Primitivism prevails: The cultural problematization of Aboriginality
Abstract
Contemporary Darwin is characterised by racial,
that is socially constructed notions of culture,
structures that are partly produced by stereotypes
through misperceptions on the contents of cultural
capital. In this thesis, performance is analysed
so as to reveal a lacking working consensus
between different ethnic groups. Busking
performance participates in racial stereotypes
that are supported by government approved
discourses on what is expected of Aborigines in
order to promote the tourist industry. It thus
participates in the cultural problematization of
what constitutes Aboriginality. The contents of
cultural capital are consciously used by
performers in order to articulate their own sense
of Aboriginal identity. Public misperceptions of
Aboriginality is made explicit in analysing
repertoires, interactions with the audience and
confrontations with each other and the police. The
social order of cultural expectations is informed
by a dichotomy, authentic versus inauthentic and
this comes to inform contemporary racial
stereotypes. The themes of cultural
problematization is widened with the study of
houseless Aborigines and discourses related to
public drinking. Houselessness, public drinking
and begging all imply resistance, partly because
rituals among the wider population in Darwin imply
a confirmation of non-indigenous hegemony. Public
drinking contributes to discourses of social
disorder and cultural pathology, and are
articulated by members of the the public and
government officials to promote increased
surveillance and policing. The themes of cultural
expectations thus involve disproportionate amounts
of symbolic violence resulting in bio-power.
Contemporary and future reconciliation needs to
acknowledge the issues surrounding lack of
consensus on what Aboriginality, or the contents
of cultural capital of Aborigines, consists of.