Cultural Identity
Cultural identity –
As much as our family influences us, the traditions and values that they provide to us give us the identity that builds us into the person we become. Tan explains his heritage with Chuan - Yao Ling in a Conversation with illustrator Shaun Tan, his father came to Australia from Malaysian in his twenties, being the leading toward the illustrated book The Arrival . "I feel that just being Australian, and living in an Australian landscape (especially that of coastal Westem Australia, best represented by the writer Tim Winton), is a far greater influence on my work. I notice that a lot of my paintings depict figures in alienating landscapes, often with an undercurrent sense of a troubled identity, or at least a displaced one. I think that bas a lot to do with growing up in an outer suburban environment with little historical memory, in the world's most remote capital city, in a nation that is still coming to terms with a problematic history as well as a changing contemporary landscape.” - Shuan Tan (Ling. 2008. Pp 45) Cultural identity is so important to our sense of identity, as our having this connection to people, or a spiritual understanding can give people a place or sense of belonging. Cultural experience can't be something that can be taught, you have to live it or experience to really understand it. Shaun Tan illustrates the perceptions that other can have over other people in The Arrival. The way that people can discriminate against others, and the perceptions that people have. Not only does his Cultural heritage influence Shaun but the history of his Country. The Rabbits gives this historical reference to the "European invasion of Australia and subsequent injustices perpetrated against the indigenous population. More universally, it's the story of colonization everywhere, about power, ignorance and environmental destruction." (Tan. 2001. Pp 5) Tan describes his perception of how the European must have looked towards the indigenous Australians. "Accounts of Aboriginal impressions of the arrival of European ships, animals, customs and technologies, the immense cultural rift between visitors and inhabitants, the patterns of escalating violence: al these proved to be indispensable in the creation of an equivalent imagined universe populated by strange animals and machines." (Tan. 2001. Pp 6) Shaun has the ability to portray cultural and historical representations to give a younger generation the understanding of the astonishment to the Indigenous Australians when the European invaded Australia. Tan shows his artistic ability in this picture, giving the range of colours and striking shape to the characters and the boat, giving this superior stator to them. "Transnational literacy would alert us to the politics of textuality – who is powerful, who is not. Such consciousness of the intersections of power and knowledge is pertinent in particular when readers approach minority texts, which are commonly produced by people marginal to mainstream cultures. In such cases, the challenge that we “re-think our agency” calls on us to avoid judging or interpreting minority texts in the light of our own cultural assumptions and knowledges. And this posture of respectful acknowledgement of difference relies, in turn, on our willingness to critically scrutinise our own histories of selfhood and scholarship and their influence on how we understand the “other.” (Bradford. 2011. Pp33) Transnational defines The Rabbits perfectly, the book represents the invasion of how this would have impacted on the Indigenous Australians understanding of their way of life and how it was changing because of this invasion. Literature Techniques Post Modernism – Shaun Tan's books inferred the images chronological, linear where post Modern text turns every thing on its head not sure about anything flashbacks, different perspectives. Neutrality of text - Where authors no bias or opinion, Shaun Tan is able to create this in his stories where there are little to no words, (The Arrival) just images for the reader to interpret. Tan portrays this situation by no words to create judgement rather just the journey through actions, the protagonist dealing with the situation that they have been given and dealing with it the best they can. Humour – Shuan Tan coveys humor in a way that is different than the obvious to others, rather in his illistrations, although not a laugh out loud humourous way, it gives the text a softer side of what the story might be trying to convey. By the use of exaggeration of individuals, being that of The Lost Thing: there is no real way to describe the thing other than a “thing” it gives the reader and audience a surprise at the absurdity that Tan is able to create to tell a story. Not only does the characters convey this humorous element but It can be this “non threatening” individual or “thing” that may represent a huge proportion of people but is not directly targeting them as individuals or a representation of a certain stereotype. Therefore leads audiences to be able to have an inclusive perception of any one person and makes the story more relatable to everyone as a whole. Tan through out all his work shows a censorship towards everyone and uses these ambiguous characters a his vehicle for readers to learn more about indivduals. |
Conclusion.
I think this is why Shaun Tan’s books interest me so much they are not straight in your face, there is that underlining message and with every read you gain the new and different understanding of what the message or moral of the book might mean. Also Shaun identification of how hard identity is, that through out life we are constantly struggling with the idea of who we are, what we represent and our own story. That identity is not just where we are born or what we look like but the fundamental idea of who we are and how we fit in, with societies standards.