Panel

Panel Presentations: Planning, Preparing and Delivering

1.​ ​ iscuss and analyse how at least TWO TEXTS
D
studied work to construct representations of
class, race and/or ethnicity in Australia.
Overarching thesis:
The representation of the working classes and races shifts from stigmatizing and
​ nd ​the Wire Fences of Jarrabin​ to
restricted in ​The Drovers wife, the Chosen Vessel a
being more accepting in ​Neighbours.​ However, Aboriginal race is represented as still
having a large social divide compared to the original white settlers. This is contrasted by
white Australians becoming more accepting of European ethnicity.

Lachy (context)
Owen (setting)
Sharvin/Ryan (characterization in first 2/last 2 & link)
Dani (aboriginals)
Chris (representations of eastern europeans)
Harsh (symbolism)

Class
Ryan and sharvin:
Reps in 1800s - Sharvin:
“​The two-roomed house is built of round timber, slabs, and stringy-bark, and floored with split
slabs. A big bark kitchen standing at one end is larger than the house itself, veranda included.​”
So in that description, we are clearly able to visualize the home in which the drover’s family
resides. It is depicted as being a small home made of common and what would be cheap
materials. This is representative of the working class as they do not live in luxury, or in excess,
but in a rather sustainable yet minimal lifestyle.
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-
Today I'm discussing the manipulation of setting throughout Australian literature to construct
representation of class and race. The representation of the classes and races in Australian
literature shifts from marginalised, impoverished and unaccepting in The Drovers wife, the
Chosen Vessel and the Wire Fences of Jarrabin to becoming more accepting in Neighbours.
This is through the shifting settings that create a pathetic fallacy. Pathetic fallacy gives human
emotions to inanimate objects of nature.
Basically the overarching theme of what I'm talking about is the rural to urban shift, and how this
has constructed a representation of the improving conditions for the working class and race.

The rural setting is seen as a run-down, sad and impoverished place, and this constructs
pathetic fallacy that mirrors the working classes destitution. There is no floor in the Drovers
wife's house, there are cracks in the walls of the house in the chosen vessel. There are many
many examples of the rural working classes struggles throughout the earlier texts, however one
that I think sums it up is in the drovers wife where, ​the Drought of 18 ruined the drover .​ Which
shows how much control the harsh bush had over the rural working classes lives. The run down
and harsh setting reflects the hopeless mood of the early working class, thus representing them
as impoverished.

Especially in earlier Australian literature, the ​separation​ of rural and urban settings is a
significant narrative convention that represents the working class as isolated and marginalised.
In the Drovers wife, it was ​"Nineteen miles to the nearest sign of civilisation"​, and in the chosen
vessel, Peter Hennesy had to ride​ "thirty miles to ride to the township"​. When considering the
1890s context that lachy discussed in detail earlier, specifically no one had cars. Therefore, a
representation of the working class as marginalised is constructed through the pathetic fallacy of
the setting that feels isolated. This also represents their struggle for integration within elite
society in town.

The high education of city dwellers and the fact that the rural working-class lacked these skills
represents them as marginalised and underprivileged. In Lawson's the drover's wife, and also in
another of Baynton's stories, Squeaker's mate, doctors came from the city. In the Drovers wife,
"The last two children were born in the bush - one while her husband was bringing a drunken
doctor to attend to her". ​In this description, doctors represent higher education and affluence. In
Lawson's romantic portrayal of Australian bush life, the description of the doctor as drunken
embodies the carefree larrikin spirit that city dwellers could afford to have due to their affluence.
It also suggests that the rural working class is unworthy of serious attention. ​Moreover, in the
chosen vessel,​ Peter Hennessey goes to the town to vote.​ This symbolises the rural working
classes institutionalised marginalisation, because they were forced to take long journeys just to
have the basic opportunity to vote.

Due to the contrast between the struggles of the rural working class and the educated and
opportunistic towns, there was a strong desire amongst the working class to move to cities. This
is especially evident in the drovers wife, where the drover ​"intends to move his family into the
nearest town when he comes back"​, and ​"If he had the means he would take her to the city and
keep her there like a princess." ​This desire for a better life further constructs the representation
of the lower class feeling marginalised because they want to escape.

The settings in which these stories about the working class takes place shift from rural to urban,
reflecting the shifting roles of working-class people from being isolated and marginalised to
becoming more integrated with wider society to have a better life.

Education is a symbol of improving quality of life. In the wire fences of Jarrabin, the children
"went to the bush school with about forty other kids"​. And the school playground is a prominent
feature of the story’s setting. It is known that the narrator of wire fences is about eleven years
old, so we can make a comparison with Tommy from the drovers wife, who is also eleven years
old. Whilst Tommy in the 1890s spends his time in the bush helping his mother kill snakes and
teaching his siblings to swear, the same-aged narrator of the wire fences of Jarrabin has the
opportunity to study at school and play with friends. Even further, the male character in
Neighbours stayed in a home setting and "​worked steadily at his thesis"​. This gradual shift in
education shows that by moving from a rural to urban setting, the working class has had more
and more opportunities for improving their lives. The shift in setting represents the working class
as becoming less marginalised and having more opportunities.

The move from the farms to the city brings many people who previously had nothing to do with
each other together, creating inter-racial friction. The setting of Jarrabin is defined two
significant elements: the wire fences and the pub. This will be discussed in detail later, but pretty
much the fences are a symbol of racism. However, the pub becomes a battleground
symbolising the struggle for indigenous recognition - initially Jim McKenna gets banned but later
on he is accepted into the pub because the working-class publican can't afford the conflict. The
narrator describes this event as ​"the turning of the tide"​ suggesting that there were coming
improvements for aboriginals. This also ties in to how lachy was previously talking about the
context of the referendum in the 1960s.
So if I was to quickly sum up, the gradual shift of the setting in which we find the lower class
represents their gradually improving lives.

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Race - Class tension - need to cut it down a bit

Dani: ​The two texts; the wire fence and the drovers wife, depicts similar representation of
aboriginals as deceptive, lazy and less in comparison to the superior white Australians
through the use of characterisation, imagery and metaphor. These representations are
constructed to explore racial tension between the two groups that allows an insight into
racist attitudes within Australia 1800-1900's which lead to large class divides between the
two groups. This enables the audience to critique and question the validity of racist
attitudes within Australia today.

The drovers wife, 1892 Henry Lawson, represented aboriginals as deceptive, untrustworthy and
silly. Henry Lawson based this book on his own experience of bush poverty and experienced
unemployment, with the aim of showing an authentic Australian experiences and characters not
imposed by European settlers. During this period of time over 90% of the aboriginal people were
wiped out due to genocide and diseases as lachy outlined earlier. The relationship between
white settlers and aboriginal Australians “became hostile as [soon as the] Aborigines realized
that the land and resources upon which they depended and the order of their life were seriously
disrupted by the on-going presence of the colonizers” (Australian Government). This lead to the
beginning of the ongoing racial tension between the two groups which is still present in todays
society.
Characterisation through Derogatory terms such as 'stray blackfellows', 'black brute' and 'black
face' draws emphasis on the colour of their skin provoking a sense of otherness, alienating the
aboriginal people and represented the racial divide. Referring to the aboriginal people as a
'stray' draws fourth connotations surrounding dogs and animals representing the aboriginals as
animals that are less worthy of their land than the white settlers. The drovers wife says The use
of describing the aboriginal women as a 'gin', a white colonial derogatory term used to describe
aboriginal women during the timeframe. These derogatory terms are used to represent the
racial divide between the two groups, commenting that the aboriginal people are less them the
white settlers.

Imagery and characterisation is also used to represent the aboriginal people as deceitful. At first
the drovers wife was 's​o astonished to see a good heap of wood by the chimney' and 'in turn she
gives him an extra stick of tobacco and praises him for not being lazy'. This comments that the white
settlers view aboriginal people as lazy and for them to actually do the work, or that they perceive as
work is an anomaly. Later she realises that the aboriginal man has deceived her and actually he has
built a 'hollow woodpile' which 'springs tears in her eyes'. Creating an image of a isolated lonely
woman being deceived by an aboriginal man represented him as deceitful and lazy.
The absence of aboriginal people should also be noted in the text despite the large number that lived
in the Australian bush. This metaphor represents that the land is free for the taking and that the
aboriginal people have no right to the land
Comparisons can be drawn in the wire fences of jarrabin, a short story by Dorothy Hewett 1964.
hewett was born in perth 1923 and spent many of her early years on an isolated farm which allowed
her an insight into australian in the timeframe. Her work was described as 't​he first literary
recognition of the social divisions and the segregation of Aboriginal people' (Tony
Hughes-d’Aeth | uwa publishing 2017). The wire fences of jarrabin represent
aboriginals as less then superior white people, leading to large social and
economical class divides between the two groups and commenting on racist
attitudes at the time.

70 years later than the drovers wife, derogatory language is still being used in
order to represent aboriginals as inferior to white setllers. The used of the word
'nigger' is prevalent in the wire fence of jarrabin, as well as referring to them as 'ol
black gin[s]', representing the racial tension between the two groups. 'All niggers
are the same give them an inch and they take back a mile', represented them as
deceitful and untrustworthy individuals that are selfsh and take whatever they
want. This ideology that the white settlers posses comment on the racial tension
leading to large class divides, supporting lachys early comment on the sterotypes of
aboriginal people being unjust.

Leading to large class divide between the white Australians and the aboriginal
Australians, where the aboriginal Australians 'weren't wanted on the main streets of
jarrabih' and werelimited to the 'edge of town' because there were 'aborigines' or
'half castes'. The aboriginal people were looked down apon within the rural society
and aboriginal children were' high on the list for unsuitable children to play with'.
Through this characterisation aboriginals are represented as less and so far below
the white Australians that not even their children, those of pure intentions, cannot
interact with aboriginal children due to the large racial and class divide. This is
supported through the actions of Edna, an aboriginal child, when Irene explains that
'Old black nana that lived in a camp outside kunji and smoked a pipe' Edna 'was
trying to shut her up'. This represents that Enda due her to being older realises that
expressing her aboriginal history is not something to be done, and instead should
be hidden in oder to keep respect from her white Australian friends.

The aboriginal Australians are also represented as untrustworthy thorugh the use of
characterisation. The mother of the white children 'sharp eyes bore into her
[irene's] pocket', and accuses her of 'stealing' stating that ' there's no need to make
up lies' representing the distrust the aboriginal child even though she has spent a
lot of time with her. The white child through bitterly 'A sixpenny bottle, and she
had to make all the fuss' comenting that irenes accused stealing, if it was stealing
at all was a minor offence that should result in such a big outburst. Commenting on
the racial tension at the time dictates interpersonal relationships within the outer
community and provides an underlying distrust between the two social classes.

Thus, The two texts; the wire fence and the drovers wife, depicts similar
representation of aboriginals as deceptive, lazy and less in comparison to
the superior white Australians through the use of characterisation,
imagery and metaphor. Commenting on racial tension at the time leading
to large social divides that have negative impacts on the relationship
between the two social groups. I​t should be noted in 1964 we can start to see
shifts in attitudes towards aboriginals to become more accepting as lachy has
outlined early, however there is still large racial clashes that are ongoing issues
even in todays society. The texts allows us to see the hypocracy within the
treatment of aboriginal people and allows use to question our own opinions
regarding aboriginal australians.

Race & ethnicity-tensions

Chris:​ beginning

Class with reference to setting

Owen: Pathetic fallacy - The setting of each story reflects the differing representations of the
classes that live there, shifting from the lower class represented as trapped in generational
poverty​ In the Drovers wife, the Chosen Vessel and Wire fences of Jarrabin t​ o the lower class in
Neighbours ​being able to escape both the run-down setting and the cycle of poverty

Lachy:
The representation of class, race and ethnicity is influenced by attitudes and events in the
context of the texts production.

Race (DW):

In the Drover's wife written in 1892 we can see the aboriginals represented to be vicious and
savage animals.

"He screamed and struggled convulsively, thinking it was a black man"

This representation is due to the extremely prejudice society at the time in which this book was
written. Between 1788 and 1868, 120 000 convicts were sent to Australia as part of the labour
force. When they first arrived the land was titled to be "terra nullius" which implied that the land
is not previously owned by humans and that the indigenous Australians were considered to be
nothing more than natural fauna of the land.
This isn't the only horrible actions committed by the settlers to the aboriginals however between
1791 and 1928 there were many massacres of the Aboriginal people by the settlers for no more
reason than to satisfy the settlers sickening thirst for power.

This representation of the aboriginals in this text is made to present the aboriginal people as
savages because of the prejudice society at the time who viewed them as inferior and
animalistic and hence the representation in the story matches the attitudes of the time.

Race (WFOJ):

In the Wire Fences of Jarrabin which is written around 70 years later we begin to see a shift in
the societal attitudes towards the aboriginal people and the aboriginals are represented as
deceitful, cunning humans.

In this text the racial discrimination towards the aboriginals is still present yet we can also see
the shift in perspective of the societies attitudes.

"All niggers are the same... As soon as your back is turned, they're shoving things in their
pocket"
By saying this first part it is collectively stereotyping the aboriginal people as following it up with
the second part it stereotypes them as cunning, manipulative thieves. This is disgraceful as we
see that in the context of the 1960's the aboriginals were discriminated against purely because
of their race regardless of how nice and caring they may be.
This indicates how the aboriginals are still mistreated and discriminated against which is also
present in the society that this book was written in in that at the time the novel was written the
stolen generation act was occurring.
Between 1910 and 1970 indigenous children were taken from their families because of various
government policies known as the Stolen Generation act. This is disgraceful as it violates
fundamental human rights of freedom and in doing this the divide between the indigenous
Australians and the 'white' Australians is still present.

However in Wire Fences of Jarrabin we can also see improvements for the aboriginals and how
they are gaining rights.
"If a man like McKenna ain't good enough for the pub, then the pubs no bloody good t' me"
"Sacked"
These quotes from the text imply that common luxuries such as a job and to be able to go to
bars and other facilities are now available to the aboriginal people of the time which is an
improvement from their earlier lives. For the first time we see them represented more of people
with a voice and rights and less of savages.

This also aligns with the time in which it was written as the story was published 3 years before
the 1967 referendum which included aboriginals in the constitution for the first time and gave
them equal rights to those of the 'white' Australians. This text was published just before that
referendum when society was starting to advocate for the equality of the aboriginal peoples
because of this the voices and perspectives of aboriginals were presented more in Australian
literature like this text.

Races (NB):

In Neighbours the migrants and white couple are represented as separated and foreign to each
other at first yet unified and friendly as the story progresses.

This text is a post war text which revolves around the concept of Eastern European migrants
who came to Australia after WWII as they were promised jobs, freedoms and a better life by the
Australian government. This text is written after the fall of the White Australian Policy which
stopped any foreign migrants from immigrating to Australia.
This later text written in the 1980s is expressing how Australia's discriminatory nature has been
overcome and that all races and ethnicities were now accepted in Australia's so called
"egalitarian society". We can see this presented through symbolism in the text namely the
symbols of seasons.

"As autumn merged into winter... The young couple found themselves smiling back at the
neighbours"
This shows the shift in perspective of the couple and how after perceiving the migrants as
foreign and incomprehensible they change to be friendly and unified with their neighbourhood.

This representation in the text of the migrants and the couple to be unified depicts the societal
attitudes towards other races and ethnicities in that they have overcome their difference and
now live together in harmony and unison..

Class (DW and CV):

In the texts the Drover's wife and chosen vessel we see the rural farming class represented as
poor and subjected to hardships.
"Ate a few mouthfuls of food and drank a cup of milk" -CV
"Laid the big broach that had been her mother’s. It was the only thing of value she had" -CV
"She is used to being left alone/one of the children died...she rode 19 miles/she fought a
bushfire/ she fought a flood/ pleuro-pneumonia/ also fights crows and eagles" - DW
These books were both written in the late 1800s when the most of the settlers were part of the
rural farming class. At this time the Australian bush was very mysterious and unknown and so it
was very dangerous for the new settlers as they didn't know how to handle these hazards. Since
moving over from the UK as well there was not a lot of resources to sustain families and so most
of the families were self sufficient. It is due to this context in the late 1800s that the rural farming
class in these earlier stories has been represented to be like this.

Class (WF and NB):

In the texts Wire Fences of Jarrabin and Neighbours the working class is represented as
educated and well-sustained.
School and bar -WFOJ
"Had lived all their life in the expansive outer suburbs"
"Elegant cottage...park where they walked their dog"
In the time this was written Australia was economically growing which resulting in a rise the in
the working class. This meant that the working class could afford more luxuries and this context
presents itself in the two later texts.

Sharvin: The text Neighbours, by author Tim Winton, showcases how

Ryan: The text the ​Drover’s Wife

Chris: The text,

- Chris if you want u can include The drovers wife says that "God sent black Mary, the
whitest gin of all the land". The use of describing the aboriginal women as 'black Mary' is
used to personalize, identify them, for colonials they humanized them by using
Australian/British names imposing their own ethnicity on them.
- This can shows that brittish peopl where imposing thier own idiology onto the abroiginal
people in a way to humanize them, disrespecting aboriginal belief systems
- Dani oxox

Hyperbolism:
"It took 6 months for the newcomers to comprehend the fact that their neighbours were not murdering each other, merely talking"
-Represents the newly weds to be outsiders and feel foreign in this community
-Represents the difference in ethnicity
-This is how the polish have been brought up to act
-The young couple doesn't understand these habits and action and so they make misconceptions about what is going on

Simile:
"Made the newly weds feel like sojourners in a foreign land"
-Constructs a distance between the couple to the European neighbourhood
-Expands on the idea of this distance between the two ethnicities as being with this migrants is like being in a foreign land
-Foreign having unnatural and uncomprehendable connotations

Harsh:
In the text, Neighbours,

Texts such as neighbours, promotes the idea that over time, white people have become more
accepting of other races and ethnicities however as seen by texts such as the Wired fence of
Jarrabin which was written around the same period, still shows tensions between white people
and aboriginals

WE have become more accepting of migrants due to postwar texts however text still shows that
there is a long way to go to come with terms of aboriginals

Drovers wife The Chosen Neighbours Wire fences of

Vessel jarrabin

Sharvin Representatio Representatio

ns - Setting ns - Setting
and and
 Characters Characters

Ryan Representatio Representatio

ns - Setting ns - Setting
and and
Characters Characters

“Where
everyone has
there
appointed little
circle”

Drovers wive and chosen vessel- living under bare minimum, struggling to survive
Neighbours and Wire fence- have leisure, able to help other people, has family and
home
How representations are influenced by the characterization and interactions between
people, setting
Context- more people and more resource as Australia

The texts neighbours shows that overtime people have become more accepting of different
ethnicities

However even though we have been more accepting of different

nvm