Kelly Chen

Area of study Belonging Essay

The text I will refer to are Immigrant Chronicle (IC) by Peter Skrzynecki, Rabbit Proof Fence (RPF) by Phillip Noyce and the related material Through Australian Eyes China Episode (TAE). These texts are focus on culture identity. A sense of belonging has been created by the connection and disconnection between people and communities. In IC, the composer is confused about his culture identity. He struggles to find out his culture identity which is similar to Ellen Youie in TAE. Whereas, in RPF the Aboriginal people are very clear about their culture identity and struggle to keep it. Both texts depict the challenge to find or keep the culture identities and the conflicts between two nations. My thesis will be belonging is central to ones sense of well being. The feeling of disconnection can be disturbing which we see in these texts that people are struggling and facing the challenges created by this issue. Feliks Skrzynecki indicates the disconnection and barriers between Peter and Polish world and his father Feliks. Feliks is a man who strongly connects to Polish culture and very clear about his culture identity. He is content to bulid his little Polish world at home, swept its paths ten times around the world. The simile of like an only child shows Feliks great love to his little garden which can be pretended to be his love to Poland. He only has Polish friends; they have the same memory about the lives in their beloved hometown. The quote Did your father ever attempt to learn English assumes that Feliks never wants to belong to Australian society and doesnt do any efforts even learning the language. However, the son Peter does not feel the same way. As the first generation of the migrants, the different environment makes he feels the connection to both Australian and Polish. He is struggling to find out what exactly his culture identity is. He has lost his Polish identity gradually as he said I forgot my first Polish word. As Peter becomes more Australian, the gap between the father and son widens. The barriers between them make them feel they are moving apart slowly. Feliks lives in his Polish world and enjoys himself, happy as I(Peter) have never been. The connection between both the family and the wider society makes Peter feel hard to choose. The last word Hadrians Wall is a use of metaphor to emphasize the gulf in different culture identities and the relationship between two generations. Feliks chooses to not belong, unlike him, Peter is more like an Australian than Polish. The folk museum is used for showing the connection with the
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past. This folk museum which Skrzynecki visits is the one full of old Polish culture. He visits the museum like a foreigner, looking past the displays, feels cold as water. It creates alienation and isolation when Peter standing among the culture which isn't mine. Instead of being the owner, Peter feels totally apart from this culture which his parents strongly connect to as said in Feliks Skrzynecki. And it is supposed to be Peters root. While the different environment changes his culture identities. His connection to the large communities makes his present separate from his past. The personalization of autumn, the simile of saying the caretakers hairs color as the grey clay bottle and the repetition of the word Eternity suggest the ending of the life which reminds people to think about his own life. The wind taps hurriedly like calling him back to the present and makes him return to his real life, realizing cannot stay any longer. The word of Visitors Book has a double meaning which is a symbol of the relationship with past and present. It is irony that he is only a visitor, he entirely disconnects to his Polish root. Similarly, the main character Ellen Youie in TAE is facing the same situation as well. She is the first generation of migrant which is same as Peter Skrzynecki. TAE is a documentary series which records the life of the first generations from different countries. Ellen is confused about Am I Australian or Chinese. She begins her physical journey which then becomes an emotional journey to Beijing. The opening scene is an establishing shot of the image of Chinese cultural with Ellens voice I saw much beauty in Beijing, but I didnt feel home there while the camera shot moves from middle to long shot. The same feeling of alienation creates. Her experience in Beijing makes her feel the disconnection to her mothers root. The language is the most important barrier because she cannot speak Chinese which is same as Peter who is forgetting the Polish words. The background music changes from the nature sound of Moomba Festival to the traditional Chinese music as the picture of China appears. It is considered that ones identity is connected with ones family, culture, friends, community, and etc. I have come to China because I suspect my roots lie here. This assumption is because of Ellens connection with her mother whose root is strongly connected to China. This can be linked to Peter Skrzyneckis connection to his parents and disconnection to their root. Whereas, RPF is completely different from the above two texts. The group of Aboriginal people is facing the challenge of making
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their Aboriginal identity survive. RPF is a story about three halfcaste Aboriginal girls Molly, Gracie and Daisy being taken away from their home Jigalong to the Moore River Native Settlement by obeying the government policy and their journey of going home. The language what people speaking can be an important role in peoples culture identity and their sense of belonging. In the scene of making uniform for these new arrived girls, Gracie is talking to Molly in Aboriginal language. We do not use Jabber here, you speak English the nun speaks seriously to them. The close up shot of the nuns face represents her strong perspective of culture identity. The middle shot of the girls shows their weakness against the power of the nun and even Mr. Nevil. The language they speak highlights their Aboriginality as well as the hand gestures they used on their journey. The use of ones own language can represent the belonging to that particular culture. Both the European and Aboriginal society want to keep their own culture identities. That is the reason why there is a conflict occurred between these two nations. The flash back scene of Molly thinking they make me sick! indicates the disconnection to the white world which makes her finally make the decision of escaping. Another scene which touches (impress) me most is the hardest part of their journey which Molly carrying Daisy across the saltpan where its temperature is above 40. The establishing shot and birds eye view reveal the vastness of the landscape and the hardness to go across it. The slow motion of the camera speed implies the slowing weariness. The undershot of a spirit bird which is symbolic of protection flying overhead in this scene gives the spirit bird power and this power gives the girls courage to make their last effort to reach home. The Rabbit-proof Fence is an important symbol in this film which is a guide to their way home. It is a paradox and ionic that the fence is meant to be the barrier to stop rabbits crossing to damage the land. In fact, it is the connection between the girls and their home like a telegraphic wire links to mothers. The repetition of the word home and mum is the connection to their own land and family. When at Moore River, Nina says they got no mothers. Nobody here got any mothers, Molly defiantly replies I got mother. And on their journey, Daisy says I want Mummy. These all represent a sense of connection to their family which is totally different from IC and TAE that is losing this kind of connection. Overall, the idea of culture identity has been successfully created in these three texts. Either find or keep ones culture identity is both a big challenge. The connection to people, place,
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communities and the large world can create a sense of belonging and not belonging. Barriers in society and groups can prevent belonging.