THE AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE

Running head: AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE
REPRESENTATION OF ABORIGINALS IN AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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TASK 1: PASSAGE ANALYSIS
Representation of Australia’ and ‘Australianness’ in “Ten Canoes” from 6:50 to 9:30
The section of “Ten Canoes” from 6:50 to 9:30 had been selected for analysis since it
offers the audience a glimpse into the actual aboriginal Australia which had not been touched by
the process of colonization, capitalism and other kinds of evils that the western world stands for.
More importantly, an important aspect this section can be attributed to the fact that the director
had tried to take the help of effective storytelling devices and also visual cinematic devices to
showcase an Australia which had not yet being touched by colonization and is still aboriginal in
nature (Peat 2016). Furthermore, it is seen that the narrator Rolf de Heer who claims to narrating
his own story offers an insight to the audiences regarding the different myths, values, ideas that
the aboriginals believed in and also by taking the audiences back to the time of his ancestors as
well as telling the story of the incident of the forest he helps the audience to understand the kind
of life that they led (Imdb.com 2019). This is important since these along with the other entities
which are being elucidated in the section under discussion here are the elements which not only
make up Australia but also render to it the element of “Australianness” as well.
The section under discussion here is a classic example of documentary making wherein it
had been seen that some of the most contemporary techniques of movie making are fusing
together to make the section appealing for the audiences. For instance, the entire section is being
showcased in black and white so to convey the idea to the audiences that the concerned scene is
historical in nature or for that matter had already taken place in the past and the narrator is
merely retelling it so as to make the audiences understand the historicity of the tale that the
narrator is telling (Jorgensen 2016). More importantly, it is seen that the audiences get the

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impression that the camera is static at one place and the different aboriginal characters of the
scene are moving in the scene and this in turn enhances the documentary nature of the work
under discussion here. However, at the same time it can be said that this had been done so as to
make the audiences believe in the fact that the narrator himself is present in the scene and all the
events or “the vanished reality” of these people are being represented through the eyes of the
narrator (Strange 2015).
An important feature of the passage under discussion here can be attributed to the fact
despite using the modern techniques of cinematograph, the scenes are redolent with
“Australianness” and therefore try to offer a fleeting glimpse to the audiences into the real
Australia or for that matter the nation that it used to be before colonization or the arrival of the
European settlers (Peat 2016). For instance, the ideology as well as the way of life of these
people becomes apparent from the simple beliefs regarding birth, death, rebirth and others they
held, the topics that they generally talked about, their humor or comic sense and others. It is true
that these are simple in nature in comparison to the present day Australians yet at the same time
it needs to be said that this is what renders the element of “Australianness” to their lives more
than the present day Australians.
TASK 2: PASSAGE ANALYSIS OF “THAT DEADMAN DANCE”
Keyword: Race
“Wunyeran had politely sat through several church services and now, broken English
interspersed with his own language and again with song, he expressed something of his elder
brothers the kangaroos, and that trees or whales or fish might also be family. Or so Cross
understood. The sun was their mother … Cross’s face showed he did not understand.”

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The above passage from “That Deadman Dance” of Kim Scott in a subtle manner
highlights the reasons for the various difficulties that the Australians face for the purpose of
understanding the aboriginal or the indigenous people of the concerned nation. As a matter of
fact, the passage under discussion here clearly indicates the fact that the aboriginals even in the
present times have not been touched by the advancements in the fields of knowledge, society and
others that the Australians have been able to achieve over the years. The resultant effect of this is
that the aboriginals have still managed to retain the natural “Australianness” element in their
lives and thereby can be said to be true representatives of the nation of Australia (Ashcroft
2013). For instance, the passage under discussion here clearly depicts the prominent role that the
trees, forests, birds, fishes and other living creatures of the nation of Australia played in their
lives. As a matter of fact, Wunyeran despite the interactions that he had with the English-
speaking people or the Australians still believe in the fact that the kangaroos are his brothers, the
trees, fishes, whales and the other animals of the forest are a part of his family. More
importantly, an important element of the race depiction strategy which had been used by Scott
can be attributed to the fact that Wunyeran is convinced that he can communicate with the
animals, trees, fishes and others of the forests through the usage of the language and the songs
that had been taught to him by his ancestors (Thackrah and Thompson 2016).
Alber (2016) is of the viewpoint that for the purpose of effectively understanding the
aboriginal people and also their resistance to the Australians, the exploitation that they have
faced at the hands of the Australians over the years and the resultant distrust that they have
developed towards the Australians needs to be taken into account. For instance, it had been seen
that thousands of aboriginals in Australia like Wunyeran of “That Deadman Dance” have been
deprived of the trees, land, forests and others that they considered to be their family (Scott 2010).

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More importantly, attempts have been made by the Australians not only to baptize the
aboriginals, make them forget their native language but also to embrace Christianity and the
English Language (Van Rijswijk 2015). Thus, it had been seen that although the aboriginals have
reluctantly embraced Christianity and the English language yet their cannot give up the love that
they have for their land, the forest, its animals, trees and others and this becomes apparent from
the condition of Wunyeran depicted in the passage under discussion here.
TASK 3: CRITICAL ARTICLE ANALYSIS
Option “B”
Gelder and Jacobs (1996) have made an interesting point in their article “The
Postcolonial Ghost Story” that is “To dwell on a haunted site may produce a particular kind of
postcolonial ‘worrying’; it is always better to pass through and, as we have suggested, the
haunted site, like the sacred site, can spread its influence rather than restrict it simply to its
precise location”. This statement of Gelder and Jacobs (1996) become especially important from
the perspective of the nation of Australia and also the relationship which had existed between the
Australians and the aboriginal people of the concerned nation over the years. For instance, the
settlement that the Europeans were being able to create in Australia was at the dint of the
suppression of the aboriginal people of the concerned nation along with the values, cultural
traditions, language, beliefs and others followed by them (Ben-Messahel 2018). More
importantly, as “That Deadman Dance” of Kim Scott makes it abundantly clear that the
Australians have even tried to baptize them and also teach them the English language so as to
make them shift away from the aboriginal way that they had followed over the years.

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This behavior displayed by the settlers towards the native or for that matter the aboriginal
people of a particular nation is being generally described through the usage of the concept of
‘white man’s burden’. As a matter of fact, the idea that the white skinned people are superior in
comparison to the other people and thus it is their responsibility to civilize as well as improve the
condition of the other people had been prominent over the years (Gleeson-White 2019).
However, Gelder and Jacobs (1996) in the passage under discussion here clearly indicate that
this is merely meant for the suppression of the native or the aboriginals and also for the purpose
of ensuring the fact that the aboriginal people themselves in future do not become the
suppressors rather than the suppressed. This is perhaps one of the most important reasons why
Gelder and Jacobs (1996) have called nations like Australia “a haunted site” wherein the native
people have been completely destroyed to create a new settlement or civilization although the
ghosts of the native people and their way of life always threatens to come to the fore and wreak
havoc.
Wunyeran in Scott’s” That Deadman Dance” despite speaking rudimentary English is
still being able to maintain his ties with the cultural traditions, values, beliefs and other ideas that
his ancestors or the earlier aboriginals of the nation of Australia held long ago before the arrival
of the European settlers (Scott 2010). This in turn gives rise to a fear in the mind of Cross that
maybe someday the ancient aboriginal spirit would come back and thereby undo the things that
the European settlers like him had been able to achieve within the spectrum of the concerned
nation. More importantly, the aboriginal or the native spirit or the values can be suppressed or
repressed by the settlers for a certain period of time but they cannot be fully exterminated and
this in turn makes the settlers realize the fact that the land on which they have created the

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settlement is a haunted one wherein the ghosts of the past can at any point of time can come back
and thereby undo everything.
TASK 4: REFLECTION ON COLLABORATIVE LEARNING
The course on Australian Literature (T3) had been a great learning experience for me and
made me think about the nation in which I dwell and also about its past as well. In this regard, I
would like to specially mention the different works that we have studies in this particular course
like “My Brilliant Career”, “Picnic at Hanging Rock”, “Ten Canoes”, “That Deadman Dance”
and others which had substantially contributed towards the rising awareness in me about the
nature of the nation in which I dwell. For instance, in the 21st century individuals like me are
being completely engrossed in the different distractions offered by the nation of Australia like
social media, movies, television series and others and thus individuals like me have very little
time or for that matter enthusiasm to reflect back on the history of the nation or what it means to
be an Australian itself. Thus, I would say that an important contribution made by this particular
course can be ascribed to the fact that it had helped to understand or for that matter come face to
face with the true Australia and also its element of Australianness as well.
I would say that it is through this particular course and also the different works that we
have studied as part of this particular course had made me see the aboriginals of Australia as the
suffering individuals who have been stripped off of their very identity by the European settlers in
the nation of Australia. For instance, “Ten Canoes” by showing me the life led by the aboriginals
and also the land that Australia used to be before the arrival of the European settlers made me see
the real Australia and what is actually meant by the term “Australianness”. On the other hand,
Scott’s” That Deadman Dance” and the struggle undergone by Wunyeran in the concerned work,

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not only the physical but also the mental or the psychological as well, made me realize how
precarious the civilization that the European settlers have been able to create in Australia actually
is. In this connection, I would say that I completely agree with the concept of haunted site
articulated by Gelder and Jacobs (1996) in their article “The Postcolonial Ghost Story” and
firmly believe that the nation of Australia is presently a haunted site which is being haunted by
the ghosts of the aboriginals who are trying to take the revenge for the gross injustices that had
been committed against them by the European settlers over the years. In the light of these
aspects, I would say that the course had not only been a very helpful one for me but at the same
time had helped me to come face to face with the true Australia and its “Australianness” as well.

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References
Alber, J., 2016. Towards resilience and playfulness: the negotiation of indigenous Australian
identities in twentieth-century Aboriginal narratives. European Journal of English Studies, 20(3),
pp.292-309.
Ashcroft, B., 2013. Beyond the Nation: Australian Literature as World Literature. Scenes of
Reading: Is Australian Literature a World Literature, pp.34-46.
Ben-Messahel, S., 2018. Disturbed Australian Spaces. Introduction. Commonwealth Essays and
Studies, (41.1), pp.5-6.
Gelder, K. and Jacobs. J., 1996. “The Postcolonial Ghost Story”. Journal of the Association for
the Study of Australian Literature, pp.110-20.
Gleeson-White, J., 2019. Contested land: Country and terra nullius in Plains of Promise and
Benang: From the heart. Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, 3(18).
Imdb.com 2019. Ten Canoes (2006) - IMDb. [online] Available at:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0466399/ [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].
Jorgensen, D., 2016. Ten Canoes as a communist film. Studies in Australasian Cinema, 10(1),
pp.168-175.
Peat, D., 2016. Representing people and landscape:'Ten canoes'. Metaphor, (4), p.21.
Scott, K., 2010. That Deadman Dance. Picador, Sydney.

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Strange, D., 2015. Rolf de Heer's' Ten Canoes': Real, remembered and imagined
landscapes. Metaphor, (3), p.39.
Thackrah, R. and Thompson, S., 2016. Kim Scott as Boundary Rider: Exploring possibilities and
new frontiers in Aboriginal health. A Companion to the Works of Kim Scott, pp.146-157.
Van Rijswijk, H., 2015. Towards a Literary Jurisprudence of Harm: Rewriting the Aboriginal
Child in Law's Imaginary of Violence. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, 27(2), pp.311-
335.