Jen Roberts :: Blog

hey,

i'm having some problems loading elgg on my PC.  I have no problems getting it to work on my ibook (using firefox) (hence this post!), however i can't get elgg to load using my PC using internet explorer.  i have tried refresh, as well as CTRL + ALT + refresh, and don't know what else to do.

Any advice would be most appreciated!!

 

Cheers, Jen 

Waldon, S.  with illustrations by Pavlidis, J. "What's so special about melbourne?" The Age: The Essential Guide to the Commonwealth Games : All About Melbourne. March 2006, p28-31

 a quote from the article:

"You know you're in melbourne when:

...within moments of bieng introduced, you're asked 'who do you barrack for?'

...the museum is home to a stuffed racehorse - the legendary phar Lap.

...the weather is not mere conversational putty - its a topic of consuming importance.

...the topless woman in the pub is Jules Lefebvre's full length nude Chloe at Young & Jackson's.

...a suburban swimming centre is named in honour of drowned Prime Minister Harold Holt.

...the city streets are full of people wearing black, even though no one died.

...you arrange to meet friends 'under the clocks'.

...Fountain Gate is a bus destination as well as a sitcom location."

 (ok so it is better with the pictures, but you get the picutre)

This is really a tourism piece, as part of a Commonwealth Games liftout from The Age, that also appeals to Melbournians.   It briefly sets up Melbourne hsitorically and geographically in order to present the culture of 'marvellous melboure' 'the world's most liveable city' - what is significant to the city, and what aspects should be visited and explored.  In trying to define Melbourne, it looks to comparison with arch-rival Sydney, as well as the iconic melbourne landmarks of 'the g' and the shrine of rememberence.  However, the author concludes with a more intrinsically melboune experience of 'bohemian' brunswick street, then to the gentrified Yarraville Trugo club, a trip on the city circle tram to see an iron fence around a heritage listed peppercorn tree.

I found this artice a good reference point for starting to think about what Melboune is, how we think or and interact with our city - which is important as the city of Melbourne was incorporated into the opening ceremony of the games. 

 

Caiter, T. M. "The other side of us: Australian National Identity and Constructions of the Aboriginal." Australian Humanties Review.

 

In her response to Batty's 'Saluting the dot-spangled banner' Caiter sees his 'new' construction of Aboriginal culture as being a lot less new than it might seem.  She looks to nature as the great opposite 'other' to progressive European society, with aborigines being  placed by Darwin as the lowest of the low.  She looks at past notions of romanticising the primitive.  She looks to an ecological world view of nature as a god-like position, however the true centre of this being not nature, but man, and the survival of the human species.

Primitive people find themselves ressurected in Western thought, Aboriginal culture now finds itself as a role model, being closest to nature.  She sees Aboriginal culture as 'other' to white Australian 'corrupted' civilization, through preservation of their ancient, 'natural' wisdom.  She looks to the folkloristic aspects of the new discover of Aboriginal Art, and concludes by seeing Aboriginal culture as confined to a new racism "a limbo of eternal pristine primitivity and permanent opposition to civilization" and sees "little space for Aboriginal reality in the 21st century." 

 

I thought both this response and the original article were quite interesting considering that both the Sydney 2000 and Melbourne 2006 prominently featured Aboriginal dance and culture as being 'Australian', and given recent events and attempts at reconcilliation for racial relations. 

Batty, P. "Saluting the dot-spangled banner: Aboriginal Culture, National Identity and the Australian Republic." Artlink Vol 17. No 3. 1997.

 

In this article, Batty looks at the TV spot of the closing ceremony of the Atlanta games, and how the Australian nation was represented, seeing the section of the ceremony as an odd mixture of a progressive modern state, as well as elements trying to look post modern.  in choosing to represent Australia with Aboriginal culture associates Australia with signs of the premordial and natural.

He looks at national identity and culture as being produced in relation to its 'others', and looks back to white Australia constructing itself in terms of its 'others'  Aborigines, being one of these, and looks to Freud's works of Totem and Taboo and his speculations about the primitive 'backward' Australian aborigines. He wonders how Australian culture has become so transformed for Aboriginal culture to now be representing on a global stage what is essentially Australian, and notes recent uses by QANTAS and Australia Post of Aboriginal Art as uniquely Australian iconography.  He states that "the issue here is that Australia's desire to know itself through Aboriginal culture produces...a whole range of othe socio-cultural, political and economic articulations."  He sees through events such as the Mabo decision, Australia seeking a sense of identity through reinventing Aboriginal culture, as a site of national redemption.  He sees these complex intersections and worries of white Australia as becoming increasingly evident in moves toward a republic, and cutting ties to the mother country. 

 

Greenfield , C. & Williams, P., "Limiting Politics: Howardism, Media Rhetoric and National Cultural Commemorations", Australian Journal of Political Science, Vol.38, No.2 (July 2003), pp. 279-297.

This article discusses the nature and role of 'howardism' "the particular version of neo-liberalsim persued under three Howard govenments".  The authors are partiucularly interested in the way that Howardist rhetorics are played out in the mass media, and their constructions of 'the nation' 'the people' 'our culture and way of life' in mobilizing media audiences through events, particularly examining The Bradman memorial Service, Anzac Day 2001, the May 2001 centenary of Federation celebrations in Melbourne, and Peter Hollingworth's vice-regal nomination.  They look to Mercer's theories of daily newspapers as active cultural technologies, as well as LaTour's notions of inscription as means of mobilizing these rhetorics. 

In terms of national identity, I found their discussion of Sir Donald Bradman's memorial service as particularly interesting and relevant, as an occasion for a national audience, and Bradman being a 'figurehead through which to work out values and qualities that matter to Australians', as well as the emphasis during this service on the national or Australian spirit that Bradman embodies, which can transcend social and cultural divisions.  Howardism associates with these in orchestrating a national memory, and Australain spirit to unify Australians, through 'middle Australia' and 'mainstream values'.

they look at Howardism as trancending race relations trough Australian sporting spirit, and example being Cathy Freeman's wins at the Sydney 2000 olympics, a form of politics of reassurance - Australians don't have to worry about politics, and glossing over of anything troublesome.

At the Anzac day commemoration, Howard links Australian spirit with Anzac spirit, and at the centenary of federation he promotes a nation united, with its distinct ppl and landscape, and constant australian values- egalitarianism, family, work -an occasion for quiet pride.

They look at Howardism as a media rhetoric, as psychology of John Howard's leadership policy, by tracing theses cultural politics of promotion of national commemorative events, as conscriptions for his national policies.

The guy who sat next to me on the train this morning happened to be reading David Allen's "How to get things done" which Adrian recommended we read at the beginning of the semester.  So I struck up a conversation with him - discussing what we did and didn't like about the book, and how we planned to go about implementing the stategies.  I mentioned that the ideas were great - but i didn't know how to get all the information and lists (yes ash, lists) assembled somewhere that is practical to his suggestions for organization, and also accessible.  Anyway, the interesting point that I am getting to, is that this guy mentioned a write up that was in the green guide a few weeks ago, about Onenote software, which apparently integrates these organizational stategies, and is apparently avaliable for Mac and PC.  Anyway, I thought it would be worth checking out - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010858031033.aspx

 

it looks pretty good - i would be interested to know what others think, both of the book and of the software to implement organizational strategies in the book... 

Greenfield , C. & Williams, P., “The sporting gamble: media sport, drama and politics“ in Media International Australia, No.97(November 2000), pp.47-58.

In this Article, Greenfield and Williams set to establish sport as a dramatization, particularly through media conventions.  They see it as a form of entertainment, but one with which we can identify, as it symbolises and simplifies essentially human relations.  They look to the Sydney 2000 Olympic games as a sporting ground for these dramas to take place, and look at the associations and implications in a greater social and political spectrum.  Their two main arguments focus around the politics of gender, as race, as represented and dramatised through sporting event and competition.  

They look at the line-up of the final torch-bearers in the torch relay, as a celebration of 100 years of women’s involvement in Olympic sport as representing the collective identity of women, who have in dramatic terms, dominated the games, through the politics of gender -both the power in being a woman and a sportsperson, as well as their appearance of femininity.  

They then move into an examination of the role of Cathy Freeman, and both her involvement in lighting the torch in the opening ceremony, and her victory in the women’s 400m, and dits contribution to race issues around Australian national identity. They look at the dramatization of Freeman as a character, and the politics which surround and involve her, to make up narrative of her victory in her sporting event.  They conclude by stating that although sport can be inclusive and representative of politics, it is still a dramatisation of social and race relations in Australia.  

Sinclair, J. “More than an old flame: national symbolism and the media in the torch ceremony of the Olympics.” Media International Australia No.97(November 2000), pp.35-46.

Sinclair’s article look at the media representation of the Olymic Torch Relay, in the lead up to the opening of the the Sydney 200 Olympic games.  He sees the games as a dual opportunity for the host city and nation – to represent themselves both to the world, and to their own nation.  The torch relay, itself an ‘invented tradition’ (for the 1936 Berlin Olympics) is seen as symbolic of the national identity of the Host city.  Sinclair notes Sydney being quoted as “multicultural city, in a multicultural nation, hosting a multicultural event” and sees the relay as symbolic of blanketing social difference under the context of ‘Australianness”, and sharing the spirit.

He looks to the headlining articles surrounding the relay – including the inclusion of SOCOG official, Kevin Gospers’s daughter as one of the first torchbearers – in place of a young- Greek-Australian girl, Yianna Souleles, which appeared to appeal to egalitarian values of Australians.

He then moves onto the representation of nature throughout the relay – as a unifying signifier to over-shadow social divisions, and as signifiers of what is Australian to international tourists.  

The coverage of the torch relay did not take on real significance in the media until it arrived in Australian, and even then the actual progress of the torch itself was rarely a headline.  

He also examines the torch’s arrival in Australia at Uluru, as being ‘good PR’ for the anticipated ‘Aboriginal issue’ which would sideline the Games, and symbolic of reconciliation.   He sees the final female runners, and of course Cathy Freeman as a ‘fulfilled mission’ of the purpose of the relay.  

Fitzpatrick, P. "Australian Drama : Images of Society." in Carrol, J. ed. Intruders in the Bush.  Oxford University Press: Melbourne. 1982.157-167

 

Fitzpatrick looks to Australian plays as seeking to define the distinctiveness of the Australian character, and cultural self-definition, in which we create images in which we can recognise who we are.

However, Fitzpatrick identifies a lack of highly developed cultural myths which define or express recognisably Australian qualities, and as such the playwright is involved in the construction of making myths, such as the bushman and the ocker.

The Bush man, then, and standing for the figure of mateship, can be seen as a unifying myth, expressing the values and aspirations of what is Australian, and being transferable from rural to urban society.  The ‘ocker’ emerged from a new wave of Australian writing, and was a ‘person who is aggressively Australian in speech and behaviour, usually for humorous effect.’  He notes that both of these characters are concerned almost exclusively with the male attitude.

Fitzpatrick sees the difficulty of expression characters who are typically Australian, as Australia’s lacking of a diverse regional type, in attempts to define an ‘Australian’ type, being caught between empires, which have eroded cultural distinctiveness.

 

Walter, J. “Defining Australia” in Whitelock, G. & Carter, D. eds. Images of Australia. St Lucia, QLD : University of Queensland Press. 1992. 7-22.

In “Defining Australia” Walter firstly looks to what people say about Australian in times when they are forced to think explicitly about it, an example being Australia Day – what type of ceremony can represent all Australians, creating boundary distinctions of what is Australian and what is not Australian.  He looks at the differences in Aboriginal, White and Multicultural senses of Australia – and the need for a unified meaning for Australia day being problematized by it meaning different things to different people.  

He examines the historical context of the emergence of nations, and the relations that this has to the Australian sens of nation in terms of timing, before moving to look at Bennedict Anderson’s concept of ‘imagined communities’, as a turning point defined by its ‘imagined’ status of other citizens.  He looks at this in the context of the ‘Australian legend’, and what is considered an essentially Australian character –the nomadic bush man – accessible to people through newspapers and literature, as a distinctive ethos, one of their own, different to those of other nations, however not without its associated problems of exclusion of major sections of the population.    

He then turns to Humphrey McQueen, who sees Australian culture as problematic in its passivity to British and American influences, due to its lack of divisions and boundaries – we speak the same language, therefore their cultue easily transcends our nation, preventing us from creating out own.  He also sees Australian’s problems as being resolved in practice, and therefore no need for a theoretical enquiry into why  - therefore our tendency for little-by-little social tinkering, rather than reforms.  HE concludes with the notion of no ‘true’ or ‘right’ notion of what is Australian, and its changing notions as a result all commentators are a product and participant of their own time and culture, and therefore unable to separate themselves from it.