. Evaluating rambling monologues. A voiding early closure Getting the· group to problem solve. Shifting the ownership of process and outcomes.

Dominating People In some migrant groups, there are inherent hierarchies where one person is seen to be the spokesperson for the group. Such people dominate the discussion, however because the process takes four meetings their influence can usually be modified. From all of the meetings I have run, I found that if the dominating person is allowed to speak relatively unfettered at the first meeting, then in subsequent meetings standard facilitation techniques appear to work (Burgess, Limb & Harrison, 1988a, 1988b). The techniques described in the Burgess et al work can be augmented in migrant work by tacitly accepting the role this person has in the group. This includes listening to what they have said, repeating it back as a quick summary and then moving the discussion on by asking a question of another group member. When dominating people are difficult to control, the planner can suggest that the next question be answered one at a time by all members of the group.

Reticent People It is important to bring quiet people into the discussion, however in migrant groups, planners need to be sensitive to language and gender issues. One way to ensure that everyone speaks is to ask that the members of the group tell their individual migrant history sequentially. This also means that names become associated with the voice on the tape which helps when transcribing the discussion. The people who are naturally reticent will not be evident until the end of the first meeting, but once a collection of introductory stories have been shared then the planner is aware of where such shy members can contribute and can invite them to comment.

People with Lists A frequent problem encountered in the first meeting is the person who has come with a list of places. This happens because, in explaining the project, some participants become so enthusiastic about the idea that they come to the first meeting with a list of places which matter to them. Prepared lists interfere with

436 the open ended discussion and the guided process. It is, nevertheless, most important that such people be able to give their information to the meeting as soon as possible. The lists can be used later, but more importantly, until the list is given to the group, the person will not be able to fully take part. One way of dealing with this, is to follow the introductions and individual histories by asking if anyone has brought information to the first meeting that they think is important. By encouraging them to present it quickly and indicating where their information will be useful, such participants usually feel able to then engage more fully in the process.

A voiding Leading Questions Planners also need to resist asking leading questions such as where the answer is supplied with the question or where the question is asked in such a way that the answer is implied. There is a difference between guided/focussed questions and leading questions. Guided questions open up a new area of discussion without indicating the expected answers. Leading questions narrow the area of discussion by leading it down a particular track which may be the planner's preference. Nevertheless, in this work the planner's opinion is as important as any other member of the group. Thus planners need to distinguish where they are contributing to the discussion as equal group members or where they are guiding open discussion on various issues. In contrast, asking leading questions takes the group towards a desired answer. As the planner is an expert in some of the areas under discussion, this can often be very difficult to resist.

Evaluating Rambling Monologu~s .. Another important issue is how to distinguish between rambling monologues which are off the track and rambling monologues which are supplying valuable information. This is not easy and often does not become clear until the second meeting when some of the themes are starting to emerge. Because the experience of migration is often associated with tragic experiences, members of the group may need to talk about what happened to them. While it may appear to be a rambling monologue, there are clues in these stories, apart from the need for that person to have their story heard. In many ways the process is like a group of archaeologists sifting through the memories of places and events to fmd the clues which lie in the stories, even though much of the information may appear irrelevant. Often an anecdote about apparently irrelevant events which occurred in the original country, may provide important contextual information. It might provide a clue to why certain places in Australia had particular meanings for migrants who had shared experiences of a certain landscape with certain sounds, or associated with certain rituals. Other experiences associated with the reasons for migrating, possibly associated with repression, will also provide clues. Planners need to be alert to such clues and ask questions which can help the group make connections. The difficulty rambling monologues pose for the planner lies in controlling the time and holding the group's interest.

Avoiding Early Closure The concern about managing time can result in planners closing off important leads. The work that is done between the meetings in developing themes, however, can help the planner to know where to remain open and exploratory. Planners also need to engage the group in the responsibility for the identification of themes and the interpretation of the material. This makes the meetings very active and of interest for everyone participating. While it is important that the discussion has its own momentum, it must be guided in such a way that the group is working towards the interpretation of their migrant history and how this is reflected in places.

Group Problem-Solving. Another difficulty is getting the group to take equal responsibility for the project. Planners need to make the group aware of the dynamics in the problem-solving process, so that they take equal responsibility for identifying the themes and suggesting places which reflect these themes. Some groups in the case studies exhibited a tendency to feel that they were supplying information for the researcher and the recorder, rather than group problem-solving. One way to ensure that the group feels a collective responsibility is to open meetings with a preliminary thematic analysis for confirmation by the group. Often allocating tasks to members of the group encourages more ownership. This may involve asking particular members to get histories from well known figures in the community or fmding photographs from friends which show how the group used particular places.

437 Interpreting Migrant Places as Heritage The interpretation process using phenomenological hermeneutics, is somewhat different to the thematic history approach to heritage studies used by heritage planners in NSW, which is, nevertheless, a good starting point. The process recommended by this research, requires that themes emerge from coded analyses of transcripts of the meetings. Chapters Four, Five and Six have shown how themes were generated and the way these themes are reflected in places. Chapter Five showed how deeper interpretations can be derived from iterative coded analyses of discussions, phenomena and themes. This process requires that planners transcribe the taped discussions between meetings. A two hour meeting will take approximately eight hours to transcribe. Coding and theme development can be a relatively straight forward process, explained by a number of qualitative research texts (Minichiello et al, 1990, Patton, 1990). Preliminary coding and theme development should be verified with the group at the beginning of each meeting. As stated earlier, this facilitates mutual problem solving. The sophistication of the hermeneutics will depend on the creativity of the planner and the sensitivity of the group. The reflective process required to determine the heritage significance of the places often deepens their interpretation. As the group works though the Australian Heritage Commission criteria of heritage significance in the last meeting, questions are prompted which can elicit thought­ provoking responses.

The typology of migrant places indicates that a number of places could be considered for listing on the heritage registers because they have historic significance as part of Australia's history of migration such as Bonegilla Migrant Centre and Woolloomooloo Wharf. These places are collectively understood as heritage by both migrant groups and the broader Australian community. Other places, particularly those related to everyday life as a migrant trying to settle in to a new country, usually require assessment for social significance. The guided discussion process used in this research has been developed to ensure that there is a comprehensive argument to support the social heritage significance of the places. Many of these places are dynamic and evolving, such as the shopping areas and the inner suburbs. The fact that such heritage places reflect cultural continuity as ways of life and cultural practices poses particularly challenges because conservation of this type of cultural continuity will require innovative planning codes and flexibility about the concept of heritage conservation. It is important to distinguish between relatively static migrant heritage places, which are encoded with history, and dynamic migrant heritage places whose heritage significance and authenticity can only be sustained from within the migrant community in an unselfconscious manner.

Coordinating Resources It is clear that if migrant places are to be considered for listing on Local and State Government registers as well as the Register of the National Estate, then a number of resources are needed in order to undertake heritage assessments with the necessary rigour for listing. The AHC has started to acquire resource material for migrant places, however, an expanded HERA bibliography no.3 'Australia's Migrant Heritage' and a geographical distribution of migrant groups as a data base is needed. There are also existing resources in a variety of agencies including photographers, artists, writers, academics, media groups and government agencies. These need to be coordinated. Similarly, the preparation of a thematic history of migration including profiles of the different migrant groups in Australia would ensure that interpretations are embedded in a rigorous heritage planning context. The current lack of knowledge points to the role of local historians can play.

It is clear that if migrant places are to be considered for listing on Local and State Government registers as well as the Register of the National Estate, then a number of resources are needed in order to undertake heritage assessments with the necessary rigour for listing. The AHC has started to acquire resource material for migrant places, however, an expanded HERA bibliography no.3 'Australia's Migrant Heritage' and a geographical distribution of migrant groups as a data base is needed. There are also existing resources in a variety of agencies including photographers, artists, writers, academics, media groups and government agencies. These need to be coordinated. Similarly, the preparation of a thematic history of migration including profiles of the different migrant groups in Australia would ensure that interpretations are embedde!i in a rigorous heritage planning context. The current lack of knowledge points to the role of local historians can play. ·

438