Wk 3 Notes from Recording Constructing Nations

Narrative Characteristics and National Identity

Introduction

• Recap of previous discussions:

  • Lamarck's idea of the fictive utterance.

  • Adult play.

  • Objectivity vs. subjectivity in narratives (narratives are always from someone's perspective).

  • Narrative elements: who, how, who's listening, why, and impact.

  • Exploration of fairy tales (Cinderella) and their political/aesthetic uses.

National Stories and Identity

• Focus this week: National stories, identity, and the concept of the nation as a narrative.

• Key themes:

  • Storytelling and power.

  • Dominant discourse and hegemony.

  • Examples from the Katregoona Elder book, "Being Australian."

  • Australian identity and sport.

  • Homeownership and suburbia.

  • Storytelling and resistance.

Important Reminder

• Quiz at the end of week three (Friday at 11:55 PM).

• Covers key terms and ideas from weeks one, two, and three, based on course recordings.

Stories of Self and World

• Intersection of personal stories and broader world narratives.

• As individuals grow, they encounter various stories from different sources (oral, written, visual, digital).

• Sources: television, news, social media, etc.

• Impact: Sense of identity becomes expanded, more fluid, and more questionable.

Critical Thinking

• Critical analysis of how stories influence the production and reproduction of ourselves and our world.

• Key questions to ask:

  • What is the story?

  • Who is telling the story?

  • How are they telling the story?

  • Who is listening to the story?

  • Why are they telling the story?

  • What is the impact of the story?

National Identity

• Questions to consider:

  • What does national identity mean?

  • What does it mean to be Australian?

  • How do we know what it means to be Australian?

• National identity is impacted by stories created or invented over time.

• Nationhood is a cultural construct, invented and reinvented.

Visual Images and Stereotypes

• Analysis of iconic advertising images to explore issues like national identity and stereotypes.

Homi K. Bhabha and Narrating the Nation

• Homi Bhabha's perspective: the nation is like a narrative. The story creates the nation.

• Understanding national identity requires examining the stories that create the idea of a nation and its people.

• Problematic aspects:

  • National identity is static.

  • The people of a nation are a homogeneous group.

• Barber: the tension between the story of the nation and the diversity of its people.

• Australia is particularly haunted by its past.

The Bush Legend

• Created around the time of Australian federation (1991).

• Specific push from the 1890s to create an idea of Australian nationhood.

• The Bulletin: journal credited with leading the invention of Australianness.

• Common character traits: tough, strong, loyal, mateship, anti-authoritarian, renegade, true blue, larrikin.

• Contrast:

  • Traditional bushy.

  • Negative views of the city (Melbourne): cramped, beachless, lacking personality and interest.

• Omissions: Indigenous people, women, and migrants.

• The Bulletin's tagline: "Australia for the white man."

• Catriona Elder: National identity is a certain conglomerate of desirable characteristics seen as unique to Australians.

• Reproduced by: governments, media, education, film, advertisers.

Storytelling and Power

• Dominant discourse.

• Michel Foucault: Those who control language control stories, and those who control stories hold power.

• Critical thinking: Question the stories of the nation and who is telling them.

• Anglo Australians have the most power to monitor the boundaries of place and decide who belongs.

• Class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and indigeneity shape how people experience being Australian.

Hegemony

• Hegemony: Leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others.

• Domination based on consent rather than coercion.

• Consent to the power and stories told to us.

• National identity: How different people fit into or are excluded from stories of being Australian.

• Being "un-Australian": Who gets tagged and why?

• Dynamic process: Stories can change over time.

• Modern Australia: Multicultural, though its success as a narrative may vary.

Australians and Sport

• Australians described as sports mad.

• Sport as a central way in which Australia is produced and marketed.

• Sport aligned with the nation itself.

• Sporting virtues (sportsmanship, fairness, egalitarianism) as national virtues.

• Not all sports are equal.

• Anglo Australian heritage sports (cricket, Olympic sports) are considered national sports.

• Sports as a pivot for stories of being Australian.

• Sports intersect with local communities, regions, cities, and country towns.

• Sports establish and cohere local communities.

• National allegiances named after places left behind by ancestors (e.g., Saint George).

• Sites of opportunity for Indigenous and Islander people, but also sites of racism (Nikki Winmar, Adam Goodes).

• Violence and criminality destabilize the idea of sports representatives inculcating the best qualities of the Australian nation.

National Identity and Homeownership

• Homeownership as a former definition of average Australianness.

  • 85% of Australians live in the suburbs.

• Class narrative:

  • Untemped grass and wrecked cars = rough neighborhood.

  • Interest in British/European plants (roses) = well-bred gentility.

• Backyards: private spaces for family, barbecue, hills hoist.

• Back door entry for family and close friends.

• Threat of land rights: loss of the backyard.

• Homeownership: challenge to national identity due to young people being locked out of the housing market.

• Revival of suburban desirability via property shows like "The Block."

• Suburban houses: overpriced and unaffordable.

• Suburbs: suburban deserts with little infrastructure (public transport, hospitals, schools).

Storytelling and Resistance

• Critical thinking: Question the stories being told and be conscious of their power.

• Ensure stories and power can be tested and challenged.

• Michel Foucault: Where there is power, there is also resistance.

• Stories can be resistant.

• Modern Cinderella adaptations: Cinderella rescues herself.

• Journalism as the fourth estate: Tests stories of those in power and keeps them accountable.

• Fourth estate: News media as an independent force beyond government control.

• Origin: French Revolution.

• Edmund Burke (1821): Pointed out the power of the press.

Conclusion

• Better understanding of how identity is shaped by national stories.

• Nation as a narrative.

• Storytelling has social and political impacts.

• Importance of critically thinking about who tells us stories.

• Timing and history are important to the stories told.

• Reminder: Quiz closing next Friday; best of luck.