Jaclyn+Yo

= = **Migrant Australia** **Partner: Amelia Catalano**
 * Unit One: Australian Cultural Perspective**

We have decided to choose Migrant Australian during Post War 2, 1950s. A few researches on Migrant Australian during Post War 1950s to understand the different culture perspectives at that time.

WEBSITES: [] [] []

IMPORTANT DETAILS:

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- In the immediate aftermath of [|World War II], [|Ben Chifley], [|Prime Minister of Australia] from 1945 to 1949, established the [|Federal Department of Immigration] and thereby launched a large scale [|immigration]ion. program. Chifley commissioned a report on the subject which found that Australia was in urgent need of a larger population for the purposes of defence and development and it recommended a 1% annual increase in population through increased immigrat =====

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- Australia's first migrant reception centre opened at [|Bonegilla, Victoria] near [|Wodonga] in December 1947- the first assistant migrants were received there in 1951. The camp at Bonegilla closed in 1971 by which time some 300,000 migrants had spent time there. =====

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- By 1951, the government had established three migrant reception centres for non-English speaking displaced persons from Europe, and twenty holding centres, principally to house non-working dependants, when the pressure of arrival numbers on the reception centres was too great to keep families together. =====

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- Most migrants arrived by ship, disembarking in major cities such as Sydney and Melbourne. From there they were immediately taken to migration hostels in rural areas, often in former military barracks. With accommodation fashioned from old corrugated iron Nissen huts, migrants were frequently shocked at the primitive conditions. With men and women separated into single sex barracks, shared bathrooms and kitchens and a communal dining room serving unfamiliar, and often unpalatable food, migration hostels were neither comfortable nor welcoming. ===== - For migrationheritage, they introduced pictures of the records of a postwar migrant family. In 1953, the family of Roman and Rosa Wlochowitz arrived in Australia from Germany. They were among many who chose to make a new start in Australia after the ravages of World War II.It looks at some of the records created in the process of the Wlochowitz family's migration to and settlement in Australia in the 1950s and 1960s. The examples are typical of the kinds of records the National Archives holds on postwar European migrants.

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**Text One: Poem**

By Kominos
 * __If I was the son of an English man__**

 if i was the son of an Englishman ,  i’d really be an aussie,  i could be a high court judge,  or an actor on the telly,  i could be a union boss,  or a co-star with skippy,  i could even be prime-minister,  or comment on the footy.  if i was the son of an Englishman ,  i’d really be an aussie.

 but my father eats salami,  and my mother she wears black,  my last name’s papadopoulos,  and my first name’s just plain jack.

<span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> if I was the son of an englishman, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> i’d really be true blue, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> i could drink myself to delirium, and

<span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> glorify the spew, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> i could desecrate the countryside, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> and destroy the kangaroo, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> i could joke about the irish,

<span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> the greeks, the abos and the jews. <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> if I was the son of an Englishman <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> i’d really be true blue.

<span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> but my father he drinks ouzo, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> and my mother she wears black, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> my last name’s papadopoulos, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> and my first name’s just plain jack.

<span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> if I was the son of an englishman, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> i’d really be fair-dinkum, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> i’d be seen and not heard, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> i’dbe quiet on the tram, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> i’d be rowdy at the footy, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> and cold to my fellow man, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> i’d build four walls around me, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> and I wouldn’t give a damn, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> if I was the son of an englishman, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> i’d really be fair dinkum.

<span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> but my father eats salami, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> and my mother she wears black, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> my last name’s papadopoulos, <span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 115%;"> and my first name’s really komninos

Commentary of Poem

Kominos Papadopoulos is an extraordinary performance poet who composed ‘If I was a son of an English man’. Kaminos arrived in Australia as a Greek immigrant. This poem describes and displays a stereotype of Australia’s society from a migrant’s perspective, during the Post War Years. The audience is able to understand that the intended focus of this poem was to convey his views of his life as an immigrant and the discrimination Australia had for him.

Kominos writes as himself and his own perspective, where he speaks to the audience of Australia. The focal text is of the way Kominos uses imaginary thinking to convey his emotions. Kominos does not silence the perspective of Australia nor of the immigrants. But instead, he combines what he is witnessing along with, making a generalization about Australians and its culture. The author adds on humor which consents the audience to witness his desire and affection to become a ‘true blue’ Australian stereotype. This poem does not place itself in a negative or a positive view of Australian Culture, but gives us a perspective of a stereotyped migrant and their views of a stereotyped Australian culture. Although the stereotype of Post War migrants does not subvert the stereotype of Australian Culture, the poem offers a strong, direct message to the whole country of their particular views.

Kominos expresses himself using short and simple repetitive sentences to convey his true sentiments. He use of repetition ‘if i was the son of an Englishman, i’d really be an aussie…’ is to emphasis on his points of an immigrant and to support the rhyming scheme of the poem. In this example, we can understand that Kominos is trying to focus on his un-subtle affection to become part of the Australian Culture. Kominos’ poem has a touch of humor attached to it. This puts the poem on a lighter note and holds a bit of respect towards the country. ‘And my first name’s just plain jack’ and ‘and my first name’s really komninos’ was the one of the humour brought out in this text. Australian culture is based around being able to find the humour in any situation. This humour shows the author’s effort into turning his poem and himself into ‘true blue’. His usage of short, sharp words such as ‘desecrate, damn’, also brings the reader’s attention towards his forceful desire to become part of Australian culture. His repetition of these words also adds a sharp tone but at the same time a connection to the audience can be found. This is due to the fact that these words can be often heard in Australian slang, thus any audience would be able to sense the atmosphere of the poem and the poet’s emotions through this.

Kominos use a sense of guilt towards the end of each paragraph. The example of ‘ but my father eats salami, and my mother she wears black, my last name’s papadopoulos, and my first name’s really komninos’. The constant use of 'but' like 'but my father' makes the reader constantly think back to the father and how these Australian stereotypes affect him. The guilt builds up as this repetition ending continues. From this guilt, it balances out the weight of the poem from being too affectionate or too harsh about the Australian culture from an immigrant’s point of view.

This poem acknowledged the identity of Australian culture by explaining the different culture perspective within Australia. Kominos meets the texts purposes effectively as the audience’s views are changed by placing themselves in the shoes of a migrant. This text has contributed to our understanding of a migrant’s perspective.


 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 180%;">Text Two **

<span style="font-family: Rockwell,serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;">'Post War Migration' 1989- SBS Television

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This documentary was created in 1989 by SBS Television. The voices and pictures are from the late 1940s and the 1950s, beginning with the voice of Arthur Calwell, Immigration Minister from 1945 to 1949. The purpose of the film was to persuade the intended audiences which are migrants, at that time, to move to Australia. The dominate reading of the text was the positive stereotyped perspective of Australia, from a migrant before moving to Australia. This perspective enhances the different point of view that migrants have. The documentary’s perspective is produced really strongly to get a direct message across. Although the common stereotype does not subvert this film, it silences the other perspectives of Australia, as we can see from text one. The film described Australia as a ‘Land of opportunities’, illustrating the migrants as people with a good sense of fashion, successful jobs, a certain degree of luxury and the happy side of them. The documentary starts off an establishing shot of a large ship moving forward which not only show the location of the scene but gives of a feeling of hope and adventure for the viewers. It starts off a non-diegetic voice over of the Prime minister, Arthur Calwell as well as a music background. The stern, steady voice of the Prime minister and the calm and soothing music balance out the documentary to be seen as forceful persuasion or too soft. The next scene fades out into a low-angle pan shot of several migrants on the boat. This technique creates a sense of making the migrants on the boat look larger than normal, and therefore strong, powerful, and threatening. The supporting scene displays a long-shot of a large group of migrants running towards the large ship. This produce a strong persuasive technique as people tend to get influence in making decisions by a large group or people rather than an individual. The running also adds excitement to the audience emotions. The film displays attractive people from range of all ages, smiling faces, a good sense of fashion and migrants waving happily at the camera. All this elements contributed in producing a positive image about Australia and its culture. The men in this documentary are mainly wearing suits and formal clothes. This developed a kind of perspective towards the environment they thought Australia holds for them and also creates an understanding, to the viewers, that Australia has a clean and steady location. During this time, men usually hold a more important role than women, though in this documentary women can be seen smiling happily with their friends. A voiceover of a woman: ‘This country offers wonderful opportunities for men and women…’ This gives a persuasive effect of curiosity towards Australia, its land and the opportunities it holds for women. A particular scene of a close up, eye-level shot of a little boy adds the encouragement effect to the viewers. The eye-level shot gives a natural feel and also easily relatable to the audience, it is as if his excitement in his facial expression and voice is talking right at the audience. The little boy is wearing a good-looking hat with a blazer and a tie which supports the element in creating a positive perspective of Australia’s environment. Migrants who are parents and have children or children who are about the same age as him can easily be influenced by this small scene. Even the scene of which the little baby boy, carried on one arm by the father, is waving an Australia’s flag impacted migrants who has children or about to have one. The documentary ended with a group of men migrant, waving happily at the camera. Since this was post war, men had undergone war life and possibly have not smiled so brightly but this documentary showed otherwise. This documentary has shown the positive outlook of Australian culture using the persuasive effect to force the audience in accepting the concept of Australian being the ‘new world’ as the prime minister stated. It met its purpose by only allowing the viewers to identify the advantages of moving to Australia but not the disadvantages.

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Roelf and Geertje’s personal encounter

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 * **Town/City** || Turners Beach, Tas ||
 * **First name** || Roelf and Geertje ||
 * **Surname** || de Boer ||
 * **Country of Origin** || Netherlands ||
 * **Year of Arrival in Australia** || Jun1952 ||
 * **Story** || Because of the great upheaval caused by the events of WW2, my mum and dad, Geertje and Roelf de Boer along with their four children, Roelof 9/8/1939, Anna 13/2/1943, Max 9/10/1947 and Roelf Jnr 29/7/1951 decided to migrate to Australia in order to obtain a much brighter future for themselves and us their children.

We embarked on MS Fairsea and after a six weeks journey arrived in Melbourne. From there we were taken to the migrant reception centre at Bonegilla in Northern Victoria, and were fed and housed in WW2 army barracks. As a lad of 13, I was in paradise as I could roam the hills for and wide, catching rabbits, fishing for redfin on Lake Hume - I picked my first orange on a nearby farm. The trees, the landscape, flora and fauna was so different - especially the poisonous snakes.

There was at the time a downturn in the economy, and my father trudged all over Victoria to find work as a farm labourer as both my parents were from peasant farming stock and hard workers and their dream was to one day own their own farm.

After about 6 months my dad found a passage aboard MS Taroona and arrived in Devonport, Tas one morning, where he happened to meet another Dutch migrant who took him to see an Australian farmer who needed a labourer, so for 8 pounds a week, plus free milk, spuds and firewood we were hired to live in a roomed shack with an open fire place where my mother would produce simple but filling fare.

Eventually they purchased their own dairy farm and with hard work made a great living in this country of great freedom. I as the eldest as required to assist of course and eventually I became a Warrant Officer in the Aust. Army, seeing Vietnam service. I served for 36 years.

My siblings all did well in their chosen fields. I am married to a local Tassie lass and we have seven children, grandchildren, and 4 great grandkids all living in Northern Tasmania. My parents returned to Holland where my mum is buried. My dad came back here and is buried here.

Three of our sons have and are still serving in the defence forces in conflicts such as Aghanistan, Iraq, etc. I thank my parents for changing our circumstances - it was a great sacrifice for them, and I thank Australia for welcoming us and giving us a wonderful way of life.

61310 W.O.2 R."Dutchy" de Boer ||

<span style="font-family: Centaur,serif; line-height: 15px;"> COMMENTARY

The text is a personal encounter of Roelf and Geertijie de Boer, told by their son, who moved to Australia in June, 1952. They were originally from Netherlands and decided to migrate to Australia due to the uproar of WW11. They sought for a better life for their young children, and believed they would find this in Australia- this decision was influenced by others at that time and is probably on account of its isolation from the rest of the world. The purpose of the text is to convey his perspective of Australia. His perspective did not silence the negative side of Australian Culture but its sole purpose was to convey that migrants did in fact have an overall positive experience on arrival to Australia.

The writer started off with the timeline of which and how he got to Australia, Melbourne. He moved on telling us a reencounter of himself at the age of 13. He used the term ‘I was in paradise…’, this established the positive light of Australian Culture but also contradicts with the idea of migration camp of Bonegilla. The present perspective of the migration camp was thought out to be harsh and had many difficulties. This could be because this encounter was in retrospect. Thus, it supported the clean and stable environment that migrants thought Australia would be like by giving examples of the ‘hills, trees, landsca pe, flora and fauna’. The writer does not conceal the disadvantages of moving to Australia by giving information of the economy downturn and how difficult life was without his dad having a job for 6 months. This showed that although the migrants had many job offers, they often did not pay a great deal, not enough to care for their basic needs. Although the general stereotyped idea of Postwar migrants is that they had a rough time, felt isolated and did not really call Australia home, just like text one, this personal encounter was written over 50 years after the migration, challenged this. This is because, in retrospect, the writer as well as others who left their home countries knew it was the right decision and was better off rather than staying in their home country. This text gave us a dominate perspective of positivity on Australian and its cultures but made it a point in enabling the reader to understand the indecencies of the decision in migrating. The writer has met the purpose in sharing his personal experience and his opinion of Australia after many years.

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ALONE IN THE DARK

It’s eight-thirty. The time has come for me. My heart shivered in fear, hand cupped together and I could feel the sweat in my palms. As I walked down the hallway, heading towards the door, laughter of students echoed throughout the hall. Their smiles, their happiness I could not wait to be part of it. The lady in the long black dress stopped in her steps and turned. Looking right at me, she smiled. It was one of the most encouraging smiles I had seen all day.

“You ready?” she asked. At that time, I was. Not anymore. I am left alone, sitting by the corner, with my books and pencil case. None of them tried to talk to me. None of them looked at me. None of them was even bothered by my presence. This was hard. Harder when I arrived home one day, after school and my parents broke the news about moving out of my home. Harder than arriving at my new house and was constantly stared at. My lips quivered. I could taste the bitterness in my mouth. This was day one. Day two passes. Day three passes. The only change that happened was my heart. It no longer holds excitement; it was left with only misery and loneliness. Day four passes. The smell of fresh detergent disappeared. But my bitterness never did. I constantly looked at myself in the mirror. Is there something wrong with me? Is my hair alright? Did I do something wrong? I got home that day, changing a new hairstyle and ready for Day five. We sat in groups today. The girls in my table were talking about the weekend and their fantastic sleepover, with pillow fights, guys, prank calls and such. I tighten my fist in anger. Can’t they see I was here? My heart beats harder and harder. Someone said something but my thoughts at a place I called home. I miss my home. I miss my friends; all I ever wanted was to feel I belonged. “Hello? Did you hear what I said?” the girl with blonde hair spoke and raised her eyebrows. My fist relaxed and I looked at her in curiosity. She went on talking about her address. I was confused. I nodded my head in reply for her invite. I couldn’t speak. This sense of excitement was too much. I looked out the window of the cab and with my nervous hands I opened the door. This was it. This house was massive but was entirely quiet with fence as high as me and plants grew high on the cracked walls of the washed-out paint. The ground was plain, no grasses were seen and the entrance lights were switched off but the gate door was slightly ajar as if it knew I was coming. I could not understand. I walked step by step slowly towards the wooden door with a bell next to it. This was exactly like Day one, without the smile of that lady in the long black dress. I knocked on the door but was left unanswered. I rang the doorbell but no sound came out. Maybe they are not here yet? My mind was bewildered. I could not understand. I sat on the steps of the half-broken stairs. I observed the dead silence, no cars, no crows and no crickets were heard. I looked up in the sky. It was filled with dark, heavy clouds. The first drop came and soon followed by the others. I sat there looking out at the entrance of the house. I didn’t move. I just sat there like the world swallowed me into darkness. My lips tasted salty drops. I watched as dark fell upon this world. I was lost in this darkness. I was invisible to others. I stood right up and started running. Running like the world was about to end. Running towards the only glimpse of light I see.- =<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 230%;">﻿Lady Macbeth: Act 2 Scene 2 = Who was it that thus cried? Why, worthy thane, = = You do unbend your noble strength to think = = So brainsickly of things. Go get some water, = = And wash this filthy witness from your hand. = = Why did you bring these daggers from the place? = = They must lie there. Go carry them and smear = = The sleepy grooms with blood. Infirm of purpose!Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the deadAre but as pictures. 'Tis the eye of childhoodThat fears a painted devil. If he do bleed,I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal,For it must seem their guilt. = = I chose Act 2 Scene 2 of Lady Macbeth's speech in the lines between 47 to 60. This scene was just right after Macbeth had killed King Duncan to which he showed great guilt. Lady Macbeth's lines in this section creates a sense of stress and anger. One of the reasons would be due to the fact that Macbeth had showed cowardly actions and even brought back the daggers. 'infirm of purpose' Lady Macbeth called Macbeth a coward. Shakespeare seems to bring out a contradictory in the olden medieval times. As during those time, men usually have a greater power/position/authority over women. But Lady Macbeth's speech was different to the norm. I chose this scene as I wanted to express Lady Macbeth's strong character during this point of the play. Although this chosen section can be known to give direct information about her planned actions and emotions, this gives an impression of authority and dominate in Lady Macbeth over Macbeth. = =

==<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif;">The address was quiet. It was lonely. The sky darkened and heavy clouds formed. One by one it dropped heavily onto the dry patch of brown soil stamped with broken pieces of glass. It formed a trail towards the white door covered with deep markings and dents. If it wasn’t for the front lamp, the house would look empty. ==

==<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif;">I honked but no one came out. I honked again, yet nothing. I slowly pulled out and walked towards the white door. I knocked but yet I was welcome in by the door. It was dark. A narrow, long corridor waits for me. Hello? I asked. The house gave no reply but a simple echo back. I stood rooted to the ground, hesitate to enter but my feet moved without order. The floor creaked along with my every step until I could no longer hear the rain but instead a soft sobbing. ==

==<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif;">Perhaps it was paint? As I stared, a droplet slowly trickled down her arm, gradually gathered enough pace to glide down her elbow and hit me on my forehead. Gently, it touches my lip. It was warm and deep and metallic, sort of like licking a copper pot. And then it hit me like a sap of conscience, blood. It was blood. Almost immediately, I stared back at the young woman. She was still clueless of my presence. Cautiously, I pulled closely to the young woman and almost shaking, I touched her. Just a light touch on her arm. ==