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Issue Details: First known date: 1993... 1993 'Well I Heard It on the Radio and I Saw It on the Television' : An Essay for the Australian Film Commission on the Politics and Aesthetics of Filmmaking by and about Aboriginal People and Things
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Marcia Langton analyses the making and watching of films, videos and TV programs by Aboriginal people in remote and settled Australia. She introduces theoretical perspectives to investigate concepts of Aboriginality and presents case studies of films such as Jedda, Tracey Moffat's Night Cries, Brian Syron's Jindalee Lady and Ned Lander and Rachel Perkin's film of the Warlpiri Fire Ceremony Jardiwarnpa. The central requirement is to develop a body of knowledge on representation of Aboriginal people and their concerns in art, film, television or other media and a critical perspective to do with aesthetics and politics, drawing from Aboriginal world views, from western traditions and from history.

Works about this Work

Respecting Protocols for Representing Aboriginal Cultures Jared Thomas , 2014 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 14 no. 3 2014;
'This essay undertakes a detailed discussion of how respecting protocols for representing Indigenous cultures supports the interests of Indigenous communities and producers of stories with Indigenous content. To highlight the importance of Indigenous protocols I review the prominence and reception of Aboriginal stories in Australian film and literature and discuss how protocol guidelines can prevent problematic representations. I demonstrate how protocols influenced writing Calypso Summer (2014), a novel exploring issues relating to my cultural group, the Nukunu, to illustrate the challenges encountered and benefits gained from employing Indigenous representation protocols. ' (Author's introduction)
Hybridity, Power Discourse and Evolving Representations of Aboriginality (1970s - Today) Sue Ryan-Fazilleau , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 26 no. 1 2012; (p. 29-34)
'This essay examines the changing role played by the politicized concept of hybridity in filmic representations of Aboriginal identity over the past four decades...' (29)
Samson & Delilah : Herstory, Trauma and Survival Susan Ryan-Fazileau , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 11 no. 2 2011;
'The historical trauma of the Aborigines and white Australian nation-building are not simply contemporaneous - the latter is part of what made the former possible. The subject of black-on-black violence within Aboriginal communities has been a hot issue in Australia for the past few years, more specifically that perpetrated by Indigenous men against Indigenous women and children. The situation of many Aborigines today demonstrates a paradoxical relation between destruction and survival, the incomprehensibility at the heart of traumatic experience. Aboriginal film-maker Warwick Thornton's 2009 movie, "Samson & Delilah", tells the story of two teenagers caught up in this situation. Trauma theory, which focuses on the destructive repetition of violence is used as a tool for the analysis of this film, repetition being a structural principle in the narrative. For example, after repeating the same self-defeating ritual every day, Samson sniffs petrol to escape from the desolation and neglect, in the throes of what appears to be a post-traumatic death drive. Delilah's life is equally repetitive but less desolate until her grandmother's death plunges her into a cycle of violence and horror that also leads to petrol-sniffing and near death. But, in Thornton's fictional world, the women are the Samsons. Delilah defends herself and her intended against both white and black violence and, through 'herstory', the film-maker passes on not only the story of a crisis but that of a survival.' (Author's abstract)
"Once Upon a Patriachy" : Cultural Translation in the Poetry of Romaine Moreton Katherine Russo , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Partnership Id-Entities : Cultural and Literary Re-Insciption/s of the Feminine 2010; (p. 31-44)
Perpetuating White Australia : Aboriginal Self-Representation, White Editing and Preferred Stereotypes Jennifer Jones , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Creating White Australia 2009; (p. 156-172)
Required Reading Marcia Langton , 2009 single work correspondence
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 316 2009; (p. 4)
Narrative and Intervention in Aboriginal Filmmaking and Policy Stephen Muecke , 1994 single work criticism
— Appears in: Continuum : The Australian Journal of Media & Culture , vol. 8 no. 2 1994;
"Once Upon a Patriachy" : Cultural Translation in the Poetry of Romaine Moreton Katherine Russo , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Partnership Id-Entities : Cultural and Literary Re-Insciption/s of the Feminine 2010; (p. 31-44)
Perpetuating White Australia : Aboriginal Self-Representation, White Editing and Preferred Stereotypes Jennifer Jones , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Creating White Australia 2009; (p. 156-172)
Samson & Delilah : Herstory, Trauma and Survival Susan Ryan-Fazileau , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 11 no. 2 2011;
'The historical trauma of the Aborigines and white Australian nation-building are not simply contemporaneous - the latter is part of what made the former possible. The subject of black-on-black violence within Aboriginal communities has been a hot issue in Australia for the past few years, more specifically that perpetrated by Indigenous men against Indigenous women and children. The situation of many Aborigines today demonstrates a paradoxical relation between destruction and survival, the incomprehensibility at the heart of traumatic experience. Aboriginal film-maker Warwick Thornton's 2009 movie, "Samson & Delilah", tells the story of two teenagers caught up in this situation. Trauma theory, which focuses on the destructive repetition of violence is used as a tool for the analysis of this film, repetition being a structural principle in the narrative. For example, after repeating the same self-defeating ritual every day, Samson sniffs petrol to escape from the desolation and neglect, in the throes of what appears to be a post-traumatic death drive. Delilah's life is equally repetitive but less desolate until her grandmother's death plunges her into a cycle of violence and horror that also leads to petrol-sniffing and near death. But, in Thornton's fictional world, the women are the Samsons. Delilah defends herself and her intended against both white and black violence and, through 'herstory', the film-maker passes on not only the story of a crisis but that of a survival.' (Author's abstract)
Last amended 23 Jul 2020 10:11:18
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