Secret River Flashcards
what is the plot of secret river
the colonisation of aboriginals in Australia, in 1814 William thronhill subseqent calsh with the indigenous people of the land after claiming it as his own
who is andrew bovell and what is his conetxt
he lives in the 21st ceturay after signifncat moements towards the reconciliation
- the 2008 apology to stolen generation
- the 2001 reconciliation walk
- awareness campings
- emphasis put on revealing the truth adn finding honesty
what is kate greenville context & purpose for writing
wnated to understand her own past after the 2001 walk for reconcilliation
how is an audince supposed to feel after watching the play
leave is a state of cogntive disassonace beavsue;
- they are postioned to empthise adn understand the colonists story
- the u=colonisst story has been long revered adn celbrated
- recetnly emphsis has been put on condemming it
- the actions no matter how justified leaf to tragdey/injustice/death
how is the colonial everyman conevention used & exploited
teh cnetral chaarcter is presnted are relatble
- so the aud empthsisies with his position
- sympthsises with his motives
- understand its not evil men commiting atrictys
what was the creation process of the play like
- indignios invonet in script wirting adn cultural snesicty
- writng a osycical role of uhrang poeple insteadof bieng observed
- fidnnig the pupose of the book is not igve the colonists a pass but to undersand their actions
what was done to position audience’s
-poetic stage direction, story like, second narrator
- the dhurgang language being untranslated
- colonial characters presented as a range
- using the same stage and sets as the indig
who are the colonial characters and what is their purpose/role
- smsasher sullivan (evilly cratoonsihsly colonist, possesive, violent)
- thornhill (sitting on the fence, unsure, willfully ignrnat, everyman, family oriented, dumb asf)
- sal & women (empathisc, undertsandnig and willing to coomprimise and interact, powerless)
- blackwood & dick (most liberal modern undertsadnig, rarity)
who are the dhurang characters and what is their purpose/role
- ngalamulim (younger, more portective, sees whast coming, reactive, fighting for his land, stead fast)
- yalimundi (leder, unsure of whats to come, chooses kindness adn hope, willfully ignornat)
- buryia (hlepful, untrutsuing, conservative, sees way but is unable to copmorimise or get any efoort back)
- garraway (sees similaritys between parties, willfing to interact like any other, not soiclly conditioned)
when is the play set and what is this impact
1814, stetlmenet was 1788, not a new concpet, an everyday one at the time
- was teh time the persmisoin form the gov to execute indig
how does current cultural context shape reception
modern audince is similar postion as bovell
- have exprienced mass apolgy/aknowdgeemnt of harm
- aware of their own (white) power
- cautious to aknsowlgde/justify the good colonists have done
- easier to ignore and move on
- recent referendum ecnoruging intregration
who is the play for
meant for the majority white population of austlia
- those hwo benfitied form colonistion
- who aer conflicted with being grateful and asknolging harm
- wnat to udnrsand their ancestors
how is stage direction used
- to create parrels between parties
- to forground similaritys
- acting as a scond narator
- to create symbols and motifs between parties
what is the narrators purpose and effect
dhirruybin is the narrator
- she is personfied nature, omnicient
- represnts dhurag connection to the land (dreamtime)
- evokes spirtuality and sacredness of land
- hleps convey/translate simple concepts
what are difficulties associated with the play/book
are you understanding or perpetuating,
is the pupose to justify or educate
- losing some hsitorical accuracy for story telling
- conflating fact & fiction
how is dramatic irony used and exploited
the audince kniws how its gonna end
- Using cognitive biasis and pre conditioned heuiristic
- investment comes from charcters > story
- undertsanding how they got here, whta was the experience
- shows actcityes can be done by ‘normal’ men
what are choices made to shape the pereception on audince
fire, same stage, no langgauge, etc
how is voice and lanaguge/communicnation used & exploited
aud in col posi + see how easy it is to undersatdn, willful inginarce, etc
what was critical reception like
- positivly received theatrically,
- debates about histral accuracy adn puropose for witrung
- praising effect on white pople & inlcusion of indgionous
how is mode, medium and genre used
the practclity of stage and setting was sused to firther parrels bewteen parties with similarty in
- set,
-positionsing - costume
what are choices made to generate empathy, controversy or juxtaposition
- created clear parrels bewteen partis sto show they are not unalike
- viwed the story through a white narrative instead of telling an indig one (accesblity, repression?)
- Ideas clearly conveyed through body langaue and contextual clues
what impact does inclusions/omissions make
omitted
- background as most auidnce are familar with convict/cononist jouney
inlcuded
- aborigianl voices and presnce n the stage
- had own lanaguge adn names
what are some key examples to refer too to illustrate your points
- fire on stage (dirbin comments)
- use of hat (viual gag)
- translation in yrasnscript
- interaction with captain & buying a slave
- the ending march murder sequence
-pg9 did you not see or simply not wnat to
-inclsuino of actual govrenment advisory - thornhill tored to convicne everyone of something he could not birng himslef to belive
- refusing to allow the river of blood colonisst made remian a secret
- stick prison around cmpa & snapping
what are some motifs & symbols
- music & song (juxtaposition to setting, each other, the scene)
- language & names (lack of respect & effort)
- prison (past hanging over colonists, time tree)
- dust, dirt, earth (power of land + stage direction)
- family theft/exchange (fair, not fair)
- used clothing to illustrate similarities between groups
