Culture and nationhood, Aboriginal Australia, you’re standing in it!
Almost thirty years ago there was considerable discussion in progressive Christian circles about developing an appropriate theology for Australia. It was both contextual and missiological. Books and articles were written, conferences were held and there was great excitement about something that was called “gumleaf theology”. This was in the midst of broader discussions about defining our cultural identity, when works like Manning Clark’s “History of Australia” and Jonathan King’s “Waltzing Materialism” were in vogue.
Over the years “gum leaf theology” seems to have fallen from the tree of grace while much of Australian Christianity appears to have taken a turn towards an introverted consumerist gospel rather than something more missiological and related to the Australian locale. I have been re-visiting some of that “gumleaf” material and a lot of it seems to have missed something somewhere. It may be that Germaine Greer’s recent essay “White Fella Jump Up”, gets closer to the mark when she offers Aboriginality as a solution to “whitefella spiritual desolation”.
The four volumes discussed below were all published during 2005, the first is the only one that authorship is Indigenous and yet each challenges the reader into an instinctive investigation of Australian culture and societal norms in its own way. These books are all very different in style and yet they all help increase our awareness and knowledge of who we are in this country.
KAYANG & ME
Kim Scott and Hazel Brown
Fremantle Art Centre Press, May 2005
BROTHERBOYS
The story of Jim and Phillip Krakouer
Sean Gorman
Allen & Unwin, 2005
Sean Gorman’s Brotherboys is a powerful account of two brothers who went from playing footy in a small country town to starring at the highest level. It highlights the ups and downs of that career and life afterwards; however, it should not be dismissed as just a book about sport. It is also a story of how our sport obsessed nation treated these Indigenous brothers. Gorman’s comprehensive research is obvious as is his understanding of the dynamics of racial subjugation in rural towns and how it develops in footy clubs both small and large. His analysis of racism in sport gives a clear indication of the types of pressures Indigenous players were under both on and off the field. A lot has changed in football since that time with footy now having strong rules on racial vilification and abuse. However is that normative, or perhaps leading the way? A young Indigenous footballer playing at the highest level recently said that he is never racially abused on the footy field, but it happens every day of his life off the field.
SOMEONE ELSE’S COUNTRY
Peter Docker
Fremantle Art Centre Press, June 2005
Peter Temple
Text Publishing, 2005
The last book is the thriller The Broken Shore by Peter Temple and for those who like the genre it is a ripping yarn that holds your attention until the end. Clearly, Temple is a masterful story teller; but it seems he wanted to write something bigger than your run of the mill crime thriller. This is a novel about a place, about family, and about power. It also highlights the often hidden dynamics and divisions in a long established country community. A prominent local philanthropist is beaten in his home and dies. Evidence suggests that three young men from a local Aboriginal community are responsible; but a persistent policeman, with his own local history is doubtful. To say more would give away a great whodunit. However, the reason I include it here is that through this work Temple skilfully challenges myths and stereotypes about race in small town Australia. It also raises the long-standing questions about the nature of policing of Aboriginal people in a way that readers might begin to comprehend something of the dynamics of that tenuous relationship.
One could not imagine any of these four books having been published twenty to twenty five years ago. This begs many questions of an inquiring mind. What has changed in that time? What is the context? Has the paradigm, in fact, shifted in the quest for cultural identity and meaning?The concept of “culture” in itself is a site of great debate both within Australia and beyond. Even within the Aboriginal community there is a range of views from traditional through to contemporary. Also, those Aboriginal perspectives on culture still have to locate themselves in the broader debates about Australian culture. For example; I was recently reminded that only a few years ago an Indigenous woman suggested “heritage” is a key part of culture at a national arts conference. One would think that would be an acceptable view to put and yet the speaker had to vigorously defend that proposition for the remainder of the conference.Over the last decade or so Australia has been through an amazing renaissance in Aboriginal artistic expression. This has moved through all major artistic genres, from visual arts, performing arts, theatre, music, film making, radio, writing and poetry. Who could fail to be impressed with the contribution of the Bangarra Dance Company to the opening of the 2000 Olympics or challenged by the gentle prodding of Mary G on her live radio or SBS television shows. The growth and diversification of the Aboriginal arts sectors warrants more discussion than this paper permits; nonetheless it is an important site in the discussion about how our culture is being defined. The matter of “heritage” is one of the most vital elements of this cultural renaissance. It is also about being, doing, as well as the challenges of everyday life as mentioned by the young footballer discussed earlier.The arts may be an important site to go digging in. Greer’s essay “White Fella Jump Up” is controversial and the volume contains a number of essays that argue with her key propositions, some essays also support it. A lot of people would probably not bother reading it simply because it is “Germaine Greer”, but is not meaningless. Greer writes: “…Blackfellas are not and never were the problem. They were the solution, if only whitefellas had been able to see it.” Greer’s basic assertion is that Australia will never achieve maturity unless and until it recognises its inescapable Aboriginality. The subtitle of Greer’s book is “The Shortest Way To Nationhood”. A part of that process is taking place in that we are in the midst of re-defining culture. Above all culture is our identity, this is who we are and it defines our nationhood.To go forward as a nation maybe we (whitefellas) need to stop seeing Aboriginal people as “the other” and start to see that we are, in fact, the strangers in a strange land.
