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LITERATURE: SHORT STORIES |
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"Neighbours" - Tim Winton
The short story "Neighbours" written by Tim Winton is about a young couple who have moved to a new suburb where a lot of European immigrants live. First, both the young couple and their neighbours have prejudices, but after a while they find out that they can be friends and that they can help each other in their daily lives, so that everybody is happy and satisfied with their neighbourhood and their life.
In the story the author doesn't use names for the characters he describes. Thus, the characters are not defined and the result of that is that the characters can be regarded as role models for everyone. The young couple lived in expansive outer suburbs before they moved. First, they feel like sojourners and don't talk to anyone. The so-called "young man" stays at home and writes his thesis of the development of the twentieth century novel. The "young woman" works in a hospital. But in autumn their life changes because they start to plant vegetables.
After that the whole neighbourhood starts to talk with them and they offer their help. So the young couple becomes proud of their neighbours. Although the couple has not planned on a pregnancy, the young woman is pregnant in spring and after a short while their neighbours become aware of it. Everybody offers their help and they are very polite. After the birth of their son all the neighbours are excited and wish their best. The birth is a wonder for the young man and at the end he realizes that "the twentieth century novel had not prepared him for this." (l. 17/18)
The story shows that immigrants can be seen as social enrichment to Australian society. Their great sense of community helps the couple to understand that intolerance, prejudice and discrimination are based on ignorance.
Julia Frieß 13a
The Story of Djangkawu
by Terry Gandadila
To Australian's Aboriginal people, the land and all living things were created in the 'Dreamtime', a creation time in the spiritual realm. Dreamtime stories, or 'songs', which have been preserved and passed on for thousands of years, tell about the interaction between the spirits and nature. They also communicate a group's history, laws, customs and rituals. This is a Dreamtime story from the Murrungun/ Djinang people of Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory. It is told by Terry Gandadila, a Murrungun artist and writer.
The Story tells of Djangkawu, the spirit creator in the spirit world (Burralku) who had two eggs. He made the world with one egg, but it was bad. He cracked the second egg and it was good. Djangkawu and his daughters, the Djangkawa sisters, and his son, Mambu, sent a messenger to earth to see if everything was alright. His name was Malawurrwurr (Mukarr). He wore the arm bands of a messenger and he carried a spear and a woomera. He came to earth, at a time of flood, through the Bulawirri waterhole on the island of Galliwin'ku (Elcho Island). Here he made a stringy-back canoe. (derrka) and, following the western star, he travelled from Galliwin'ku across the Arafura Sea. He tried to spear a long-tom fish (larrdjidja) but it was too big to be pulled into the canoe. He collected seaweed (wunuwun) from the shores of the Miwirnbi flood plains and wove a rope to tie up his canoe. There he saw pelicans (nanydja) and this told him that the land was drying up, becoming hard, and that the flood was over.
The full moon brings King tides and the Miwirnbi flood plains get covered with plenty of fish. Here Mukarr caught and ate a butterfish (murrpini). He found some swamp grass (gunumbirri) and roasted the roots over the fire and ate them (they taste like peanuts). He heard the sound of the brolgas (gururrki) and this told him there was a waterhole nearby - he followed the sound to the waterhole. He named it Bulawirri because it had the same familiar feeling as the Bulawirri waterhole on the island of Galiwin'ku. Travelling on, over the flood plains he saw three women. He named them Gurdidi, Garrala and Berreperrepe. […] These women were from his same moiety, Duwa (djowung), but he still chose to marry them. This is not permitted by law. They each bore him a son. The son of his youngest wife was special and Mukarr named him Ran.gu. After the boys were born, Mukarr's wives were transformed into birds, because he had broken the law. Then the wet season wind (mardawurr) came telling him it was time to move on.
Mukarr began his return to Galiwin'ku. When the wind started to blow he sailed in his canoe from the Miwirnbi flood plains and came to the island of Djimarlu. This island was different, it was all green. Here Mukarr noticed the leaves of the yam (barrtji) had changed colour. He knew this was a sign to light a bushfire (duwarr) in order to clear the land for new growth. So he lit a bushfire by rubbing two sticks together. The fire covered the whole island and also accidentally the neighbouring island of Milingimbi. Mukarr walked through the land and left his footprints in the ash. He found a goanna (djarrka) which he cooked and ate. In the rainforest Mukarr saw the butterflies (bunpa) dancing and he knew the monsoon rains were coming soon. The dragonfly (migiwirrwarr) danced to tell him that it was time to harvest fish and yam. When he found the banyan tree (djanpa) he ate the fruit (ginydja) then collected the bark and made a string bag.
The Munyal Spirits live in the rainforest. Here the idea came to him to make a Morning Star Pole (marradjiri). He saw the spear tree (wardawarda) and he thought the tree would make a good pole. He found vines (barday) and knew they were good for making arm bands. He made the Morning Star Pole with the two feather tassels, one to the west representing the evening star, one to the east representing the morning star. The feather tassels were made of lorikeet and ibis feathers. Djandjang are the longest strings. When the Munyal spirits saw Mukarr making the Morning Star pole they were very excited because he had made a symbol of the spirit of Barnumbirr. Encourraged, the Munyal Spirits whispered to him how to dance and how to sing for each living thing. Mukarr listened to their instructions; they came to him as ideas.
He heard the owls in the night. Their call sounded like a didgeridoo, so he named them Djurdutjurdu. From the bush carrot (marrpanda) leaves, which are sticky when they are crushed, he made the glue for the Morning Star Pole. The carrots he collected for his journey back to Galiwin'ku. The dance of the Morning Star came to him in this way.
Mukarr dug up some cheeky potatoes (yukurda) and cooked some for dinner. In the morning he saw the wallabies (ngarrku) and speared and ate one of them. He saw a glider possum (warpurr) go into its house in the hollow trunk of a tree (gorrtje). This was a sign to Mukarr that this hollow stringy-bark tree was easy to make into a canoe and that it was time for him to return to the spirit world to give his report to Djangkawu, Mambu, and the Djangkawa sisters. He sang a special song to give thanks to the glider possum. Then he left the island and returned to the spirit world and gave his report that everything on the earth was good. Djangkawu sent him back to the island of Galiwin'ku.
On the island of Galiwin'ku he saw how the ants (giyany), in making a new nest, had dug out some red ochre. Spirits told him how the columns of ants travelling into the nest were just like people travelling from the north, south, east and west to the special island of Djimarlu. He took the red ochre and put it in a specially made dillybag to bring to the Bulawirri waterhole. Here he told the people there that the red ochre would now show who belongs to the Duwa (djowung) clan group. The waterhole picture shows Mukarr's journeys, his footprints travel to north, south, east and west. The centre circle represents the island of Djimarlu. Mukarr had broken the law by taking wives from his own clan group so Mambu punished Mukarr by setting fire to his house (humpy) with a bolt of lightning. Mukarr transformed himself into a crow and flew up into a tree to avoid being burnt. Mambu later showed forgiveness and transformed Mukarr into a man. At the same time, his son Ran.gu became the moon, the Djangkawa sisters had to face each other and became the sun, and Mambu became the Morning Star. Mukarr was banished from the Murrungun clan group and joined the Marrangu clan. He was assigned the task of always bearing witness to the Morning Star. Today, when the people of Miwirnbi and Galiwin'ku come together to perform the Morning Star Ceremony, Marrangu clan group elders are always present as witnesses.
(from Australian Encounters, Berlin 2002, Cornelsen, pp.23-27)
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