B UL PAD
2016
OK
B U L PA D O K Art Journal VOLUME XXIV
Towards Tomorrow 2016
Trinity College UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
-i-
THE TRINITY COLLEGE ART JOURNAL EDITORIAL BOARD Evelyn Parsonage THE TRINITY COLLEGE COUNCIL PRESIDENT The Most Revd Phillip Freier, Archbishop of Melbourne Mr Alistair Baker Ms Kathleen Bailey-Lord Mr Campbell Bairstow Dr Graeme Blackman Ms Denise Bush The Revd Christopher Carolane Ms Cindy Chandra Mr Scott Charles Ms Melissa Clark Mr Robert Clemente Mr David Collis Mr Bill Cowan Mr Jim Craig Ms Ruby Crysell The Rt Revd Andrew Curnow AM, Ms Ifeoma Donellan
Ms Louise Gourlay Professor Kenneth Hinchcliff Ms Liz Kelly Mr Philip Kent Professor John King Ms Alice Knight The Revd Canon Professor Dorothy Lee The Revd Thomas Leslie Mr Mark Leslie Associate Professor Michelle Livett Ms Alison Menzies Ms Kate Reid Professor Richard Smallwood Mr Donald Speagle Ms Natasha Thiagarajah Dr Benjamin Thomas Mr Patrik Valsinger
Dr Katherine Firth
Bishop Kay Goldsworthy
WARDEN OF TRINITY COLLEGE Professor Kenneth Hinchcliff
- ii -
THE FELLOWS 2014 Ms Rowena Armstrong, AO, QC 2010 The Hon. Austin Asche, AC, KStJ, QC 2014 Dr Graeme Blackman, OAM
2009 Mrs Louise Gourlay, OAM 2014 Associate Professor Alison Inglis 2009 Dr Michael ‘Taffy’ Jones, AM, PSM
2009 1997 2002 2001 2010 1997 2015 1997 2014 2004 2012
2012 1997 2005 2005 2015 2012 2012 2005 2012 2002 2009
Mr David Brownbill, AM Associate Professor Anthony Buzzard Mr W B ‘Barry’ Capp, AM The Most Revd Dr Peter Carnley, AC Mr Robert Champion de Crespigny, AC Mr Robert Clemente Mr Laurie Cox, AO Mr Bill Cowan, AM The Rt Revd Andrew Curnow, AM Professor Derek Denton, AC Professor C. Ian Donaldson
Professor Marcia Langton, AM Professor Richard Larkins, AO Dr Susan Lim Ms Fay Marles, AM Professor Peter McPhee, AM Dr N. Bruce Munro Dr Roger Riordan, AM Professor Richard Smallwood, AO Mr Clive Smith Ms Diana Smith Dr Denis White
SENIOR FELLOWS 2011 2012 2011 2010 2015
Sir Roderick Carnegie, AC Mr Robert Cripps, AM Mr Alan Cuthbertson The Rt Revd James Grant, AM The Rt Revd Dr Peter Hollingworth, AC, OBE 2012 Mr Brian Loton, AC 2010 Professor John Poynter, AO, OBE 2012 The Hon. Clive Tadgell, AO, QC
PROVOST Mr Campbell Bairstow
2015 Dr Mechai Viravaidya, AO 2015 Mr Richard Woolcott, AC
DEAN, PATHWAYS SCHOOL Ms Denise Bush
ASSOCIATE DEAN, TRINITY COLLEGE Dr Gayle Allan DEAN, THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL The Revd Canon Professor Dorothy Lee
DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT Mr Scott Charles CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Mr Patrik Valsinger DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES Ms Alison Menzies DIRECTOR OF MAJOR PROJECTS Mr Gary Norman
- iii -
Bulpadok is published by its Editor for, and on behalf of; TRINITY COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE .
EDITOR Evelyn Parsonage SUBCOMMITEE Sarah Abell Maddie Diamond John Martin SPECIAL THANKS Dr Katherine Firth Lizzie Calder Matthew Watts DESIGN & PRINTING Typeset by Evelyn Parsonage Cover Art, New Beginnings by Hannah Roberts Set in Adobe Garamond Pro & Didot Printed and bound by Minuteman Press 300gsm cover, 100gsm content in envirocare stock CATALOGUE-IN-PUBLICATION Bulpadok, 2016 1. Australian Literature – Periodicals 2. Trinity College, The University of Melbourne
A 820.5 ISSN 1320-8500
Copyright Š Trinity College and others named, 2016 The moral right of the authors has been asserted All rights reserved Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced to a retrieval system, transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this journal. The Editors, Subcommittee, and Trinity College are not responsible for, nor do they necessarily agree with, the views of the contributors expressed herein. trinity.unimelb.edu.au A limited number of back copies of this journal are available at the Leeper Library, Trinity College, Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria
- iv -
Acknowledgements The editorial committee wish to thank our talented contributors who made this publication possible. Their work illuminates the pages of this humble journal. Darcey Alexander Melena Atkinson Taylor Carre-Riddell Emily Cassen George Colman Amelia Curran Maddie Diamond Tanika D’Souza Dr Katherine Firth Theodora Galanis Jess Grills Julia Henly Victoria Hofflin Marley Holloway-Clarke Kyaw Min Htin Millie Larson Nic Lawler John Martin Georgia McClure Holly McNaughton Isabelle Napier Evelyn Parsonage Georgina Ridley Hannah Roberts Sam Strong Bec Szoka Zan Thomson Ellen Van Neerven Harrie Weatherall Furthermore, this project has been facilitated by the dedicated staff at Trinity College. Thank you to Dr Katherine Firth, Dr Gayle Allan, Mr Campbell Bairstow and Professor Kenneth Hinchcliff for your continuing support of the artistic and literary life within our community.
-v-
Contents Extract from The Waste Land Foreward Photographed to Death An Ode to Hip-Hop Our Timeless Universe Tyrannical Daughters Authenticity Scopophilic Pleasures The Media Crossing Boundaries Whiteside v Dieber Islamic Veiling Untitled Dusk Untitled
T.S. Eliot
1
Evelyn Parsonage
2
Julia Henly
3
Tanika D’Souza
10
Zan Thomson
14
Maddie Diamond
22
Taylor Carre-Riddell
28
Theodora Galanis
34
Holly McNaughton
40
Evelyn Parsonage
46
Emily Cassen
54
Georgina Ridley
59
Kyaw Min Htin
68
Hannah Roberts
69
Marley Holloway-Clarke
70 71
Untitled 2 Jess Grills
72
Georgia McClure
73
Isabelle Napier
74
Evelyn Parsonage
75
Wagtails
Hannah Roberts
76
Untitled
Kyaw Min Htin
77
Sam Strong
78
Millie Larsen
82
Dedication to Paul Untitled Sunset at the Top of Victoria Is Don, Is Good
Nepal Series Irresistible
- vi -
The True Heart of Melbourne Melena Atkinson The Expert Ellen Van Neerven Quenched and Consumed Taylor Carre-Riddell Champagne and Caviar in the Abattoir John Martin
83 84 86 88 89
The Long Dark Hush Amelia Curran
90
Fob Watch
92
Five Haikus for the College Seasons Dr Katherine Firth
93
20/20 Intelligence Darcey Alexander Fresh Start George Colman Awaiting Impact Harrie Weatherall
94 97 104
Echoes of a Life Unlived Nic Lawler
109
In Another Time Bec Szoka
114
Another Adventure Victoria Hofflin
- vii -
118
- viii -
Volume XXIV
FO R EWO RD
“What shall I do now? What shall I do? I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street With my hair down, so. What shall we do to-morrow? What shall we ever do?” T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land
-1-
F O R EWO R D
Bulpadok
In this constant state of flux, we struggle to see where we are going. From a young age, we are instructed to covet the future and anxiously await its arrival. With starry eyes and baited breath, we envision something better than the now. In this constant state of anticipation, we can forget to truly engage with our present reality. This journal reflects our community from a singular point in time. Its collation of fervent thoughts, passions and questions defines our present moment and is an indication of where we are going. Our desires and dreams must persist. Towards Tomorrow, Evelyn Parsonage
Editor
-2-
Volume XXIV
ESSAY
The C.L.H. Pullar Prize Established by Ms Clare Pullar (1951- ) and revived in her honour. Director of Development, Trinity College 1997-2007. Open to all residential students at Trinity College, and awarded for the best literary contribution to Bulpadok, with the first prize being $150 and publication in Bulpadok. The winner for 2016 is
Photographed to Death Nature and the Urge to Shoot Julia Henly Environments III
-3-
ESSAY
Bulpadok
Have you ever gazed into vast valleys of the wilderness, with the only sound that of your own heart beating? The amber light of the rising sun unveils mountain faces, which plunge into chasms so deep that their bases all but disappear in a blanket of mist. With the beauty of nature all around, the most powerful urge is to take a picture. When we are presented with nature, free from urbanisation, “unaffected and untainted by humanity” (Monbiot, 2002, p.1), our first instinct is to capture and preserve the experience. Just like we mount beasts’ heads on our walls as a way of symbolising the conquest and the hunting experience, so too do we preserve our memories in picture frames, almost as if the photos embody “miniature [versions] of reality” (Sontag, 1997, p.2) and tangible possession of the past. Nature photography presents an image that is fundamentally different from everything human, offering viewers a seemingly “transparent access to nature” (Brower, 2005, p.2) from which they are primarily excluded. It is also a way of certifying our experience of nature, a mode through which we can transform experience into a souvenir (Sontag, 1977). In 1977, Susan Sontag wrote, “When we are afraid, we shoot. But when we are nostalgic, we take pictures” (p.11). Since the publishing of Sontag’s collections of essays, both nature and photography have fundamentally changed. As a result of climate change, nature is now under more threat than ever. Longer, more intense droughts and floods threaten agriculture, biodiversity, ecosystems and the economy, whilst rapid population growth promotes increased greenhouse gas emissions, exhausts natural resources, and exacerbates air and water pollution. Like environmental degradation, photography is now everywhere. There are camera phones, compact cameras, camcorders, video cameras, animation cameras, disposable cameras, polaroid cameras, thermal imaging cameras, web cameras and so on, all of which exist so that humans can record everything, everywhere, every instant. With increasing developments in camera technology and the rapid deterioration of the natural world, nature photography promotes a sense of longing for a purer time and has evolved into a device through which humans can readily record and duplicate what is disappearing. It seems that the relationship between nature photography and nostalgia is now stronger and more urgent than ever. -4-
Volume XXIV
“Photography represents the growing intimacy of humanity with machines” (Hossaini, and Hardt, 1999). The industrial revolution marked a period during the mid-eighteenth and early nineteenth century in which a series of advancements in technology triggered a shift from an economy based on manual labour, to one dominated by machinery, industry and mass production (Montagna, 1981). In 1826, the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the first photographic image of his surroundings (Benjamin, 1972), spurring an exploration of chemical, optical and mechanical processes that could express reality beyond “the creative intervention of man” (Bazin and Gray, 1960, p.8). Where tools like paintbrushes helped to facilitate the art of portraiture, cameras replaced the need for portrait artists. In this way, photography mechanized a process formerly done by hand (Hossaini, 2003). Furthermore, George Wald (1950) argues that photography was the result of convergent evolution. He argues, “Of all the instruments made by man, none resembles a part of his body more than the camera does the eye” (p. 39). In this sense, a camera can be considered an extension of the human body, a more sophisticated “eye” through which reality can be captured. According to Brennen and Hardt (1999), the mass production of cameras profoundly changed the nature of visual communication. Photography became a way to capture natural phenomenon, a new technique of documenting and recording reality, “free from the conditions of time and space that govern it” (Bazin and Gray, 1960, p. 8). Thus, photography epitomizes humans’ power over nature, and changes the way in which people perceive, document and understand their realities. However, there is an irony associated with photography in that its affinity to the ‘real’ is undermined by photographers’ ability to create an idealised world. Often, nature photography undergoes a kind of purification process where all evidence of human intervention in the landscape is eliminated. For instance, the photography in wildlife documentaries creates the impression of ‘real’ portrayals of a secure, unthreatened, and “pristine nature” (Monbiot, 2002, p.1), when, in fact, photographers can deliberately omit or include whatever they choose. According to Adcroft (2011), although the genre of wildlife documentary has produced some of the most powerful visions of nature, and has often acted as a fundamen-5-
ESSAY
2003, p.1) and thus, is often thought of as a product of the industrial revolution (Brennen
Bulpadok
tal link between science and film, it continues to prioritise popular entertainment over
ESSAY
the realities confronting an environment threatened by climate change and pollution. In wildlife ‘documentaries’, “filmmakers have a responsibility to entertain” (Adcroft, 2011, p.9). Thus, nature is often made to fit the narrative paradigms of film and is presented the way the audience expects it to look. Monbiot (2002) argues that two versions of planet earth exist. One is “the morally challenging world in which we live” (p.1) and the other is the world we see in wildlife programs. People take photographs because they are compelled to find “something beautiful… like a sunset” (Sontag, 1997, p. 22). In this way, nature photography in wildlife documentaries omits evidence of pollution, habitat destruction, environmental degradation, and ecosystem deterioration because these harsh realities taint the idyllic and pure version of nature that humans long for. Perhaps this is why photographs of sunrises and sunsets are so popular on social media platforms like Instagram. They become hallmark cards of a perfect natural world. Representing nature through a photographic lens as this “fantastic and untainted world” (Monbiot, 2002, p.1) is detrimental because people can feel disillusioned when they experience the real thing. These same kinds of photographic purification techniques can be seen in contemporary tourism advertisements, for instance, New Zealand’s international “100% Pure” tourism advertising campaign. In the same way that Monbiot (2002) highlights how some wildlife programs create an unrealistic version of planet earth, Mike Joy, an environmental science professor at Massey University, argues that New Zealand exists in two forms. In an article by Anderson (2012) published in the New York Times, Joy states “There is the picture-postcard [New Zealand], and then there is reality” (p.1). Tourism New Zealand’s campaign focuses on broadcasting images of this “100% Pure” New Zealand on television, cinema and billboard advertisements, social and print media, through online marketing and event and sponsorship activity. The images, free from all traces of climate change and pollution, are highly edited and choreographed and are almost always snapshots of rolling hills, snowy mountains, and crystal clear lakes. However, in reality, over half of New Zealand’s freshwater swimming sites are unsafe to swim in as a result of toxic algal blooms, sediment and faecal contamination (The New Zealand Ministry for the Environment, 2013). In addition, New Zealand was ranked 18th worst out of 189 countries in an international -6-
Volume XXIV
study measuring loss of biodiversity and vegetation, water quality, and quantity of endangered species (Bradshaw, Giam & Sodhi, 2010). New Zealand also uses 80% of the world’s biodiversity and human health (Pike, 2014). By composing a perfect picture of nature, the “100% Pure” images embody an “ideal figure of freedom” (Brower, 2005, p.2), leaving humans with a fantasy haunted by a desire for an unhindered relation to the wilderness. Just like cameras have become an extension of our eyes, so too has modern handheld technology become an extension of our arms. With ever improving Apple and Android technology, smart phones have enabled humans to carry around the capability to document their surroundings in their pockets. Thus, when humans observe nature, instead of trying to understand it, they decide to collect it instead (Sontag, 1977). According to West (2000), the convenience of taking photos has allowed people to organize their “lives in such a way that painful or unpleasant aspects [can be] systematically erased” (p.1). Indeed, as Sontag (1997) observes, “nature has become more a subject for nostalgia… than an object of contemplation” (p.79). Cameras teach people to remember past experiences and memories perhaps even better than they really were. For instance, humans often think of nature like the Garden of Eden, one of the earliest descriptions of paradise where God made all kinds of things that “were pleasing to the eye” (Genesis 2:9 New International Version). Yet, what is forgotten in this idealization is that in reality, lions do not lie down with the lambs. In the real world, nature is tough and brutal. By allowing humans to freeze, edit and control nature as time passes by, photography creates a sense of longing for nature as it once was, conferring on nature “a kind immortality and importance” (Sontag, 1977, p.8). While photography becomes more ubiquitous than ever, nature is becoming more endangered every day. With every tree that is deforested, or every ice glacier that melts, humans use photography to try and capture what is disappearing. Nature photography is forever creating and recording the past. In the nature photography tradition, humans are never shown as a part of the natural world. It is nature’s “otherness” (Cronon, 1998, p.88) that attracts our curious cameras. Humans are captivated by the “sense of purity and timeless order” (Franklin, 2006, p.1) that nature photography creates. More than anything, humans -7-
ESSAY
supply of 1080 poison for pest control, for which there are serious consequences for native
Bulpadok
photograph nature because it embodies everything humans are not, wild and free. Just like
ESSAY
William Cronon (1998) observes, “As we gaze into the mirror wilderness holds up for us, we too easily imagine that what we behold is nature, when in fact, we see the reflection of our own unexamined longings and desires� (p.70).
-8-
Volume XXIV References
University of Otago). Anderson, C. (2012). New Zealand’s green tourism push clashes with realities. New York Times, 16, 11-12. Bazin, A., & Gray, H. (1960). The Ontology of the Photographic image. Film Quarterly, 13(4), 4-9. Benjamin, W. (1972). A Short History of Photography. Screen, 13(1), 5-26. Bradshaw, C. J., Giam, X., & Sodhi, N. S. (2010). Evaluating the relative environmental impact of countries. PLoS One, 5(5), e10440. Brennen, B., & Hardt, H. (Eds.). (1999). Picturing the Past: Media, history, and photography. University of Illinois Press. Brower, M. (2005). “Take Only Photographs”: Animal Photography’s Construction of Nature Love. Invisible culture: An electronic version for visual culture, 9. Cronon, W. (1998). The Trouble with Wilderness, or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature (1995). The great new wilderness debate, 471. Franklin, A. (2006). The humanity of wilderness photography. Australian Humanities Review, 28, 1-16. Hossaini, A. (2003). Vision of the Gods: an inquiry into the meaning of photography. Logos. New Zealand Ministry for the Environment. (2013). Suitability for Swimming Indicator Update. Retrieved from http:// www.mfe.govt.nz/more/environmental-reporting/fresh-water/suitability-swimming-indicator/suitability-swimming. Monbiot, G. (2002). Planet of the Fakes. The Guardian, 17. Montagna, J. A. (1981). The Industrial Revolution. Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. Pike, M. (2014). 1080: The Truth, Retrieved from http://www.1080facts.co.nz/uploads/2/9/5/8/29588301/1080_ truths_-_wildnerness_magazine.pdf Sontag, S. (1977). On Photography. Macmillan. Wald, G. (1950). Eye and Camera. Scientific American, 183, 32-41. West, N. M. (2000). Kodak and the Lens of Nostalgia. University of Virginia Press.
-9-
ESSAY
Adcroft, J. (2011). Reframing perceptions of anthropomorphism in wildlife film and documentary (Doctoral dissertation,
ESSAY
Bulpadok
The Wigram Allen Essay Prize Established through an endowment to the Dialectic Society in 1883, by Sir George Wigram Allen (1824-1885) Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, Speaker in the Parliament of New South Wales (1875-1883), and father-in-law to Dr Alexander Leeper. Open to all residential students at Trinity College, and awarded for the best reading of an essay up to 1500 words, both substantial and entertaining, with the first prize being $300 and publication in Bulpadok. The winner for 2016 is
An Ode to Hip-Hop Tanika D’Souza Science III
- 10 -
Volume XXIV
plex simplicity of a heavy, yet sublime, 4x4 bassline. An unfortunate state of affairs similar to that of never having encountered the uncontrollable head-bumping that accompanies Rakim’s “When I B On Tha Mic” and Wu Tang Clan’s “Mortal Kombat”. It’s a sensation that is reserved exclusively for those who unapologetically nod to the jazz-oriented sounds of Pete Rock’s “The Boss” and are unafraid to shed a tear when Dré leaves Millennium Records in Brown Sugar. It’s Brooklyn, Queens, Compton and South side Chicago. It’s school. It’s church. It’s life. In a world where artists are commissioned to paint pretty pictures of gentrification and police brutality, hip-hop is the last prophet of truth. To many, it is the unjustifiable glorification of guns, girls and crack. To most, it’s the unavoidable emancipation of the young, gifted and black. Hip-hop is like Autumn in New York, it’s like falling in love, it’s like ice cream on a Sunday. Just when you think you know everything there is to know about hiphop, it finds a way to surprise you and reminds you why you fell in love with it in the first place. So when did I fall in love with hip-hop? Well, around the same time I fell in love with freedom. Artistic expression. With the Funk. For the first time in a young, coloured girl’s life, I was the storyteller and the story. I was the paper and the pen. I was the beat and the rhyme. I was in charge of the narrative. I was enough. Unlike the opulence of opera and the transience of techno, hip-hop was accessible. It was raw and unapologetically so. It turned everyday colloquialisms into a language that even Edgar Allen Poe would be astounded by. It turned grimey beats into melodies that even Beethoven would not know what to do with. But the true beauty of hip-hop is that it was not made for the likes of Poe or Beethoven, but instead birthed on the streets of public housing and into the loving arms of a community who didn’t fit the eurocentric standards of society. A community that needed protection from those protecting the block. A community that needed a voice. Hip-hop was a world of its own, with no comparison and no competition. It was everything.
- 11 -
ESSAY
“Hip-hop saves lives” is a term grossly misunderstood by those yet to experience the com-
Bulpadok
But like any relationship, I watched it grow and change. I watched it move out of the
ESSAY
steady hands of Phife Diggy and Q-Tip and into the selling hands of T-Pain and Lil John. I watched it trade its braids and sell its space for a couple spins on prime time radio. I watched mainstream media snatch the dopest beats and turn them into nothing more than car pool karaoke. Hip-hop was becoming a business when it used to be a way of life. It used to reclaim the unappealing aspects of urban art and culture and turn it into poetry, movement in sound and an unparalleled realm of artistic excellence. It used to be able to redefine what it meant to be in love, to step out of eurocentric ideals and acknowledge marginalization as opposed to shying away from it. It never once white washed its vernacular nor its external presence. It refused to apologize for a culture it did not create but chose to critique. Hip-hop single handedly reminded the rest of the world that the quiet dog has the biggest bite and the player picked last can go on to join the League. The world we live in is unforgiving to the brushstrokes of an artist, to the words of a poet; to the lyrics of an mc. It’s often difficult to turn brutality into beauty. Most people don’t want to acknowledge reality when they’re living it, let alone reconstructing it through an artistic medium. That’s why true hip-hop will never be everybody’s cup of tea. We can pretend that adding 30 cubes of sugar will sweeten the reality of living amongst racism, police brutality and money-hungry politicians who decide how the world turns, but we need to then acknowledge that we are no longer drinking tea as much as we are drinking sweetened milk. Which leads me to avenues like urban radio, record labels like Interscope, Iggy Azealea. Not hip-hop, not tea. Just milk. What was once filled to the brim with soul and spunk was starting to reflect the emptiness of post-modern capitalism. It was starting to roll with ice and drugs and the objectification of women, when it used to be down for social justice, speaking up and standing out. But just when I thought my first love had turned sour, the winds changed. And like the best love story I’ll ever live to tell, hip-hop was right outside my door with fresh beats, true lyricism and a dose of the truth – no amount of flowers could compare. The way I see it, hip-hop today is like a Frank Ocean album – rare but worth the wait. Whilst some try to find where it is, others are on the block where it lives. And dies. Silently, - 12 -
Volume XXIV
violently. Sometimes shining so vibrantly that we need to squint to catch a glimpse. But as the samples live on, the vibe never dies. Hip-hop is still empirical evidence of divine still occupied. So, to the Jay Z’s and Q-Tip’s who went onto bigger projects only to give back to the projects. To the Camp Lo’s and J Dilla’s who traded commercial success for inner-city funk. To the MC-Lyte’s and Foxy Brown’s, who reminded women there’s a greater platform for them outside the world of video vixens - thank you. Thank you for giving me and people like me something to stunt to when we were being stunted on. Thank you for giving me the perfect beat to make sense of life’s rhymes. Thank you for breaking every rule in the book. Hip-hop, you’re the love of my life.
- 13 -
ESSAY
intervention. The scales may have changed, the names may be different, but the throne is
ESSAY
Bulpadok
Our Timeless Universe A Defence of Eternalism Zan Thomson Arts III
- 14 -
Volume XXIV
this “now” travels inexorably from past to future. For this reason, the claim that we live in a timeless universe where many, equally real points in time exist is, for many, unpalatable. This is the claim of Eternalism and the subject of this defence.
Following an initial exposition, the argument from Einstein’s special theory of relativity,
recent attempts to ground the present in spacetime, and responses to the objection of temporal experience will be explored. Consequently, whether or not it is appropriate to reject our pre-reflective grasp of time (i.e. Presentism) will both direct the discussion and inform the conclusion. a. Eternalism defined: By claiming that: P1.
Many points in time exist (distinct from our current one), and
P2.
All points in time are equally real,
Eternalists develop a stance where:
i. All objects (and properties of objects) that have or will be, simply are.
ii. Propositions contain truth values simpliciter—fixedly true or untrue (detensed
semantics).
iii. There is no objective passage of time.
a. A static temporal order arises from earlier than/later than relations (not
past/present/future properties of objects); and
iv. Reality is a four-dimensional spread of events and objects: a ‘block universe’ of
space-time; so consequently
b. There is no ‘actual’ foliation of spacetime that holds a privileged
(truth-making) access to reality; reference frames are incommensurable,
and thus equally valid (Rea, 2003, 33; Miller, 2013, 156-158).
So under this view, interplanetary humans and the first homo-sapiens both exist, just - 15 -
ESSAY
Experience tells us that physical reality persists through time; we inhabit the “now” and
Bulpadok
not here (if they do at some point in spacetime). Similarly, I (conceived as an enduring ob-
ESSAY
ject) contain the physical property of both sleeping and not sleeping—in other words, some object x is both p and not p which, prima facie, entails a contradiction. This highlights ‘the problem of temporary intrinsics in persisting things’: the claim that a view restricted to spatial parts and detensed semantics (such as ours) fails to account for the change in an object’s properties through time.1
This is a complex issue, and not the focus of this paper. But for now, if we accept that an
object’s properties are not absolute, but assigned relative to different coordinates in spacetime, then we can designate the properties of p and not p to distinct points in our block, and thus evade contradiction (since the object still contains both properties, just never at the same frame).
Also, iii. does not deny the phenomenology of transience per se. It just states that
temporal flow is not a constitutive feature of physical reality; past and future are semantic directions rather than grounded states.
And finally, iv assumes a classical-determinist conception of spacetime, which takes the
future to be as fixed as the past, and Newtonian laws to hold within inertial frames.2 b. Special relativity and simultaneity
Eternalism’s unintuitive conclusions hold great explanatory power. Specifically, it suc-
ceeds where Presentism fails: it reconciles the physics of Special Relativity (SR). i. Presentism’s woes: Simultaneity relations arise when two events are sliced by the same frame in spacetime. As such, if we accept the Presentist view that “the now” is the only real moment in time, then ‘simultaneity to the present’ becomes a necessary property of any existent thing. So under this view, neither the dinosaurs nor my Toorak mansion exist, but the EU refugee crisis does exist.
However, SR denies that simultaneity is a universal relation. It holds that, when a
physical event is observed from two non-translatory coordinates in spacetime, cases emerge where, from one perspective two things took place simultaneously, and in the other, they 1 2
I understand that the problem extends beyond these constraints, I am just formulating it so as to be relevant to the presented stance. Quantum gravity and branching spacetimes are beyond my feeble undergraduate brain.
- 16 -
Volume XXIV
did not.
This effect is manifest when we study distant objects in other galaxies. If, from Earth, we
galaxy, and at that same instant the Swans had just won the AFL premiership, then according to the Presentist, that star exists and the claim “the Swans just won the premiership” is true. However, if we were on a planet orbiting that same star, and if at exactly the point in which it had 10,000 earth-years left before its core contracted we observed the Earth, then we would see a world long before the birth of humans. According to the Presentist, that same star does in fact exist, but the claim that “the Swans just won the premiership” is now not true.3 Consequently, not only is this proposition both true and false across different points in space, but the existence of humanity is not even guaranteed when we rule out the possibility of non-present objects (due to the inconsistency of what inhabits the perceived plane of simultaneity).
SR thus asserts that simultaneity is relative across different frames of reference. And since
the physical world does not seem to provide an epistemically privileged reference-frame, the Presentist must, prima facie, accept a frame-dependent view of the present so as to avoid contradiction (because if we maintain that there is a single ‘present’, then some objects both do and don’t exist across physical space) (Rea, 2003, 36).
This response is problematic, however. We now cannot assert the existence of things
outside of our own reference-frame (solipsism), e.g. I now cannot claim that New Zealand exists. Also, what actually constitutes the privileged ‘present’ becomes unclear, since it does not seem possible for us to non-arbitrarily define the boundaries of our own frames of reference (for any two frames are incommensurable) (Rea, 2003, 42). And finally, since existence claims are now defined by an arbitrary assignment of values, the predicate “exists” loses much of the meaning one would typically want or associate with it.
ii. Eternalism’s success:
On the other hand, Eternalism accommodates for SR with ease. Specifically, the multi-
ple, incommensurable reference-frames of SR cohere with the notion of a ‘space-time block’ 3
For the sake of argument, I assume that non-denotation (which this example would seem to be a case of ) returns a false truth value.
- 17 -
ESSAY
observed a star that was exactly 10,000 earth-years away from its death in the Andromeda
Bulpadok
(since all ways of perceiving space-time are equally real). Also, since simultaneity is not a
ESSAY
necessary property of real objects, and tensed semantics hold no effect on the truth-value of a claim, the charge of self-contradiction does not apply here; all things either do or do not exist. c. Grounding the ‘present’ in spacetime? In response to SR’s conclusions, Presentist’s have tried to defend their stance in a number of ways (e.g. by denying naturalism; defining the present as both temporal and spatial; developing a many-valued stance on truth, and so on). Chief among these is an attempt to reconcile the spacetime manifold with the notion of a unique, privileged foliation. Here, the physical measurements of length, time, and the simultaneity of objects are considered to be non-relative in some unique frame. And it is hoped that this single frame will serve as the correct, ontologically sound rendering of reality (Zimmerman, 230).
When traditionally interpreted however, SR negates the existence of such a privileged
frame. And consequently, any Presentist who endorses a preferred foliation in spacetime is committed to the view that Eternalism (and indeed, the metaphysics of time more generally) is underdetermined by SR; or rather, that it is not the case that SRs conclusions inevitably lead to temporal incommensurability. These Presentists don’t reject the relativistic account of spacetime then. Instead, they postulate a new metaphysically distinguished frame that is physically indeterminable (by any classical measurement or experiment), and which supposedly extends SR’s explanatory power to encompass our intuitive grasp of “nowness.”
However, this stance is particularly fertile for philosophical objection (even beyond
the assumption of underdetermination). If a preferred foliation in spacetime were proven to exist, then there is no reason to believe that this frame would satisfy our intuitive grasp of “the present.” We seem to encounter the present as more robustly real than the future or past, and yet it does not seem evident to me that this preferred foliation would entail a more meaningful, real experience of reality compared to any other frame of spacetime.
Additionally, in order to even ascribe “nowness” to this preferred foliation, the Presentist
would have to prove that their metaphysically preferred frame exactly corresponds (with regard to the plane of simultaneity) to the physically preferred frame of spacetime. But since they lack the physical apparatus to even identify such a foliation (and it is far from clear - 18 -
Volume XXIV
how this would come about), the possibility of such a metaphysical/physical link seems farfetched (to say the least) (Zimmerman, 225). Therefore, that attempt to ground our experience of the present within a spacetime
manifold not only requires some fancy footwork, but is largely untenable. And so while it is hard to conclusively reject Presentism, the superior compatibility of Eternalism with SR is, I feel, a powerful argument in its favour, and a strong reason to favour its unintuitive conclusions. d. The experience of time
Nevertheless, I, as well as many others, still feel that there is a very real difference
between an event that is happening to me now and one that has or will take place. Many believe that this experience must derive from an objective, ontological distinction in spacetime, and this is what motivates most when they deny the ‘block universe’.
To criticize Eternalism on these grounds is misguided, however. It is still possible for
the Eternalist to endorse the phenomenology of the present, as well as the flowing, stream like character of experience embraced by the Presentist. An Eternalist simply has to explain what mechanisms cause us to perceive time in a static universe. And if this can be successfully done, it is not clear what, if anything, would stop us from endorsing Eternalism over Presentism. The rest of this essay will thus be a brief attempt at sketching out these processes. i. Temporal flow
Eternalists can relegate the passage of time from an objective phenomenon to one that is
subjective and facilitated by our cognitive processes. This flow, which is characterized by the apparent passage and temporal ordering of physical events such as causation, is attributable to features of our brain. Specifically, cognitive scientists have determined that the cerebral cortex is responsible for taking a visual input of static images (snapshots in time) and generating a mental output that connects these images so as to portray a smooth progression (Le Poidevin, 8, 2015). Retroactively then, our cognition of an event will be remembered as containing this flow from future, to present, and then to past. And when drawn out across a lifetime of conscious experience, it is not difficult to see how this seamless transience may - 19 -
ESSAY
Bulpadok
develop into an indispensable belief regarding the intrinsic asymmetry and thus forward
ESSAY
progression of time.
Some have also argued that if time flowed, then it would be sensible to ask for the rate
at which it flows. The necessary, a priori answer is simply “one second per second”, which some have taken to be meaningless and thus evidence in itself for the unreality of temporal flow.
On its own, this seems to be an unsatisfying response to the ‘flow objection’. But the
triviality entailed by this answer (and the fact that there is no conceivable possible world in which this fact might be different) does seem to consolidate the idea that flow is an illusory component of our perceptual structures, and so will not be measurable within the external world, nor possible for us to conceive of in any other way (since it is so fundamental to experience). ii. The “now”
It is also important for us to address the fact that those objects and events that we en-
counter “now” seem to hold some unique, privileged status in spacetime. Again, I feel that this is attributable to the false certainty that our cognitive faculties imprint on ordinary experience.
However, we can uproot this illusion via a thought experiment. If one were to imagine
a scenario where the conscious mind of Kate was split over two bodies: K1 and K2 (so that she now has a split-screen view of reality), then we can treat seminal cases of SR in a new manner. Take Einstein’s train example (1961): if K1 were the stationary observer, and K2 were positioned inside the train moving at the speed of light, then Kate’s two experiences of reality would be entirely out of sync and incompatible; time dilation would become an immanent phenomenon. Consequently, she would not know which reference-frame to assign the unique property of “nowness” to, since her senses have imprinted an authenticity and sense of immediate ‘realness’ to both.
The upshot here then, is that the only thing stopping us from accepting the relativity of
simultaneity (and thus denying the universal present) is the immanence of our experience. We can never experience multiple frames, and so will always find it unintuitive that they are ontologically the same. And so the objection that Eternalism fails to ground our intuitive grasp of the present into an ontology of time is, I feel, an empty one. - 20 -
Volume XXIV
e. Conclusion In light of the above discussion then, I see no reason to endorse Presentism over Eter-
nalism. The argument from special relativity, the inability to ground a privileged present within spacetime, and the reconcilability of temporal experience and the ‘block universe’ provides, accumulatively, an overwhelming case in the Eternalists favour, and thus good reason to accept its unpalatable conclusions.
Works Cited Le Poidevin, R., (2015) “The Experience and Perception of Time”, in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy <http:// plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2015/entries/time-experience/> Miller, K., (2013). “The growing block, presentism and eternalism”, in A Companion to the Philosophy of Time, 356-358. Rea, M., (2003). “Four-dimensionalism”, in The Oxford Handbook of Metaphysics. Oxford University Press, 246-280. Zimmerman, D., (2011). “Presentism and the Spacetime Manifold”, in The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Time, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 163-243.
- 21 -
ESSAY
ESSAY
Bulpadok
Tyrannical Daughters
Reconfiguring the Snow White Myth Maddie Diamond Arts III
- 22 -
Volume XXIV
“Before we women can write, declared Virginia Woolf, we must “kill” the “angel in the house”. “killed” into art. And similarly, all women writers must kill the angel’s necessary opposite and double, the “monster” in the house, whose Medusa-face also kills all female creativity.” (Gilbert and Gubar, 17) Shuli Barzilai’s assertion that “fairy tales are complex reflectors of the conscious and unconscious concerns of their readers” is taken from her 2010 article entitled “Snow White: the Mother’s Tale”. Within the article, Barzilai makes the case for the Grimms’ telling of “Little Snow White” as primarily a tale of a mother and daughter, and of the conflict that stems from such an important familial bond. She contrasts her reading with that of Bruno Bettelheim, who presented a psychoanalytic reading of the text, and of Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, who present a feminist reading, which denounces the tale’s portrayal and relegation of women. In this essay, I wish to affirm Barzilai’s stance, as I examine two adaptations of the Grimms’ tale; ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ a poem by Anne Sexton, and Snow, Glass, Apples a short story by Neil Gaiman. These adaptations offer an alternative to the passive, angelic Princess tormented by her ‘monstrous’ stepmother, and reject the Grimms’ aggressive paternalism. Sexton’s poem utilises an omniscient persona, who tells the tale whilst also passing judgment on the characters, their roles and social expectations. Though she does not alter the tale to any great extent, Sexton employs poetic devices such as simile, metaphor and irony, which exemplify the patriarchal tropes associated with the original tale. Through simile, Sexton emphasises Snow White’s objectification, reducing her body parts to valuable goods:
“cheeks as fragile as cigarette paper,
arms and legs made of Limoges,
lips like Vin du Rhone,” (3)
Thus, Snow White’s beauty is foregrounded; reminding the reader that this is a story. Bettelheim suggests the tale alludes to the classical myth of Narcissus, whose self-love was his undoing (202). Gilbert and Gubar reject this reading directly however, noting that narcissism “is necessitated by a state from which all outward prospects have been removed” - 23 -
ESSAY
In other words, women must kill the aesthetic ideal through which they themselves have been
Bulpadok
(37). Sexton’s conclusion of her poem questions the ‘happily ever after’ ending of many
ESSAY
fairy tales:
“Meanwhile Snow White held court,
rolling her china-blue doll eyes open and shut
and sometimes referring to her mirror
as women do.” (9)
In doing so, she overtly suggests that Snow White’s fate will be that of the Queen’s. This idea greatly interests Gilbert and Gubar. They assert, “Surely, fairest of them all, Snow White has exchanged one glass coffin for another, delivered from the prison where the Queen put her only to be imprisoned in the looking glass from which the King’s voice speaks daily” (Gilbert and Gubar, 42). Sexton’s poem is an indication of the lack of agency that exists in life for women and girls. They must perform a helplessness (Gilbert and Gubar, 25) that is valorised by the patriarchy in order to, as Bettelheim suggests, “be united with [their] prince” (212). Yet, what remains for her once she has achieved such a goal? Sexton suggests she will inevitably become her stepmother and therefore, the cycle of female conflict will continue to be perpetuated. Thus, it would appear that Sexton seeks to contribute to the canon in such a way as to undermine the 19th century patriarchal morals of the Grimms’ text. She outs Snow White as a “dumb bunny” (8) alerting her readers to the quality that is unconsciously prized in the Grimms’ – her helpless cluelessness. As already established in both Barzilai’s and my own reading of Bettelheim’s analysis, we know that he believes “Little Snow White” to be an instruction manual on how to become “a good housekeeper” (208). This opinion is affirmed by respected fairy tale scholar, Jack Zipes who asserts that “Snow White is given instructions which are more commensurate with the duties of a bourgeois girl, and the tasks which she performs are implicitly part of her moral obligation” (53). Therefore, if such arguments are true, and the fairy tale is complicit in the socialisation of young girls into roles afforded them by the patriarchy. Sexton appropriates a form that aligns passive femininity with “disintegration without the possibility of regeneration” (Barzilai, 530) and attempts to socialise young men and women to awareness of the disingenuous status that women are allowed. Either they are ‘monsters/witches’ or they are ‘virgin/angels’. If the - 24 -
Volume XXIV
latter, they inexorably end up in a glass case – either as Gilbert and Gubar’s “objet d’art [of ] patriarchal aesthetics” (40) or as prisoners of their looking glass until they are undone by
Neil Gaiman’s short story takes Sexton’s ‘calling out’ even further. In Snow, Glass, Apples he reframes the story, which has hitherto excluded the experience of the Queen (Barzilai, 525). By retelling the same story (with the same outcome) as the Queen’s first person monologue prior to being executed, Gaiman gives insight into her motivations and valorises her character. Gaiman inverts the notion of Snow White’s original characterisation as an ‘angelic daughter of the Patriarchy’ (Gilbert and Gubar, 39) by taking her character to feminist extremes. Her vampirism: “the little Princess fastened her mouth to my hand and licked and sucked and drank” (Gaiman, 1994) is analogous for the leech-like effect of patriarchal value systems. The protection she is afforded by those who are the most corrupt products of society, most obviously the character of Prince Charming, whose paedophilic and necrophilic tendencies are the product of a society that prefers dying ‘angels’ (Gilbert and Gubar, 25) to dynamic, creative ‘monsters’. The fallacy of ‘Prince Charming’ is also referenced in Sexton, who alludes to it as “the thrust of the unicorn” (3) implicitly suggesting that there can never be a ‘Prince Charming’ so long as we continue to evaluate him through the lens of the patriarchy. Gaiman directly references Bettelheim’s Oedipal psychoanalysis (203) with the sexual relationship between the King and his daughter, “there were scars on…her father’s thighs…and on his male member when he died” (Gaiman, 1994). The result of such an unnatural coupling eventuates in the death of the once healthy King and the recognition of Snow White as an unknowable ‘thing’ (Gaiman, 1994). By allowing the Queen to ‘write’ and Snow White to be ‘read’, Gaiman contributes a tale to the canon that recognises the importance of who tells the tale as opposed to what occurs. The winners have always written the history books, with strategic and important omissions that, as Gaiman’s doomed Queen laments, “a landscape, unrecognisable after a snowfall, that is what she has made my life”. If, as Gilbert and Gubar believe, there is no way for a woman to be represented as psy- 25 -
ESSAY
spite, vanity and jealousy.
Bulpadok
chologically complex in a patriarchal society, Sexton and Gaiman have gone someway to
ESSAY
correcting this for contemporary readers. Just as the Grimms took their folk tales and used them to represent the prudish desires of the bourgeois, Gaiman and Sexton’s tales have updated the story for contemporary readers. A readership that has grown up in the shadow of radical feminism and refutes the notion that young girls should be ‘angels’ preparing themselves to keep house and meet a ‘prince’; or scheming, self-absorbed monsters doomed to a tragic outcome. Just as Snow White’s fate is inexorable, for she will one day end up as her stepmother, it is impossible to be reduced to one side of the same coin – an angel or a monster. People are equal parts angel and demon, and that goes for women too.
- 26 -
Volume XXIV Works Cited
Bettelheim, B. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1975. Print. Gilbert, S M and Gubar, S. “The Queen’s Looking Glass: Female Creativity, Male Images of Women, and the Metaphor of Literary Paternity.” The Madwoman in the Attic. New Haven: Yale UP, 2000. 3 – 45. Print. Gaiman, N. 1994. “Snow, Glass, Apples”. 1994. Web. 17 Apr 2015. http://thedreaming.joefulgham.com/1999/10/10/snow-glass-apples/ Sexton, A. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. Transformations. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1971. Print. Zipes, J. Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion: The Classical Genre for Children and the Process of Civilisation. New York: Wildman, 1983. Print.
- 27 -
ESSAY
Barzilai, S. “ ‘Snow White’: The Mother’s Story”. Signs. 15.3 (1990): 515 – 534. Print.
ESSAY
Bulpadok
Authenticity Taylor Carre-Riddell Arts I
- 28 -
Volume XXIV
Tay?” I was also twelve when I learnt that my answer wasn’t that complicated – but suddenly, it wasn’t allowed to be that simple, either. Nonetheless, I beamed at this adult, pronouncing the bleeding obvious: “Harry Potter makes me happy!” We were in my primary school library, and I had received a joint win of the annual short story competition that the school held once a year. The library was hot with the pride of many parents, adrenalised children, flat soft drink, the crackle of the family-friendly tunes. For me, the atmosphere itself was gauzy with an odd mixture of disbelief and relief. That awards night was the pinnacle of my primary school adventures. But that gauzy atmosphere itself was centred around the library reception desk. A gleaming copy of the highly anticipated Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was perched front and centre, along with a waiting list for borrowers. By then, the book had certainly been published, but the demand for the story within my school was so great, a waiting list was still necessary. Even though the adult’s relationship to me is far too watery and rippled by memory, I still remember how their smile wavered ever so slightly, ever so distinctly when I told them about the Deathly Hallows book. I realise now that they expected me to say “writing”: being an author. To turn my past time, my budding passion, into something I could gift-wrap and present to society when the time was right. Even though writing did make me happy, at that point in time, my life orbited around that little book stand: the glowing Harry Potter franchise. But even as a primary schooler, it was the meatiness of my goals that told people how they should invest in me, and treat me. What often makes me happy on a day-to-day basis are indeed those overarching goals that drive me in the long term. They remind me what it is to enjoy the buffet of life’s challenges. However, I’ve come to notice that in society, we are a little too obsessed, or perhaps - 29 -
ESSAY
I was twelve when an adult outside of my family first asked me “What makes you happy,
Bulpadok
dependent on this notion. We are expected to align our happiness with things that help us
ESSAY
get back on track to achieving our career or personal goals. To get us to the grindstone as fast as possible, and thus ignore the original turbulent emotion. But sometimes, my goals aren’t what make me laugh after a gloomy day. In fact, sometimes what makes me happy are considered childish or inconsequential things that rejuvenate me in tough times. I like chocolate. I like puppies. Do these things make me happy? Sure they do. Well, as I’m older now, maybe not in the sense that sustains me through the turmoil of teenage life. It’s taken me a long time to realise that it’s okay to be driven and enthralled by ambitious things such as solitary overseas travel, master’s degrees and musical theatre expeditions. To not apologise for using these passions and ambitions to catapult (admittedly, sometimes drag me) through life’s hardships. At the same time, I’ve learnt to fully embrace that I am amused by cuddly cat and playful puppy videos. I love the six-second escapism a Vine can give me, or the tongue-in-cheek jokes an infamous meme can conjure within my social group. It’s like a spreading of sugary, superficial icing, the “short term” happiness on the denser, substantial sponge cake they call “long term” happiness. Combine these two types of happiness together, and you get food for the soul. **** Now, as an adult, science was something that helps me define these two types of happiness and simultaneously capitalise on the benefits they can both offer in my life. The way I think of it is that the biological side of your mental health like a musical, with an ensemble of hormone glands. It’s the pituitary gland (in your brain) that does the singing or “releasing” of oxytocin, a complex hormone responsible for the warm feelings you get when perceiving certain (positive) stimuli. The hundreds of audience members in the theatre represent the millions and millions of cells that have the ability to “listen to” and respond to the specific oxytocin “song” and act accordingly. Some of the audience members will cry in joy and delight. Other cells, who aren’t designed to listen to that song, remain indifferent. Oxytocin is known as the life hormone because - 30 -
Volume XXIV
many audience members respond to it at critical moments in our lives.
does All-Day Breakfast – as long as the stimulus is genuine, your pituitary gland will unleash an oxytocin-filled ballad. You can’t activate or “falsely stimulate” the release of oxytocin; your body knows if you are not happy. Faking happiness is just as bad as suffering an absence of happiness. Since lying to yourself is one of the most stressful things you can do, it’s no wonder that the adrenal gland secretes cortisol: the “stress” hormone. If it’s in your system too long, your non-essential organs begin to “cook” in order to “… maintain high levels of glucose in the blood to feed the vital organs”. 3 The (saddest) explanatory analogy I can come up with is that our body treats our organs like we ourselves treat our work/life balance. We know both are essential, but when we (or our bodies) are faced with pressure, we sacrifice the little things (or organs) in order to keep the Executive Managers happy, whether those managers are people or pulsating tissues. **** But we are human. So we do try to falsely stimulate the oxytocin anyway. I think a possible answer as to what compels us to sacrifice parts of ourselves in this way can be found within the context of modern consumerism. One lunchtime in year eight, a group of us were intensively doing each other’s make-up in the girl’s bathroom. One of my friends, who had a very crumpled demeanour about her literally began to crisp up as she demonstrated eyeshadow techniques, eyeliner tricks. Instead of grappling with quadratic equations, she would bloom with every flick of her wrist as she would apply bronzer to my face. “You like, really really love honey set bronzer, don’t you, Anna?” “Oh please Tay! I’m not that superficial.” There it was: Anna suppressed her happiness as easily as she radiated it. She didn’t want what made her happy in the long term to be affiliated with people’s perception of her, because make-up is a flippant material thing that allows people to fulfil social constructs and beauty standards. Somehow, she knew that if she wanted to be taken seriously, she would - 31 -
ESSAY
It doesn’t matter whether you are graduating high school or finding out that McDonalds
Bulpadok
have to place make up design as a hobby in her life; nothing more. It could never be associ-
ESSAY
ated with substantial passion or as a redeeming factor feature in her troubled childhood. Anna must have caught on to the fact, like so many other younger girls, that that would make you “fake” or “plastic.” If I saw Anna again, I would tell her this; if you’d rather rub your forehead against a cheese grater then actually keep up the appearance of this or that being the things that apparently make you happy, then congratulations! This is the first step in the battle of making your social reality correlate and cater for the passions that serve the authentic you; instead of your apparent passions serving various social expectations. What Anna, you, and I need to do as the sophisticated homo-sapiens we are, is work out what kind of happiness sustains us in the long run, whatever stimulates us to face the daily grind of life. Then, with just as much vigour and intent, save some more cat video blogs into our browsers for when you need a pick me up. These things are what release oxytocin. These are the things we need to not only establish internally – but allow to glint through to the outside world. I think a nice lesson we can learn from knowing about hormone systems is that different things can make us happy for different purposes. If you enjoy Harry’s adventures like me, then for the sake of your health, show people that passion will a part of you – always. After all, when it comes to something as vital as happiness, it’s better not to fake it ‘til you make it, but to fight for it instead.
- 32 -
Volume XXIV Works Cited
to use their names and their personal stance on each of my â&#x20AC;&#x153;anecdotesâ&#x20AC;?, it was decided that all names mentioned in this piece except my own would be changed. MacGill, Markus. (21st September 2015). Oxytocin: What is it and what does it do? Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/275795 Scott, Elizabeth. (29th February 2016) Cortisol and Stress: How to Stay Healthy, Retrieved from http://stress.about.com/ od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm Mendoza, Maya. (November 2013) Oxytocin The Love Hormone vs. Cortisol the Stress Hormone: A Complete Comparison, Retrieved from http://www.zenlama.com/oxytocin-the-love-hormone-vs-cortisol-the-stress-hormone-a-complete-comparison/
- 33 -
ESSAY
Please note: After careful consideration, since I could not ask the persons mentioned in this assignment for permission
ESSAY
Bulpadok
Scopophilic Pleasures A Critique of Laura Mulveyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gaze Theory Theodora Galanis Arts I
- 34 -
Volume XXIV
Mulvey’s (1989[1975]) Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema critiques the scopophilic pleasures of cinema that are oriented toward male pleasure and power. Drawing upon elements of psychoanalytic theory, Mulvey (1989[1975], 19) asserts that the societal unconscious has structured film form to position the male protagonist as the “bearer of the look”, while women are the objectified “image”. The male gaze, as a gendered structure of seeing, has therefore “coded the erotic into the language of the dominant patriarchal order” (1989[1975], 16). This essay will explore Mulvey’s theory of the gaze in relation to Zhang Yimou’s 1991 film, Raise The Red Lantern. Set in China’s Warlord era, the story follows a young woman, Songlian, who becomes one of Master Chen’s four concubines; forced to sacrifice her individuality to function within the rigid confines of the traditional household. The essay will firstly outline how Zhang engages with the scopophilic gaze, using contrasting cinematographic techniques to present the women as exposed and eroticised, and the Master as an enigmatic and omnipotent figure. It will then follow with an analysis on how the film’s deliberate use of the gaze condemns, rather than endorses, ‘erotic coding’ in dominant societal structures – proving that Mulvey’s thesis is somewhat reductive (Ruti 2016, 41), and unable to truly capture the genius of Zhang’s filmmaking (Hollinger 1987; Delamoir 1998; Coughlin 2010). In essence, I will argue that Raise the Red Lantern simultaneously reflects and subverts Mulvey’s claim, ultimately exposing the detrimental impacts of gendered objectification within hetero-patriarchal societies and its representation in mainstream media. Zhang’s portrayal of female characters in his film appears to closely reflect Mulvey’s scopophilic gaze theory, reinforcing the patriarchal norms of feminine subservience and male supremacy. Mulvey (1989[1975], 18) identifies scopophilia as one of the pleasurable structures of looking, where audiences find satisfaction in viewing another person as an object of sexual stimulation. Freudian theory suggests that the human fascination with observing another is a component instinct of sexuality, developed early on in childhood (Mulvey 1989[1975], 16). As such, the cinema exploits viewers’ voyeuristic tendencies both outside of, and within, the movie narrative (Ruti 2016, 56). Zhang’s presentation of Songlian and - 35 -
ESSAY
Labelled as a legendary pronouncement of feminist film theory (Ruti 2016, 37), Laura
Bulpadok
the other concubines throughout the film captures this sense of invasive voyeurism: close-up
ESSAY
camera shots linger on their dolled-up faces, while unimpeded single takes visually objectify the subject. Songlian is blatantly used as a spectacle for the Master’s pleasure, where her costume – a tight bodiced feminine red dress – further reinforces her eroticised, aesthetic purpose (Delamoir 1998, 1). Extending beyond the microcosm of the film’s setting, however, Songlian remains a “visual treat for the audience’s consumption” (Delamoir 1998, 1) as viewers take pleasure in voyeuristically observing Songlian’s beauty through the “controlling and curious” male gaze (Mulvey 1989[1975], 16). This element of masculine control is further emphasised through the set: a labyrinth of adjoining chambers and towering stone walls which create the prison-like environment of the Chen household (Coughlin 2010, 127). The mise-en-scène is hyper-symmetrical, where the female subject is framed within doorways and corridors to accentuate the contained, constrictive and rigid nature of the patriarchal system (Loeb 2011, 205). Alternatively, high angled shots, where the elevated camera is angled downwards, are used to intensify the restrictiveness of the spatial design (Coughlin 2010, 127). Zhang’s exaggeration of the females’ controlled passivity through camera angles and setting largely reflects the language of the dominant patriarchal order, and thus simultaneously satisfies the audience’s “primordial wish” (Mulvey 1989[1975], 17) for scopophilic pleasure. In contrast to the female characters in Raise the Red Lantern who connote “to-be-looked-atness” (Mulvey 1989[1975], 19), the dominant male figure is visually enigmatic, enhancing the scopophilic pleasure of masculine power, and reflecting Mulvey’s notion that the man is the “bearer of the look” (1989[1975], 19). Master Chen – the wealthy aristocrat who runs the household – is always filmed in profile, through medium-long shots, or excluded from the frame. Unlike the close ups which linger on the expressions of the concubines, the Master’s facial details are never fully revealed (Coughlin 2010, 127). Hence, as a consequence of the male’s enigmatic quality, and the females’ contrasting exposure, audiences interpret the film through the masculine lens. In accordance with Mulvey’s theory, the heterosexual, male perspective arises as the predominant one (Moe 2015, 3). Not only does Zhang’s use of the gaze encourage audiences to engage with female objectification through the male point-ofview, but it also magnifies Master Chen’s omnipotence (Coughlin 2010, 127). Disembodied - 36 -
Volume XXIV
and obscured, he is a visual enigma through which Zhang reinforces the idea that to be seen is disempowering, whereas to be unseen is to have ultimate control. The Master’s uncom(Moe 2015, 2; Loeb 2011, 205). His ever-present, elusive power is emphasised through the use of visual motifs: red lanterns decorate quarters of the compound, symbolic of Chen’s overbearing influence. The lurid, red glow omitted from these lanterns is accentuated with filtering and saturation, and thus, scenes are dominated with the colour of the masculine ‘yang’ (Coughlin 2010, 127). The Master has “all the lanterns so [he] can see” (Raise the Red Lantern 2007[1991]), and so, the four wives are in a state of permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power (Loeb 2011, 209). However, in this instance, Zhang’s use of the male gaze has a conflicting effect: though Songlian is the subject of scopophilic pleasure, the audience’s “pleasure is a guilty one” (Delamoir 1998, 5), undercut by the uncomfortable and disturbing nature of the patriarchal environment in which Songlian inhabits. This is hence indicative of Zhang’s condemnation of female objectification and masculine empowerment, contrary to Mulvey’s theory which suggests that cinema endorses gender asymmetry (Moe 2015, 2). While camera angles within Raise the Red Lantern reflect the claim that cinema has “coded the erotic into the language of the dominant patriarchal order” (Mulvey 1989[1975], 16), the thematic concerns of the film in fact subvert Mulvey’s idea, as Zhang highlights the harmfulness of sexist societal structures. Many of Mulvey’s critics assert the reductive nature of her argument (Hollinger 1987; Delamoir 1998; Ruti 2016), and challenge the idea that spectators form easily classifiable identifications with cinematic images (Ruti 2016, 43). In this particular film, viewers – while tempted by the scopophilic pleasure found in voyeuristically observing Songlian (Delamoir 1998, 5) – ultimately become privy to her discomfort. Zhang’s consistent use of close-up camera shots captures the female subject’s vulnerability and suffering, while the enigmatic portrayal of the male figure destabilises the spectator’s ability to identify with Master Chen (Ruti 2016, 43). Instead of being interpreted as a blind adherence to the “patriarchal unconscious” as suggested by Mulvey (1989[1975], 14), Zhang’s use of the male gaze can be seen as a conscious critique of cinema’s portrayal of the female spectacle (Delamoir 1998, 5). In detaching the male gaze from its narrative context, - 37 -
ESSAY
promising rule is sustained through an almost panoptic system of constant surveillance
Bulpadok
Mulvey overlooks the possibility that, far from reaffirming hetero-patriarchy (Hollinger in
ESSAY
Ruti 2016, 43), Raise the Red Lantern exposes the machinations of gendered looking – a concept symbolically illustrated in the film’s pessimistic conclusion. The final montage begins with a close shot of Songlian and ends in a diminishing aerial view of the defeated Mistress as she aimlessly paces the courtyard, driven to insanity as a result of her predicament in the indestructible patriarchal society (Coughlin 2010, 125). Given Zhang’s ironic use of cinematographic techniques, he is able to both reflect and subvert gaze theory, so therefore by the conclusion, the spectator is as critical of the coerciveness of the male gaze as Mulvey herself is in Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (Hollinger 1987, 27). Mulvey’s psychoanalytic conception of the male gaze is a pivotal concept in feminist film theory, as it attempts to de-mask the power of scopophilic pleasures in Hollywood cinema (Manlove 2007, 83). Her thesis – that mainstream film has “coded the erotic into the language of the dominant patriarchal order” (Mulvey 1989[1975], 16) – is reflected in Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern on a visual surface level. However, Zhang’s use of the gaze possesses “a power beyond mere empiricism” (Manlove 2007, 103), where the depth and complexity of his directorial techniques reveals the film’s social significance as a political statement against the unconscious forces of patriarchy. Given that the cinema is an advanced representation system of our reality, Mulvey (1989[1975], 15) claims that in order to break down the structures of gendered looking, we must begin by “examining the patriarchy with the tools it provides”: and perhaps, in Raise the Red Lantern, Zhang has been able to accomplish just that.
- 38 -
Volume XXIV Reference List
no. 58, pp. 125-131. Delamoir, J 1998, ‘Woman as Spectacle in Zhang Yimou’s Theatre of Punishments’, Screening the Past, vol. Dec, no. 5, pp. 1-5. Loeb, J 2011, ‘Dissonance Rising: Subversive Sound in Zhang Yimou’s Raise The Red Lantern’, Film-Philosophy Journal, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 204-219. Moe, A M 2015, ‘Unveiling the gaze’, in Trier-Bieniek’s (ed.) Teaching Gender: Feminist Theory and Pop Culture, Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, pp. 1-17. Manlove, C T 2007, ‘Visual Drive and Cinematic Narrative: Reading Gaze Theory in Lacan, Hitchcock, and Mulvey’ in Cinema Journal, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 83-108. Mulvey, L 1989[1975], ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, Visual and Other Pleasures, Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp. 14-26. Raise the Red Lantern 2007[1991], DVD recording, Metro Goldwyn Mayer Home Entertainment, USA. Directed by Zhang Yimou. Ruti, M 2016, Film theory in practise: feminist film theory and Pretty Woman, Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, pp. 17-101.
- 39 -
ESSAY
Coughlin, P 2010, ‘Iron Fists and Broken Spirits: Raise the Red Lantern as allegory’, Screen Education Journal, vol. 7,
ESSAY
Bulpadok
The Media â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Fourth Estateâ&#x20AC;? or for the State?1 Holly McNaughton Arts II
1 Title sourced from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIUMxyEgxCo, which interrogates the role of the media in the current American election, drawing evidence from news time received by Donald Trump compared with
Bernie Sanders.
- 40 -
Volume XXIV
opinion and constructing collective knowledge. The media has been described as “The Fourth Estate” due to the fact that it allegedly guards public interest and scrutinises the activities of the government (Van Aelst et al., 2008). However, the effectiveness of the media in holding governments accountable is challenged by Herman and Chomsky’s theory of “manufacturing consent” (Herman & Chomsky, 1988). This paradigm suggests that filters function to shape media, outlining how news media is mobilised into supporting government policy, such that newsmakers are impelled to view global events in a particular way (Robinson, 1999). Propaganda efforts serve to manufacture consent, and subsequently news content, by the repetition of images and the presentation of facts through framing. These pre-conceived frames contribute to the elicitation of a “moral panic”, which is exploited by the government in their exercise of power and conduct of foreign policy. These conceptions will be justified through the discussion and analysis of three articles. The first, entitled “Enemies Everywhere: Terrorism, Moral Panic, and US Civil Society”, investigates the media’s role in perpetuating a “moral panic” in response to the September 11 attacks. The second, entitled “Culturally unconscious: Intercultural implications of The New York Times representation of the Israel-Palestine conflict in 2009 and 2011”, examines framing in media coverage of the Israel – Palestine conflict. The third, entitled “A Comparative Framing Analysis of Embedded and Behind-the-Lines Reporting on the 2003 Iraq War”, discusses agenda setting theory through comparing the narratives of embedded journalists with behind-the-lines journalists in the Iraq war of 2003. This essay will therefore propose that the media is inherently susceptible to predetermined frames that serve to perpetuate patterns of thought in modern society. A moral panic as defined by Rothe and Muzzatti in the article “Enemies Everywhere: Terrorism, Moral Panic, and US Civil Society” as an exaggerated or disproportionate sense of fear in response to an act or acts of criminality or perceived non-standard behaviour (Rothe & Muzzatti, 2004). This stems from the initial postulation of moral panic by Stanley Cohen (1972), who used this concept to depict the relationship between youth culture and the media. In an age of mass media, news narratives often exaggerate and converge a single - 41 -
ESSAY
In an increasingly digitised age, the media plays a dominant role in influencing public
Bulpadok
fear evoking issue and exploit it to generate a moral panic. The aforementioned article
ESSAY
explores this notion, suggesting that the construction of a moral panic in response to the September 11 attacks was a means to legitimise the embryonic “war on terror”. The Bush Administration’s imperialistic agenda falls under the manufacturing consent paradigm, where the media is perceived as an “ideological state apparatus” (Rothe & Muzzatti, pg. 336). The concept of manufacturing consent outlines five distorting filters that are applied to the reporting of news. Raw news material must pass through these filters, which dictate discourse and define what is newsworthy. As an extension of the state, the media concurrently perpetuates a moral panic as a result of framing through these filters, which in turn legitimises state action against an offender. Sarah Wright compares moral panics to enacted melodramas, suggesting that in this way, they operate to depoliticise sovereign action against outsiders (Wright, 2015). This is perceivable in the case of the September 11 attacks, where the American public was inundated with highly mediated images of terrorism. The incitement of a moral panic in this case led to increased levels of fear and provided the state with a means to act on its geo-political agenda without receiving public flak. The spectacles of suffering depicted by the media in the aftermath of the attacks served to manufacture an American identity on the values of freedom, subsequently uniting the community in abstract terms as the victim of a terrorist agenda (Wright 2015). Subsequently, America could only secure back this freedom by acting against the offender. This contradicts the media’s role in stimulating public consciousness, suggesting that the manufacturing of content and structure of discourse contributes to a mindless acceptance of fact at face value. The state’s vested interest in mediatised information renders individuals susceptible to ideological frames imposed on news stories. The second article, “Culturally unconscious: Intercultural implications of The New York Times representation of the Israel-Palestine conflict in 2009 and 2011”, further reflects on the paradigm of manufacturing consent, suggesting that the media has become increasingly ideology laden and in doing so, reinforces structural binaries. In this way, the media is suggested to contribute to the perpetuation of conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Through empirical evidence, Roy investigates the framing of New York Times articles covering this conflict. Framing refers to the news media’s intentional selection of events, - 42 -
Volume XXIV
opinions and facts that encourage a particular perspective or understanding of an event. Through omitting or emphasising particular facts, such as neglecting to provide a contexsetting theory”. This refers to the ability of the media to have control over public opinion in order to serve a political agenda, as identified in the previous example of America’s strategic utilisation of a moral panic over terrorism. Roy refers to the strategic victimisation of the Palestinians as though they perpetuate their own victimhood, and Israelis as though they have been historically wronged. This is exacerbated through the silencing of diverse voices, suggesting that the omission of the Palestinian voices strategically reinforces the structural binary of the “self ”’ versus the “other”. Furthermore, the repetition of terms such as “peace” and “victim” adhere to these binaries, projecting expectations of dominant groups in the representation of conflict. Chomsky suggests that a propaganda approach to media coverage is based on its “serviceability to important domestic power interests” (Herman & Chomsky, 1988). This is embodied through the media’s perpetuation of the Israel-Palestine conflict, which serves to mould public opinion and privilege a certain way of thinking. The subsequent construction of collective knowledge through the conditioning of readers enables the government to amass public hostility towards a particular group, providing leverage for the conduct of policy. The notion of agenda setting is further built upon in the final article, “A Comparative Framing Analysis of Embedded and Behind-the-Lines Reporting on the 2003 Iraq War”. This article uses evidence from the 2003 invasion of Iraq to mount an argument for the benefit of using embedded journalists when reporting on war or crises. It alludes to pre-conceived filters that are applied to facts when being streamed to a mass audience; namely, the previously established frames of the mainstream press. A key argument is that “facts remain neutral until framed” (Kuypers & Cooper, 2005). This is elaborated on through evidence of the differing narratives relayed by embedded journalists, who existed alongside combat, compared with behind-the-lines reporters, who were positioned away from combat. Embedded journalists depicted a more positive response in regard to interactions with Iraqi civilians, compared with behind-the-lines journalists, who described civilians’ resentment towards occupation troops. The disparities between the narratives of these reporters provide direct evidence of - 43 -
ESSAY
tual background to an event, the news narratives analysed in the article embody an “agenda
Bulpadok
the impact media framing has on the representation of facts. This builds on the notion that
ESSAY
news organisations are politically biased and serve to manufacture content as an instrument of the government. The use of embedded journalists gives readers a perspective of choice in how to view the war, instead of being barraged by the dominant framing of mainstream press. A free and informative press is widely agreed to be critical to the democratic process (Glaeser, Goldin, & Getzkow, 2004). The interrelation of politics and the media through the manufacturing consent paradigm can therefore be considered as antithetical to democracy. This can be evidenced through the three articles discussed, which each present a distinct event that is shaped in a particular way in order to invoke a specific response from the public. The use of embedded journalists as in the case of the Iraq War can be considered as a progressive approach to creating a more nuanced and well-rounded narrative by providing comparative perspectives. The media’s depiction as an instrument of the public, as well as a means to investigate government policy as “The Fourth Estate”, is inherently challenged through the manufacturing consent paradigm. The evaluation of the aforementioned articles supports this by suggesting that news media is susceptible to preconceived frames, which perpetuate propaganda efforts by the government. By creating a “moral panic”, political players utilise public fear and hostility in the advancement of hegemonic ambitions. So in response to the media as “The Fourth Estate” or for the state, it can be implied that the media does serve a role in manipulating public opinion as an apparatus of the state’s ambitions. However, there is potential for a role of the media as “The Fourth Estate” in scrutinising the state’s decisions through the role of embedded journalists, as they are in a position largely unprejudiced by mass media frames and can therefore serve reduce the influence of media filters and framing.
- 44 -
Volume XXIV Reference List
and Why It Mattered. University Of Chicago Press, 1(1), 187-230. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/chapters/c9984 Herman, E. & Chomsky, N. (1988). Manufacturing consent. New York: Pantheon Books. Kuypers, J. & Cooper, S. (2005). A Comparative Framing Analysis of Embedded and Behind-the-Lines Reporting on the 2003 Iraq War. Qualitative Research Reports In Communication, 6(1), 1-10. http://dx.doi. org/10.1080/17459430500262083 ROBINSON, P. (1999). The CNN effect: can the news media drive foreign policy?. Review Of International Studies, 25(2), 301-309. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0260210599003010 Rothe, D. & Muzzatti, S. (2004). Enemies Everywhere: Terrorism, Moral Panic, and US Civil Society. Crit Crim, 12(3), 327-350. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10612-004-3879-6 Roy, S. (2012). Culturally unconscious: Intercultural implications of The New York Times representation of the Israel-Palestine conflict in 2009 and 2011. International Communication Gazette, 74(6), 556-570. http://dx.doi. org/10.1177/1748048512454823 Van Aelst, P., Brants, K., Van Praag, P., De Vreese, C., Nuytemans, M., & Van Dalen, A. (2008). THE FOURTH ESTATE AS SUPERPOWER?. Journalism Studies, 9(4), 494 -511. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14616700802114134 Wright, S. (2015). Moral Panics as Enacted Melodramas. CRIMIN, 55(6), 1245-1262. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjc/ azv025
- 45 -
ESSAY
Glaeser, E., Goldin, C., & Gentzkow, M. (2004). The Rise of the Fourth Estate. How Newspapers Became Informative
ESSAY
Bulpadok
Crossing Boundaries Rushdieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cosmopolitan Dream Evelyn Parsonage Arts III
- 46 -
Volume XXIV
the Western “centre” and Eastern “periphery” become inadequate when recording cross-cultural interactions (Kunow 370-71). British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie embraces this plurality of the global. His migrant identity and middle class status inform his departure from the anti-colonial towards a representation of productive cultural hybridity (Jani 30). As a result, his work privileges a cosmopolitan sensibility over a postcolonial nationalist perspective. This cosmopolitanism manifests itself through a multiplicity of voices that cross cultures and are dislocated from the fixed concept of ‘home’. By negating national boundaries, the homeland becomes fluid, productive and emancipatory for the modern subject. Thus, Rushdie’s cosmopolitan perspective effectively navigates the global marketplace and engages with a global readership. In his short story collection East, West (1994), the imaginary acts as “a meeting ground of disparate cultures” (Trousdale 31). However, this fantastical cosmopolitan dream is fractured by images of loss and violence and a fine line emerges between “privileged detachment” (Adorján 195) and exile. Furthermore, hybridity relies upon the perpetuation of racially polarising discourses. Hence, it becomes clear that the cosmopolitan is an ideal permeated by reverberations of alienation and loss. Past divisions of East and West can never truly be forgotten. The critical concept of hybridity plays an integral role in Rushdie’s construction of the cosmopolitan ideal. Jaina C. Sanga defines hybridity as “a syncretic view of the world in which the notion of the fixity or essentiality of identity is continually contested” (75). Rushdie pursues creatively hybrid representational practice by drawing upon both western literary tradition and eastern history and iconography. This facilitates an “attempt to bridge cultures” (Trousdale 8) and escapes an indigenous position of reified suffering. Therefore, Rushdie’s hybrid cultural identity as a British Indian Muslim becomes an effective mechanism for achieving inclusive cosmopolitanism. In his critical essay ‘Imaginary Homelands’ (1982), Rushdie recognises the creative potential of a liminal position. He observes, “sometimes we feel that we straddle two cultures; at other times, that we fall between two stools… it is not an infertile territory for a writer to occupy” (Rushdie 1982 15). This notion of cultural hybridity as a fertile space counters 18th Century biological discourses of “polygenist - 47 -
ESSAY
In a global world, distinct boundaries are difficult to discern. Traditional spatial binaries of
Bulpadok
species”; whereby the hybrid offspring was associated with infertility (Young 8). However,
ESSAY
Robert Young identifies the essential difficulty with hybridity. He explains, “hybridity is still repeating its own cultural origins, that it has not slipped out of the mantle of the past” (25). From this assertion, it becomes clear that hybridity relies upon the maintenance of existing racial differences. This dialectical tension indicates the central problem with cosmopolitanism. In a rootless world, echoes of home cannot be silenced. Such oscillation between fashionable dislocation and a desire for a fixed origin is further explored in East, West. ‘The Free Radio’ first presents a departure from anti-colonial nationalism in its irreverent mythologising of the Indian state. In doing so, Rushdie sets up the remainder of the collection to provide an alternative, cosmopolitan response to the postcolonial. Rushdie delegitimises romanticized nationalist rhetoric behind a mask of humour and satire as Ramani’s deluded fantasy leads to his physical mutilation by state power. This critique aligns with discourses that conceptualise the nation as an “imaginative projection” (Brennan ix; Bahri 142). The free radio scheme acts as metaphor for this fictionalized national narrative. Ramani’s state of naivety is manipulated by the “armband youths” (Rushdie 1994 22) through a romanticized discourse of dreams. The narrator observes, “They flattered him with dreams…So now Ramani’s head became filled…because there was nothing else inside to take up any space” (Rushdie 1994 22). The clearly sardonic tone of the narrator positions the rickshaw-wallah as both mentally simple and lacking world experience. In this position of naivety, the sinister machinations of nationalist discourse can thrive. The false promise of a “brand-new first-class battery-operated transistor radio” motivates the protagonist towards a literal deprivation of his manhood (Rushdie 1994 25). This cumulative description of the radio’s many features assists to build-up an image of fantasy. Ramani further justifies his physical mutilation within the constructed discourse of “national interest” (Rushdie 1994 26). As a result, the nation becomes a “malleable” myth through which the individual desperately clings to an elusive collective identity (Trousdale 92). Similarly, Ramani’s aspiration towards stardom in Bollywood emphasises the nation as a fantastical mythology. Ana Cristina Mendes recognises the potency of Hindi visual culture to become “a site for the imaginary construction of national identity” (7). Just as Bollywood - 48 -
Volume XXIV
is associated with excess and fantasy, Ramani’s letters detailing success are riddled with hyperbole. He claims to have been “discovered at once” and suggests that he frequents an rapid ascension to fame is undercut by the wry commentary of the narrator. He directly associates the content of the letters with the image of “the hot thin air” between Ramani’s “cupped hand and his ear” (Rushdie 1994 32). Thus, the individual’s desperate pursuit for an elusive object becomes a parable of the deceptively fictionalised nation. Rushdie’s cynical irreverence towards Indian nationalism presents an alternative response to India’s colonial past in relation to our global present. The productive inclusivity of a cosmopolitan sensibility can be understood in ‘The Courter’. Here, intercultural dialogue becomes the catalyst for human connection. Hybridity of language is foregrounded in the story, as humorous misnomers and malapropisms give migrant characters a shared sense of belonging within their new environment. This is embodied in the platonic courtship of Certainly-Mary and Mixed-Up and their “private language” (Rushdie 1994 194) of chess. They overcome language barriers through their silent yet articulate games. This “formalisation of war, transformed into an art of love” (Rushdie 1994 196), becomes a way of negotiating their migrant experience. Therefore, just as Robert Young asserts, “hybridity…makes difference into sameness” (26), the two characters find commonality in their disparate cultural identities. Within another generation, the character of Chandni is an image of thriving cosmopolitan sensibility. Her training in Indian classical dance paired with her western dress of “tight black jeans and a clinging black polo neck jumper” (Rushdie 1994 187) is representative of cultural fusion that is both fashionable and desirable. In her embodiment of both western and eastern modes of beauty as the “Goddess Ganga, dolled up in slinky black” (Rushdie 1994 188), she becomes an object of desire for the protagonist. The narrator’s reflection, “I see now that it is not just their story, but ours, mine, as well” (Rushdie 1994 178) indicates a shared sense of insight gained from cross-cultural interaction. The oxymoron “intimate stranger” (Rushdie 1994 178) emphasises the cosmopolitan subject’s capacity to experience a state of multiple belonging “in-between… two cultural spaces” (Yacoubi 202). The - 49 -
ESSAY
illustrious hotel and is soon to purchase a stately abode (Rushdie 1994 31). However, this
Bulpadok
speaker is still able to experience a strong connection to his place of birth despite his spatial
ESSAY
dislocation. Thus, Rushdie breaks down national boundaries to highlight the “productive potential” of the migrant (Jani 2). On the other hand, ‘At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers’ dramatizes a point when capital-based cosmopolitanism exceeds productive plurality and becomes an alienating force. Although Rushdie’s auction house displays a fantastical melange of cultural icons, its clearly dystopian aesthetic indicates moral sickness within the consumer-driven marketplace. The narrator bluntly states, “Most of us nowadays are sick” (Rushdie 1994 87), effectively summarising a state of universal moral failure. This is also embodied through the notion of cultural appropriation as bastardisation. Political refugees now appear “in boxy silken jackets and high-waisted Japanese couture pantaloons” (Rushdie 1994 91). Such cosmetic application of culture is problematic in the way that it is commoditised, inevitably losing its original meaning. Similarly the “toreador jackets bearing sequinned representations of great works of art” (Rushdie 1994 91) indicate a ‘fetishisation’ of Spanish culture. The reduction of high art to a gaudy sequinned replica, directly parallels the moral depravity of this fantasy world. Hence, just as the act of bullfighting resembles a performative dance, the application of culture becomes a spectacle to behold. The narrator’s satirical tone further reveals hedonistic excess and ‘fetishisation’ of culture. He describes a humorous yet grotesque image of the “Latino janitor” that mops up the drool of worshippers at the “shrine” of the ruby slippers (Rushdie 1994 90). This representation of total lunacy is treated with delicacy and “self effacement”, indicating to the reader that the pinnacle of chaos has indeed been reached. The image of “smoking no-man’s land” (Rushdie 1994 91) bears strong resemblance to T.S Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land’ and the “valley of ashes” (Fitzgerald, 26). These literary stimuli connote a desolate modernity that has emerged from unbridled hedonism. Thus, Rushdie’s cosmopolitan actors parade across a grotesque transnational stage. The presence of cultural hybridity becomes sordid in its excess and reveals the global market’s unforgiving brutality (Adorján 194). A dystopian vision warns the reader against the dangers of a cosmopolitan state grounded in capitalist ideology.
- 50 -
Volume XXIV
In this cosmopolitan nightmare, the individual also loses a comforting sense of fixedness, as identity “can no longer be…‘grounded’ in a specific site or location” (Kunow 369). Instead, 1994 93). The author places home in italics to suggest that it describes a constructed and abstract concept, further contributing to its elusive appeal. The series of rhetorical questions that follow create a sense of postmodern uncertainty and existential doubt. The narrator ponders, “Are we asking for, hoping for too much?” (Rushdie 1994 93). The collective “we” contributes to the sense of a dislocated community that has lost sight of their origin. The “dying spaceman…inside his marooned craft” (Rushdie 1994 97) is a metaphorical enactment of the fraught cosmopolitan subject. He is exiled to the cosmos and left to perish slowly, singing a “squawky medley of half-remembered songs” (Rushdie 1994 97). His flawed musical renditions symbolize the disintegration of cultural memory when exposed to the sheer vastness of the cosmopolitan “space”. Furthermore, the narrator describes “disembodied heads on video screens, and unheard voices on telephone links” (Rushdie 1994 101). This presentation of physically dismembered identities draws parallels with an internal fracturing of the self. Therefore, total immersion within cosmopolitan experience comes with the potential for alienation. However, at the story’s conclusion the protagonist is released from his struggle for self-affirmation. He states, “When I am awake I feel refreshed and free” (Rushdie 1994 102). The narrator comes to the realisation that in this world of cosmopolitan hybridity, there is anxiety surrounding a lack of fixed identity. This anxiety results in a desperate clamouring for roots that is fraught with “fiction”. A fictionalised quest for origin is epitomised in the auctioning off of “royal lineages” where one may buy a title and assume its history (Rushdie 1994 103). In this world, any subject can pay a price for self-assurance. Although this appears to signify the destruction of established hierarchies, what remains is far more sinister. The narrative voice finally recognises that the worship of fictionalised identity drives his cosmopolitan society towards oblivion. In a similar way to his hybrid dystopia, Rushdie utilises a migrant narrative to explore the elusive cosmopolitan ideal. Just as Rushdie’s intellectual position is marked by “exilic - 51 -
ESSAY
life value is desperately sought in the worship of an object that promises “home” (Rushdie
Bulpadok
experience” (Yacoubi 206), the British-Indian family in ‘The Courter’ cannot escape their
ESSAY
cultural past. This is conveyed through acts of racial discrimination and the narrative voice. The violence directed towards Amma and Aya Mary in Kensington dramatizes a departure from the idyllic global community. The attacker’s profane dialogue, “Why don’t you fucking fuck off to fucking Wogistan?...Unbutton your blouses” (Rushdie 1994 204), demonstrates a confronting violence that is both gendered and racial. The use of the ethnic slur “wog” indicates ignorance of different cultures. It is this racial antagonism that engenders assimilation and denies cosmopolitanism as being able to provide a “perfect civil union of mankind” (Kant 51). The narrator’s extended metaphor of a horse with a rope around its neck demonstrates the “paradox of multiple belonging” (Adorján 201). He refuses to choose between the competing forces of East and West and is left in a state of uncertainty. This sentiment is reiterated in the final image of the new porter who is not privy to the intimate knowledge of the ‘Mixed-Up’ sobriquet. By concluding with the voice of a stranger, Rushdie draws attention to the overwhelming sense of alienation that pervades cosmopolitan experience. Just as Mr Mecir leaves no trace of his presence behind, the passage of time and the widening of space slowly efface cultural memory. Through a complex collection of short fiction, Rushdie challenges nationalist discourse as an effective postcolonial response to India’s colonial legacy. He reveals inherent fictions of state rhetoric that perpetuate the oppression of the individual by a dominant ideology. However, his constructed cosmopolitan dream is also imperfect. It is tainted by “some sense of loss, some urge to reclaim, to look back” (Rushdie 182 10) in its articulation of the exile’s experience. Despite a desire to redefine boundaries and promote a productive global community, Rushdie’s work continues to bear marks of the fragmented self in a neo-colonial present.
- 52 -
Volume XXIV Works Cited
and American Studies (HJEAS) 7.2 (2001): 191-218. JSTOR. Web. 13 May 2016. Bahri, Deepika. “The Shorter Fiction.” The Cambridge Companion to Salman Rushdie. Ed. Abdulrazak Gurnah. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2007. 139-52. Print. Brennan, Timothy. “National Fictions, Fictional Nations.” Salman Rushdie and the Third World: Myths of the Nation. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan, 1989. 1-31. Print. Eliot, T. S. “The Waste Land.” The Waste Land and Other Poems. London: Faber and Faber, 1971. 24-43. Print. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. London: Bloomsbury Classics, 1994. Print. Jani, Pranav. Decentering Rushdie: Cosmopolitanism and the Indian Novel in English. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 2010. Print. Kant, Immanuel. “Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmpolitan Purpose.” Kant: Political Writings. Ed. Hans Siegbert. Reiss. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1991. 41-54. Print. Kunow, Rüdiger. “Architect of the Cosmopolitan Dream: Salman Rushdie.” Amerikastudien / American Studies 51.3 (2006): 369-85. JSTOR. Web. 13 May 2016. Mendes, Ana Cristina. “Salman Rushdie’s “Epico-Mythico-Tragico-Comico-Super-Sexy-High-Masala-Art,” or Considerations on Undiscplining Boundaries.” Salman Rushdie and Visual Culture: Celebrating Impurity, Disrupting Borders. New York: Routledge, 2012. 1-11. Print. Rushdie, Salman. East, West. London: Vintage, 1995. Print. Rushdie, Salman. “Imaginary Homelands.” 1982. Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism, 1981-1991. London: Granta, 1991. 9-22. Print. Sanga, Jaina C. “Hybridity.” Salman Rushdie’s Postcolonial Metaphors. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2001. 75-106. Print. Trousdale, Rachel. Nabokov, Rushdie, and the Transnational Imagination: Novels of Exile and Alternate Worlds. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. Print. Yacoubi, Youssef. “Edward Said, Eqbal Ahmad, and Salman Rushdie: Resisting the Ambivalence of Postcolonial Theory.” Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics 25 (2005): 193-218. JSTOR. Web. 13 May 2016. Young, Robert J.C. “Hybridity and Diaspora.” Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, Culture, and Race. London: Routledge, 1995. 1-28. Print. - 53 -
ESSAY
Adorján, István. “New Cosmopolitanism: Altered Spaces in a Postcolonial Perspective.” Hungarian Journal of English
ESSAY
Bulpadok
Whiteside v Dieber A Case Note Emily Cassen Commerce II
Note: the footnotes for this piece have been converted to Harvard style for design purposes.
- 54 -
Volume XXIV
I – INTRODUCTION
this notion is fundamental when exploring weaknesses in Cummins J’s sentencing judgment concerning R v Whiteside and Dieber. Within his judgment, Cummins J constructs a tragic narrative in which he closely conflates the facts of the case with ‘generic’ conventions of a Shakespearean epic (Mills & Jane 2011) Consequently, he designs an extremely interpretive judgment, omitting key facts and conceptualising a fantasy of the ‘manipulative woman’ and the tragedy of the chivalrous, Anglo-Celtic man (Rudland 2001, p. 80) As a result, Cummins’ judgment displays a serious discord between the gravity of the offence and his judicial interpretation. II – ANALYSIS A. Cummins J’s Preoccupation With Literature From the outset of the judgment, Cummins’ use of the narrative form conceptualises the events of the case within the confines of a Shakespearean tragedy, creating disproportionality between the gravity of the offence and his judicial reasoning. His constant address to the defendants in the second person, “unprepared for what had befallen you,” (R v Whiteside and Dieber) constructs an emotive tone and as a result personalises their unlawfulness. Cummins’ literary style is reminiscent of Shakespearean prose and in doing so he establishes a sympathetic tone, positioning the defendants as tragic heroes (Rudland 2001, p. 80) within a “rare and perverse confluence of events”(R v Whiteside and Dieber). The troubling consequence of such a literary paradigm is that it subsequently limits the severity of the offence committed. As a result, Cummins J privileges this literary construct of the ‘unfolding tragedy’ and in doing so sympathises with the defendants, whilst simultaneously objectifying the victims (R v Whiteside and Dieber). Cummins’ use of Shakespearean references such as, “but you and the victims were under a - 55 -
ESSAY
Legal language is inherently subjective in its construction and interpretive in its reading:
Bulpadok
malevolent star that Anzac night”(R v Whiteside and Dieber), displays a preoccupation with
ESSAY
literary authority at the expense of legal objectivity. Watt explores this inherent tension and expresses his criticism that literary allusion within judicial reasoning embellishes legal language, in order to spur an emotive reaction (Watt 2014, p. 2). Historically, Aristotle’s classical rationality aligns with this argument in that he forbade, “rhetoricians from ‘speaking outside the subject’ as it is wrong to, ‘arouse him to anger, jealousy or compassion” (Watt 2014, p. 2). This classical critique resonates with the issues in Cummins’ judgment, in that he heavily adorns his language with literary allusion to encourage an emotive response, at the expense of the letter of the law. Cummins’ foundational preoccupation with Shakespearean drama is evident in Shakespeare in Law, where he explores a conventional alignment between the tragically flawed Shakespearean hero and emotionally driven agency (Cummins 2009). Through this construct, Cummins J privileges the role of fate within unlawful human performance (Darvill 2011), a significant concept that aligns with his reading of R v Whiteside and Dieber. Therefore, this research reinforces Cummins’ foundational bias in his understanding of the case, in that he has a predilection for literary conjuncture rather than legal objectivity. B. Mitigating Gravity Cummins J uses the definition of vigilantism as a key factor in his judicial reasoning. He defines vigilante conduct as, “premeditated, purposive conduct wherein the actor takes the law into his or her own hands having eschewed due process of the law” (R v Whiteside and Dieber). He condemns vigilantism as unlawful behaviour and asserts that, “the law rejects vigilante conduct” (R v Whiteside and Dieber). However, he outlines that the defendants’ actions were not as such, as they were driven by emotive spontaneity, rather than premeditated intent. There is an evident ambiguity between Cummins J’s understanding of vigilantism and his application of it in this case. Firstly, it is difficult not to acknowledge the lapse of time between the alleged cry of rape and the attack of Hibbins and Campbell and therefore accept this crime as an unpremeditated, moment of spontaneity. As stated by Brooking J.A of the High Court, “this was not a single blow struck in anger immediately after the supposed offender was apprehended. The whole episode …. did take - 56 -
Volume XXIV
some little time”(DPP v Whiteside and Dieber), thus allowing enough time for rational thought. Secondly, although the defendants correctly contacted authorities, they failed to legal proceedings. Therefore, Cummins’ given definition of vigilantism is at odds with his interpretation, causing a fundamental error in his judgment. Furthermore, Cummins J proves a capacity to pay close attention to detail yet simultaneously omits detail when necessary, as a vehicle to mitigate the gravity of the offence. In order to prove the alleged female victim’s guilty part in instigating the ‘unfolding tragedy’(R v Whiteside and Dieber), Cummins J pays close, factual attention to her history of drug abuse, “she awoke at 9:30 am, with two cones of cannabis.” However, he strategically omits the specification of the extent of the defendants’ alcohol intake, “consumed some alcohol… but were not drunk” (R v Whiteside and Dieber), suggesting a more subjective, non-factual tone when discussing the defendants. The error in Cummins J reading of the evidence was evaluated in the appellate court, where it was revealed that the defendants were significantly more intoxicated than previously stated by Cummins J (DPP v Whiteside and Dieber). This suggests that Cummins’ approach to the construction of his narrative is inconsistent and discriminatory, in that he indicates some facts and omits other vital ones. Therefore, suggesting Cummins’ intention wasn’t necessarily to justify the tragedy of the attack, but to construct a narrative that acts as a vehicle in diluting the gravity of the offence. III – CONCLUSION The sentencing judgment of R v Whiteside and Dieber is inherently ‘erroneous’ (DPP v Whiteside and Dieber), both structurally and factually. Although it is evident that the law has limitations within its interpretation, Cummins J presents a judgment deliberately constructed to mitigate the gravity of the offence, privileging the defendants and objectifying the victims. In his omission of facts and his misinterpretation of vigilantism, Cummins J constructs a false narrative that paradoxically aligns itself with the Shakespearean tragedy of the flawed hero, a key point of research for him. Such analysis reinforces the notion that the construction of legal language is intrinsically multifaceted and as a result can be subject to - 57 -
ESSAY
apprehend the alleged perpetrators and therefore deliberately abstained from appropriate
Bulpadok
ESSAY
manipulation in its writing and misinterpretation in its reading.
BIBLIOGRAPHY A. Articles Rudland, Sandra, ‘Trauma and Mercy: Reading the Law Through the Narrative of Trauma’ (2001) 15 The Australian Feminist Law Journal 80 Watt, Gary, ‘Judicial Allusion as Ornament: A Response to John Curtis’s, ‘Twitter, King Lear, and the Freedom of Speech’’ (2014) 1 The Warwick Research Journal 2
B. Cases DPP v Whiteside and Dieber [2000] VSCA 142 (4 August 2000) R v Whiteside & Dieber [2000] VSC 260 (23 June 2000)
C. Other Cummins, P.D., ‘Shakespeare in Law’ (Paper presented to The Law Students’ Society and Law Students, University of Melbourne, 24 August 2009) Darvill Mills, Janis Jane, Early Modern Legal Poetics and Morality (Doctoral thesis, University of Sussex, 2011) <http:// sro.sussex.ac.uk/6966/1/Darvill_Mills%2C_Janis_Jane.pdf>
- 58 -
Volume XXIV
ESSAY
Islamic Veiling
A Symbol of Oppression or Liberation? Georgina Ridley Arts III
Note: the footnotes for this piece have been ommitted for design purposes.
- 59 -
Bulpadok
ESSAY
In the eyes of the West, Islamic veils epitomize the oppression of Muslim women worldwide. Since 9/11, the West has legitimized various political actions on the grounds of Muslim liberation (Kapur 2002). However, what remains clear is that veiling is not the cause, nor unveiling the solution, to the oppression of women in the Middle East. There are many forms of Islamic veiling, such as the hijiab, burqa, chador, and niqab, which have all become viewed as symbols of religious and patriarchal oppression, despite there being a large variety of motivations for veiling in the contemporary era (Saadawi 1997). This essay will investigate the extent to which veils can be viewed as oppressive. I will begin by exploring the origins of veiling under Islamic orthodoxy, following with an examination of the historical construction of veils as ‘oppressive’. This essay will next analyse the implications of compulsory veiling and un-veiling in Afghanistan and France, arguing that it is the sociopolitical control over women’s choices that is oppressive, not the veil itself. Finally, I will show how the veil can enhance female agency and empowerment in today’s society. By examining the origins and construction of Islamic veiling practices, this essay will argue that veils can be viewed as oppressive to only a small extent, as they largely symbolize religious freedom and female agency in the contemporary context. Veils are often viewed as emblems of a religion with patriarchal origins. The dominant world religions all rest on a male framework, where conceptions of God hold masculine attributes (Jeffreys 2012, Saadawi 1997). In the monotheistic religion of Islam, the Qur’an and the known beliefs of the Prophet Muhammad (hadith) hold the origins and principals upon which Islamic jurisprudence is based. Through a combined analysis of these sources, the origin and meaning of Islamic veiling can be understood, and the extent to which veils ‘oppress’ Muslim women can be evaluated. The Qur’an contains discriminatory passages, suggesting that Muslim women should be obedient to the natural authority of men (Saadawi 1997). It is important to consider the historical time in which this text was written (610 AD), and understand that female interpretations of the Qur’an are crucial in reforming the traditionally male-centered understanding of Islam (Wadud 2006). Contrary to popular belief though, Qur’anic scripture does not directly impose the veil on Muslim women, but rather, enjoins women to cover their bodies modestly with limited adornments - 60 -
Volume XXIV
(Saadawi 1997). Prominent Muslim feminist, Fatima Merssini, argues veiling practices did not originate explicitly in Islamic culture, but rather, in an Assyrian text in 13 B.C. (2003). covered modestly in public, but there was no reference to the required extent of this covering (Mernissi 2003). This indicates that explicit veiling practices for Muslim women have not originated directly from Islamic orthodoxy (Guindi 2005). Certain male-dominated interpretations of hadith and the Qur’an have, however, legitimized the implementation of set dress guidelines for women and men under Sharia law (Saadawi 1997; Mernissi 2003). Nevertheless, despite the patriarchal origins of Islam, the Qur’an does not offer a definitive case for the veil being oppressive in itself, since it is merely an interpretative text (Guindi 2005). Because of this, the adoption of veiling practices can only be viewed as oppressive to a small extent. Moreover, it is important to understand how and why the veil has come to be viewed as oppressive in the contemporary era. Veiling has been constructed as a symbol of Eastern oppression. The narrative of female subjugation in the Middle East has been created by a colonial agenda of Western discourse (El Guindi 2005). While there is a vast array of motivations for Muslim women to veil, such reasons are often misunderstood, or have been simply rejected in Western scholarship on Islam (Hirschmann 2003; Jeffreys 2003; Moghissi 1999). This is not a new phenomenon, but part of a long history of colonial discourse (Said 1978). Since the beginnings of colonization, the West has legitimized its ‘civilizing mission’ of imperial conquest by inaccurately representing Islamic countries as the ‘Oriental Other’ (Said 1978; Moghissi 1999). In his 1978 book Orientalism, Palestinian-American literary theoretician, Edward Said, exposed the ethnocentric prejudice of Western thought. Said claimed that Western representations of the Middle East have been historically distorted in a way that has strategically polarized the ‘Orient’ from the West (1978). Arabo-Islamic culture has been constructed as backward, inferior, dangerous and oppressing (Said 1978). In nineteenth century ‘Orientalist’ representations, the veil was depicted as an enthralling device of sexual segregation, heightening the mystery, secrecy, passivity and domination of the Muslim woman in the eyes of the colonizer (Weber 2001). As a result, Western reactions to veiling are consistently negative today; Muslim women are viewed as conquered subjects of Eastern violence, and - 61 -
ESSAY
Similarly, hadith indicates that Prophet Muhummad believed women, and men, should be
Bulpadok
their only true liberation is believed to come from the rescue and ‘unveiling’ of the West
ESSAY
(Said 1978; Hirschmann 2003). Islamic veiling has become constructed as the ultimate symbol of this foreign oppression (Said 1978). As this essay is seeking to expose, the veil itself is only oppressive to a small extent, as it is merely a piece of clothing that has become embedded with harmful colonial discourse. It is only when Muslim women are socio-politically forced to veil, that the practice of veiling can be viewed as oppressive. While the veil itself is not oppressive, the practice of veiling can function to oppress women when social and political force is used. Islamic veiling is often a voluntary, informal dress code adhered to by many Muslims across the world (El Guindi 2005). However, veils can also be used to enact male domination through the enforcement of mandatory veiling (Ahmed 1992). Islamic fundamentalist groups, which favor a certain ‘literal and originalist interpretation’ of the Qur’an, impose compulsory veiling on Muslim women in particular Islamic countries (DeLong-Bas 2004 p.14). This strict adherence to a certain interpretation of Islamic orthodoxy denies female agency and oppresses women around the world (Sahgal & Yuval-Davis 1994). In Afghanistan throughout the mid-twentieth century veiling was voluntary, and women gradually gained voting and education rights under King Zahir Shah and Prime Minster Mohammed Daoud Khan (Gazi 2009). However, this drastically changed from 1996-2001, when the Taliban enforced a strict governance of Sharia law on the people of Afghanistan (Kapur 2002). The Taliban’s aim was to create a ‘secure environment where the chastity and dignity of women may once again be sacrosanct’ (Dupree 2001 p. 45; Kapur 2002). This suggests their goal was to stridently uphold a certain interpretation of Qur’anic and hadith female modesty. Muslim women were required to wear the Chadri under the Taliban’s regime, and this was often imposed through violent means. Forced veiling is fundamentally oppressive because it denies Muslim women of personal autonomy, security, and freedom of religion (Human Rights Watch 2010). It is important to note that compulsory veiling is in conflict with Islamic ideals; the Qur’an reads, “la ikrah-a fi’ ddin” [there is no compulsion in religion]” (Qur’an 2:256), further indicating that religious veiling is not inherently oppressive without force. After years of optional veiling in Afghanistan, compulsory veiling under the Taliban was forced onto women. From this example, it is clear that oppression in Afghanistan was the result of sociopolitical force, - 62 -
Volume XXIV
not a piece of clothing (Telesetsky 1998). Therefore, liberation in Afghanistan does not involve merely ‘lifting’ the Islamic veil. Rather, liberation requires the freedom for women Hirschmann 2003). This freedom is evident in a variety of Islamic countries that do not impose veiling practices. Consequently, veils can be viewed as oppressive to only a small extent, as veiling practices are not the fundamental cause of the sociopolitical control of women in countries like Afghanistan. Liberation requires the freedom to reject the veil in a fundamentalist country, and the freedom to wear the veil in a secular country. Veils are an important symbol of religious freedom against secular oppression. Freedom of choice and religion are fundamental human rights, however, these rights are often denied to Muslim women on faux grounds of ‘religious oppression’ (Crosby 2014). France remains a strict secular country that stridently ensures religion is removed from public life (The Economist 2014). In January 2010, President Nicolas Sarkozy revealed his concerns toward the Islamic burqa, telling Parliament that “extremists” are “not welcome” in France (BBC News 2010 p.1). By September that year, France had passed a law ‘prohibiting [the] concealment of the face in public space’ (Allen 2010 p. 1), which explicitly targeted Muslim women wearing a burqa or a niqab. Sarkozy argued Islamic veiling was a security issue and a symbol of patriarchal oppression (Crosby 2014). Outraged by this ban, Muslim women took to the streets of Paris protesting against what is known as the ‘burqa ban’, arguing that veils are an important aspect of their religious and cultural identity (Chrisafic 2013). Resistance to this policy suggests Muslim women in France are not simply ‘oppressed’ by veils, as often alleged. Moreover, France’s ‘burqa ban’ drastically restricted the freedom of mobility for Muslim women, as they became relegated to the private sphere (Crosby, 2014). Therefore, this counterproductive secular government policy has in turn oppressed women, similar to the Taliban, by denying Muslim women the choice to veil (Hirschmann 2003). The persistent universal presumption that religion forces women to wear the veil is often inaccurate; “No one is forcing me to wear [the veil] but women are often fighting to wear it”, a French woman argued (Rozenblum 2011). Veils are an importantly symbol of resistance to secular oppression, as freedom of religion is a crucial cornerstone of multiculturalism in Western states, not to mention the fight against Islamophobia in the post-9/11 world (Kapur 2002; - 63 -
ESSAY
of Islamic faith to voluntarily veil or unveil, without fear of persecution (El Guindi 2005;
Bulpadok
Beckett & Macy 2001). Therefore, Islamic veiling is oppressive to only a small extent
ESSAY
because veils are largely worn to signify a woman’s religious freedom, spirituality and faith. The voluntary wearing of a veil should be viewed as a symbol of religious freedom in the multicultural word we live in, and in some cases, a signifier of female liberation. Veiling can be viewed as an act of female liberation and empowerment. Modesty and respectability are upheld as central pillars of Islamic behaviour, often sitting in direct contrast to the ‘sexual liberation’ of Western states (El Guindi 2005). In choosing to wear a veil, Muslim women are reflecting themselves as positive symbols of Islam and Eastern morality (Hirschmann 2003). Moreover, veiling creates an opportunity for women to actively reject objectification and sexualization from the male population (El Guindi 2005). Muslim women report feeling ‘free’ from the voyeuristic gaze of men under the safety of a veil (Crosby 2014). In the 2011 documentary Sous la Burqa (Behind the Burqa), an Algerian business manager exclaimed, ‘No! I do not want to be on show… I’m not a juicy piece of meat on display’ (Rozenblum 2011). Her honestly indicates veiling can facilitate liberation, rather than oppressing it. By veiling, Muslim women can also reject the unattainable beauty standards of modern society, and are instead valued for their thoughts and intellect, rather than their bodies. For Nadiya Takolia, wearing a hijiab is a personal feminist stance against a world ‘where a woman’s value seems focused on her sexual charms’ (2012 p.1). However, such motivations to veil sharply contest the ethnocentric Western perception that women are liberated through baring their skin (Alkhawaja 2015). In the eyes of the West, Muslim women are resisting liberation by accepting the ‘oppressive’ veil (Alkhawaja 2015). Radical feminist scholar Sheila Jeffreys argues Islamic veiling cannot be a liberating choice for women, as ‘such a ‘choice’ arises from oppression rather than indicating agency’ (2005 p.39). In truth, evaluating ‘free’ expressions of agency is indeed an important factor of this debate (Hirschmann 2003). Nevertheless, however, by arguing that Muslim women cannot possibly make a liberating decision of their own, Jeffreys and other Western feminist scholars further employ ethnocentric and hegemonic agendas to deny female agency in the East (Alkhawaja 2015; Said, 1978). In many ways, such arguments are more oppressive to female agency than voluntary veiling. When Muslim women in France mobilized against the veil ban, their protests on the streets of Paris epitomized a feminist stance of self-de- 64 -
Volume XXIV
termination and empowerment (Chrisafis 2011; Crosby 2014). To a large extent, Islamic veiling can be viewed as act of female liberation, agency and empowerment.
tises have origins in a patriarchal religion, and are sometimes exploited to control women, veils are an item of clothing adopted as an act of religious faith. Thus, veils can only be viewed as oppressive to a small extent because they are primarily worn as symbols of female empowerment and religious freedom in today’s society.
References Ahmed, L 1992, Women and Gender in Islam, Yale University Press. Alkhawaja, A 2015, Complexity of Women’s Liberation in the Era of Westernization: Egyptian Islamic and Secular Feminists in Their Own Context, Doctoral Dissertations. Paper 287. Allen, P 2010, France’s Senate backs National Assembly and bans women from wearing the burka in public, Online at Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers Ltd). Viewed 1/6/2016: < http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1312016/Frances-Senate-bans-women-wearing-burka-public.html> BBC News 2010, ‘Sarkozy says burka “not welcome” in France, Viewed 4/6/2016: < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8458831.stm > Beckett, C & Macey, M 2001, Race, Gender and Sexuality: The Oppression of Multiculturalism, Women’s Studies International Forum, 309–319. Chrisafis, A 2011, Muslim women protest on first day of France’s face veil ban, Online at The Guardian Newspaper, viewed 1/6/2016: < http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/11/france-bans-burqa-and-niqab > Chrisafis, A 2013, France’s headscarf war: ‘It’s an attack on freedom’, Online at The Guardian, viewed 3/6/2016: < http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/22/frances-headscarf-war-attack-on-freedom> Crosby, E 2014, Faux Feminism: France’s Veil Ban as Orientalism’, Journal of International Women’s Studies, 15(2), 46-60. DeLong-Bas, N 2004, Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad (First ed.). New York: USA. p. 228. - 65 -
ESSAY
Islamic veils have been viewed as emblems of oppression for centuries. While veiling prac-
Bulpadok Dupree, N 2001, Afghan Women under the Taliban, in Willian Maley (2001) Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanisatn
ESSAY
and the Taliban. London: Hurst and Company. El Guindi, F 2005, Gendered Resistance, Feminist Veiling, Islamic Veiling, The Ahfad Journal, 55-78. Hirschmann, N 1998, Western Feminism, Eastern Veiling, and the Question of Free Agency, Constellations: An International Journal of Critical and Democratic Theory. Hoodfar, H 1993, The Veil in Their Minds and On Our Heads: The Persistence of Colonial Images of Muslim Women, Resources for Feminist Research, Vol. 22 Issue 3/4, p5-18. Human Rights Watch 2010, Questions and Answers on Restrictions on Religious Dress and Symbols in Europe, viewed 2/6/2016: < https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/12/21/questions-and-answers-restrictions-religious-dress-and-symbols-europe > Jeffreys, S 2005, Beauty and Misogyny: Harmful Cultural Practices in the West, Routledge. Jeffreys, S 2012, Fundamentalism: the Divine Right of Patriarchs, From: Man’s Domino, London: Routledge. Kapur, R 2002, Un-Veiling Women’s Rights in the ‘War on Terrorism, Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy, 211-225.
Lawrence, Q 2010, Peace In Afghanistan At What Cost To Its Women?, NPR Online, viewed 2/6/2016: < http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128493070> Mernissi, F 2003 Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Modern Muslim Society. Rev. ed. Bloomington. Mir-Hosseini, Al-Sharmani & Rumminger 2015, Men in charge? Rethinking Authority in Muslim Legal Tradition, Oneworld Publications. Moghissi, H 1999, From Orientalism to Islamic Feminism, in Haideh Moghissi, Feminism and Islamic Fundamentalism, London: 33-48. Qazi, A 2009, The Plight of the Afghan Woman, Afghanistan Online, viewed 3/6/2016: < http://www.afghan-web.com/woman/afghanwomenhistory.html > Rozenblum, M 2011, (Director). Sous La Burqa, Sasana Productions. Viewed online 1/6/2016: < https://youtu.be/p0HhhaD_NZU> Saadawi, N 1997, The Nawal el Saadawi Reader, Zed Books. Sahgal, G & Yuval-Davis, N 1994, The Uses of Fundamentalism, Women against Fundamentalism Journal, 7-9. Said, E 1978, Orientalism, Knopf Doubleday.
- 66 -
Volume XXIV Takolia, N 2012, The hijab has liberated me from society’s expectations of women, The Guardian Online, viewed 4/6/2016:
Telesetsky, A 1998, In the Shadows and Behind the Veil: Women in Afghanistan under the Taliban Rule, 13 Berkeley Women’s L.J. 293 The Economist 2014, Why the French are so strict about Islamic head coverings, viewed online 2/6/2016: < http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/07/economist-explains-2 > Wadud, A 2006, Inside the Gender Jihad: Women’s Reform in Islam, Oneworld Publications. Weber, C 2001 Unveiling Scheherazade: Feminist Orientalism in the International Alliance of Women, 19111950, Feminist Studies, 12:125-157. Zine, J 2002 Muslim Women and the Politics of Representation, American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 19:4 (Fall): 1-22.
- 67 -
ESSAY
< http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/28/hijab-society-women-religious-political >
Kyaw Min Htin, Untitled
Hannah Roberts, Dusk
Marley Holloway-Clarke, Untitled
Marley Holloway-Clarke, Untitled
Jess Grills, Dedication to Paul
Georgia McClure, Untitled
Isabelle Napier, Sunset at the top of Victoria
Evelyn Parsonage, Is Don, Is Good
Hannah Roberts, Wagtails
Kyaw Min Htin, Untitled
Sam Strong, Nepal: A Series
Sam Strong, Nepal: A Series
Sam Strong, Nepal: A Series
Sam Strong, Nepal: A Series
Millie Larsen, Irresistible
Melena Atkinson, The True Heart of Melbourne
P O ET RY
Bulpadok
The Nakata Brophy Prize Established in honour of Dr Sana Naktata (1983- ) and Dr Lilly Brown (nĂŠe Brophy) (1983- ) Members of Trinity College (TC 2001-04) who were the first Indigenous students to attend the Residential College. Open to all Indigenous writers in Australia under 30, and awarded for a short story of 3000 words or fewer, with the first prize being $5000, the position of Writer in Residence at Trinity the following year, and publication in Overland and Bulpadok. The winner for 2016 is
The Expert Ellen Van Neerven
- 84 -
Volume XXIV
P O ET RY
Poor me don’t know how it happened think I got a non-Indigenous girlfriend who thinks she’s an expert don’t know how she’s got her expertise think I’m the first one she’s met yet she tells me I’m closed to the other sides of the debate that she has the answers because she saw a television ad for Recognition and though most Indigenous Australians are opposed she says it’s for our good talks about drunks and sexual abuse ‘up north’ devalues my knowledge (too urban) and anything I get from black media (not the whole truth I wouldn’t trust it) she likes to argue when she’s had a few 13 times more her voice loud (87%) of intimate partner homicides fresh tears on my face involving Indigenous people, are alcohol related she’s drunk, I tell the booliman still shaking. Sitting on the steps. no, I haven’t had any won’t let her forget this statistic tonight it’s her in the paddy wagon - 85 -
P O ET RY
Bulpadok
Quenched and Consumed I have wedged myself into this grid they call the city. Here, lives are streamlined But not mine. Mine reverberates With realisation.
I have swapped seasons for capitalism Softly spined hills for throbbing metal contraptions Seclusion for pollution, desire for devotion Dreams for vertebrae Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m willing to have shattered.
I am alleviated from my homely hunt for the simple, the primal For what is corporate, commercial And I invest in new spheres New facets Of myself. With pristine amusement they whisper: This place is different.
Different from the dappled teasing light of home It was just my enlightenment for my one singular self That dangled in front of me. Now, I bask in the glory of Being a creature both quenched and consumed by its wanting.
- 86 -
Volume XXIV
This is what makes you grow claws. You want more. Even the lime-lighted, luminous few Feel their pedestals crumble in time. But there is always more.
After all Cities have room
space
In a way home does not.
All the facets of self that reside within me would agree That here, I can hunt Starve and sprawl For ambition, with ambition: The best kind of hunger of all.
Taylor Carre-Riddell Arts I
- 87 -
P O ET RY
Despite your knowing that
P O ET RY
Bulpadok
Champagne and Caviar in the Abattoir Thoughtless drivel and raucous dissertation drones beneath galleries of viscera, portraits of gore, a bridge and garden of macabre hues and violent beauty. The slow stumble of melancholic, alcoholic waltzes, dripping with ichorous gin into tall glasses of crushed ice and ocular lychees. An electric chair nailed to the wall still wired, live --it matches the carpets. The hangover comes with a lingering odour of bile and bitter lust spent in pools of chicken bone toothpicks.
John Martin Arts III
- 88 -
Volume XXIV
P O ET RY
The Long Dark In the absent light of a darkened moon, dogs howl on tundra streets and icefloe roads. Electric aurora glows eerie orange from towering lamps. Slow breaths curl, fog fading in a burrow of blankets and humming machines. Moonless night wraps star flecked clouds, basking concrete trees in hazy light. In the frozen halls of urban forest, silence rests its head and sleeps.
John Martin Arts III
- 89 -
P O ET RY
Bulpadok
Hush The room is still auric dawn surging through glazed French panes Curtain flutters floorboard creaks the house is waking Babyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hands grab soft blankets, bleating garbled hellos to the morning Little feet hungry mouths, eager to break their fast Quiet laughter feed the cat pat the dog lunches made bags aback out the gate kiss goodbye Cool breeze murmurs through the open door Hush. The house is silenced
- 90 -
Volume XXIV
P O ET RY
His arms envelop chin to shoulder blissful sighs anoint her neck with a fragile kiss Baby grumbles
Amelia Curran Arts III
- 91 -
P O ET RY
Bulpadok
Fob Watch It sits on the mantle silver-gray tainted with hundred-battle mud and dying banshee screams bloodstains on the hinge sacred, never scrubbed from anamnesis it hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t moved in living memorybrought home in a cardboard box not his hand not this time
Amelia Curran Arts III
- 92 -
Volume XXIV
On being at College in January The grass lies opened And no foot, or football, Forecloses the ground. On O-week I hear them dancing. The ivied, ivoried tower Is not so cloistered. On semester time We live in the grids, Fees and rooms and classes and The leaves fall on time. On winter at College Skeleton trees frame Grey skies, and Leeper sounds like Wuthering Heights. On revision The College Oak puts forth Its summer green, all night The libraryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in bloom.
Dr Katherine Firth Director of Academic Programs
- 93 -
P O ET RY
Five Haikus for the College Seasons
C R EAT IV E
Bulpadok
20/20 Intelligence Darcey Alexander Arts I
- 94 -
Volume XXIV
“First” “First or Second?” I hesitate. The optometrist glances at me with pointed patience, interrupted only by the oval glasses that sit atop his face. “Errr, first again?” My paranoia at answering wrong and choosing the blurrier lens is made worse by the thought of ending up with a bogus prescription, persistently shitty eyesight and the Medicare bill to show for it all. “I’ll go back again, shall I?”
I instinctively reach for my glasses every morning without fail, yet my mediocre
vision is not one of the first adjectives I’d use to describe myself. So why then is the tangible proof of my own genetic deficiency a sign of intelligence to others?
For a 13th century serf whose job was to toil in the fields, the need to focus on the
Sunday crossword or Antony Green’s sweet, sweet political statistics was fairly non-existent. Clerks, lawyers and the upper class however, they were the big dogs. They had a need to read within their occupations and therefore could be bothered with the feasibilities of glasses. People soon began to notice that glasses were more common on the literate elite than fishmongers; and the stereotype of glasses wearers being more intelligent was born.
The aftershock of this centuries old typecast is prevalent within modern society’s
clichéd portrayal of the intelligent. I see it in TV, films, advertisement and most notoriously the porn industry. Add ‘sexy’ in front of any clerical occupation (sexy teacher, sexy lawyer, sexy secretary, sexy librarian) and what do you get? Glasses. This stale costume is a concentrated version of the out-dated perception that in order for somebody to be perceived as smart, they must first be blind.
Even I, with my sub-par vision fall into the trap of equating handicap with IQ.
Modern dating apps are skewed chiefly towards our visual evaluations of potential sexual partners. You swipe left, you swipe right … romance ensues. In the mere seconds some- 95 -
C R EAT IV E
“First or second?”
Bulpadok
C R EAT IV E
body’s Tinder profile has to make a good impression on me; does their wearing of glasses matter? Of course it does. I cannot help the insubordinate voice in the back of my head that murmurs in feminine appreciation, “he wears glasses, he must be smart”. Closely linked to our perception of intelligent people wearing glasses is their choice in the matter. Not in choosing bad eyesight but opting for glasses over contacts or surgery. I personally have astigmatism, a curvature to my Cornea that prevents me wearing contacts and gives me a lifetime membership to the four-eyed club. For many, however, the decision to wear glasses may have more to do with others’ perception of them as intelligent rather than the stylistic perks wearing glasses offers (see: smudges, scratches, day-to-day wear).
Society loves fitting people into neat little boxes and sometimes it’s not too far
from the truth. As a glasses-wearer playing sports has always been a terrifying experience. If I wasn’t petrified of my glasses getting knocked then I was apprehensive of trying to participate without them and not being able to see despite my best squinted efforts. The stereotype of sporty people loving the outdoors while the intelligent remain cooped up inside has been undoubtedly fuelled by one of modern societies biggest constructs; the nerd. A nerd is, at worst, a middle-aged man who sits hunched over his computer in his mother’s basement playing World of Warcraft and categorising his comic collection. At best, the clichéd nerd is a slightly anti-social teenager who enjoys Cosplay and Steam sales. The common factor between both socially awkward ends of the spectrum is they can be easily imagined spectacled. The nerd is perhaps the most clean-cut example of why a stereotype that took its roots eight centuries ago is determined to stick around.
With six out of ten people in the developed world relying on some sort of visual
aid, it seems society’s understanding that glasses make you smarter is just a shell of an old stereotype. Like all perceptions painted in broad strokes, harm can be done when assuming the capabilities of others. There’s no pain, however, in nodding humorously at this old trope by wielding the intelligent vibes for your own use by donning some plastic pop out shell frames before a job interview, just for that extra intelligent edge.
- 96 -
Volume XXIV
C R EAT IV E
Fresh Start George Colman Commerce III
Note: Fragment of a longer narrative
- 97 -
C R EAT IV E
Bulpadok
Councillor Broadhead looks into my eyes, chin resting dramatically on clasped hands.
‘Now, Junior, tell me, what are the three things we’re going to do differently
this term.’
I take a deep breath. ‘Responsibility,’ I say. He nods.
‘Concentration,’ he nods again.
‘Good decision-making.’
I exhale. I don’t point out that these are concepts rather than actions, because
correcting adults is not good decision-making. He nods, impressed.
‘Good man. Now, go make a fresh start and make your parents and I proud.’
He claps me on the back as I get up and leave his stuffy office. He’s a good guy,
Councillor Broadhead, really. I want to do right by him and turn over a new leaf this term.
Responsibility.
Concentration.
Good decision-making.
I whisper the words to myself as I walk down the corridor to my classroom. They
were all good things, things that should be done, except I’m not sure they’re what I need to be better at school. See I’m not a bad kid. I like school, I want to do well. I’m responsible, I have no trouble concentrating and mostly make good decisions. My friends are the bad ones; I always get into trouble helping them out – but I guess that count as a bad decision making.
Even so, I’m determined to pinpoint what I’m doing wrong - what’s making me
have to have meetings with the councillor, and the principal, and the police, and most recently people in jail who tell me to get my act together or I’ll end up with them – and stop doing it.
I knock on the door of classroom 14B.
Mrs Oxley opens it and scowls.
‘Junior,’ she says, ‘it’s literally the first lesson of the term and you’re late.’
‘I-’ I try to tell her about how my before-school meeting with Councillor Broad-
head to discuss my behaviour and what I will do differently this term ran long, but she cuts me off immediately. - 98 -
Volume XXIV
‘Go and sit, Junior. That’s your first strike already, and school has only been going
I try to explain again. ‘Mrs-’
‘Sit and be quiet, Junior!’ she snaps.
Responsibility, I think.
‘Yes, Miss.’ I resign myself and go slump in my desk. Mrs. Oxley writes ‘Junior’ in
the corner of the blackboard, then draws a line next to it. First strike. Ten minutes in. Some kids only get one strike a term.
I sit between Rat, an annoying bloke who hangs around me no matter what I do,
and Lotte, my best friend, who is really nice but who my psychologist tells me is violently deluded.
I’m conscious of getting into undeserved trouble first thing in the morning, so I
don’t say hi to either of them. Lotte reaches over and squeezes my arm affectionately anyway. I ignore her. Rat punches me in the arm. It hurts and annoys me. I sit in my desk and look at the blackboard. And, like always, I immediately get the urge to look away. Concentration. I stare very hard at the blackboard, resisting all distractions. All it says on the board is “WELCOME BACK” and “Junior I”. I take a deep breath and try listening instead of looking. Mrs Oxley is going through the syllabus for this term. It’s actually kind of interesting. I tune in.
‘…and we’ll be doing national history in greater detail. Remember last year we
looked at-’ Rat pokes me. Her voice turns to unintelligible fuzz. I don’t react. I stare at the blackboard so hard my eyes screw up. I try to listen to Mrs Oxley but I can no longer make out her words. Rat pokes me again. Responsibility, concentration, good decision making. I take a deep breath, empty my head like my shrink taught me, then tune back into Mrs Oxley.
‘…early colonial governors-’ Rat pokes me a third time. He’s not going to stop.
Good decision making.
‘What?’ I hiss at Rat, ‘I’m trying to concentrate and be responsible!’
Rat screws up his face.
‘What?’
‘What do you want, Rat?’ I hiss.
‘Junior!’ snaps Mrs Oxley. - 99 -
C R EAT IV E
ten minutes.’
C R EAT IV E
Bulpadok
Oh no.
‘You’ve already come late to class, don’t you dare talk to or distract others!’
‘Sorry, Mrs Oxley,’ I say. I lower my eyes, then return them to the blackboard.
That’s it, I fume inwardly. No matter what he does, Rat gets no reaction or attention.
Rat’s poking me again. I don’t care. Rise above it. Concentration. Except I’m not
concentrating on schoolwork anymore, only on how much I hate Rat, and how I’m going beat him up after class.
Rat slides a piece of paper onto my desk. He’s written ‘Oi’ on it. I glance at Mrs
Oxley, then scrawl ‘What?’ and slide it back.
‘Guess what I learned in the holidays?’
‘What?’ ‘Psychosis.’
‘“”’
‘What does “” mean?’
‘Repeat what’s above it.’
‘Psychosis.’
‘No, dipshit, my message – “what”’
We’re out of paper. Rat grabs a new piece.
‘You mean what’s psychosis?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Junior!’ Mrs Oxley straight up explodes- ‘I WARNED YOU ABOUT DIS-
TRACTING OTHERS! PASSING NOTES IS A FORM OF EXCLUSION AND BULLYING AND IS SPECIFICALLY BANNED IN SCHOOL POLICY! NOW STOP IT!’
The room was deathly silent. Everyone was looking at me. I felt my cheeks
burning. Jesus Christ, that seemed a bit excessive.
‘Sorry, Mrs Oxley,’ I submit again.
‘You’re clearly not sorry!’ she yells, ‘If you were really sorry you would stop doing
the wrong thing!’
That has to be one of the most annoying things teachers can say. And they say it
all the time. ‘I am sorry, Mrs Oxley,’ I say, lowering my eyes, ‘I’ll prove it by not doing it - 100 -
Volume XXIV
again. Sorry.’ I can feel Mrs Oxley glaring at the top of my lowered head for a bit, but she calms
down and goes back to talking. Class resumes.
-until Rat shoves the piece of paper back across my desk. Good decision making -
don’t pass notes. Without looking at what he’s written I scrunch it up and throw it back at him- it hits him on the cheek. Unfortunately Mrs Oxley sees this and her mouth falls open in disbelief.
‘Shit,’ I think and also accidentally say out loud. Everyone laughs. My body goes
cold all over and my stomach shrivels in anticipation of another spray. I can’t believe I slipped up again. But she doesn’t scream, she just gives me one of the coldest looks I’ve ever seen. I cower inwardly beneath it. I hope she doesn’t realise I’m well past three strikes’ worth of bad behaviour.
‘Junior,’ she says quietly and venomously, ‘do I need to call Murray?’
That’s low. Murray’s my school/parents/court appointed psychologist, only Mrs
Oxley, Councillor Broadhead, Principal Taylor and my parents, along with a few other teachers and court people, know I see him. They seem to think I’m horribly embarrassed by it, though in reality I think it’s kind of fun and enjoy the sessions. Her bringing up Murray in class is an attempt to scare or shame me into submission under threat of her revealing who he is to the class. But really I don’t care if she calls Murray. Murray’s a great guy, I’d love the class to meet him, also the other kids, if they found out, would probably just think it’s funny I’m in so much trouble I have to get professional help.
But I don’t say this. Instead I say ‘No, Mrs Oxley. Sorry Mrs Oxley,’ and lower my
eyes like the Councillor Broadhead taught me.
Class resumes.
Rat leaves me alone after witnessing the ferocity of Mrs Oxley’s death stare. For
a blissful three minutes, I put all my behavioural counselling techniques to good use, and really feel myself learning. Then from my other side Lotte slides a whole folder onto my desk. She’s scrawled across the front ‘EFDP #119’.
That stands for ‘Escape From Devilbend Plan, Number 119’. Lotte hates our
town. She hates her family. She thinks they’re both too boring. She’s wanted to run away and make it to what she calls ‘the real world’ since we were little kids. All her plans have - 101 -
C R EAT IV E
Bulpadok
C R EAT IV E
failed thus far. She usually gets picked up by her family or the cops various distances along the roads leading out of town, or convinced to come home by me and Rat before they catch her. The closest she’s ever come was on the train, once inside and once on the roof- in plan #102 she was caught by the police and brought home two stations from the city outskirts, and in plan #107 she got a bit closer, but then fell off and broke her arm and she sort of gave up on trains after that.
I’m not really interested in Plan #119, but Lotte is my best friend, so I should
probably have a glance at it to be nice, as long as it won’t get me in more trouble.
I peer cautiously at Mrs Oxley. From my experience I’ve learned that trouble with
teachers increases exponentially- as they get angrier and more frustrated, they observe you more closely and catch you out more quickly.
I take a deep breath and slide open the folder slowly, keeping my eyes fixed on the
blackboard. Mrs Oxley continues talking. I glance at the first page. Lotte’s titled it ‘Overview’.
Her introductory paragraph reads like a revisionist historian’s latest thesis on an
old and widely debated subject. She acknowledges the strengths and failures of past plans and concludes that a new approach, innovative in its simplicity, is required.
Beneath the paragraph is a neat graphic.
Train + Foot
Lotte’s revolutionary idea: Get on train to break town limits fast, get off before
city outskirts to avoid detection, and breach the city limits on foot– ‘it’s a lot easier to avoid evade police on two feet’ is her contention.
I read on in the overview.
‘Junior!’
I look up. Mrs Oxley is looking at the folder on my desk, her expression is
half-curious, half-calm-before-the-storm.
‘What’s that?’ she asks, pointing at the folder with her whiteboard marker.
‘This? Nothing,’ I say, quickly closing it and shoving it at Lotte. She makes no
move to take it.
‘Let me see it, please,’ says Mrs Oxley, walking forward.
In a tiny, rapid movement, Lotte flicks something small and dark at the folder. I - 102 -
Volume XXIV
don’t think anyone except me sees. There is a small pop and a hiss as Mrs Oxley arrives at There is a flurry of movement and shouting around me. I leap to my feat, hurl the folder to the ground and start stamping on it. I’ve nearly extinguished the flames when I’m engulfed by a white cloud as Rat blasts the folder and myself with the classroom fire extinguisher.
Everything is quiet for a bit. Everyone looks at Mrs Oxley. She stares at the burnt
mess on the carpet, then remarks mildly ‘The fire alarm didn’t go off.’ I’m hoping she, like me, has noticed this because it is a positive improvement from several of my classroom incidents last term. I glance at Lotte, who is still sitting at her desk, unfazed, and appears to be drawing, then at Rat, who for some reason shrugs and apologetically offers me the fire extinguisher.
With a slightly shaking hand, Mrs Oxley removes her glasses.
‘Junior,’ she says in a voice of deadly calm, ‘did you just start a fire in my class
room?’
‘No!’ I say forcefully, I look around at Lotte, but she doesn’t look up from her
drawing, ‘I... I...didn’t-’
‘I think it combusted spontaneously,’ Rat interrupts loudly and stupidly, ‘it’s a
documented scientific phenomenon, Mrs Oxley.’
Mrs Oxley ignores him.
‘Junior,’ her voice is delicate, with a slight quiver, ‘please come with me to Mr
Taylor’s office.’
As we exit the classroom she rubs my name, and my strike, off the board.
- 103 -
C R EAT IV E
my desk and reaches for the folder. It bursts into flame. Mrs Oxley screams and jumps back.
C R EAT IV E
Bulpadok
Awaiting Impact Harrie Weatherall Science I
- 104 -
Volume XXIV
but to slip over whatever safety bar there is and fall weightless for those few seconds before the final impact. I don’t quite know what it is about the idea of letting go, but it intoxicates me, makes me shake, lose voice and inadvertently sends me running from the fall, fleeing so I will not be drawn in and off the waiting cliff. They always tell you to be careful at the edge… you don’t want to fall, do you? But what if I do? Have their warnings enticed me? Have I been seduced by the yellow black signs and glaring red writing? Do I want to, or have I been duped by impregnated suggestion, desire rising from the sad need to rebel? Can that truly be what lures me enthralled to gaze longingly downwards? Perhaps, but what does it matter? Should desire be original? In that aim, we should lose our sentience. So mine or not, implanted or not, the calling is there. As a child, they thought I was scared of heights, scared to stand on towers and on walls. No. It was the wanting that terrified me, the need that inspired such caution, such timidity. For what would happen if I gave in, If I climbed and climbed and reveled in the thrill of height, in the thrill of possibility. I was just afraid I would like it and then I would fall and then that fall might end in a landing. I feel I must reiterate: I do not and never wanted to land, so don’t go construing this as morbid or some other depressive type. Don’t put me in there with those self-haters, those self-pitiers, those frightened little children. I don’t fit. So don’t put me there. Instead, I used to sit in the car seat; itching at the seatbelt, scratching at the handle half hoping that the door would swing, revealing the flash of fast approaching gravel. That need scared me then. That temptation so shook me that I sat in the middle seat for years. Terrified to be close to that burning handle, those tingling doors. For surely that is falling too; not down but sideways. Unsupported motion, with wind rushing and eyes streaming surely that’s all you need for a fall. Whether up or down or inwards - 105 -
C R EAT IV E
As long as I can remember I’ve always wanted to fall. Not to land, mind you, never to land
Bulpadok
C R EAT IV E
a fall is simply unobstructed movement, the fulfillment of unstoppable forces. Like gravity. Like circumstance. Which have us tumbling at terminal velocity. I often wondered if others felt it too, this call. Do you? Let me ask you… that time as a child when you visited that gorge, or that waterfall or that lighthouse or whatever it was for you – did you not inch towards the edge, getting ever closer while guardians were distracted by something as trivial as the view? Did you not tightly grip the safety bar and swing one wild eye over into the abyss, and did you not see it there? Oh, what you saw! Not the ground below, not little houses or little cars, not even little people all waving and panting, but the space! That void where there was nothing, and that nothing was all you could see, even when you had staggered back, slightly gasping against the nearest support. In that void, did you see something? Perhaps yourself? Tumbling? As if tossed? As if weightless and just dreaming of the ground. Don’t tell me of your thoughts of impact, I don’t want them, keep them and hide them or burn them I don’t care. All I want is your thoughts of the fall. And if you felt something, then maybe it is something that I am here struggling to articulate. But if you know it too I don’t need to be clear, don’t need to spell it out, you will recognize it and embrace me, flaws and all, for you know what I mean and it is to you that I am speaking. I don’t think this is one of those desires that fades with age, that cures in the sun of adulthood until brown dry and lifeless, a skin, fit for only rugs or maybe coats, a decoration. No, unlike lust or beauty this will not shrivel. On my deathbed, I’ll still need that rush of wind, that floating feeling as I fight my final impact. Perhaps I will muster my strength, hibernate for days if need be, just to roll to the edge of the mattress, look with rheumy eyes at that space between me and the floor, and tip with ecstasy into that half meter drop. I hope I am still alive enough for that.
- 106 -
Volume XXIV
And so, with my final moments all planned out, I still have no explanation, much less a Maybe it comes from flying. Perhaps that’s all it is, because maybe just maybe if I jumped from high enough I wouldn’t land, I’d miss the ground and fall forever. Which is all flying is really. So I could chalk it up to that, erase the profundity and admit to dreams of super humanism, admit to pathetic longing for something more, for if you can turn falling into flying then you are more than just a hero, you are a martyr. Once burned, one need not explain themselves. That’s one way of seeing it, I guess. I wonder if they would take that as an excuse, would it satisfy them? Delusions of grandeur they’d say, Thought he could fly… Like superman! Followed by a self-satisfied chuckle. They would accept that. It’s just plausible enough, makes just enough sense while still condemning me. “Funny in the head” or “not all there” and worst of all a victim. For they would pity me, and their pity would validate their opinion and then I’d truly be lost, for pity is the most disgusting of urges. Once someone is pitied they lose all that is noble about themselves. They choke, they drown, they die and all that is buried is an image of them. For the pity has outlived them. And therein the ground they lie, a sad eviscerated shell. Oh let me land before I become the victim. So he we are now I guess, all still here and all stationary. The same place as where I started, where we started, and all that’s moved is mouths. Have you felt the air rush past? Are you weightless? You are? You’re lying. All that’s here is the illusion of the fall, phantoms dressed as exhilaration and shades in the costume of excitement. For here is the place that we come to when we want to fall, when we long to fall, when we can’t think of anything else, but also the place where we are afraid - 107 -
C R EAT IV E
reason for this desire, but then there it is, no reason to deny it.
Bulpadok
C R EAT IV E
to land. You could say this is the place of hovering, where we feel the fall but never land, where we trick ourselves into euphoria. And here I don’t talk of lighthouses and cliffs, you must know that. I talk of true falling, unsupported and seemingly bottomless. An endless fall that saves us from mundanity. Is it cowardly do you think? Are we running? Is this all just distraction so we fail to feel the full cowardice of our flight? Of course it is. can’t you hear yourself gasping for breath, muscles stinging, struggling to outpace your own desire? But then there’s no shame in that. No shame in fleeing from yourself, in avoiding what you know and seeking cheap distraction. In fact, there is honor in that course. Honor in the way you hide, in the way you don’t say it. Selfless and stoic you stand there, as if nothing is wrong and that may well be true if you think it is. But this does not help! It does not soothe the ache, does not ease the burn that gnaws at us, this escape merely wards off the hungry desire. And then, once again I dream of being truly weightless. And it is this falling that draws me. The other is just a substitute, a cheap drug that mimics. And here we have only the imitation of that fake currency. As I said, here is where those people fall who will not land. We need not face consequence or miscarriage here, but then the thrill is not quite the same, is not quite as real. Here, we will never hit the ground.
- 108 -
Volume XXIV
C R EAT IV E
Echoes of a Life Unlived Nic Lawler Doctor of Medicine II
- 109 -
C R EAT IV E
Bulpadok
Author’s note: Although this story is written as a fictional narrative, unfortunately all of the events occurred. All of the characters either are, or were, real people. The story is meant to illustrate several key messages. Firstly, and most importantly, suicide is the terminal event in an illness. It is not selfish, it is not a coward’s way out, and it absolutely does not discriminate. Issues with mental health can sneak up on anyone, at any time. And, like any other medical condition, issues with mental health are treatable, and in lots of cases curable. Secondly, it highlights that people suffering with mental health issues often suffer in silence. As far as I am aware, out of my three friends that committed suicide before the age of thirty, only one of them had sought professional treatment, and this occurred in his final weeks. All of them were outwardly happy people. So one thing that I have learned is to never take anything for granted. Ask your mates how they are going. Not as in a cursory discussion, but actually sit your friends down and look them in the eye and genuinely ask how they are feeling about things. You might be surprised by the responses that you get. I certainly have been. Thirdly, the narrative is intended to reach out to people that are suffering in silence. You are not alone, and things can and do get better. Suicide leaves a void in people’s lives that can never be adequately filled. It is very easy for things to spiral out of control in this life, but sometimes the fix really is as simple as reaching out and telling someone, anyone, that you are struggling. If this narrative brings up issues for you, the Lifeline number is 131114. ***
My phone rang. Guthers. Something felt wrong. Usually when a mate calls you answer it without a second thought. But not this time. Guthers knew that I was away with Adi for the weekend. He knew that I was pretty serious about her. It was Sunday morning; he wouldn’t be calling me to tell me about his night. I stopped the car.
‘Mate! How you going? All good?’.
‘Are you alone?’ The voice on the end of the line was totally deadpan.
I felt sick. I got out of the car.
‘Now I am. What’s happened?’
‘It’s Tommy…. mate I’m really sorry to be the one to tell you this but he’s gone.
He’s killed himself.’
And the world collapsed.
I don’t remember much about the next month. Looking back, I can tell you
where I was and what I was doing, but it wasn’t really me. At first there were the rumours. The hope, almost. He’d done it by getting drunk and throwing himself in front of a train. - 110 -
Volume XXIV
Maybe it was some terrible accident? We all caught up on that Sunday and so wanted that Monday even that faint hope had vanished. A letter arrived in the mail from Tommy to his family. Apparently it was filled with phrases like ‘estranged from family and friends’, and ‘no one cares’, and ‘I’m a burden’. A few of the fellas took the offer of reading it. I never did.
Then there was the funeral. Tommy’s ex-girlfriend spoke bravely, I’ll never forget
that. They had split up a few weeks before it happened. I can’t even imagine how she would have been feeling. Standing up in front of hundreds of people. There was no blame, or animosity. No one thought that she should feel even the slightest tinge of guilt. And she shouldn’t. But that doesn’t really mean shit, does it? I mean, if it was me, I’d feel totally responsible. It would eat away at me forever.
I often wonder how she is going after all these years. If she still thinks about it
daily. All of us have the dreams occasionally, nightmares really. Where he’s standing there just out of your vision, or he is telling you he made a terrible mistake, and he’s sorry. With time they’ve become less frequent. I hope it is the same for her.
I spoke to his dad at the wake. He was so together. I suppose you have to be when
you have four other children. Someone needs to be the nucleus, to keep everyone from going off the rails. Being a doctor, his coping mechanism was rationality. He told me Tommy had suffered multiple concussions in the last few months playing footy, and there was a link between repeated head trauma and suicide. At the time I really believed it. I really wanted to believe it. I spoke to his brother. He said he was so glad that the weekend before it happened they’d been on a fishing trip together, and that he would never forget it. It’s funny what you cling to. If it hadn’t happened, he might never remember that fishing trip. If it hadn’t happened, I’d probably never think about that weekend away with Adi. I haven’t seen her in years but I remember that weekend basically every day. It just pops in. You can’t stop it.
Everyone remembers where they were when they heard about the first one.
My phone rang. Macca.
‘Maaate. How you going? How’d you pull up after Saturday night? Any ladies?’
‘Na, no luck buddy, got way too pissed.’
I laughed. ‘You were fine mate! Thanks for coming anyway. Can’t believe I’m 25
now. Shit that’s old.’ - 111 -
C R EAT IV E
to be the case. I knew that couldn’t be true. I mean, no one fucks up that badly, do they? By
C R EAT IV E
Bulpadok
His tone changed. ’Are you around for a beer tonight?’
‘I really can’t sorry buddy, I have an exam tomorrow morning. Is everything ok?
What about Friday night?’
‘Yeah no worries Nico. All good. I’ll see you then’.
The next day he was dead.
Guthers was the one to tell me again. It was basically a year to the day since
Tommy. Every time he’d rung me since then my heart skipped a beat. I’d had to tell him to just text me instead. So when I saw his name pop up on the screen I knew what he was calling about. Another one. How the fuck does this keep happening? When he told me it was Macca, I was paralysed. Literally paralysed. I remember I was at Mil’s house at the time, and she just lay there holding me trying to get me to talk for hours. Eventually I got up and walked out of the house just looking at the ground. Like a zombie. Straight past her family without saying a word.
I knew this was coming. We were told this was coming. After Tommy, everyone
was on edge. Suicide clusters. Nobody knows why. Some people say it gives others the idea. Or that it makes it seem more acceptable. Or not as bad. Some people say it’s like the final insult. That someone else was feeling as blue as you but had the balls to finish it. Whatever the reason, I’d been on the lookout. There were friends that I worried about. There were even one or two that I’d had words with, flat out asking if they were thinking about killing themselves. But not Macca. Never Macca.
We’d all caught up for Tommy’s birthday a few weeks earlier. I’d sat having a beer
with Macca talking about suicide, and he told me how selfish he thought it was. A coward’s way out. It’s a common viewpoint. And now he’d gone and hung himself in his parents’ backyard. I don’t believe that it’s selfish. It’s a medical condition, like getting terminal cancer, and it should be treated as such. There shouldn’t be guilt, or anger. There shouldn’t be that nagging feeling that you could’ve done more, that maybe if I’d gone for that beer with him then things would be different. But there is. Of course there is. It’s normal for that to keep you up at night, right?
This time there was no letter. A lot of people thought that was hard. I think I
probably preferred it that way. I mean, what do you really get out of reading someone’s suicide note? It can’t explain it. Or make it somehow ok. Usually it’s the rambling delusions of a broken mind. All the problems seem so trivial. So easily rectifiable as to be almost totally - 112 -
Volume XXIV
insignificant. Tommy claimed he was estranged from his friends. To say that is an outraof mates, and a loving family at home. We were all there for him. Telling us that we weren’t doesn’t help.
It was the same funeral. The same shattered group of young men coming to grips
with the loss of another mate who’d seemed happy enough. The same grey day in the same grey church. The same songs. The same inconsolable siblings, and the same parents holding it together with the same stony masks and empty goodbyes. If it wasn’t starting to feel routine at this point, it definitely was by the next one.
My phone rang. Guthers again. That name. It had been five years. And with time
the feelings fade. But you never forget them. I still see them everywhere. So do all the lads. In a restaurant. Or on a train. A flicker of recognition like a mirage reflected from another life, only to dissipate on closer inspection. Echoes of a life unlived. And then there’s the dreams. They never stopped. I held the phone in the palm of my hand, not sure whether I should answer it. I knew it would be bad. Somehow I just knew.
I have no memory of that conversation. No matter how hard I try. Nothing. It
was almost like I was watching it from outside my body. A scene on television that you just can’t bear to look at, so you turn away at the crucial moment. You switch off. I could barely feel any more. Another seemingly happy guy from a good group of friends had left us. By choice? I can’t believe that. I won’t. Another funeral. Another smiling face put in the ground.
And what of the rest of us? The remainder? I remember thinking after the first
one that at least it would make us more aware of our own frailties. That if it made only one person seek help, saved one person’s life, then it wasn’t for nothing. That would be Tommy’s legacy. And despite everything that’s happened maybe that’s still true. It saved me, and I know it saved others. But the fear remains. Will this plague us forever?
My phone rang.
- 113 -
C R EAT IV E
geous distortion of reality is an understatement. He wasn’t estranged. He had a good group
C R EAT IV E
Bulpadok
In Another Time A Fragment of a Travel Journal Bec Szoka Arts II
- 114 -
Volume XXIV
Friday the 1st of July, 2016. Sometime around Midday. Paris. We had decided to stop at Shakespeare and Company on our walk along the river between the Notre Dame and the metro station Saint Michel. If you didn’t know what you were looking for, you might have missed it. It’s an English bookstore and a surviving remnant of Bohemian Paris. Originally built in the 6th arrondissement, Shakespeare and Company was the creative hub for Hemingway, Fitzgerald, James Joyce and Gertrude Stein. But with the German occupation of Paris during the Second World War, the store was permanently closed. Rumour has it that a German officer was denied the last edition of Finnegan’s Wake, and closed the bookstore out of spite. Now in the 5th, Shakespeare and Company has been brought to life once more. It’s quaint and unassuming. The white and green little building is hardly a sight for sore eyes and yet, it is so beautifully full of history that I couldn’t help but feel its charm. Inside, flaky wooden walls lean at every angle under the massive weight of the books and its maze of corridors and small reading nooks make it nearly impossible to not bump into someone whilst scouring the shelves. Everywhere you turn there are books, sketches, and most beautifully – notes and letters left by past visitors. Uniquely, the store still allows writing waifs and strays to tumble in, sleep amongst the bookshelves at night and write and write until they are ready to leave. In exchange, each aspiring writer must help in the store and read at least one book a day. Upon leaving, they must write their life story on a piece of paper with a picture of themselves attached to give to the owner Sylvia Whitman, named after Sylvia Beach - the original owner of Shakespeare and Company. I made it to the back of the store where a staircase leads to a second level. Each step has a few words painted on to it, forming a phrase as you climb up. It reads: “I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being.” It’s a quote of Hafiz of Shiraz. - 115 -
C R EAT IV E
The left bank of the River Seine. 37 rue de la Bûcherie. The 5th arrondissement.
Bulpadok
C R EAT IV E
A lot of the books upstairs weren’t available to buy, but we were more than welcome to read the library at our own leisure in the quiet corners by the windows or in the piano room – where visitors aren’t shy about filling the building with a soft melody. I found myself in the poetry section and pulled out the first book that reached my fingers, letting the covers open and fall to a random page. ‘If not, Winter,’ a translation of Sappho’s verse by Anne Carson. Page 147. μνάςεςθαí τινα φα<ī>μι χαì έτερον άμμων Someone will remember us I say Even in another time At that moment, I had no idea the pertinence of my stumbling upon that book. Only fragments remain of Sappho’s work dating back to 600 BC. She has been considered a troublesome muse, a poet and a romantic – with her truest concern being love. She has only one surviving complete poem, filled with multiple voices, confused intentions and extraordinary angst. As compiled, Sappho’s fragments of work fall like leaves from a tree we’ll never see. We cannot get a sense of its size but we do know the glory of its nature. Somewhere, far away, another girl, perhaps not unlike you or I, lived with dilemmas of love, heartbreak and mortality just as we do. Thousands of years of human history have passed and we, as a species, still pine over the same questions. Am I worthy of love? Will someone remember me when I’m gone? “Excusez-moi, mademoiselle.” I quickly slammed the book shut as a woman squeezed past me in the narrow corridor I had found myself reading. “Oh, pardon!” I laughed as I moved out of the way, absent-mindedly placing the book back on its shelf. - 116 -
Volume XXIV
streets. As we walked away, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of bittersweet nostalgia. In the chaos and energy of the city we had found a haven - a warm and enchanting nirvana that has been, and will continue to be, a home for the most inspired minds of the world. But more, I had found the work of an Ancient Greek poet who wondered if she would be remembered. And she had, really. Nearly three thousand years after her death the words she once wrote are now alive in the most liberating, artistic and romantic city in the world. It all seems rather poetic, doesn’t it? But I suppose that’s Paris for you.
- 117 -
C R EAT IV E
Eventually, I had traversed the labyrinth and found my way back on to the busy Parisian
M U SIC
Bulpadok
Another Adventure An Extract of a Musical Score Victoria Hofflin Music II
- 118 -
Volume XXIV
_
-
' C
'
~ ·-
-)
'
-
'}.
-
-
~
c,
C
-
~
~
"
l'.
-
" ')
"1'
-
~
-
-
~
i
~
'-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
>--
-
) 1
)
')
~
I_
-
) -
'
-
-
>--
' ;;
E
)
-,
"'
"i5.
. <
•
<
I0
I_
~
·•
-•
•
<
j
I.
<
I.
-
- 119 -
1'
I\
-
-
~
)
D
I
c~
I_
~
-
C
)
-
-
I
-
~
I
-
M U SIC
l
-
C
<
•
~
<
•
..
M U SIC
Bulpadok
(
-
lil I-
- p- .-
....
'
I-
lil ,1
(
\
I
~ -
-
~ b ~ ~ ~ b
-
J
I
~ !Th
j
D
p
~
>n,
1
>-
IT> 'I
'·
~
~
<q
r.,
31,
D
ti?,
C
•
j
I
j
Ill
tJl
I
~.
<
- 120 -
j
~
<
n,
r.,
J
n,
~
.. .. ..
C
·< ....
,.
~ ,.
.
, r.,
)
>-
D
. <
.-
tJI
. ~
-
)
ti,
,.
>-
rJ;.
:i
~
,. ,.
• j
'
t1'
>-
>-
tn,,, >-
~
' !Tl>
>-
•
I>
p
>-
i::::
.
D
tJl
'?,
.. .. C'•'- ...
I
ii,
tJI
I\
.,. -
'
,,
j
~Pi-
>-
.,.
I
1'
n,
ti,
p.
-
,.
II
!Tl>
J
>-
-
,.
I\
'
t1'
>-
ii
.-
>I\ I\
.. ..
~
I
I\ ~
p.
i
~
,.••
.... i-· 11>
tJl r,.
>-
~ ~ D ~ -
~
I
D
i:::: b
(~
t
Volume XXIV
~t'
J
cJ [;
::i
cJ
l>
., [; ~.,
_, 0
!
.(
~
t
1
-o
(
I
)
r,,
.. ..
,
1tJ
J
Tl'.
..
.,
)
1,
'
~' ~
• •
'
lrl> I
,
'1
'
1<!
'
ii>
•
•
,, ~ ~
I-
, ' ~
-
11-
j
r,,
~
"'
tJ
~
.i
'· I-
,.
I.:!
. ;!:<
.
(
.
.
•
<
ll
<
•
<
- •- -
- 121 -
<
,
la
---
•
ITT
.
.
.
,i
'•
• '
..
)'-
•
•
1}'..
\
I
J,
'
,.
<
(
-
l>
j ~
Ii>
I
\
.
g_
(
\_
<I
--
) '-
-
1?
'
~
"
h>
'
-~
'•
.-S-
~ -
-
,,
(
1
11-
,.
,t 1
fllo
l-
-
(/
I :11.-
" . ..
~
[;
M U SIC
~
[;
<
- •- -
~l-
'
\0
·!
~
~
M U SIC
Bulpadok
-
,. ,. ,. ,.
-
-
I
,. ,.
-
~
t
It
•
-
,. ,. ,. ,.
l>
~
-
l>
'
:;-
n, n,
~
-
I
n,
-
'
-
~
,. ,.
.,.
:? ~
-
-
,.
-
(,\~
:;~
-
-
•
-
:? ~
I~ -
-
~
:t 1'1
~
rJ
~
,.
-
-
(
t
~
~ ~
-
-
'
'I
1!
. <
~
.
.
•
C
~
~
<
-
,.
n,
-
1!:
,.
''I
'· l>
~
,.
q I>
~
it'.!
:)
,
,.
..
" • _,,_..,
<
~-
- 122 -
! ll,
~
- ~
1}).
(
~
w
!
,.
t'.J
~
-
-
w
-
ti!
-
~
lw
-
~
-
-
~
' ,.' ,.
~ l>
.
•
• j
Volume XXIV
(
I! ti
II ti
-C:
.
C: C: C:
'
ti
f--
,. ,, ,.
f--
I
•:>I
)"
'
,,
f--
'
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
,
•'
~
I ~
-<;
'
,
..
...,
-
1
'
•
-
• • • • •
' '
f--
'
'
.. 0
-
(
-
-
-
-
-
.-
-
'
'
' I
. <
~
' ' '
II
:ii. ..
.-
•
'
~
-
)I!
•
~
I
;
.-
,,,u
,.
1
'
('
,.
C:
,.i
!
-
.-
,. ,.
~
'1
M U SIC
I'
-
~
~
C:
.,
-
~
..
- 123 -
-• <
,
'
-~ ~
------
<;
..
~
BULPADOK Art Journal VOLUME XXIV
Towards Tomorrow 2016
Trinity College UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
Trinity College Royal Parade Parkville Victoria 3052
- 125 -
Towards Tomorrow Our desires and dreams must persist.