Where+I'm+from+(3)

The powerpoint below uses imagery to track modern Australia's interaction with the cultural Other. Australia has an enigmatic history when it comes to dealing with difference as embodied in ideas associated with the cultural Other, especially in relation to the “complex fears [Australians have] of their Asian neighbours” (Pilger, 2002, p. 21). Colonisation of the continent by the English in the late 1700s established an outpost of the British Empire at the edge of the Asian landmass and this has, according to Keating (2000), “shaped our sense of threat and opportunity ever since” (p. 1). Unfortunately, the Anglo-Celtic Australian difficulties with Asian-ness are intertwined with a history of difficulty with cultural difference in general. From the (continuing) decimation and subjugation of the Aboriginal population, to the White Australia policy; from prejudices inherent to the post-WWII European immigration program to Hansonism and the One Nation Party (right wing politics); from the ramifications of illegal migration to terrorism-related attacks on Australians; Australia’s success in dealing with cultural diversity can be described as having shaky foundations. This is so despite Sharp’s (1996) claim that Australia is “a country which has had the foresight to welcome the strangers knocking at her door, and the courage to embark on an experiment with multiculturalism” (p. 3). As Goeudevert (2002) eloquently suggests:

"If we brush aside the buzzwords, we discover that most of us live ‘in one spot’, that we have remained what Schlegel once described as nothing but – more or less – rational oysters. Immobile and inward-looking, rigid, tight-lipped, and tormented by fears of loss, we hide our ‘pearls’ away without realizing that the value of these riches can only truly be appreciated through the eyes of others and in dialogue with them." (Goeudevert, 2002, p. 44)

It has to be the case that the history which has shaped Australian society in terms of national attitudes and values will have great bearing on the worldview of many of the nation’s individuals. It follows, then, that dispositions such as openness and acceptance of cultural difference, is somewhat at the mercy of our shared histories.

(4.8 MB)


 * References**

Goeudevert, D. (2002). Nothing from nothing. In S. Stern & E. Seligmann (Eds.), //The end of tolerance?// (pp. 44-52). London: Nicholas Brearley Publishing.

Keating, P. (2000). //Engagement: Australia faces the Asia-Pacific.// Sydney: Macmillan.

Pilger, J. (2002). //The new rulers of the world//. London: Verso.

Sharp, I. (2001). //Culture shock Australia: a guide to customs and etiquette//. Singapore: Times Books International.