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How has the Australian Landscape been used to portray and show the development of Australian Character? Refer to 2 Texts.
As a person that calls Australia home, I have seen and heard many criticisms and descriptions of this land that were observed from foreigners. Although there are aspects that create the image of Australia such as the people and the natural fauna, the main and central idea that represents our home are her deadly and awe-inspiring environments and landscape.
Australia’s character is built upon first impressions. As most people rely on their sight, their first impressions are from visual perspectives. The environment of which they arrive in or have experienced from media depend largely on what they see, thus making the Australian landscape of vital importance in creating the “Australian Character.” Due to the fact that we rely on sight, this also includes our limitless imagination; and the key to imaginations are words. Description, tone and the feelings portrayed through words are the cause of imaginations and perceptions and because the iconic images of Australia are the landscapes we tend to include them in our portrayals.
Written languages have been around for centuries, it is a way of communication and as informed so are images. The comparison for the development of Australia flows easily with words and is therefore usually portrayed in texts, other forms of literature and in songs. It goes into more depth. It is a detailed way to represent the character of Australia. There are many text examples, of which use the Australian landscape to portray the development of Australia such as poems like “My Country” and “The Fierce Country” and lyrics in the Advance Australian Fair.
The poem “My Country” by Dorothea Mackellar is a famous Australian poem, well-known for the descriptions based upon Australia’s landscape. The poem contains many words related to landform such as “sweeping plains”, “ragged mountain ranges” and “wilful lavish land,” all in which have an adjective to accompany it. This creates allows us to imagine these depictions in the same perspective as the authors, which gives us a clear view to what she is talking about. The way Dorothea used symbolic words to describe Australia’s landscapes, helps us to grasp the concept of Australia’s character. A sample of this would include the contrasting effects in the verse:
“I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!”
Here the words symbolise and infer many characteristics that may bring out feelings. There are many ways to interpret Australia’s character through this. For example, the “sunburnt” gives me the idea of being durable and tough as well as the colour of red, the “land of sweeping plains” keeps me thinking of being broad/wide and productive as plains contain fertile soil and the “ragged mountains” produces the personality of being persistent and being able to stand her ground through many years. Additionally, “her far horizons” perceives calmness, the “jewel sea” shows that Australia is rich, valuable and holds substance still to be discovered and the contrast in the line “her beauty and her terror” indicates that she is diverse. By reading through this verse of the landscape, it overall gives Australia the characteristics of being strong, durable, dynamic, tenacious, relaxed and unique and therefore portraying Australia’s characteristics.
Another poem is Douglas Stewart’s, “Fierce Country.” In this case, the uses of landscapes are used constantly through the poem, in a way forcing us to think about only landscapes throughout the whole thing. He uses many personifications such as “the sun glares down on the stones and the stones glare back”, “red stones leap with fire” and “where the mirage still watches with glittering eyes.” This enables us to think of this country as a living organism, which gives us an easier way to create Australia’s character and personality. The use of landscapes mixed along with personification also assists our interpretation as we are human and have experienced or seen these personified actions before, hence strengthening the concept through the whole poem and is a way in which the Australian landscape has been used.