Florencia Bravo 44390291

A nation is much more than its geography and physical boundaries. Even though
we might sometimes recognize a nation by its physical territory and its place on a
map, national identity is much more than just land. Being part of a nation goes
beyond living inside its borders and speaking the language, eating typical food or
knowing its history. National identity or identification with a certain nation is also
imagined, it goes beyond what is physical and visible. It is symbolic, charged with
meaning, and this symbolism can only be represented in our heads, and shared
with others through words or images. This is what White means with Australia
being something we carry around in our heads. This symbolic or imagined
Australia can be appreciated in the differences between ethnic groups that
identify as Australian, in the way Australians celebrate national occasions, or in
what it means to be a multicultural nation. Everybody has a different definition of
what being Australian is, what Australia means and what it represents.
The celebration of a national day is thought to be a day to bring people together
to commemorate or celebrate an historic event that is important for the country
and represents everybody. But this is not always the case, as Flanagan argues
about Australia Day, saying that it is a day that should unite people, when it only
actually divides. Australia Day is a fairly new celebration, being recognized
nationally only in 1931. Before that, New South Wales and Victoria had separate
celebrations, each one portraying a different Australian identity, distinguishing
themselves from each other. Then in 1994, the popularity of Australia Day grew
when the day became the occasion to declare the Australian of the Year award.
Also, thanks to the promotion and expansion of the European narrative of
Australian history, the national day exploded in popularity, especially among new
generations. While its popularity has risen, with the appeal of concerts and other
events, the real, underlying dilemma of Australia Day has been progressively
obscured. This dilemma, in words of Aboriginal Leader Noel Pearson, is that no
matter how much white Australians reject it, modern day Australia has both
Indigenous and British heritage. What Flanagan tries to convey in this
commentary is that Australia day has two sides, the celebratory and gleeful side,
and the historic, painful one, that must not be forgotten. These two sides of the
same National Day show us that a single event can have more than one meaning
for its people, more than one definition of what Australia and being Australian is,
something that goes beyond the existent and tangible.
Anzac Day is another national day that is an important part of the Australian
narrative and identity. This national day commemorates the fallen, but also
remembers and reminds us of what is properly Australian, embodied in these
young men that lost their lives fighting for their nation. The Anzacs celebrated
the Australian way of life, with its emphasis on physical (often sporting) activities
rather than intellectual achievement, and a commitment to egalitarianism and
mateship (Day in Donoghue and Tranter, 450). Values as the ones remembered
on Anzac Day are symbolic, intangible and essential parts of national identity.
When thinking of Australia (as someone who is not Australian) the image that
comes to mind immediately is of a white settler colony and a white modern
nation. Before coming to Australia to study abroad, I didnt know the country had
Aboriginal or Indigenous peoples. This is another way we can see that a nation
can be imagined or can be in ones head. A country portrays a certain image of
its people, its land and its culture, leaving out certain elements, not only to the
rest of the world, but also in its own history. But relations can be mended and the
past corrected. This is what former prime minister Kevin Rudd did in 2008 (Full
transcript of the PMs speech) when he addressed the Indigenous community to
apologize for past mistakes the country and the government had made regarding
their people. Rudd acknowledges that there comes a time in a nations history
were people must be fully reconciled with their past, if they are to move on into
the future. The conflict with the Indigenous people of Australia is seen as a stain
in the nations soul, and asking for forgiveness is a way to remove that stain, to
open a new chapter in the history of Australia. All these figures of speech, (stain,
new chapter) demonstrate the symbolic nature of the idea of Australia. The hurt
of the Indigenous people, and the shame and regret Rudd is representing in this
speech is not tangible, and it cannot be seen, but it can be felt and expressed,
and is inside every Australians mind.
The idea of Australia as a white society can also be challenged by the immigration
and multiculturalism present in the nation today. As discussed by Ozdowski at the
conference Australian multiculturalism: the roots of its success, Australia is
considered a migrant country, that without the existence of mass migration,
would not be contemporary Australia of today. Everyone living in Australia, with
exception of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, is either a migrant or a
descendent of a migrant, so what is considered to be truly Australian is just
imagined in the collective mind. Because in the end, the only true Australians (in
the literal sense, not feeling of belonging) are the aboriginal communities, who
were here long before anybody else. But despite this, the outlook of Australian
people and Australias place in the world has changed in the last 200 years,
therefore also changing the imagined:
It was a journey from being an insecure, ethno-centric, parochial
outpost, glorifying and depending upon Mother England to being a
modern, self-conscious, cosmopolitan and independent mid-range
political and economic power in Asia Pacific. It was a journey from a
society based on racial prejudice and intolerance to a contemporary
multicultural Australia embracing diversity. During that time the
Australian egalitarianism and the principle of fair go were extended
from applying to British males only to applying to all residents, including
women, non-British minorities, people with disabilities and most recently
to gay and lesbians.
In conclusion, Australia, or any country, has two sides or views. The first being
everything that is visible and tangible, and that represents Australia clearly, and
the second, which is more complex, diverse, and ever-changing, is all that is
symbolic, everything we cannot see but carries meaning for us, even more so
than what is visible. Unlike defined boundaries and being a political entity,
symbolic Australia is an inconstant, ever changing source of meaning, that
fluctuates with the passing of time and generations.

Works cited

Australian Multiculturalism: The roots of its success Third International

Conference on Human Rights Education: Promoting Change in Times of
Transition and Crisis. 6 10 Dec. 2012, The Jagiellonian University, Krakow.
Poland. Web. 22 Oct 2016.
Donoghue, Jed and Tranter, Bruce. The Anzacs: Military influences on
Australian identity Journal of Sociology, SAGE, 51.3 (2015): 449-463. Web.
22 Oct. 2016.
Flanagan, Michael. The problem with Australia Day. The Age 21 Jan. 2016:
Web. 22 October 2016.
Full transcript of the PMs speech. Feb 13 2008. Web. 22 Oct. 2016.
White, Richard. Inventing Australia Revisited Creating Australia: Changing
Australian History, eds W. Hudson & G. Bolton, Allen and Unwin, Sydney.
1997.