The Changing Australian Voice

You are to create a representation of TWO of the poems studied in class and an explanation or rationale of your work. In this task you are to consider the values and assumptions underlying the voice in the poems and explore the effect of changing context on those values and assumptions. How you decide to represent these ideas on the page is entirely up to you, but you should consider the most appropriate visual techniques to convey your ideas. Your visual must adhere to the following criteria; however, any changes to the criteria must be negotiated with your teacher.

Visual:
Your visual representation must be submitted on a minimum A4 and a maximum A3 page paper/cardboard
Written text is accepted in the visual but should be used minimally
You must use technology in the creation of your text and provide in your explanation how you have used it to represent your ideas
The visual may be layered or a collage or any other medium that has been approved by your class teacher

Rationale:
For each poem represented you need to provide an outline of the values and assumptions present in the poem as well as a detailed explanation of HOW those values are conveyed (poetic devices- at least three for each poem_ and a brief explanation of the context that influenced the portrayal of these values/assumptions.

This should be presented in two paragraphs, one for each poem included in the visual
For the visual, you need to provide a detailed explanation of how you have represented the effect of context on the poems and on the changing Australian voice in poetry. This paragraph should contain at least 4 techniques that YOU have utilized to convey ideas and the effect of context on texts.

The Changing Australian Voice

Rationale
‘The Man from Snowy River’, a Banjo Paterson poem, reflects the values and assumptions of Australians in the 1890’s, demonstrating the concepts of heroism, the fascination with the ‘underdog’, and the romanticisation of the bush in an expressive, traditionally Australian voice which bears in mind the context of that time. Throughout the poem, the romanticisation of the bush is reinforced by use of poetic, linguistic and rhythmic techniques. The poem is set to a fast tempo, with a regular rhythmic pattern, creating the sensation that one can indeed hear the horses, due to the accented consonants. Furthermore, the idealization of the bush is augmented via onomatopoeia, alliteration and hyperbole, shown through:

“And the Snowy River riders on the mountains make their home, Where the river runs those giant hills between”
“Where the gorges deep and black,
Resounded to the thunder of the tread”
“From cliffs and crags that beetled overhead”
Climactic moments are dramatized with monosyllabic words, while dissyllabic words work to vary the pace preceding the climax. All of these devices culminate to emphasise the wild, untamed nature of the bush, free and independent. Banjo Paterson romanticises the Australian bush as a way of conveying and connecting the Australian voice with its growing culture – one of increasing nationalism during the context of a Pre-Federation Australia. This is further enforced by Paterson relating man and nature, shown through the simile:

“And he swung his stockwhip round and gave a cheer, and he raced him down the mountain like a torrent down its bed” The poem comparatively links the power of the landscape to the power in the rider, connoting that the voice of Australia is synonymous with the voice of nature: dynamic, vigorous and elemental, further echoing the growing need for identity in the intensively patriotic context of the 1890’s. The poem’s fascination with the ‘underdog’ is parallel to the social standings prevalent during the poem’s time period, which not only focuses on the interest of the underdog, but extends to an obsession towards the unlikely achiever. This notion is represented hand in hand with the romanticisation of the bush through the glorified characterisation of ‘The Man’, exemplifying him as the perfect bushman and more importantly as an underdog. The described imagery of, “Stripling on a small and weedy beast”,

Denotes the Man as the underdog, however, he carries all the attributes idealised of Australian. This is shown through the personification of:
“And the stock-whips woke the echoes, and they fiercely answered back” The poem heroistically connects the romanticism of the bush and landscape to the historically referenced obsession with the underdog. That, and the previously mentioned social context define the values, assumptions and voice of the poem and of Australia at that time, one that shows courage and perseverance even in the face of adversity – a constituently elemental voice.

Kath Walker’s poem ‘Municipal Gum’ (written in 1960) is a representation of the struggles of the Aboriginal people, shown through an active, responsive voice reflective of the values and assumptions and the context during that time. Entrapment, displacement and suffering are accentuated by the use of literary and poetic devices, and combined with the social context, form the changed voice of the poem. Displacement is represented starting with the juxtaposition of the title. The two words, ‘Municipal Gum’ immediately introduces the idea that a gum tree, a natural object should not be displaced into the streets of a municipal, and hence defines the tone for the rest of the poem. The personification in the opening lines,

“Gumtree in the city street, hard bitumen around your feet” , enforces this concept, personifying the Aboriginals as the gum tree, and by extension nature. The gum tree is used as an extended metaphor throughout the poem. In contrast, the hard bitumen acts as a contradiction to nature and hence the Aboriginals. Bitumen, a man-made substance, is juxtaposed with the gum tree, an element of nature. This extends to the culminated rift of differences between the Europeans and the Aboriginals. The resulting imagery, starkly dissonant, is a result of the rhyme and meter present in these two lines.

Furthermore, the analogy used for the bird, contrasted with the domestication of the horse highlights the detriments of the entrapment of the Aboriginal culture, as shown through: “And the wild bird calls, here you seems to me, like that poor cart-horse” The consequences of the displacement of the Aboriginals is synonymously equated to the clash of characters between the Europeans and the Aboriginals. Whilst the Europeans romanticise nature, the Aboriginals exemplify nature, and the disaccord of the two parties are noticeable through the contrast between the wild bird and the domesticated, displaced, supressed cart-horse. Overall the voice of the poem is one alike the change in social context – discordant and displaced, shown through the contrasting images juxtaposed to each other. I represented the changing context of both poems through a layered photograph depicting both ‘voices’ and highlighting the differences and contexts between them.

The horse placed on the top left is seen rearing up from a cliff (the angle of the layered image was separately adjusted), a representation of both the idealized Australian bushman and the powerful, patriotic (Australian Flag placed in to symbolize this) voice which 1890’s Australia so dearly wanted. Furthermore, I coloured the horse black, to symbolize the underdog, or synonymously known, ‘Dark Horse’, and likened the rearing up of the animal to the wild, untamed nature of Australian bushmen. I romanticised the bush by increased the saturation and placing a filter on the background image, invigorating it and presenting it in a more vivid manner.

In addition, I satisfied the context of ‘Municipal Gum’ by representing the displacement and suffering of the Aboriginals through contrast with the horse. The flag was faded to represent nothing but a memory, whilst the area near the gum tree was reduced of saturation, to represent the dull quality and the hard bitumen. Furthermore, the gum tree was placed isolated and with heavy emphasis on red, to compare it with blood. Ultimately, my piece highlights the differences between cultures and the difference voices spoken through their different contexts, and fulfils all the values and assumptions present in ‘The Man from Snowy River’ (Romanticism of the bush, heroism and the obsession with the ‘underdog’) and ‘Municipal Gum’ (Entrapment, displacement and suffering).