Australian national identity
1986 mots
8 pages
Nowadays, it is generally agreed to say that contemporary societies are culturally heterogeneous. Australia is a great example of multiculturalism because the country is partially based on immigration, and more than a hundred nationalities are mixed there. That is why the concept of Australia National Identity is fuzzy: the feeling of belonging to a group with a consciousness of their own historical, cultural and social unity is not shared by every Australian people. While John Howard, when he was Prime Minister, encouraged people from immigration to speak English to stay in Australia, it raises a matter. In a country where languages, religions and ideologies are different, can Australian people find a way to make people of distinct groups coexist, and finally find a common National Identity? Do unification and cohesion necessarily need minorities’ adaptation to English language and customs? In that essay, we will see that colonization and waves of immigration created minority’ populations. Then follow the second part, explaining that the Australia National Identity is still in construction, and that ‘minority’ populations undermine it. Anthropologists that call “’minority’ populations” mean communities that identify with a dialect, a common history and a territory. (Identité(s) L’idividu, le groupe, la société p.239) Australia, before becoming the land of immigration, was first inhabited by Aborigines for ages, but colonization has a huge impact on Australian culture today. Settlers stole lands already inhabited, without trying to understand inhabitants who lived on the territory before us. By introducing their way of thinking and living, they deprived Aborigines of their human rights. Throughout the 19th century, there was a progressive destruction of Aboriginal culture. They became victims, voluntary isolated by the government. That cultural despised has consequences today: Aborigines are considered as a minority’ population, whereas they were the first