"What constitutes 'Our Nation'?" (Sun, 2002).
I am an Australian, born and bred here, as was many generations of both sides of my family before me. But just because I am Australian by heritage, does that mean I must display the cultural norms? And how do these norms affect the way we should go about our everyday lives?
The stereotypical "Australian", is one who drinks cold beer, speaks with an occa tone and cooks a mean barbie. This is not me, but I know I am still Australian.
Personally, there are a lot of traditional Australian customs that I feel I use in a part of my everyday life, such as being an active sports lover and follower, also supporting local Australian film is a passion of mine.
Last trimester, I studied Contemporary Australian Film, this was a subject that interested me greatly, as Australian film making has always been something I enjoy researching and watching. This unit explored the different areas of Australian film, from production to funding, and it was certainly different to how I thought the Australian film industry worked. There is very little glitz and glamour like we see in the bright lights of Hollywood, there is a dogged feel to it, a hard nosed underground vibe which sees the quality of movies produced often just as good, but never shown the light of day. So as I support this medium of Aussie interpretation, I feel that I am contributing to a healthy and growing culture within our nation.
Being Australian, or any nationality for that matter, cannot just be put down to a few customs and you are classified as part of that culture. There are so many aspects and elements of being Australian, and the varying influences on a persons life make it impossible for someone to be a fully fledged Aussie, as some peoples perceptions are totally different to others.
Reference:
Sun, W 2002, ‘Fantasizing the homeland: the internet, memory, and exilic longings’, Leaving China: media, migration, and transnational imagination 2002, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, pp. 113-136
This was thought provoking, but probably needs a little more engagement with scholarly sources and the topic of globalisation to improve. Your example of contemporary Australian cinema could perhaps use more comparison to foreign cinemas such as Hollywood or Bollywood- or maybe you could touch on the infiltration of Australian cinematic style in other Western film-making styles (Tarantino always cited early Aussie cinema as one of his big influences).
ReplyDeleteI like the how you have pointed out how people stereotype Australia culture by associating to the drink of cold beer or barbie. When in your case this parts of culture that does not represent who you are, or other Australian. Perhaps there are other traditional Australian customs that people need to look at rather than focusing on one aspect of a culture. I like how you have used your personal experience to relate to this topic. The only thing missing is an academic source to support your argument and picture to capture the attention of the reader.
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