The Traditional Australian National Discourse
The traditional Australian national discourse has the feature of masculinity which has been explored and challenged in the texts, Fly Away Peter (1999), An Elegant Young Man (2014) and The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (1994). These texts will be examined to discover the devices they use to present a counter-discourse and what commentary they have on the discourse.
The feature of masculinity is a strong part of the Australian national discourse which is a popular theme in texts. It is particularly strong on the idea that Australians are tough people, who have homosocial relationships and a patriarchal social system (Hogan 2010, P.64). These ideas are a common feature of many Australian …show more content…
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corp. (ANZAC) soldier was born in this war and exemplified the masculine Australian described in the discourse. Malouf uses the war as a context because it is unique among global discourses due to the view that it holds that WW1 was a foundational event in the Australia’s national history. Otto (2009, P.36) states that WW1 is viewed as a moment which exemplifies the masculinity of Australians as described in the national discourse. However, Malouf uses the war to contrast the reality of the war with the imprecise descriptions the discourse provides. Firstly, he uses the event of the protagonist Jim Saddler going to the Western Front to represent the innocence of Australia as it went into the war. And rather than experiencing brave acts of heroism, he watches many innocent Australians being effortlessly killed or injured by the war. In one such case he is surprised when he hears ‘screaming’ and finds a friend with his legs off’ (Malouf, p.106). The damages to his friend is a case used to show a person being impaired and not doing anything masculine in the process of it happening, which is almost like a necessity to be a true ANZAC. This contrasts the view of masculinity being exemplified in the tough Australian soldiers and presents a counter-discourse that suggests the opposite of what the discourse asserts. Wise (2014, P.49) stresses that the discourse, like Malouf does, is not an accurate portrayal of the atrocities of the war because most of the people felt pressured into entering it and did not mostly demonstrate the masculine features of the discourse. Rather, what happened was that they were coerced into the war believing it was necessary, a part of being masculine and the discourse covers the truth to
The traditional Australian national discourse has the feature of masculinity which has been explored and challenged in the texts, Fly Away Peter (1999), An Elegant Young Man (2014) and The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (1994). These texts will be examined to discover the devices they use to present a counter-discourse and what commentary they have on the discourse.
The feature of masculinity is a strong part of the Australian national discourse which is a popular theme in texts. It is particularly strong on the idea that Australians are tough people, who have homosocial relationships and a patriarchal social system (Hogan 2010, P.64). These ideas are a common feature of many Australian …show more content…
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corp. (ANZAC) soldier was born in this war and exemplified the masculine Australian described in the discourse. Malouf uses the war as a context because it is unique among global discourses due to the view that it holds that WW1 was a foundational event in the Australia’s national history. Otto (2009, P.36) states that WW1 is viewed as a moment which exemplifies the masculinity of Australians as described in the national discourse. However, Malouf uses the war to contrast the reality of the war with the imprecise descriptions the discourse provides. Firstly, he uses the event of the protagonist Jim Saddler going to the Western Front to represent the innocence of Australia as it went into the war. And rather than experiencing brave acts of heroism, he watches many innocent Australians being effortlessly killed or injured by the war. In one such case he is surprised when he hears ‘screaming’ and finds a friend with his legs off’ (Malouf, p.106). The damages to his friend is a case used to show a person being impaired and not doing anything masculine in the process of it happening, which is almost like a necessity to be a true ANZAC. This contrasts the view of masculinity being exemplified in the tough Australian soldiers and presents a counter-discourse that suggests the opposite of what the discourse asserts. Wise (2014, P.49) stresses that the discourse, like Malouf does, is not an accurate portrayal of the atrocities of the war because most of the people felt pressured into entering it and did not mostly demonstrate the masculine features of the discourse. Rather, what happened was that they were coerced into the war believing it was necessary, a part of being masculine and the discourse covers the truth to