Television Discourse Analysis

The Big Bang Theory (TBBT) is an American sitcom, set in California, featuring two men, Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper, who are co-workers, housemates and self-identifying “nerds”. Two male friends, Howard Wolowitz and Raj Koothrappali, complete the core characters. TBBT also features three female characters, Penny, Bernadette Rostenkowski and Amy Farrah Fowler, who are romantically involved with three of the males.

In TBBT, scientific and academic language and locations are used to construct the world these characters are meaningful (Mills 2010, 50). Discourses are demonstrated in the ways in which characters are positioned within the text by their access to, and abilities within, these constructions (Moon 2010, 38). An analysis of The Vacation Solution (Cendrowski 2012), when Sheldon must take a vacation, reveals the dominant discourse is hegemonic masculinity, experienced through science, work, nerdom and romance (Miller 2011, 3).

This discourse is enacted throughout the text to varying degrees. In the opening scene, in the workplace cafeteria, the four core characters demonstrate the use of science as a basis for humour with a physics joke. Later scenes are set in Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment, which is packed with myriad intellectual artefacts, and a biology laboratory. These settings emphasise the power of the characters that inhabit these spaces. When waitress Penny’s apartment is shown, the mise en scene is homely and disorganised, demonstrating her separation from the power structures of the male characters.

This series premiered in 2007, at a time when the internet had pervaded western culture. Given the timing, the premise of the series could be a response to the 2005 US ruling that Intelligent Design could not be taught in US public schools, as it violated the First Amendment of the US Constitution. The Intelligent Design movement was widely pilloried by internet nerds at this time.

Sitcoms are produced by entertainment organisations for the specific purpose of making money, and as such are engineered to appeal to a broad audience (Miller 2011, 7). To do this, sitcoms must employ archetypes and stereotypes that are instantly or easily recognisable across television demographics (Mills 2009, 32). Archetypes are present in Sheldon, the precocious child, and Leonard, the stable father figure, altered to fit the show’s premise. In addition to this, TBBT employs a stereotypical depiction of the social inadequacies of nerds, placed within the dominant masculine discourse. The masculine discourse is altered by portraying males engaged in scientific and fictional-based pursuits, as demonstrated by Howard’s insistence that the wedding invitations be translated into Klingon.

In keeping with traditional sitcoms, TBBT is filmed primarily with mid-range shots using fixed cameras at eye level with the main characters, enabling the audience to relate to them. The exception is President Siebert, who is shot angled up from the core cast level to indicate his authority.

TBBT is set in a culture that is marginalised by the mainstream, but it is constructed in such a way as to present mainstream society’s assumptions of nerd culture experiences. Despite depicting this marginalised culture, TBBT presents situations ubiquitous across western culture, such as home, work and romantic concerns, and in this way reinforces the hegemonic masculinity discourse pervasive throughout the sitcom genre (Miller 2011, 2). Although TBBT ostensibly rejects the traditional hegemonic masculinities of other successful sitcoms, where males are depicted in traditional masculine pursuits of business, sport or manual labour, it has simply repositioned them. The males in TBBT are positioned as experts in much the same way as many of their genre predecessors. In this way, the males, in particular WASPs Leonard and Sheldon, enable the normalisation of their culture and present different experiences as “othered”.

This discourse enables TBBT to marginalise females, who are depicted in this episode engaged in the stereotypical female activities of wedding planning, laundry, gossip and capitulating to the males. Two notable exceptions appear in The Vacation Solution: Amy is identified as a neuroscientist and is seen working in a biology laboratory; and Bernadette is revealed to be more successful financially than her fiancé Howard. In these instances, TBBT still trivialises females through Sheldon’s deprecating opinion of biology as a science, and by positioning Bernadette’s (unseen) father as the impetus behind her request for a prenuptial agreement.

The dominant discourse of hegemonic masculinity is underscored by the additional discourses that support the power structures depicted in TBBT. In TBBT, the masculine discourse is supported by the academic and scientific discourses in which the core characters maintain their power, and uses gender discourses signified by different sciences. The males are experts in the theoretical science of physics, while the female scientists are biologists. It is implied in The Vacation Solution that biology is an inferior science when compared to physics, and in doing so perpetuates the masculine power structure.

TBBT also presents a discourse of individuals, in the sense that the seven characters presented in this episode are removed from the traditional family unit around which many sitcoms were based until the 1990s. Within this discourse, biologically unrelated characters provide the emotional support for each other that would have been provided by parents and siblings in previous examples of the genre (Miller 2011, 7). This reflects the western cultural move towards constructed families of unrelated individuals brought about through the rise of the mobile workforce.

TBBT further breaks down genre expectations by seamlessly combining both workplace and domestic settings, where traditional sitcoms are based either at home or at work, with depictions of the other included to provide some depth or emphasis to a particular issue (Walsh 1997, 1-3). This implies the characters make no distinction between work and home, as they make the same meaning in both places (Savorelli 2010, 25). In this way, the characters, particularly Sheldon, are not required to demonstrate any levels of restraint or liberation in either setting, effectively making the workplace part of the character’s domestic life.

This enables the core characters to alter stereotypes through contrasting depictions of male gender. They are enabled to remain adolescents through the use of the university, which substitutes for school, and bedroom-style apartment settings, however they are gainfully employed and self-supporting, and live without parental supervision. Further, they are engaged in the mature activities of planning a work vacation and preparing for a wedding, but are incapable of preparing food, as despite three scenes showing them eating, they eat only cafeteria and takeaway food. Finally, Sheldon and Howard are shown drinking at a bar in a stereotypical reaction to their relationship troubles, however Sheldon orders a piña colada without any rum, altering the stereotypical depiction of males self-medicating with alcohol.

The use of stereotypes is essential to the production of sitcoms, given the constraints of the format (Baker 2006, 3; Stafford 2004, 6). In TBBT the female discourse is presented in three separate yet stereotypical ways. The primary female character is Penny, a mid-western blonde pursuing a career in acting, while working as a waitress. The only non-scientist, she provides TBBT with both a female and mainstream cultural voice, however she is essentialised by not being given a surname, which suggests she is ultimately irrelevant in the dominant discourse (Attallah 2010, 18). Penny provides what Miller (2007, 3) describes as a relatable character through which the audience can project their own cultural expectations. As Leonard’s girlfriend she is presented as having both small dreams and lofty ambitions, in her desire to both get married and become a “famous movie star”.  In this episode, she is primarily engaged in mundane activities, such as wedding planning, laundry, gossip and waitressing.

Bernadette is identified in this episode by her relationship with Howard, as fiancé, however, in the scene in Penny’s apartment when the females are discussing the pressure from her father to ask Howard to sign a prenuptial agreement, Bernadette is given agency through implied superior financial success. Despite this, she is positioned as being emotionally dependent on both her fiancé and her father, being concerned about how to appease them both. In doing so, she reinforces the inferior female stereotype.

Amy presents a stereotypical characterisation of a female nerd. She is highly intelligent, socially awkward, and frumpy. Although she is Sheldon’s girlfriend, they demonstrate limited affection. Their relationship suggests she provides more of a maternal influence than romantic. In this way she performs the stereotypical sitcom nagging wife and mother characterisation, enabling Sheldon to remain in a child-like state.

Finally, Indian Raj is marginalised in TBBT through an ethnically othered position in American culture, demonstrated in this conversation with Leonard:

Leonard:     Where’s Howard?

Raj:              No hi, Raj? No how are you, Raj? Just straight to where’s the other white guy?

Leonard:     I’m sorry. So, listen, I heard something about him. Can you keep it between us?

Raj:              Ooh, gossip. When I first got here, I thought you Americans really gossiped around the water cooler. So I hung out there for, like, a month, but the only gossip I ever heard was about some creepy guy hanging out by the water cooler.

TBBT demonstrates the ways in which sitcoms employ established cultural discourses to transcend characterisation to create entertainment that appeals to a broad audience. In this way, TBBT is easily understood by audiences as belonging to the sitcom genre through the applications of conventions (Mills 2009, 25). The intertextual nature of these discourses, and the audience’s ability to understand and relate to them, enable sitcoms to present narratives that present equilibrium, disruption and resolution in a short viewing time, with minimal exposition and requiring few resources (Stafford 2004, 1-3). Given that TBBT is created and produced in the US, the dominant discourse of hegemonic masculinity reflects cultural expectations. The hegemonic masculinity or “white guy” political agenda is furthered by the marginalised, essentialised and trivialised representations of characters positioned outside this discourse, with which the main characters must interact to create narrative interest.

These discourses allow sitcoms such as TBBT to perpetuate power structures through representations that regulate and normalise behaviours that are shaped by the culture in which they have been created (Miller 2011, 1-2; Attallah 2010, 18). Essentialising representations through stereotypical characterisations ensures audiences are not required to examine texts closely to create meaning. This is reinforced by the use of the traditional sitcom filming style, using fixed cameras, bright lighting, and mid-range shots (Baker 2003, 35), which do not require the audience to notice things which have not been obviously presented.

In conclusion, TBBT, complies with many of the standard textual features of the sitcom genre. The dominant discourse of hegemonic masculinity, despite the alterations of representations of male gender, complies with the expectations of the culture in which it is produced and consumed. This enables TBBT to appeal to a wide audience and achieve commercial success for organisation that has engineered it.

 

References

Attallah, Paul. 2010. “Television Discourse and Situation Comedy.” Canadian Review of American Studies 40 (1): 1-24. http://qut.summon.serialssolutions.com.
doi: 10.3138/cras.40.1.1.

Baker, James. 2003. Teaching TV sitcom. London: British Film Institute. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/courses/1/KPB113_13se1/content/_4683102_1/TeachingTvSitcom1.pdf.

Cendrowski, Mark. 2012. “The Big Bang.” The Vacation Solution. Television.

Miller, Diana. 2011. “Masculinity in popular sitcoms, 1955-1960 and 2000-2005.” Culture, Society and Masculinities. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/courses/1/KPB113_13se1/content/_4683102_1/TeachingTvSitcom1.pdf.

Mills, Brett. 2009. The sitcom. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. http://qut.summon.serialssolutions.com.

Moon, Brian. 2010. Literary terms: a practical glossary. 2nd ed. Cottesloe, W.A: Chalkface Press.

Savorelli, Antonio. 2010. Beyond sitcom: new directions in American television comedy. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland. http://qut.summon.serialssolutions.com.

Stafford, Roy. 2004. “TV Sitcoms and Gender.” Media Education Magazine. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/courses/1/KPB113_13se1/content/_4683104_1/stafford_sitcoms.pdf.

How Firefly uses semitoic representations of yin-yang philosphy to enact gender in a third-wave feminist ‘verse

This essay will conduct a semiotic analysis of a text to locate meaning contained within the visual, aural and linguistic signs. By examining the signs embedded within texts, readers can interpret subjective meanings created by representations of cultural ideas. (Moon 2010, 125, 138, 141; Stokes 2003, 72). Using the episode War Stories (Contner 2002) from the television series Firefly (Whedon 2006), created by Joss Whedon (Whedon et al. 2006, 6), this essay will examine ways in which the text demonstrates western concepts of third-wave feminism using the eastern philosophy of yin yang . In particular, this essay will focus on how these concepts are demonstrated by the relationship between husband and wife characters Hoban (Wash) and Zoe Washburne.

Firefly is a television series created by Joss Whedon, which went into production concurrent with his successful Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and Angel (1999-2004) series (Whedon et al. 2006, 6). Firefly suffered conceptual issues between the creator and the Fox Network (US), and was cancelled before the completion of its first season (Whedon et al. 2006, 6). Firefly was originally broadcast on year after the events of September 11, 2001, when the world was experiencing a restriction of civil liberties, and this is reflected in the imposition of the “Galactic Alliance” into the everyday lives of ordinary people in the Firefly “‘verse”.

Erisman (2006, 250) draws comparisons between “space-western” Firefly and the 1939 John Ford western film Stagecoach, confirmed by Whedon , with the large ensemble and several individual characters influenced by the film (Whedon et al. 2006, 6). In Firefly, the environment is the traditional western setting of an empty, alien and hostile environment, removed to a fictional galaxy instead of the unsettled lands of the North American west, which forces the crew to rely each other for support and security (Erisman 2006, 251). Granade (2011, 622) indicates Firefly continues Whedon’s tradition of illuminating new ways for viewers to see the world and each other, by depicting “little”, or marginalised, people trying to survive in hostile environments (Whedon et al. 2006, 6).

Despite completing only 14 episodes, of which eleven aired on network television before cancellation, Firefly developed an enduring fan base, known as “Browncoats”, named for the Independent soldiers Captain Malcolm (Mal) Reynolds and second in command Zoe Washburne fought with in the galactic civil war. This popularity allowed Whedon to return to the Firefly ‘verse in 2005 to provide conclusions for some of Firefly’s storylines in the feature film Serenity (Whedon 2005).

The constructed culture of the Firefly universe, a mix of Western (American) and Eastern (Chinese) influences, provides an opportunity for western viewers to read the text from an “othered” position, and create meanings through the combination of these cultures and languages (Cunningham and Turner 1997, 311). Lighting and camera angles have been effectively employed to signify power and relationships between the crew members. Deliberate production choices were made to by Director of Photography, David Boyd, to maintain the illusion of very tight spaces on board Serenity by filming within the small space the characters occupy on board, allowing the audience to focus on the relationships between characters in a confined space, without the distraction of the science fiction aspects of the location.(Whedon et al. 2007, 84). The denotative aspect of the small spaces on board creates a connotative association for reader of the limited physiological and social resources available to Serenity’s crew.

Firefly demonstrates an application of third-wave feminist ideologies in depicting gender. Warrior Zoe, mechanic Kaylee, Companion Inara, and the volatile and enigmatic River all display non-traditional female aspects while maintaining their individual femininities. In this imagined culture, Zoe can be Serenity’s trustworthy, gun-slinging second-in-command while also enjoying a stable marriage and desiring motherhood (Rowley 2007, 320-321). These contradictions are indicative of third-wave feminism, which has been described as more individually liberating than the collective approach of the preceding second-wave, and of the way “third-wavers” relegate inter-gender power struggles to the past (Helene 2001, 133).

War Stories, the ninth episode to air during the original Firefly schedule, was conceived by writers to elaborate on the relationship between Wash and Zoe, with reference to Zoe’s loyalty to Mal (Whedon et al. 2007, 86). It was previously revealed in the episode Out Of Gas that Zoe met her husband when he was hired to pilot Serenity. War Stories reintroduces villain Niska from previous episode The Train Job, and sees Mal and Wash abducted and tortured until the remaining crew launch a rescue.

In Chinese philosophy, representations of yin and yang are used to describe cultural binary oppositions, and are often attributed to traditional female and male aspects respectively, such as dominance and submission, with particular focus on the way in which these aspects interact to achieve unity and harmony (Wang 2005, 212-214; Moon 2010, 6). Harmony does not mean combining elements to create one whole, but respecting the oppositional aspects that work together to complement each other and create ideal relationships between individuals, cultural groups and nations, without sacrificing the unique aspect of each (Wang 2005, 215). Visual cues denoting the distribution of yin and yang between Wash and Zoe appear in their first scene in this episode. Wash is seated at the table in Serenity’s dining hall eating an apple. Zoe joins him, sitting at the head of the table, in a position of that denotes a social construction of power (Moon 2010, 114). Although they are seated perpendicular, they are turned towards each other, demonstrating unity. However, Zoe sits upright Wash leans towards her, signifying Zoe’s dominant, or yang, position in their relationship at this time.

In contrast, shadows indicate Zoe in a yin position when they later argue, despite standing while Wash is sitting. He is brightly lit, and his tone conveys his anger. However,

Lighting and position is used to a greater extent in the next scene. Wash speaks from the shadows while Zoe is brightly lit. Wash is initially seated while Zoe leans over him, and when he stands she moves to stand over him. Wash is emotional, Zoe is rational.  Their argument follows the recognisable convention of a marital spat (Moon 2010, 25), however the gender roles are reversed, as Wash is clearly envious of Zoe’s professional relationship (Moon 2010, 57). This implicitly connotes Zoe’s masculine, yang identity and Wash’s feminine, yin identity.

Later, Wash seeks to exert power in their relationship by insisting he takes Zoe’s place during a delivery. The camera is angled up to the standing Wash, and down to the seated Zoe. This indicates Wash has assumed a position of power in the exchange, however using a technical trick to prevent Zoe from initiating the shuttle launch sequence connotes an uncertainty that is not present in the language he uses to make his argument. Here is demonstrated the first instance of balance returning to their relationship, as harmony can only be achieved when both aspects present, as demonstrated by the yin yang symbol’s contrasting circles. Zoe also demonstrates qualities of both yin and yang, by yielding to his demands yet meeting him eye-to-eye.

In the final scene of War Stories, the relationship between Zoe and Wash achieves harmony through their new understanding of the other’s position. This is reflected in the lighting, as Wash again sits at the brightly lighted dining table, while Zoe prepares him soup in the shadowy galley. In addition to the use of light, the preparation of food connotes the traditional female role of nurturing. Additional signs connoting this new equilibrium are demonstrated through clothing, as Wash has forgone his usual light-coloured Hawaiian shirt for a dark flight suit, while Zoe appears out of her usual dark shirt with leather tunic for a light coloured, loose-fitting and vest. In this scene, Zoe displays almost no aspects of the yang that has dominated her character for the episode.

The ideal Confucian state of harmony of Yin and Yang are best expressed in relationships that seek equality, not subordinating or conquering one by the other (Wang 2005, 225). Yin-yang philosophy does not require subordination of one aspect to the other, instead promoting an appreciation of the “otherness” of each aspect, without superiority and inferiority, but with equality (Wang 2005, 225). As indicated in both the narrative of Zoe and Wash’s relationship in War Stories, as well as the signs used within the visual medium of television, they have achieved harmony they were lacking at the beginning of the episode.

References

Contner, James A. 2002. “Firefly.” War Stories. Joss Whedon. Inc Mutant Enemy and Inc Twentieth Century-Fox Television. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Cunningham, Stuart and Graeme Turner. 1997. “Media texts and messages.” In The media in Australia: industries, texts, audiences, 310-325. St Leonards, N.S.W., Australia: Allen & Unwin. Accessed 20 April, 2013. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/courses/1/KPB113_13se1/content/_4683015_1/medtxtmesSemiotics01.pdf.

Erisman, Fred. 2006. “Stagecoach in Space: The Legacy of Firefly.” Extrapolation 47 (2): 249-258. Accessed 22 April, 2013. http://www.library.qut.edu.au/. doi: 10.3828/extr.2006.47.2.6.

Granade, S. Andrew. 2011. “”So here’s us, on the raggedy edge”: exoticism and identification in Joss Whedon’s Firefly.” Popular Music and Society 34 (5): 621. Accessed 19 April, 2013. http://www.library.qut.edu.au/.

Helene, A. Shugart. 2001. “Isn’t it ironic? The intersection of third-wave feminism and generation X.” Women’s Studies in Communication 24 (2): 131-168. Accessed 19 April, 2013. http://www.library.qut.edu.au/. doi: 10.1080/07491409.2001.10162432.

Moon, Brian. 2010. Literary terms: a practical glossary. 2nd ed. Cottesloe, W.A: Chalkface Press.

Rowley, Christina. 2007. “Firefly/Serenity: Gendered Space and Gendered Bodies.” The British Journal of Politics & International Relations 9 (2): 318-325. Accessed 19 April, 2013. http://www.library.qut.edu.au/. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-856X.2007.00286.x.

Stokes, Jane C. 2003. “Analysing media and cultural texts.” In How to do media & cultural studies, edited by Jane C. Stokes, 51-97. London: SAGE. Accessed 21 April 2013. http://www.library.qut.edu.au/.

Wang, Robin R. 2005. “Dong Zhongshu’s Transformation of “Yin-Yang” Theory and Contesting of Gender Identity.” Philosophy East and West 55 (2): 209-231. Accessed 24 April, 2013. http://www.library.qut.edu.au/. doi: 10.1353/pew.2005.0013.

Whedon, Joss. 2005. Serenity. Universal Studios Video/DVD.

Whedon, Joss. 2006. Firefly: The Series. Joss Whedon. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Whedon, Joss, Abbie Bernstein, Bryan Cairns, Karl Derrick and Tara Di Lullo. 2006. Firefly: The Official Companion Volume One. First ed. Two vols. Vol. One. London: Titan Books.

Whedon, Joss, Abbie Bernstein, Bryan Cairns, Karl Derrick and Tara Di Lullo. 2007. Firefly: The Official Companion Volume Two. First ed. Two vols. Vol. Two. London: Titan Books.

Business Brief for Management Unit

Limiting the vulnerability of
Sunshine Medical Supplies
to computer security incidents

Assessment Item 1 •  Management

1.0      Introduction

This brief will provide two (2) recommendations for limiting the vulnerability of Sunshine Medical Supplies (Sunshine)  Information Technology (IT) infrastructure to internal and external cybercrime and “Distributed Denial of Service” (DDoS) attacks, as described in The Sydney Morning Herald news article “Rise in cyber attacks on Australian businesses” (Moses, 2013) (Appendix A). IT infrastructure is a core component of Sunshine’s customer relationship management (CRM) system, enabling Sunshine to provide superior customer service through the collection and management of customer data (Samson & Daft, 2012, p. 60), and providing financial services to all sites. Strategies for limiting vulnerability outlined in this brief are investment in IT security policies and awareness training for all employees, and development of a Technological Crisis Management (TCM) Plan (Davis, 2005).

2.0      Analysis of Topic

2.1    Advantages

Improved IT security policies and staff awareness will reduce Sunshine’s vulnerability computer security incidents (CSIs), which comprise “any unauthorised use, damage, monitoring attack or theft of business information technology”, including viruses and other malicious code (malware), spyware, phishing, sabotage of network or data, online fraud, and DDoS  attacks (Hutchings, 2012, p. 2, Richards & Davis, 2010, p. 1). Incidents of extortion using “ransomware” are on the rise in Australia (CERT Australia, 2012, p. 22).

Motivation for attacks include targeted and indiscriminate attacks, financial gain, hactivism, personal grievance, and extortion (CERT Australia, 2012, pp. 19-28). Research indicates monitoring employee engagement and addressing grievances can limit vulnerability to internal attacks (Strohmeier, 2013), which account for 44% of reported CSIs (CERT Australia, 2012, p. 4). Sunshine can limit vulnerability through improved policies targeting common employee IT activities and providing training to identify and respond to external breaches.

Sunshine risks significant financial and market losses in the event of a successful CSI. A 2009 report indicated Small and Medium Enterprises may lack the capacity to detect and prevent CSIs, increasing their vulnerability to attack (Richards, 2009, p. iv). Implementation of a TCM plan will enforce security as a core business value, and provide employees with ongoing awareness of current CSI trends and the appropriate response (Davis, 2005). Encouraging individuals to actively contribute to organisational goals aligns with Sunshine’s ‘Theory Y’ management policies (Samson & Daft, 2012, pp. 55-56).

2.2       Disadvantages

Significant investment is required to develop a TCM Plan and provide training across all Sunshine sites, with no certainty of experiencing attacks (Davis, 2005, p. 124). If vulnerabilities are eliminated, the IT system will not experience CSIs, limiting Sunshine’s ability to assess return on investment and justify expenses. Ongoing assessment and maintenance of a TCM Plan requires participation from all employees, risking alienating employees who consider it intrusive (Davis, 2005, p. 128).

3.0      Recommendations

The development of a TCM plan will limit losses in the event of an attack, enabling Sunshine to respond effectively and minimise impact on operations. Short term impacts include significant financial and other losses, exposure to law suits when security breaches involve customer data, and increases in operational costs (Choo, 2011, p. 720), justifying this investment.

It is recommended Sunshine invest in the development IT security and awareness training for all employees and a TCM plan to enable Sunshine to limit financial loss and defend market position in the event of a targeted or random CSI. 

Reference List

CERT Australia. (2012). Cyber Crime & Security Survey Report 2012. Retrieved from http://www.canberra.edu.au/cis/storage/Cyber%20Crime%20and%20Security%20Survey%20Report%202012.pdf

Choo, K.-K. R. (2011). The cyber threat landscape: Challenges and future research directions. Computers & Security, 30(8), 719. Retrieved from http://qut.summon.serialssolutions.com/link/0/eLvHCXMwVZ2xDcMwDARVZIWkzgICZIq2pDqI4QGcAUiKv_8IkYAUzgasiPsHcQzhydnWZDRJVKtXEQP1rKpQkLj8lW2Xbb7fw2d_n68j_v4ARKO0UqSlO0QbIQtvg2_U5z2cNsOYoFdLpTSZYjNmoExFHqMOlJC8OXtbHuE2srR_AX6ZJrM. doi:10.1016/j.cose.2011.08.004

Davis, B. J. (2005). PREPARE: seeking systemic solutions for technological crisis management. Knowledge and Process Management, 12(2), 123-131. Retrieved from http://qut.summon.serialssolutions.com/link/0/eLvHCXMwVV3JDcMwDPMjK7TvLGCgkRTXfhcNOkAzgA5r_xEiB3m0E_BDSKRAUCnNhLo-FIYSldorszoYioiLA3f-O7b9TPPtlvbt_X198vUHIOsoKMtQjJqxBn0UoC1kSMJOhZ-xPWs_I5IoayA2K8xnKZwbhtQYyGW5pym8dD8AS64l2A. doi:10.1002/kpm.220

Moses, A. (2013, 18 February). Rise in cyber attacks on Australian businesses, The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/security-it/rise-in-cyber-attacks-on-australian-businesses-20130218-2em94.html#ixzz2LCv9SUo1

Richards, K. (2009). The Australian business assessment of computer user security: a national survey. Retrieved from http://qut.summon.serialssolutions.com/link/0/eLvHCXMwY2BQMEwFHwOVmJxiZp5oYp4CbPOnJJsbJxmmGpknWaQZoAy2IZXmbqIMMm6uIc4euoWlJfHQ4Yv4JCNzUA8OWBeJMbAAu8SpAEuQFyM

Samson, D., & Daft, R. L. (2012). Fundamentals of management. South Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning.

Strohmeier, S. (2013). Employee relationship management — Realizing competitive advantage through information technology? Human Resource Management Review, 23(1), 93-104. Retrieved from http://qut.summon.serialssolutions.com/link/0/eLvHCXMwVV25DcMwDFSRFeI6CwiwTFKi6yCGB_AC4rf_CGGAFEnNgg1xD6-4Uh6rIdpGZpt0HaNNAFd0nJRiVkD-nm0_aH7cy3W8rudZvz0AVZlbpXBimclkEUkwqYExHD7x0dDeHJB72ERhE9kxj1QkcugrKIHm0qXc0kr7G9KIJXI. doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2012.06.009

 

Appendix A

Cyber attacks against Australian businesses are on the rise (Moses, 2013)

Date February 18, 2013 – 11:13AM

Cyber attacks against Australian organisations are on the rise with over one fifth of 255 major firms surveyed for a new government report owning up to being targeted in the past year.

Of those targeted a further 20 per cent said they had experienced more than 10 “cyber security incidents”. One organisation reported the theft of 15 years’ worth of critical business data.

The 2012 Cyber Crime and Security Survey Report, commissioned by national computer emergency response team CERT Australia and conducted by the University of Canberra was released on Monday.

The report said those who reported no cyber incidents were likely to not have detected them.

More than half of the affected organisations surveyed believed the attacks on their firm to be targeted (rather than indiscriminate), with the majority coming from external sources but 44 per cent originating from within the organisation.

Attacks involved the use of malicious software such as “ransomware” and “scareware”, and trojans to steal confidential information, and denial-of-service campaigns.

This is despite 90 per cent of respondents reporting the use of antivirus software, spam filters and firewalls, and 65 per cent having IT security staff with tertiary level IT qualifications.

In late September last year CERT Australia received calls from more than 25 organisations being targeted by ransomware, which involved attackers scaring victims into handing over money or risk losing their data.

Another example included in the report was in early last year when CERT Australia received reports from a range of financial firms who had their websites targeted with DDoS attacks, knocking them offline, and demanding they made a payment.

“Cyber attacks have shifted from being indiscriminate and random to being more coordinated and targeted for financial gain,” said Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.

“Most attacks occur from outside the business, although it appears internal risks are also significant.”

At a time when it only takes one naive employee clicking on a malicious email attachment to breach a corporate network, the report found “many organisations are not confident that cyber security is sufficiently understood and appreciated by staff, management and boards”.

One fifth of the targeted organisations said they did not report the cyber incidents to a law enforcement agency because they feared negative publicity.

The most common way hackers broke into organisations was by using powerful automated attack tools or exploiting software holes or misconfigured systems. A third of attacks involved the theft of notebooks, tablets or mobiles.

In January Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that CERT Australia would soon be part of a new Australian Cyber Security Centre, which aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of cyber threats facing the nation.

However, in Senate estimates last week it was revealed there would be no new funding for the centre with 95 per cent of staff coming from Defence and no independent leadership.

Hot Fuzz: A Post Adultescent Buddy/Bromantic Comedy

In this presentation I will look at the narrative role of The Villain, as described by Vladimir Propp in Morphology of the Folktale, and use a one minute sequence from the Edgar Wright film Hot Fuzz (Wright, 2007) to demonstrate the 28th function from Propp’s Morphology (Propp, 1968): “The (false hero or) Villain is exposed”.
In Morphology of the Folktale, Propp (1968) describes 31 ‘Functions’, or actions, that outline a the sequence of events in a folktale narrative (Waugh, 1966, Fell, 1977). In his studies of more than 100 Russian ‘Wonder tales’, or folktales, Propp found that while not all 31 functions were always present in all folktales (Propp, 1968), the folktales would not contain additional ‘functions’, and the order of the events was fixed (Fell, 1977, Propp, 1968). Although Propp’s study was restricted to Russian folktales, and conducted in 1928, the structure he described is restricted to neither Russian narratives nor folktales, and can be applied to describing the narrative of a hero’s quest or journey across many genres and cultures (Fell, 1977, Gillespie and Toynbee, 2006).
Question: What are the 7 roles identified by Propp?
Seven roles identified by Propp in Morphology of Folktale (Gillespie and Toynbee, 2006).
1. The Villain
2. The Hero
3. The Donor
4. The Helper
5. The Princess
6. The Dispatcher
7. The False Hero
The Villain, coming in at number 1 on Propp’s chart (Gillespie and Toynbee, 2006, Fell, 1977), initiates the movement of the tale or narrative (Propp, 1968), but can be known or unknown to the hero or chief protagonist. At the “pivotal” (Murphy, 2008) Function 8: The villain causes harm or injury to a member of a family (Propp, 1968, Murphy, 2008). At this time, narrative events are set in motion. Bulgarian narratologist Todorov described the process of a narrative as a sequence of events from a state of equilibrium, through a series of disruptions or dis-equilibrium, until the resolution, or revised equilibrium is achieved (Gillespie and Toynbee, 2006).
Question: Can you think of any movies where the identity of the villain is obscured from the hero?
In The Lion King, King Mustafa’s brother Scar commits regicide in order to propel the narrative of the hero, Simba, who believes himself to be to blame for the death of his father (Allers and Minkoff, 1994) (Or question to the class: who can tell me how the events of The Lion King are set in motion?). In M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable, (2000), hero David Dunn is propelled through a series of events by Elijah Price, only to ultimately discover Price is the villain. Other examples of villains that hide in plain sight include Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects (Singer, 1995), and Senator – later Emperor – Palpatine in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (Lucas, 1999/2002/2005). In the reimagined Battlestar Galactica (NBC Television, 2004-2009) the audience knows throughout much of the series and Gaius Baltar is responsible for the network disruption that allowed the cylons to wipe out the humans, but this knowledge is unknown most of the rest of the characters until late in the narrative.
Question: Can you name any other film or TV villains that reveal their villainy towards the climax of a narrative? Where the hero or heroes might be working with the villain without knowing?
At Function 28 of Propp’s Morphology (1968), “The (False Hero or) Villain is Exposed.” In the video clip I am about to show, the identity of the true villain of Hot Fuzz is revealed to The Hero, Sergeant Nicholas Angel. Having listened to a recount of all the dastardly deeds in the narrative, as Propp (1968) described in the process of this Function, the true villain steps forward to provide the audience and the Hero with the reasoning behind his actions.
Play Clip
From this point, Hot Fuzz proceeds through Propp’s 3 remaining Functions: #29 “The Hero is Given a New Appearance”, when Sergeant Angel is confronted by his magical items – DVD copies of Point Break (Bigelow, 1991) and Bad Boys II (Bay, 2003) – and purchases a pair of aviator sunglasses; #30 “The Villain is Punished”, when the entire Village preservation society falls relatively bloodlessly in a pitched gun battle with Sergeant Angel and Helper/Donor PC Butterman; #31 “The Hero is Married and Ascends to the Throne” (Propp, 1968), when, having vanquished the villain, Sergeant Angel declines an offer to return to his original life in favour of remaining in the village.  
A Post-Adultescent Bromantic Comedy: Placing Hot Fuzz in Popular Culture
Hot Fuzz is a continuation of the Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg collaboration of “Adultescent” (Furedi, 2003) narratives that began with the TV series Spaced and continued in Shaun of the Dead (Wright, 2004). In these narratives, Wright and Pegg demonstrate the western subculture of “retro nostalgia” (Furedi, 2003), recreating childhoods heavily influenced by the infiltration of entertainment equipment, in the form of videos cassette players and video gaming consoles, into homes throughout the western world. The constant stream of homages and tropes found in Hot Fuzz, as well as their other collaborations, demonstrates the collection of a significant amount of popular culture capital.
Romantic comedies have long been a staple of Hollywood. Whether it’s Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey, or Doris Day and Rock Hudson, or Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, the resilience of the genre is perhaps rooted in the “powerful need in human beings to believe in the utopian possibilities in the image of the couple” (Deleyto, 2003) .
While the romantic object of The Hero in Hot Fuzz is not sexual love, PC Danny Butterman fulfils the Proppian role of The Princess (Gillespie and Toynbee, 2006), by forming a significant emotional relationship with The Hero, with the result being their continued partnership at the end of the film. The action-cop buddy formula (Brown, 1993) of Hot Fuzz reflects the proliferation of this genre on television and in feature films throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including Point Break (Bigelow, 1991) and Bad Boys II (Bay, 2003), as cited in the film, as well as director Richard Donner’s Lethal Weapon (Donner, 1987) franchise.
Question: Can you name any romantic comedies?
Romantic comedies have been reimagined a number of times since the introduction of the ‘talkies’ in the 1930s (Jeffers McDonald, 2009). The current and pervasive idea of the ‘rom-com’, established in the late 1980s and 1990s, is centred around the female experience and expectations of romance (Jeffers McDonald, 2009), and are viewed as almost “exclusively films for women” (Alberti, 2013) .
With the turn of a new century, a “new climate of social and sexual equality” has created the space for popular culture, feature films and television in particular, to explore “other types of relationships not defined by the conventional codes of the heteronormative romantic comedy” (Alberti, 2013).
Perhaps in an effort to redress this perceived imbalance, the sub-genre of what has been called the “Homme-com” has emerged to address changing representations of masculinity (Jeffers McDonald, 2009, Alberti, 2013) . In the Homme-com, audiences see the romance from the man’s point of view, often with assistance and advice of another man. The drawback of these films, for female audiences, is the scatological nature of much of the humour (Jeffers McDonald, 2009).
Question: Can you name any romantic comedies told from a male point of view? eg Farelly Brothers/gross-out comedies.
Hot Fuzz differs from these Homme-coms in that it avoids relying on toilet humour, instead concentrating on well-worn tropes. As such, I have chosen to refer to it as a Bromantic Comedy, in reference to the plutonic relationship is between of Sergeant Angel and PC Butterman, which is central to the narrative and not an external influence, as it is in Homme-coms.
How about Buddy movies? Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Shawshank Redemption, Some Like it Hot, 48 Hours
 
References
ALBERTI, J. 2013. “I Love You, Man”: Bromances, the Construction of Masculinity, and the Continuing Evolution of the Romantic Comedy. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 30, 159.
The Lion King, 1994. Directed by ALLERS, R. & MINKOFF, R.: Walt Disney Pictures.
Bad Boys II, 2003. Directed by BAY, M.: Columbia Pictures Corporation.
Point Break, 1991. Directed by BIGELOW, K.: 20th Century Fox.
BROWN, J. 1993. Bullets, buddies, and bad guys: The ‘action-cop’ genre. Journal of Popular Film & Television, 21, 79-87.
DELEYTO, C. 2003. Between Friends: Love and Friendship in Contemporary Hollywood Romantic Comedy. Screen, 44, 167-182.
Lethal Weapon, 1987. Directed by DONNER, R.: Warner Bros. Pictures.
FELL, J. L. 1977. Vladimir Propp in Hollywood. Film Quarterly, 30, 19-28.
FUREDI, F. 2003. The children who won’t grow up [Online]. Available: http://www.frankfuredi.com/index.php/site/article/103/ [Accessed 10 March 2013 2013].
GILLESPIE, M. & TOYNBEE, J. 2006. Analysing media texts, New York, NY, USA, Open University Press in association with The Open University.
JEFFERS MCDONALD, T. 2009. Homme-Com: Engendering change in contemporary romantic comedy. In: ABBOTT, S. & JERMYN, D. (eds.) Falling in Love Again: Romantic Comedy in Contemporary Cinema. London: I.B.Tauris.
Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, 1999/2002/2005. Directed by LUCAS, G.: 20th Century Fox.
MURPHY, T. P. 2008. The pivotal eighth function and the pivotal fourth character: resolving two discrepancies in Vladimir: Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale. Language and Literature, 17, 59-75.
Battlestar Galactica, 2004-2009. Directed by NBC TELEVISION. NBC Television.
PROPP, V. 1968. Excerpts from Morphology of the Folktale. Available: http://homes.di.unimi.it/~alberti/Mm10/doc/propp.pdf [Accessed 10 March 2013].
Unbreakable, 2000. Directed by SHYAMALAN, M. N.: Touchstone Pictures.
The Usual Suspects, 1995. Directed by SINGER, B.: Polygram Filmed Entertainment.
WAUGH, B. 1966. Structural Analysis in Literature and Folklore. Western Folklore, 25, 153-164.
Shaun of the Dead, 2004. Directed by WRIGHT, E.: Universal Pictures.
Hot Fuzz, 2007. Directed by WRIGHT, E.: Universal Studios.

Typical typographical twaddle

Bored at work today. A little concept I have been mulling over for a while.

The following is a work of fiction

“Illowra Street is crumbling”

We’re standing on the deck of my brother’s house at The Gap. It’s been his for a day, and behind us the living room is a mountain of discarded wallpaper, shag carpet, lace curtains and woodgrain linoleum. 

“The footings have slipped. It’s all this no rain.”

Pete’s talking about our parent’s house. We grew up here, in this cradle between the mountains Coot-tha and Nebo, and the hills of Ashgrove, Keperra and Enoggera. 

He’s laughing as he says “You should see it. It’d kill mum.” I let it go.

“How do you even know this?” I ask.  Illowra Street was sold 6 years ago.

He does that half-smirk that always makes me want to smack him. “I know everyone.”

This is why I don’t like The Gap. 

“So you’re going to polish the floorboards?”

He lights a cigarette. “They’re sweet. Did you see?”

The Gap ends with the shade and the trees at the apex of hill into Keperra. I told my brother I had lesson plans to write, which I do, but the truth is I just don’t like it here. My helmet shuts out the verdant smell, I tip the bike left into the corner, and I’m out.

* * *

This semester I’m working with Philosophy & Reason teacher Verity to create a cross-curricular learning experience for our seniors – it’s all the rage. She will conduct a unit on Choice and Action, with a focus on the moral philosophy of “the nature of moral reasoning, the principle of universalisability and the scope of “the moral”” as suggested by the QSA Philosophy & Reason syllabus (2004, 19), while I will teach Reflective Texts in the context of identity from the QSA English senior syllabus (2010, 24). Students will read The Infernal Optimist, and compose a memoir for a detainee, using the philosophical reasoning developed with Verity to inform their position.

We were inspired to create these units after reading The Infernal Optimist for our book club, with ideas taken from the passionate discussion on maintaining identity when yours is taken away that followed. Narrator Zeki, proudly Australian and a resident since infancy, is declared a “non-citizen” and faces deportation to his birthplace, Turkey, under section ‘501’ of the Migration Act, 1958. In the detention centre, Zeki is defined as not Australian, and he begins to reconsider what he thinks Australian is. Verity commented at the time “If this is how we treat people who need help, what’s so good about being Australian anyway?”

However, it has generated a great deal of background reading for us both.

“The trick will be examining an individual’s right to agency to pursue his or her own goals free from the constraints of the will of another, balanced with idea that rights can only exist under some form of authority,” says Verity. “Not to mention how human rights apply universally, when they are only going to go home and see pandering, populist, political claptrap on the news.” She waggles her fingers to indicate inverted commas, and her general disdain what passes for media in Australia. I nod and sip my coffee, like it wasn’t me that sent her pages 574-575 of Valentini’s 2012 essay in the first place.

We’re going over our rationales, as the units still need to be approved by the HOD.

This unit, “Dwelling: Refuge and Reflection”, is designed to teach the genre of reflective texts by requiring students to compose a memoir in response to a set text, as described in the QSA English Senior Syllabus (2010, 21). Students will conduct an in-depth analysis of Linda Jaivin’s The Infernal Optimist and consider concepts of identity by examining the impact of Australia’s mandatory detention policy on the identities of asylum seekers. Loughnan (2007) describes how ‘dwelling’ as both a noun and a verb encompasses a wide range of experiences for asylum seekers (255). Students will investigate changing identity in relation to: extended detention (dwelling as a place of residence); lives put on hold (dwelling as to delay); and extended time to consider circumstances (dwelling as to ponder) (255). With this in mind, students will examine the evolution of central character Zeki’s taken-for-granted identity as almost an accidental visitor in the detention centre, confident to be home by Christmas, to a victim of an oppressive regime that has cast him as a “stranger” (McCann 2006, 54) and provide a voice for one of the other inmates. Students will be asked to reflect on their own experiences of ‘dwelling’, both voluntary and involuntary, and the way that circumstances beyond their control may alter their idea of their own identity. Students will be directed to secondary texts that expand their understanding of issues raised in The Infernal Optimist, and will be required to read deliberately to develop a compassionate and informed understanding of multiculturalism, as well as underlying themes of humanity (Behling 2003, 413). This unit complies with the Syllabus by…

“I’m a bit worried about the malapropisms,” I say. “But I think Zeki’s language will be more palatable for them than Hamlet’s.”

“I don’t know, you piqued their interest when you implied Horatio was in love with Hamlet.”

“It’s a perfectly valid reading of the source material.” I glance at the laptop clock, I need to focus. “Are you going to use Silver’s 2010 essay on social inclusion? I want them to consider the balance of freedom and authority, but the larger picture is to get them to see how they include and exclude others through their personal actions, by examining socially-created institutions of exclusion (188).” 

First bell sounds, and the knocks at the door start.

* * *

For our next book club. xV

I find a book on my desk when I come in from Playground Duty. Verity is hosting this month, so the book is her choice. I remove the sticky note – Metro by Alasdair Duncan. Something about morality and masculinity, the blurb doesn’t give me much to go on, but her last choice was The Infernal Optimist. That turned out to be very useful, so I have high hopes. I drop it in my bag and gather up the resources for 8 English as the second bell sounds.

* * *

“Of course, The Gap is nothing like it used to be.”

Pete has put on a barbecue for ‘the workers’, and while the paint dries inside we sit in the backyard and throw balls for his dogs. Dad is telling everyone how The Gap has changed. He’s right, but I still only see mountains and sky, and three roads out – two prone to bushfires, the other to flooding. Although at least from Pete’s house, you can see the glow of the city between the hills to the east.

There was a time when The Gap was brimming with Kellys, Robins’s, Chapmans and Elis. We couldn’t walk two blocks without stumbling across a cousin.  Anyone not related by blood or marriage knew Dad as the bloke who ran the servo, with Mum doing the books, and our business was apparently their business. Everyone already knew Pete would be mechanic, and I would run the console, forever and ever. We know this because they would proclaim it often, our entire lives determined from barely 2 minutes contact, once a week, as they paid for petrol.

I thought we were done with this place.

* * *

I’m half an hour late to book club, and some of the girls are already two glasses in. It is always dreadfully unfair when it’s Verity’s turn to host: she doesn’t drink, so we’ll need cabs. I put a container of my famous herbed chicken-mayo finger sandwiches amongst the sea of Tupperware™ filled with sausage rolls and dim sims, and join the girls in the lounge.

“So, ladies – thoughts?” prompts Verity.

“Well I can’t believe he didn’t end up with Kristian.”

“I can’t believe you thought he wouldn’t choose Sara.”

“The whole end was unsatisfying, he needed to get his comeuppance.”

The conversation goes on like this for a while. I try to catch up on drinks, but I’m distracted. I didn’t like Liam, he was obnoxious and shallow. I didn’t want him to emerge unscathed at the end of the book.

“You’ve been quiet. Didn’t you even read it?” asks Verity.

“Yes,” I reply, feigning offence. “I don’t know… maybe it’s all this detention centre literature I’ve been reading for school. If I was to read anything into it, I would say Liam is a prisoner of his identity.”

“But he’s not even true to himself at the end of the book!” Dina protests.

“I don’t agree. I think he is completely faithful, within his construction of his identity. He says it right there on page…” I flip through my book – I’ve scrawled all over it, the bibliophile in me is appalled. “Page 11 – he’s an upper-middle-class brat. He complies completely with Freidman’s (2006) definition of culture as a socio-historical construct. The internal order of the world as he experiences it has been determined through the symbolic schema of his parents and peers.

“Verity, you read that Marotta (2000) essay on The Stranger and Social Theory. Liam is an excellent example of the “inner stranger” (123). Yes, he’s wealthy and Marotta talks about poverty, but Liam is emotionally poor. His parents are absent, he doesn’t engage emotionally with his girlfriend, or any of his casual partners, the way we would expect him to. He’s disoriented and directionless and drowning in existential angst. And since he is so emotionally poor he invests deeply in his identity, the upper-middle-class Brisbane brat.

 “While Sara is free to go off to travel the world, he is essentially detained in Brisbane. His identity is so intrinsically tied to place that he will lose himself if he steps outside it. Then, of course, through the whole of chapters eleven and twelve, when Liam goes to Melbourne, he loses his identity completely. He goes from being Liam to being the kind of boy Liam preys on. He’s the victim, he has no control. He has dinner with his brother Euan, and decides almost immediately that when he gets back to Brisbane, he will practically be Euan, which is really just another mask to wear to hide the stranger that lurks inside him. And then he does scurry off back to Brisbane, and all of a sudden everything works out for him. He doesn’t have AIDS, he’s going to be marry Sara, and everything will work out fine.

“Only then there’s Kristian, who threatens to ruin everything. I think that’s when you see what it is Liam really wants, which is to protect his carefully constructed identity.

“When Latham (2001) linked mobility to class, he also acknowledged that traditionally capital was specifically linked to place (118). Since the only capital Liam really has is his identity, which is defined by his social position as bestowed on him by his parents, he is as much a prisoner in Brisbane as Zeki is in Villawood. Only we see Zeki’s identity as detainee being imposed on him, while Liam is projecting his idealised persona.” I finish in an awkward mumble, only too aware of how long I have rambled, and how bored the others look.

“Bloody teachers,” says Dina with a laugh after the uncomfortable silence, as she tops up her chardonnay.

* * *

The other girls are gone and Verity is making coffees while I wash up.

“How’s your brother going?”

I think Verity has a little crush on Pete. It’s ok, most girls do – he inherited his Grandfather’s Irish charm.

“Great,” I reply. “I think he’s really happy there. I still can’t believe he bought in The Gap, though. The rest of us got out. Even Dad, and we thought he would only leave feet first in a pine box.” Which is of course not how you go at all, you never think of the stretcher, the uniforms, or discarded sterile packaging.

I hear her snort under the whine of the milk frother.

I dry my hands and turn around to look at her.

“Choccy sprinkles?” She asks.

“What does *snort* mean?”

I should know better than to ask, I’m going to get the truth.

“You never left The Gap.” Verity hands me a coffee as if that was the most obvious thing in the world to say. When I just stare, she goes on. “Think about it. You go off and get an education, you have portable skills and dual citizenship, but here you are, ten kilometres from where you grew up, having dinner with your Dad every Wednesday, running out to The Gap every other day because Pete needs something else and all the while complaining about how he’s a big boy now and should be taking care of himself. The geography of The Gap is incidental. You talk about Zeki being trapped by wire and Liam being trapped by class, how about you?”

I want to deny every word she has said. But Verity does not speak without certainty. Maybe I’m just a bit too afraid that she is right.

All I can think of to say is “We both know I have no class.”

* * *

I’m out at Pete’s again. He won’t answer his phone, and I am trying to organise a family dinner.

“So can I count on you to be at Dad’s place on Tuesday?”

He screws up his eyes and looks pained. “Does he even want us there?” I sigh at him. “Yeah, I’ll be there. I don’t know why you need to pick at this scab every single year. Don’t you think sometimes you just make it more obvious who isn’t there?”

* * *

I almost don’t see it as I walk to the bike, my attention, as always, on the hills and what lies beyond. Basking on the warm afternoon concrete, curled, carefree, behind the rear wheel is a snoozing carpet python. Her head is as big as my hand. I glance up at the house to make sure Pete isn’t watching, as he’s never been a fan.

Carpet pythons may have been just one of the many visitors we would get at Illowra Street, but they were definitely the most exciting. We would hide in the house, squealing with terror and delight when one would wander into the yard, the garage, and one time the old shoe basket. Mum would be on the phone, summoning Dad to come and save us. And there we would stay, indefinitely detained, noses pressed up against the screen door until our hero came. He would shoo it with a broom, shepherding it back across the road while insisting it was “only a baby” and wouldn’t eat much.

I crouch at a safe distance and watch her for a while. Her head tilts up, tongue, flickering. Verity’s accusations from the other night come back, and I have to laugh. My only real rebellion, my symbol of freedom and independence, my motorbike: detained by this less than subtle sign. Snakes are a symbol of change. However, she can shed her skin as much as she wants – she’s still a snake.

Maybe being a snake works for her. Conformity is highly underrated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Behling, L.L. 2003, “”Generic” Multiculturalism: Hybrid Texts, Cultural Contexts”, College English, vol. 65, no. 4, pp. 411-426.

Duncan, A. 2006, Metro, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, Qld.

Friedman, J., Lund University, Social Anthropology, Social Sciences, Lunds universitet, Socialantropologi & Samhällsvetenskap 2006, “Culture and Global Systems”, Theory, Culture & Society, vol. 23, no. 2-3, pp. 404-406.

Jaivin, L. 2006, The infernal optimist, HarperCollins Publishers. Accessed August 15, 2012. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003A2C314/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

Latham, A. 2001, “Globalization: The Human Consequences Zygmunt Bauman; Columbia University Press, New York, 1998, pp. 136, Index, hardback, ISBN 0-231-11428-1”, Political Geography, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 117-119.

Loughnan, C. 2007, “Detention and the Dwelling: Levinas and the Refuge of the Asylum Seeker”, Law Text Culture, vol. 11, pp. 252-271.

Marotta, V. 2000, “The Stranger and Social Theory”, Thesis Eleven, vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 121-134.

McCann, A. 2006, “Professing the Popular: Political Fiction” Circa 2006 Accessed August 15, 2012.  http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp? tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_83051_1%26url%3D

Orwell, G (1989). Animal Farm. Penguin Books Ltd, London.

Queensland Studies Authority 2004, Philosophy & reason: senior syllabus 2004, Queensland Studies Authority, Spring Hill, Qld.

Queensland Studies Authority 2010, English senior syllabus, Queensland Studies Authority, Brisbane, Qld.

Silver, H. 2010, “Understanding Social Inclusion and Its Meaning for Australia”, Australian Journal of Social Issues, The, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 183-211.

Valentini, L. 2012, “Human Rights, Freedom, and Political Authority”, Political Theory, vol. 40, no. 5, pp. 573-601.

Every Secret Slap

This is a “mash-up” I put together for my Writing Australia tutorial presentation about Christos Tsiolkis’s “The Slap” (L) and Marie Munkara’s “Every Secret Thing” (M). Performed by myself and co-presenter. To illustrate the moment when a person realizes how different they are from the people or culture of which they think they want to be a part.

L
They were standing next to each other, waiting for the light to go green. The old man’s back was straight, even though he looked ancient. The old man looked up at Hugo and smiled.

M
With the crab located nestling at the base of a tree, Marigold closed in for the kill. But for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

L
It was then Richie noticed the look of abrupt shock on the man’s face. Panicking, he was ready to order Hugo to the ground when he saw the old man whipe away the foamy spit that was sliding down his cheek.

M
It’s little mouth opened and closed, like it was trying to say something. Marigold poked it, and could only watch in astonishment as it latched on to her little finger.

L
Hugo let out a peal of laughter. “Got ya.”

M
Strangled expletives erupted from Marigold’s throat as she smashed the attacking crab against a tree trunk

L
Richie reached up and gripped the boy’s arm. “Hugo, apologise”

M
“Fucking do something” Marigold managed to gargle

L
“No”

M
Marigold’s aunties looked at each other and began to laugh. They had tears running down their faces. Marigold smashed the crab against a tree with a tomahawk.

L
Richie saw Hugo’s other foot kick out and strike the old man across the shoulder. Again, the old man just stood there, but there was that same shock and puzzlement, that same weary, resigned acceptance. Richie felt judged.
“Sir,” Richie said, his voice shaking, “I’m so sorry”

M
With her finger throbbing like hell, Marigold followed the footsteps until she found her way home.

L
Richie knew the whole world was watching him. He did not care. He was worried he would turn on Hugo and belt the boy into oblivion, bash the little monster’s face in for what he had done to the old man. He turned around to him, his anger still boiling, to yall at him, “I want to kill you, you fucking arsehole.”

M
It was in the shower, washing off the mud and hurt, that Marigold realised she didn’t want to be among these people anymore. She didn’t want to be different or alone or laughed at. She didn’t want to be awkward or out of place.

L
I was mortified that Hugo spat at an old man. How does that happen? I hurt Hugo, I hurt a small kid, how does that happen? I am not a bad person.

M
As a product of the bush mob and the mission mob, Marigold’s place was with neither of them and it was witha heavy heart that she watched her dreams of a life with her family disappear.

L
They were leaving. A workmate of Gary’s had started a job at Hepburn Springs, and scored some work for Gary as well. Richie listened but struggled to concentrate on the meaning of Rosie’s words. There was a buzzing in his head. “I have to go”
Rosie’s face fell in disappiontment, “You’ll have to come and stay.”
Rosie kissed him goodbye. It was not exactly happiness that he felt as he walked to Connie’s house. There was still sadness, shame and maybe regret. But he did feel a lightness, and he was glad he had seen them.

Constructed Cultural Identities & Institutionalised Perspectives

Part B of the EDB007 Assessment 1 – let’s see how this goes. There are an awful lot big words in there…

Modern discourses of Indigenous cultures and communities in mainstream Australia, and in particular the Australian media, continues to contribute to the marginalisation of Indigenous Australians, as well as their cultures and communities. This enables the dominant ideologies of non-Indigenous Australians to perpetuate social and economic disadvantage for Indigenous Australians. This essay will look at the way in which mainstream social and political discourses construct the cultural identities of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian people. It will also examine how assumptions drawn from these constructed identities impact on Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and steps being taken through education to address the imbalances in institutionalised perspectives to achieve greater social cohesion between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Cultural identity can be comprised of many factors, including ancestry, class, education, language and religion, and while ‘nation’ as an external cultural reality can provide a framing for individual cultural identity, it can often come into conflict with individual cultural realities (Holliday, 2010, p. 175). In a national context, the dominant cultural identity of non-Indigenous Australians, especially including factors such as language and ancestry, can impact negatively on the opportunities of Indigenous Australians to fully participate in socially constructing the national identity.

Culture evolves as a social practice, embracing the values, attitudes and ideologies of a particular social group and can change significantly over time (Phillips and Lampert, 2012, p. 13). However, the cultural representations of Indigenous Australians by non-Indigenous Australians remains almost exclusively mired in the past, with representations enabling non-Indigenous Australians exclusive domain over modernity, while relegating Indigenous Australians to “museumification” and ancient heritages (Muecke, 2011, p. 3). This perpetuates the notion that non-Indigenous Australians are best placed to secure sole domain over civilisation, and to determine social policy in all arenas.

Traditional Eurocentric institutions, such as education and politics, are inherently constructed in such a way as to exclude Indigenous perspectives by adhering to the primarily British, or colonial, context in which they were established (Hickling-Hudson, 2007, p. 204). This limits the opportunities for Indigenous Australians to affect change within these institutions in such a way as to include Indigenous people, perspectives and issues within the national discourse.

Modern discourses of Indigenous Australians, as well as their issues, communities and cultures, are no longer dominated by the open, overtly racist ideas and assumptions that pervaded historical discourses, although such discourses do still exist. However, covert racism, through the use of poor or stereotypical depictions of Indigenous Australian people, customs and communities, continues to inculcate representations, particularly through the Australian media, which plays a significant role in constructing how Australians see themselves and their society (Bullimore, 1999, p. 72-73). In general, media in Australia has ignored Indigenous issues, or dealt with complex issues in a superficial way (Bruce and Wensing, 2009, p. 91). As seen in the news articles examined in Part A, when Indigenous issues are raised, non-Indigenous values and expectations continue to dominate popular discussion, trivialising or failing to recognise at all Indigenous culture and values. Indeed, there is a disturbing trend in opinion and blog pieces towards discussing these issues in a manner that seems to fluctuate somewhere between Social Darwinism and eugenics, depending on the author (Bodely, 2011, para. 1).

Indigenous issues are often detrimentally affected by the power of the media to infiltrate the lives of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and the media’s ability to feed and support commonly held beliefs and assumptions about Indigenous Australians (Phillips and Lampert, 2012, p. 3). Through the transmission of negative narratives and ideas about Indigenous Australians, the media contributes significantly to the marginalisation, or ‘othering’ of Indigenous people (ADBNSW, 2003, p. 40-41). There is a strong focus on how Indigenous Australians fail to take advantage of opportunities given to them by the Eurocentric, privileged, white ruling class, without taking into consideration Indigenous values, or the holistic approach Indigenous Australians have that is incongruous with the fragmented and demarcated approach of competing white ideologies.

The pervasiveness of covert racism through media and social representations of Indigenous Australians is directly linked to the exclusion of Indigenous peoples from the social and economic comfort of mainstream Australia (Phillips and Lampert, 2012, p. 43). Unlike overt or “open” racism, which is often based on appearance and by which Indigenous Australians are excluded and humiliated, covert or “hidden” racism disadvantages Indigenous Australians through the inability of white Australians to understand the positive aspects, or difficulties, of Indigenous culture and identity (Lucashenko, 2003, p.140), and as such this covert racism inhibits the understanding necessary to fully incorporate Indigenous values and perspectives into the national culture. It is also important to note that the way in which non-Indigenous Australians view Indigenous Australians, as a single, separate entity, is inherently incorrect. Indigenous Australians are comprised of myriad nations that cannot be defined as simply either Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, and as such there are many ways of being Indigenous Australian that are not socially or politically recognised in mainstream discourses.

Typically throughout public discourse, race, being difference, is overstated and treated as immaterial, as “everyone is of a race”; racism, being discrimination, on the other hand is understated, enabling the trivialisation of the inability to overcome mistreatment on the basis of race (Tatz, 2009, p. 171). This enables the continued pervasion of covert racism throughout the social and political realms of Australia. By not appearing to discriminate on the basis of race, yet adhering to the institutional and political practices of a white, predominantly British heritage (Hickling-Hudson, 2005, p. 3), non-Indigenous Australians continue to practice covert racism that marginalises Indigenous Australians.

Throughout Australian history, political and media commentators have used binary positioning as a covert way to initiate discourses that seek to exclude a particular group, for example Indigenous Australians and the issue of land rights, as a method of influencing collective ideologies, public policies and decision making (ADBNSW, 2003, p. 73). However, it is another common method to simply exclude the Indigenous Australian perspective all together. In this way, journalists, commentators and political representatives exert a powerful influence over the opportunity of non-Indigenous Australians to consider Indigenous Australian perspectives at all, rendering Indigenous people almost invisible in the realm of public discourse.

As such, dominant ideologies of what is normal and desirable, construct a disempowering discourse on identity for those outside the construction of ‘normal’ (Phillips and Lampert, 2012, p. 50).‘Normal’ is constructed socially and through the media to be an ideal to which all “others” are compared, using simple binary opposites, to create “us” and “them” (ADBNSW, 2003, p. 41).Creating an exclusive norm enables the dominant, privileged and white culture in Australia to maintain authority through the disempowerment of all other cultures.

Although it is almost universally agreed that education is key factor in overcoming the disadvantages faced by Indigenous Australians, the inherent ‘white’ perspective that informs institutionalised education in Australia continues not only to disadvantage Indigenous Australians and other ethnic minorities (Hickling-Hudson, 2005, p. 2), but also inhibit the opportunity for non-Indigenous Australians to understand and appreciate the culture and values of Indigenous Australians.

The Melbourne Declaration (MCEETYA, 2008, p. 3) recognises the role of schools in ensuring an ongoing national social cohesion, and includes “the development of partnerships between schools and Indigenous communities, based on cross-cultural respect, (as) the main way of achieving highly effective schooling for Indigenous students” (p. 10), as a key element in improving educational outcomes, as well as cross-cultural understanding, for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. There are a number of State and Federal online resources available to assist teachers and schools in the facilitation of embedding Indigenous perspectives in education, as well as incorporating local Indigenous communities into school life. For example, The Indigenous Students Support Unit – Central Southern Queensland (ISSU-CSQ), which is part of Education Queensland, provides professional development and support programs for teachers and schools to enable the achievement of the Department of Education, Training and the Arts Indigenous education goal of “developing strong students, strong results and strong futures”, and to “close the gap” in education outcomes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students (ISSU-CSQ, 2012, para 1-5). In addition to this, the inclusion of Indigenous Education units within Cultural Studies in pre-service teacher education, enables future educators to examine their personal cultural expectations in relation to both the broader, national cultural identity and Indigenous perspectives, and pursue a critical awareness and of the cultural and social context of education in Queensland (Phillips and Lampert, 2012, p. 57).

Mutual understanding is essential for incorporating Indigenous perspectives into the Australian national cultural identity, and education is a key aspect by which future generations of Australians can achieve greater social cohesion than is currently experienced by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. This essay has demonstrated ways in which mainstream social and political discourses construct the cultural identities of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian people, and provided a critical approach to deconstructing how these identities are created. It has also outlined the impact of constructed identities on Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and indicated some of the steps being taken through education to address the imbalances in institutionalised perspectives to achieve greater social cohesion between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

 

Role Play Reflection

In the tutorial, I took part in a role play with six other students (Appendix A), where we assumed pre-determined roles to discuss the topic “Indigenous studies programs are biased”. Despite the fact that I dislike role play exercises, I felt I performed satisfactorily in my role as “An education officer from the Queensland Studies Authority.” I took charge of the fictitious meeting and tried to direct the conversation to include all participants. However, we only managed to perform for about 5 minutes, as my debate was halted by my argument that the implementation of indigenous perspectives into the curriculum is intended to address the existing imbalance.

My character was in a position to influence both breadth of Indigenous perspectives within the curriculum, and the departmental philosophy delivered to stakeholders. In addition, the character was to include a personal lack of belief in the process. Although I personally believe teachers must adapt their teaching preferences to incorporate different types and ways of learning, as well as new ways of thinking, I do not find it difficult to imagine that the process can be impeded through entrusting the task to people who are not personally invested in the outcome. I also found that the composition of the committee was such that we found it easy to fall into binary positions in regards to the topic.

Pondering this role, I was able to draw on my existing professional experience, specifically instances where a great deal of work is put into a task that I know in my heart is ultimately a waste of time, due to the value placed on the outcome. So I did not find it hard to look into the topic and pull out some important points, and to temper this with an air of exasperation. It is my experience that, despite the best intentions, or whether a project is good or bad, there is a great deal of departmental busy work and insincere promotion that accompanies it.

 

References

Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW 2003, Race for Headlines: Racism and Media Discourse – Chapter 3: Current Political Context, Lawlink NSW. Retrieved from http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/39681/20040106-0000/chapter3.pdf

Bodley, M. (2011). Andrew Bolt articles ‘akin to eugenics’ court hears. The Australian. Retrieved from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/andrew-bolt-articles-akin-to-eugenics-court-hears/story-e6frg6nf-1226029661666

Bruce, T., &Wensing, E. (2009). ‘She’s not one of us’: Cathy freeman and the place of aboriginal people in Australian national culture. Australian Aboriginal Studies, (2), 90-100. Retrieved from http://www.blackboard.qut.edu.au/

Bullimore, K. (1999). Media dreaming: Representation of Aboriginality in modern Australian media. Asia Pacific Media Educator Issue 6 Article 7. University of Canberra. Retrieved from http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1265&context=apme

Hickling-Hudson, A. (2005) ‘White’, ‘Ethnic’ and ‘Indigenous’. Pre-service teachers reflect on discourses of ethnicity in Australian culture. Policy Futures in Education 3(4):pp. 340-358. Retrieved from http://www.library.qut.edu.au/

Hickling-Hudson, A. (2007). Cultural complexity, post-colonialism and educational change: Challenges for comparative educators— В. International Review of Education, 52(1), 201-218. doi: 10.1007/s11159-005-5592-4 Retrieved from http://www.library.qut.edu.au/

Holliday, A. (2010). Complexity in cultural identity. Language and Intercultural Communication, 10(2), 165-177. doi: 10.1080/14708470903267384 Retrieved from http://www.library.qut.edu.au/

Indigenous Student Support Unit – Central Southern Queensland (ISSU-CSQ), (2012). Who We Are. Retrieved September 23, 2012, from http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=26537

Lucashenko, M. (2002).Many prisons. Hecate, 28(1), 139. Retrieved from http://www.library.qut.edu.au/

Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCTEEYA), (2008). Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians Retrieved from the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs website http://www.mceecdya.edu.au/mceecdya/melbourne_declaration,25979.html

Muecke, S. (2011).Australian indigenous philosophy. CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, 13(2) Retrieved from http://www.library.qut.edu.au/

Phillips, J and Lampert, J (2012). Introductory Indigenous studies in education: reflection and the importance of knowing. 2nd edition. Pearson Australia.

Tatz, C. (2009). Coming to terms: ‘race’, ethnicity, identity and aboriginality in sport. Australian Aboriginal Studies, (2), 15-31. Retrieved from http://www.blackboard.qut.edu.au/

Wurrlungwa Muruntawi

Both Every Secret Thing and The Infernal Optimist present the reader with a disempowered point of view of some of the institutions that are part Australia’s cultural landscape. The arenas for the narratives in these novels – the Catholic missions established to ‘civilise’ Indigenous Australians, and immigration detention centres which process asylum seekers and individuals in possession of an invalid or cancelled visa – are rarely presented in a meaningful, non-political way. In both instances, power over the residents resides with unseen and arbitrary entities – the Catholic church and the Australian government respectively. Those isolated within the confines of these places are afforded limited or no opportunity to determine their own future. As such, the use of humour to enables readers to access confronting issues, or ‘troublesome knowledge’, as it indicates that, despite the grim circumstances, the strength and resilience of the human spirit remains.  

Humour is an intrinsically  human coping strategy for dealing with traumatic and stressful situations. As opposed to schadenfreude, through which humour is experienced at the expense of others, the novels tell their stories using irony, carnivalesque and gallows humour.

Every Secret Thing shows the reader life in the Catholic missions established to protect, feed, clothe, educate, and restrict the movements of Aboriginal peoples. Munkara  uses an omnipotent narrator to recount the 20 stories that guide us through the rise and demise of the mission are primarily told from an Aboriginal point of view. The novel recounts the early days of the mission, the corruption of the catholic brothers, the stolen generation and ultimate redundancy of the missions.  Munkara’s storytelling gives a sometimes comical glimpse of the Indigenous perspective of the missions without a waggling, accusatory finger pointed at white Australia. 

By contrast, The Infernal Optimist is a first-person view of life on the wrong side of the razor wire. Thoroughly Aussie Zeki is a small-time petty criminal facing deportation for failing to meet the character requirements of ‘Section 501’ of Australia’s Migration Act, despite having lived in Australia since he was just 6 months old. Set amidst actual events, at a time when illegal immigrants and asylum seekers were rising to the peak of the national interest, Zeki takes the reader inside the Villawood Detention Centre and gives an ordinary Australian perspective the centres and the detainees.

In Every Secret Thing, Munkara uses irreverence to illustrate the flaws of those in authority, primarily the Catholic brothers of the mission. She infers the mission mob act with certainty that their transgressions go unnoticed by the ‘uncivilised and uneducated’ Aboriginals. Confronting tales of the devastating effects of the white man’s influenza on the bush mob, the stolen daughters sent as servants to respectable homes at the mercy of their white masters, and homosexuality between the brothers and the young aboriginal boys are told with an innocence that belies the underlying knowledge of how atrocious the acts are. In The Infernal Optimist, the passage of time nibbles at Zeki’s spirit, although it never steals it, but his engaging malapropisms lose their charming and enthusiastic edge as his time among the inmates at the detention centre takes its toll.

There are carnivalesque moments in Every Secret Thing that highlight the poor opinion the bush mob have of the mission mob. Two boys seeking shelter in the church during monsoonal rain leap on the opportunity to terrorise the bullying, but nyctophobic, Brother Neil, who descends into madness; Brother Wayne’s attempt to exact a petty revenge on Brother Brian ends in death for Brother Brian, although Brother Wayne rationalises it away and judges his conscience to be clear; and Pwomiga seizes the opportunity to trick the anthropologist Dr Curry with false translations to amuse his brothers, resulting in a mistranslated church service that delights the bush mob.

Zeki’s poor grasp of English, however, serves to highlight the misunderstandings between the detainees, the guards, and the general public. His ignorance reflects how little most Australians know about the plight of asylum seekers. However, he is particularly affected by the plight of the children in detention centre, and as he becomes more involved with the detainees and their stories, he finds less to be optimistic about.

In both novels, the tone of the humour moves becomes darker as the novels progress. When Zeki’s last bid for freedom is thwarted by the razor wire, he tells himself ‘you gotta laugh’, and so he laughs, then tells of Hamid’s diversion – a successful suicide bid. The bush mob only achieve deliverance from the grasp of the mission mob when Pwomiga decides to “unravel the mystery of dying and then rising from the dead” (p. 177) only to die, and remain dead, as his brothers suspected he would, despite following all the rules the mission mob had described.

Unlike Zeki, whose infernal optimism gives him the strength to establish a new life Turkey after deportation, and for whom everything works out in a frustratingly wonderful way, the spirit of the bush mob dies with Pwomiga. However, both these devices work to deliver the message of both novels in a powerful way. Zeki, torn from his comfortable life and expelled from his homeland demonstrates how his optimism and faith in himself saves him where others, like Hamid, cannot go on. The bush mob’s despair following the loss of Pwomiga enables the author to impart the message that the decisions made for them, both well-meaning or malignant, is destroying their culture and their way of life.

According to ‘Every Secret Thing’, ‘Wurrlungwa Muruntawi’ means ‘asshole white people’

“The poor Babel fish… has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation.” (Adams, 1979)

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel[c]—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

David Malouf demonstrates how deeply, and sometimes deliberately, people can misunderstand each other despite all speaking essentially the same language in Remembering Babylon. The title evokes the biblical story from the Book of Genesis, where God scattered His people all over the world, and took from them a common language, however Malouf’s novel brings people of a similar background together in a remote settlement near the central Queensland coast, and confuses their language through motive rather than tongue.

The novel is prefaced with a quote from William Blake, “Whether this is Jerusalem or Babylon we know not” (The Four Zoas). By including this, Malouf ensures the reader does not overlook the casting out that occurred at biblical Babylon, in favour of its more common association with language. The quote suggests some of the settlers may have come to this place as to a promised land, a place where they have control over their own future, where their success or failure depends only on their will and determination. The McIvors sought a land of sunlight and spaces that would be a contrast to their dismal, coal dust-smudged Scotland origins (p. 67), but there dream is soon lost when confronted with the harsh reality of life in early Brisbane. The promise of deliverance had become exile in a wasteland, and necessity drives them on until they had reach the unnamed settlement outside Bowen (p.68). This journey through hardship, while not leading them to a land of milk and honey, ends in a parcel of land they could call their own. Life in the settlement was sufficient for Ellen to agree to take in her brother’s son Lachlan Beattie.

For Lachlan, the settlement is where he has been cast out to, where he can find no familiarity of his Scottish home in the harsh Australian bush. He displays only contempt for this place, so far from his home ‘toon’ of Airdrie (p. 49). His language is the same as the McIvors and their daughters, but his frames of reference are different, and he is dismissive of their simple life. They have not experienced his home the way he now lives in theirs, and he uses the colloquialisms he shares with Ellen McIvor to demonstrate his superiority over the McIvor girls.  Even Janet, older than Lachlan, yields to his authority just as Gemmy, 20 years Lachlan’s senior, yields when confronted by the boy and his stick (p. 3).

Gemmy is the catalyst for misunderstanding in the novel. He is known as the “black white-man”, and brings confusion to the common language of the settlers. Having had no opportunity to speak his native tongue during his sixteen years among the Aboriginal people, he often misspeaks (“I am a British Object” p.3), but through Lachlan and later others at the settlement he can make himself understood. The misunderstandings surrounding Gemmy occur through what the settlers hear and believe rather than what Gemmy says. He has come from living as an Aboriginal, whom the settlers fear and do not understand. He has lived all that time in the bush beyond the settlement boundaries, which they also fear and do not understand. It is natural then for them to both fear and not understand Gemmy, either mistakenly or deliberately. For his own part, Gemmy does not always seek to correct their misunderstandings.

Other characters that provide narrative mobilisation have also come to the settlement as both refugee and pilgrim. The minister Mr Frazer, and Mrs Hutchence have all arrived by purpose, while Schoolmaster George Abbot, believes himself to be destined for finer locales.

Life in the settlement seems to have only just achieved balance when Gemmy is visited by ‘two blacks’ (p. 85). Although the details of their meeting is not covered in the novel, it is  observed and retold by roustabout Andy, full of assumption and embellishments as he if too far way to overhear. His stories, and the manner in which they are enthusiastically embraced by other disgruntled settlers, drives wedges between relationships throughout the small community, breeding resentment and mistrust, and an inability to understand each other.

After a campaign of terror against the McIvors, Gemmy is driven out of the settlement and returns to live as an Aboriginal. Although he wishes to take the evidence of his existence with him, in the form of the recount dictated by Mr Frazer and scribed by Mr Abbot and bearing the ‘improvements’ of both, his inability read sees him instead steal and destroy the schoolwork of children.

The children at the centre of the story, Lachlan and Janet, are compelled to ‘remember Babylon’ as adults, when they see the story of Gemmy repeated in the plight of Fortitude Valley Pastry Cook and German, Walter Goez, whose greatest crime is being German in Australia during World War II (p. 172). As Gemmy had been the cause of so much trouble for Jock McIvor so long ago, parliamentarian Lachlan finds himself bearing the brunt of a pubic backlash when Janet seeks his assistance for Goez. Her letter outlining Goez’s plight is misconstrued, possibly deliberately given the anti-German feelings at the time, much as black white-,man Gemmy’s motives were in their childhood.

Remembering Babylon demonstrates how, regardless where in the world they are, humans continue to be determined to misunderstand each other.