Australian Culture Bush to Beach

Defining Culture “the whole way of life of a people, their customs and rituals, their pastimes and pleasures, including not only the arts but also practices such as sport and going to the beach” (Fiske, Hodge and Turner 1987: viii) Copy this definition (and reference) into your books / Word document.

Reading “Texts” (Semiotics) Copy the following two slides into your book / document. Sign – “anything that has an accepted meaning for a person or group of people”. (Similar to a symbol) Signifier – “the carrier of meaning“ (elements of the SIGN that provide us with understanding) Signified – “the mental concept to which the sign refers” (The meaning that WE make from the sign and its signifiers) (Fiske, Hodge and Turner 1987: xi)

Blue: Girt by sea? Colours of the empire? Union Jack: Heritage? Tradition? Dependence? Loyalty to the British Empire? Commonwealth star: Belonging to the West? Part of something bigger? Southern Cross: Visible in the Southern hemisphere – morale virtues of Dante?

Myth Myth – A traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon. There are many Myths surrounding Australian culture – from Aboriginal Myths and Legends to cultural myths about the beach and the bush.

The Beach and Australian Identity “so much of Australia seems to be about pleasure – made for it. Especially the South East coastline along which the majority of Australians choose to live. The beach has become an integral part of our life and our identity” – Robert Hughes, art critic. (cited in Bonner, McKay and McKee 2001: 270)

From the Bush to the Beach The beach has risen in importance in Australian culture due to the rise of suburbia, which made redundant older myths of the bush, the bush ranger (symbolized by Ned Kelly) and an isolated hideaway. Instead, suburban-dwelling Australians brought nature into culture and vice versa, by means of the beach”. (Hartley and Green 2006: 348) From the Bush to the Beach

The Beach and the City “So, as the bushman became less relevant to modern Australia, the ideology which once mythologised him, valuing his harmony with the natural environment and his tough physicality, now supports the beach. Consequently the central image of the Australian beach is not that of the tropical hideaway. That does exist, but is reserved for holidays, preferably outside Australia. The beach that contributes to everyday existence must be metropolitan, therefore urban.” (Fiske, Hodge and Turner 1987: xi)

The Lifesaver “the values traditionally associated with the Aussie Digger [were] reinvested in the lifesaver. Through the lifesaver, humanitariansim, mateship, physical strength, racial purity, heroic sacrifice, and public service/duty continued from the rhetoric of war to public safety”. (Evers 2008: 418) “…he fights the elements to preserve the lives of citizens at innocent play... Like the Anzac he represents discipline and sacrifice … The representation embodies the best of the old images and reworks them into a new modern form”. (Saunders, cited in Price 2010: 454)

“Central to the format are the lifeguards’ characters as mythic heroes … This portrayal is consistent with the national type identified with the ‘sun-bronzed physique, the masculinity, the cult of mateship, the military associations, the hedonism and wholesomeness of the beach’ … The lifeguards are referred to … as … ‘cast from a vintage Australian mould’ … as a reflection of their mythic qualities ...” (Price 2010: 455)

Streets Beach, South Bank Activity: site observation of Streets Beach. Questions: How is the ‘myth’ played out at this beach? In what ways does Streets Beach confirm and/or challenge what you have learned in the lecture so far?

The Surfer “…while lifesavers give up their time to ‘patrol’ the beach, surfers are seen to be indulging themselves on the beach all day whilst living on the dole. If the lifesavers are the heroes of this myth, then the surfers are its anti-heroes”. (Fiske, Hodge and Turner 1987: 65)

Gender Stereotypes in Beach Culture

Girls The prettiest and coolest girls at school and the best surfers on the beach. The girls were skinny, hair-free, care-free and girly. The passport into the surfie gang was a brief halter-neck bikini, a pair of straight legged Levis, a packet of Marlboro cigarettes, a suntan, and if you really wanted to make it, long, blonde hair. To graduate into the surfie gang you had to be desired by one of the surfie boys, tell off a teacher, do the Scotch drawback, and know all about sex. You had to be not too fat, but not too skinny. Friendly but not forward. You had to wear just enough make-up but never overdo it. You had to be interested in surfing, but not interested enough to surf. Puberty Blues by Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey

Guys The surfie boys were brown and broad. The passport into a surfie gang for boys was a surfboard, a pair of boardshorts, a pair of straight-legged Levis, a packet of Marlboro cigarettes and long, blonde hair. To graduate into the surfie gang you had to have your name called out at Assembly, regular canings, and have broken in a a couple of surfie chicks. On sunny days they truanted and went to the beach. They went out on Friday and Saturday nights. They got drunk. They had girlfriends. They disobeyed their parents. But the surfie gang had a big, more important family of its own. Puberty Blues by Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey

“Cronulla … can be a dangerous place to go surfing “Cronulla … can be a dangerous place to go surfing. Shark Island is the premier wave of the area ... The waves at this surf break rise, warp, peel, and mutate over a shallow slab of rock. The men who ride the island are respected by other surfers and are considered brave and tough. … These men know how to negotiate the dangers of Shark Island. They paddle out to the waves through currents hidden below the surface of the water, which help them avoid the harm of the exploding swells. The men can tell at a glance what waves will peel evenly and allow a safe ride”. (Evers 2008: 418)

Surfer as underdog “The ‘battler’ figures within Australian cultural history as the embodiment of national values of hard-work, egalitarianism and perseverance. … the battler is closely related to the pioneer myth … In essence, the battler is an underdog figure, someone who struggles to succeed against-the-odds”. (Butler 2009: 392)

The white, bronzed Aussie “the battler is the key actor in the drama of white Australian history; the key exponent of the ‘Australian’ values of egalitarianism and mateship. The whiteness of the battler is amplified by the historical resonance of the term – it’s very mustiness harks back to an earlier time when inequalities of income were not strongly associated with ethnicity, and when non-whites did not struggle economically (because they were politically invisible).” (Scalmer, cited in Butler 2009: 399)

Cronulla Riots “On Sunday December 4, two teenage volunteer lifesavers were attacked by two males, apparently Lebanese. The attack provoked a very hostile reaction in and around the beach. Lifesavers get respect from the Australian community, particularly in beachside areas. People know that lifesavers do literally save lives. The weekend volunteers are not paid for what they do. For someone to attack lifesavers was to commit a very provocative act which was likely to cause an angry reaction”. (Barclay and West 2006: 77)

This is Australia? In contrast to confrontations based on land or labour, the use of the Australian flag and national anthem by rioters indicate the ownership and access to membership in the nation and its culture as part of a contemporary challenge. (Inglis cited in Hartley and Green 2006: 352)

References Barclay, Ryan and West, Peter 2006, ‘Racism or patriotism? An eyewitness account of the Cronulla demonstration of 11 December 2005’, People and Place, 14(1): 75-85. Bonner, Frances, McKay, Susan and McKee, Alan 2001, ‘On the beach’, Continuum, 15(3): 269-274. Butler, Kelly Jean 2009, ‘‘Their culture has survived’: Witnessing to (dis)possession in Bra Boys (2007)’, Journal of Australian Studies, 33(4): 391-404. Evers, Clifton 2008, ‘The Cronulla race riots: Safety maps on an Australian beach’, South Atlantic Quarterly, 107(2): 411-429. Fiske, John, Hodge, Bob and Turner, Graeme 1987, Myths of Oz: Reading Australian Popular Culture, Allen & Unwin, Sydney. Hartley, John and Green, Joshua 2006, ‘The public sphere on the beach’, European Journal of Cultural Studies, 9(3): 342-362. O’Sullivan, Tim, Hartley, John, Saunders, Danny, Montgomery, Martin and Fiske, John 1994, Key Concepts in Communication and Cultural Studies, 2nd edition, Routledge, London. Price, Emma 2010, ‘Reinforcing the myth: Constructing Australian identity in ‘reality TV’’, Continuum, 24(3): 451-459.