Seeing Australia through Australian Literature - Essay Example

Seeing Australia through Australian literature Introduction The paper would focus on the central theme of three novels i.e. Kim Mahood’s Craft for a Dry Lake, David Malouf’s Harland’s Half Acre and Alex Miller’s Landscape of Farewell to examine how Australia is being ‘seen’ through literature, how the Australians as well as the people from other countries perceive about Australia, culturally and traditionally. These novels point out the major issue of identity that the post-colonial authors in Australia struggle with. Due to this issue of not identifying with the place they were related with or born in, they undertake introspection of their own objectives and understanding of their native places. The authors undertake this as an adventure to find about their roots and whether it helped in shaping their lives. The acceptability of our history and nativity differs from person to person. Some people accept it without any questions and follow their traditions in a customary manner. However, others struggle hard to claim their place. They take time to understand their history and their place in it. They question everything, every convention and customs as they feel alienated from their own traditions. Some of them undertake a journey to their native place to find out the reasons for their alienation and tries to make peace in their lives. The novels selected for this report are some such stories that revolve around the theme of finding one’s true self, the concept of alienation and ‘seeing’ Australia in two distinct manners i.e. the Australia of their childhood and the Australia of their adulthood. Further, the novels also try to find solace and peace in the lives of the protagonists by helping them reconcile with their internal differences and dilemma. Craft for a Dry Lake Kim Mahood’s Craft for a Dry Lake focuses on the author’s relationships in the Tanami region and his knowledge about the Aborginals. After the death of her father, Mahood is compelled to scrutinise her legacy and their relationship. In order to do so, she undertakes a journey to Tanami desert, her childhood home. However, this journey back home was an awakening for the author, as she oscillates between her native land and resisting the temptation to go back to the city (Beudel 2007). The description of the Tanami region and the road trip undertaken by the author evokes the strong history of the place and provides an ‘ambiguous geography’ (Craft, 31). The narrative represents the author’s ambiguity as well. In some places the author portrays the terrain in a very powerful manner, intermingling her own childhood memories and nostalgic moments along with it. However, in others the geography is described in a distinct manner, as if portrayed by a casual traveler, unfamiliar with the region. This ambiguous portrayal of the region rightly points out duality in the author as well, who although is able to identify with Tanami as a place where she grew up, but is not able to associate with it as an adult. There is a gaping hole the author feels while trying to reconnect with the region (Thomson 2008). Having grown up in Outback, Manhood knows the region being the one that is synonyms to adventure and physical challenges together with a strong sense of spiritual and religious journey. The author always thought that she shared a special association with the Aborigines. In one of her earliest memories, she describes the Aborigines as, “black bodies, black skins, a warm, affectionate many-limbed creature of sagging breasts and sinewy limbs and tobacco-stained teeth. And with this memory came also the memory of being different ..." This clearly shows that although she feels a strong pull towards their Aborigines, she cannot call herself one of them, instead she thought herself to be different from them even in her childhood memories (Clarke 2005). The author always believed that her Aborigine heritage gave her a distinct identity and almost rendered her “a glamorous and exotic edge”. However, when she returns to revisit her childhood memories, she found that she was totally unaware of the culture and tradition of the Aborigines. The author realises that her identity with Australia and its native people belonged to the past and that she cannot see her present or future being shaped by her past notions. This realisation made the author relieved instead of being sad as she states, "It lets me off. I do not have to go on wearing the identity I have created for myself." This theme of questioning about their identity, history and belonging is often found in travel writings by white authors, who repeatedly try to recreate their world by analysing their relationships with native Aboriginals. In this book as well, the author is trying to portray the sensibility of the white Australian towards the Aboriginals. The two distinct visions of Australia by the author i.e. one of her childhood and the other of her adult years, present the changing nature of the country as well. The Australia of her childhood was adventurous, simple, raw and spiritual. However, the Australia of her adulthood is a product of politics and economic development. The new Australia is more pragmatic and progressive, while the old Australia was imaginative and mythical. The author’s ambiguous description of the two Australia ultimately states that the people of the country needs to learn from their past cultural heritage to build a bright financial future (Thomson 2008). Harland’s Half Acre In this novel, David Malouf explores the theme of alienation felt by the settlers, who are very distinct from the aboriginals. These settlers unlike the aboriginals do not posses any strong sense of history or belonging to the Australia. They have not inherited any culture or tradition and feels the need to develop one for themselves, something as strong as the one followed by the Aboriginals. This sense of lack of culture and tradition can be found in the very first sentence of the novel, “Named like so much else in Australia for a place on the far side of the globe that its finders meant to honour and were piously homesick for, Killarney bears no resemblance to its Irish original.” In this sentence, the author is on one hand acknowledging Australia’s association with Europe and on the other hand focusing on the independent nature of Australia as well. However, this independence also posses various problems for the country. Europe has a very rich history and has chilling tales of adventure and war. The settlers therefore are torn between accepting the European history as their own or recreating their own culture and tradition in Australia. This constant pull is being analysed in the novel as well (Gorra 2000). The sense of alienation is strongly depicted in this novel, with the protagonist of the novel trying to create a separate world for himself albeit an imaginary one, which he can call his own. Harland, the protagonist tries to recreate a landscape for himself that would make him famous. His description of this piece of land is a desperate attempt on the part of Harland to create an identity for himself, separate from his rigid father’s beliefs (Gorra 2000). He rightly describes this land as “a newly emergent form out of the island itself, roughly torn away like the bark from a tree; as if there were continuity in essence but also in the movement of a real hand over paper, between all the individual parts of the world.'' Although Harland does not realise these metaphors and consider them just simple representation of his daily observations, his friend Knack believes that Harland’s thoughts are inspired by his deep-rooted quest for European longing. There are similarities between this Australian quest for identity and the quest for establishing oneself in the new land, America. As with the American immigrants, the Australian immigrants also struggle to find their true identity and are constantly feeling the pull towards their native identity. In this novel as well, Harland and his brothers are constantly trying to adjust with their father’s views and the real world they live in. All the characters in the novel are unable to find peace for themselves, one gets so disillusioned with this constant struggle that he commits suicide, another decides to run away from the family, the third brother gets into bad company and becomes a derelict, while the last brother only becomes happy in the end when he turns a radical (Mullaney 2007). In a complete foil to Harland’s vision, Malouf presents the character of Phil Vernon, who lives in a family where his grandmother is the head of the family. He is not a dreamer like Harland but a pragmatic person and accepts reality on the face value. He represents the reality of the ordinary existence, devoid of any imaginary liberties of Harland’s visions and paintings. Although, Phil’s narration may sometimes feel like being plot less, as if passages from the Australian life have been lifted to fit into the novel, it nonetheless fulfils an important purpose of aligning the settlers with the Australian history. For instance, the two characters while watching news about a Brisbane lumberyard where slavery is found to be rampant, observes that the Australian history is no that different from the European one. Like Europe, in Australia as well they could witness slavery and slave trade. Such a juxtaposition of theme makes the characters realise their inheritance and a sense of belonging (Mullaney 2007). It is through Phil’s narration Malouf provides a true characterisation of Harland and keeps reminding the readers and Harland about the protagonist’s relation with Ireland. Such a technique also helps in drawing parallel between Harland’s created world and the actual one. Throughout the novel, Phil’s narration points out the physical, historical and social differences between the British and the Australian. However, an important point that this novel makes is finding a peace in the end as both the central characters agree that they do not need the old world order and are free enough to create their own world and separate identities (Mullaney 2007). This novel also focuses on the theme of duality felt by white people in the post-colonial Australia. Malouf presents the traditional character of Australia, wherein the settlers are constantly trying to find a niche for themselves in a country that has a rich cultural heritage. They are constantly in confusion between their native heritage and that of their Australian identity. The novel brings forth the constant tension that the settlers feel around them while trying to create a distinct identity for themselves. The sharp characteristics of Australia, its people, tradition, culture and history are etched finely in the novel, which gives a very traditional outlook to the country. The novel also portrays the fact that this traditional character of the country is so strong that the settlers feel a sense of alienation in the country and tries constantly to create their own place in the country. Through the conflicts and struggles of the central characters, Malouf in this novel presents the deep-seated traditional nature of Australia and how these characters are trying to cope with such conflicts by creating a separate identity for themselves (Mullaney 2007). Landscape of Farewell Alex Miller’s novel Landscape of Farewell deals with the concept of blood and soil and how they are inter-related to form the basic identity of a person. The novel explores the fact that blood and soil are not just genetically linked but even have moral and historical linkages. The novel portrays the importance of one’s country and how a country shapes our identity. If a country is defiled, our identities also get defiled with it. This theme is being juxtaposed with varied human emotions and plots such as reconciliation and revenge, which provides a very strong climax to the novel (McPhee 2007). The novel traces the story of a German historian who is disheartened and is unable to understand the point of murders and warfare strewn across human history. He intends to deliver his last lecture and thereafter kill himself as he does not see any purpose to live. He also sees that he failed morally as well. His German heritage often makes him guilty and his father’s atrocities during the World War II pricks his conscious often. He thinks himself responsible for the death of innocents and is unable to find any meaning to such ruthless murders. He is depressed and is weighed down by his inherited German heritage (McPhee 2007). Further, the passionate outrage of his uncle about German soil and the concept of fatherland are also etched in the mind of the protagonist, Max. He trembles as he remembers the outburst of his uncle who after scooping some soil in his hand said, “It is the soil of our fathers… This soil is us! ... We are this soil”. Such nationalistic feelings seen during his childhood left an indelible mark upon the young Max. However, as a historian he finds such passionate discourse misleading, which resulted in the murder of so many innocent lives. This finally results in creating confusion in Max and he is unable to understand whether he should be proud of his German heritage or be ashamed of it. This ambiguity leads him towards attempting to commit suicide (McPhee 2007). However, after the lecture, Max encounters a fiery scholar Vita who is enraged by Max’s ignorance about the struggle of indigenous people of Australia. She asks Max to visit Australia and meet her uncle, who may help him to find a solution for his struggle. The old Dougald, Vita’s uncle indeed helps Max to heal. He tells Max the stories about the brutalities and savagery done by strangers on their ancestor’s land and how his grandfather led the tribe to fight against these strangers. These tales makes him realise that each one of us comes from the “same murdering species”. We are representative of the same human life and have same carnal and animalistic instincts. We fight for our survivals and for possession of more land. It makes no difference whether we are Australians or Germans, our basic human traits for the quest of more makes us murderers and plunderers. Therefore, a person’s nationality has nothing to do with the nature of the history that a person is thrust upon; instead it is struggle to keep the human morals intact that is important (Perkin 2008). The novel projects a strong tale of redemption and reconciling with one’s identity through the journey undertaken by the protagonist of the novel. After being healed, Max comes back to Germany and decides to write about massacres in a proper light. He also decides to find out about his own family’s history. However, once he find out about the truth, he is faced with another dilemma, whether to present it as a piece of fiction or a history. He also faces many other questions about history, whether one really needs to believe in it, whether it is really history that shapes us or are they just stories that are thrust upon us to make us believe in great wars, pride in blood and soil. Is it really worth to let ourselves define by blood and soil? It is an open-ended question with which Miller leaves us in the end to interpret for ourselves (Perkin 2008). The novel clearly portrays the idea that Australia is not so distinct in its character. Although, it might have a unique tradition and culture, it still shares the same history of warfare and concept of bravery and pride with the rest of the world. The novel tries to depict that the core of the country is similar to that of other countries and the basic human desires are the same as felt by any other person in the planet. A person’s identity defined by his blood and soil is a universal theme and can be applicable in Australia as in any other place (Perkin 2008). Conclusion The analysis of these three novels questions the issue of identity and how it is relevant for a human being. The theme of alienation and the struggle to find one’s identity run’s through all the three novels selected for this paper. Further, the novels also presented the various characteristics of Australia and how these characteristics have changed over the ages. In Kim Mahood’s Craft for a Dry Lake this alienation is portrayed through the description of the Tanami region by the author. The author although being grown up in the region, is not able to associate herself with it when she revisits it after her father’s death. The author’s narrative, which is often nostalgic and at sometime from a stranger’s perspective, clearly provides this ambiguity. This ambiguity also portrays the new and old Australia, how the old traditional Australia is no longer recognisable to the new generation. The changing facets of Australia are being distinctly drawn by Mahood in her memoir. Similarly, In Harland’s Half Acre, David Malouf also explores the theme of alienation that is being felt by the settlers in Australia. Malouf states that these settlers does not posses the sense of belonging to their adopted land and is oscillating between their native identities and adopted ones. The central characters represent two different kinds of perceptions in the novel, with the protagonists providing an imaginary world and Phil portraying the stark reality. Somewhere in the novel this struggle gets intermingled when the characters realise that essentially all the traditions and cultures of the world share similar characteristics and we are not very different from each other. The strong and traditional characteristic of Australia is being portrayed in this novel, wherein the core character and tradition of the country is so strong that it evokes a sense of alienation in the settlers. This theme of realisation is carried forward in Alex Miller’s novel Landscape of Farewell in an empathetic manner. The concept of blood and soil is presented in an inter-related manner, which is shown as providing the basic identity of a person. The novel projects the inner dilemma of its protagonist who is struggling with his German heritage and his family’s part towards holocaust. He is ashamed of his heritage but cannot abandon it and therefore decides to kill himself. However, a journey to Australia and finding about the indigenous Australians makes him realise that it is human character to lust for macabre and warfare, and it has nothing to do with one’s heritage. While the first two novels tried to portray the core characteristics of Australia by pointing out the differences, this novel bridges the divergence by appealing to the basic human nature. Bravery and pride in one’s soil are two common themes that could be found anywhere in the world and is not distinct to one single country. This novel is truly cathartic for this paper as well, as it tries to bring about a reconciliation between the distinct Australian heritage and the world culture. Thus, these three novels examine how Australia is being ‘seen’ through literature, how the Australians as well as the people from other countries perceive about Australia, culturally and traditionally. The three novels represent that although, the protagonists try to alienate themselves from their surroundings or struggle to become one with their immediate environment, they finally finds peace when they realise that it is eventually the human nature that is bigger and more universal than a particular tradition or culture. Reference: Beudel, Saskia 2007, “Kim Mahood's Evolving Geographies”, Australian Humanities Review, viewed June 18, 2010, . Clarke, Robert 2005, “Intimate strangers: Contemporary Australian travel writing and the semiotics of empathy”, Journal of Australian Studies, 29(85), 69 – 81. Gorra, Michael 2000, “The Australian Dream”, The New York Times, viewed June 18, 2010, . (Harland’s Half Acre) Mahood, Kim 2000, “Craft for a Dry Lake”, Fishpond Australia. Malouf, David 1997, “Harland's Half Acre”, Random House Inc. McPhee, Hilary 2007, “Shadows that cross our souls”, The Australian, viewed June 18, 2010, < http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/shadows-that-cross-our-souls/story-e6frg8px-1111114734473>. Miller, Alex 2007, “Landscape of Farewell”, Allen & Unwin. Mullaney, Julie 2007, “New Labours, Older Nativisms? Australian Critical Whiteness Studies, Indigeneity and David Malouf’s Harland’s Half Acre”, The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 42(1), 97-116. Perkin, Corrie 2008, “Journey into the heart of a massacre”, The Australian, viewed June 18, 2010, < http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/journey-into-the-heart-of-a-massacre/story-e6frg8nf-1111115534420>. Thomson, Margie 2008, “Kim Mahood: Craft for a dry lake”, The New Zealand Herald, viewed June 18, 2010, . Read More