7 stages of grieving and the longest memory comparative Flashcards
Whitechapel describes himself
‘boy, mule, nigger, slave’
Family call him ‘dog’
• Name central to identity • W/C rejects name + individual identity / adopts white view of himself → only a slave • Equates slavery with status of animal → suggests slaves have no identity / humanity • W/C + family + oppressors use animalistic terms • Accepting dehumanized status + internalize white view is political act
Whitechapel’s belief about slavery ‘born owned by another man, like his father before him and like his son would be’ Chapel dreams ‘his children would be free’ but Whitechapel rebuts with ‘evidence of 300 years’ of history
Again, create KPAS notes so they look something like this: • W/C = manifestation of oppressed older generations / resigned to slavery’s existence + pessimistic about its end • Ch. = represents younger generations hopeful for change • W/C = respected patriarch / passes his trauma on to future generations • D illuminates intergenerational & compounding trauma of ppl exposed to violence, exploitation & exclusion
Whitechapel schooled in ‘subservience,
obedience, compliance’
vs
Chapel who is ‘thirsty for change’
Contrast b/w generations expose consequences of oppression • W Lydia’s help, Chapel’s literacy transforms him from powerless to powerful / empowerment = dangerous b/c threatens to subvert society + risk corporal punishment • W/C’s internal colonisation → share view of ‘the master’ that literacy → ‘calamity and shame’/ Cook keeps Chapel’s secret • Older generations uphold status quo vs younger generations questions it
Cook explains her ‘master’s pot is full of the best things’ but her pot is ‘sweet’ to her Cook hearing Chapel read: ‘all I feel inside is pride, not fear, not yet; just pride, swelling my chest and filling my heart.’
Cook = female voice & perspective / contrasts relentless oppression • Cooks for master as job but her family w love • Strong identity / enriched by love of family → keeps Chapel’s literacy secret b/c proud & hopeful • Physical reaction b/c hopeful Ch can use literacy to create change
Slaves compared to ‘stock on the plantation’ ‘they do not feel what we feel’ Whitechapel ‘a slave could live a good, long life’
Editorial represents society’s views • Emphasises divide b/w dominant & subordinate groups based on subjective ideas of ‘values’ • Dehumanising lang creates division b/c slaves worthless apart from economic value • Slaves taught to believe they can have value but are just economic tools / slaves manipulate to work harder
Nana’s death → stories of ‘life’
‘traditions’ + ‘heritage’ lost
Her photo ‘quietly’ put in suitcase
• Suitcase = performative device / represents transition, memory & connects Aboriginal knowledge, culture, family structure & spirituality • Nana’s photo removed from wall reveals grief so common that family have a process for dealing w loss • Suitcase = visual representation of every day trauma, both overt & subtle
Photograph story Woman describes room in parents’ house w ‘trophies’ ‘pennants’ and ‘memories of weddings, birthdays […] and family visits’
• Photos = monument to the ‘good times’ • celebration of love & family which is hinted at in previous scene w Nana’s funeral • Interconnection b/w family, pride, laughter & sorrow throughout whole play represents multiplicity of experiences of grief Extension: • celebration against Western standards / Indigenous ppl used ‘mediums and methods of the conquerors’ & excelled → joy & pride
Black Skin Girl ‘the letters of the alphabet appear on her dress’ the Woman ‘tires’ she ‘attempts to evade the letters’
At first, childlike game but Woman becomes increasingly uneasy • Transformation from joy to panic = confronting for audience • Woman sings in her own language as painfully attempts to protect herself from her oppressors Contrast b/w English alphabet + Woman’s resistance highlight tension b/w violence of colonisers & strategies of resistance • Language = key tool of communication
Aunty Grace marries an ‘Englishman’ &
moves to ‘London
Woman, Dad & Nanna participate in
‘peaceful’ and ‘silent’ protest march
• Aunty Grace = manifestation of ppl whose identity linked to their oppressor • England & London = catalysed colonisation of Aus so symbolism of marrying Englishman esp. poignant / to family, AG abandoned indigeneity, land + culture • Family participate in peaceful march in scene after Vocke’s court report → draws on audience’s knowledge of ATI deaths in custody + reference to ‘police camera’ ↑ fear but makes bravery of resistances more admirable • Ice block continues to melt → aud reflect on their culpability & see urgency of change needed
Woman delivers court report about the death in custody with ‘no hint of emotion’ ‘finally breaks out’ & recounts events in voice of court + her own to explain ‘his condition aroused immediate concern’ eventually describes ‘limp body’ before he is ‘pronounced dead’
scene = switch to dispassionate tone of court report • the Woman’s voice breaks in most difficult, emotional parts • emotional distancing measures helped her tell her stories but she cannot hide her grief / pain (shows movement along the 7 stages is constant) • Flat, disconnected monotone + the hard facts of Vocke’s story → highlights the apathy and brutality with which he had to contend in his final moments
Gallery of Sorrow
‘collection of images’ depict the ‘phases of
Aboriginal History’ including images of
‘Protection’
Images vary in diff performances but
typically include regulation of residence,
slavery as employment, marriage, social life
+ other aspects of daily life
Multi-media installation / performance utilising range of dramatic strategies • Cements link between 7 stages of Aboriginal History as ‘The 7 Stages of Grieving’ • Australia used guise of ‘protection’ to assume control over indigenous ppls lives \+ systematically replaced their culture with British culture • Decimation of indigenous Australian culture occurred incl. whole languages → Aboriginal Australians even have to think in English • Ultimate colonisation = controlling thoughts
Whitechapel in Forgetting
‘memory is pain’
‘how long can the master’s daylight
continue to rule our nights?
D’Aguiar wants readers to empathise with
slaves’ stories / feel emotional when
reading
• WC realises obedience to slavery has
backfired b/c slavery is inherently unjust
• Reflects on Chapel’s escape & realises
other slaves view world like Chapel
• WC realises slavery is unsustainable b/c
slaves won’t abandon deep desire for
freedom → eventually, change must come
• D’Aguiar foreshadows inevitable change &
forces readers to question current status
in society b/c despite progress,
inequalities remain
Plea:
‘The woman places the suitcase down at the
feet of the audience’
Walking Across Bridges
‘so many people’ / ‘we can’t go back now’
suitcase to audience = shift of responsibility /
woman carried suitcase alone now audience
have witnessed her pain & now have a
responsibility to carry it / share the burden
• Emphasises need to change the racism &
oppression which caused the baggage
• Additional scene depicting 2000 Walk for
Reconciliation reflects evolution of play to
reflect Australian society
• Bridge walk = optimism for reconciliation /
healing
• EXTENSION: 2021 performance = another
scene to end b/c not as hopeful following BLM
movement in 2020 + anniversary of deaths in
custody report
