Ideas and Identity - 800 Words

BAR 150 In this essay we will be examining the internal tension in the mainstream representation of people seeking asylum in Australia The issue of â€Å"truth† and its representation in regards to the perception of â€Å"non (White) Australian† Australians has been a recurring motif through out Australian history. The majority of representations of Indigenous Australians, those the White Australia policy was designed to exclude and refugees who arrived since World War 2 have been deliberately manipulated to reinforce the perceived undesirability of these people. Since the Howard governments commitment to its â€Å"hard-line† approach to refugees, the Australian public has been subjected to a non-stop campaign of negative media images†¦show more content†¦The term â€Å"refugee† is value laden. It carries centuries of imagery, something connected to our own histories, whether personal or cultural, an image deserving charity or compassion. But by its very neutrality, its bureaucratic blandness, the term â€Å"asylum seeker† distances us from the natural reaction of wanting to offer refuge, to one of objectivity and lack of emotional engagement. Whats ironic here is that the term was probably coined by a well meaning academic attempting to remove the stigma of those emotional, pejorative or inaccurate labels like â€Å"boat people† , â€Å"queue jumpers† or the particularly insidious â€Å"genuine refugee†. Unfortunately their efforts have been co-opted by the opinion makers to reduce the experience of afflicted people to what sounds like a category on a governmental form. The fact that this term is so bureaucratic means that it ties in well with the label â€Å"queue jumper† further reinforcing the image of refugees as importunate opportunists who just want a share of â€Å"the good life†, Aussie style. With the Abbot governments media black-out on reports on the arrival of refugee boats we see the negative representation of asylum seekers taken one step further to complete erasure. If we do not see any images of refugees then obviously they no longer exist. Abbott defended this measure by comparing his campaign to â€Å"stop the boats† with a military operation and therefore warranting secrecy. I wouldShow MoreRelatedIdentity Is The Idea Of Knowing Who You Are1534 Words   |  7 PagesIdentity is the idea of knowing who you are and what you stand for, but society has an affect on everyone’s identity. In some cases the identity that you believe is a person may not be the same as who they truly are. Each person’s identity is created and affected by society, this is because who you are as a person is affected by how you grow up, the people around you, and what you have been taught. Your identity is who you truly are, and sometimes many people do not know you r true identity, theyRead MoreIdeas Of Personal Identity, Human Nature, And Reality877 Words   |  4 PagesMy aim in this essay is to analyze in this order the ideas of personal identity, human nature, and reality. The following essays and films will be analyzed: Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons, The Selfish Cooperator, Does the Real World Exist, Transfer, I Am and The Signal. In Derek Parfit s Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons, we learn that personal identity is ever changing, whereas in Richard Dawkin s essay The Selfish Cooperator we are taught that human nature is circumstantialRead MoreThe Idea Of Identity, By Denise Chavez, A Dead Mexican Movie Star1902 Words   |  8 Pages The idea of identity is one that is extremely difficult to master. 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Essentialism argues that there are categories of objects and genres that have essential characteristics, notwithstanding individual variation, and that these essential characteristicsRead More Quicksand shows Helga’s as a figure of a Mulatto with a constant conflict between ide as of black and white identity. 2262 Words   |  10 PagesNella Larsen deals with the crisis of racial identity Helga has throughout Quicksand. She comments on the life of a mulatto woman at a strict black southern school who wants to find herself. Larsen deals Helga as the ‘tragic mulatto’ from the beginning of the novel setting clearly the views of black racial characteristics. The tragic mulatto being a stereotypical idea of someone doomed to limbo between being black and white. Helga exhibits, an inability to conform anywhere long enough to discoverRead MoreIdentity and Gender1627 Words   |  7 PagesThe word identity has become the most discussed idea in our society. It is described mostly, to be a word that stands for who we are. Therefore, because of who we are, identity has come to be a word that we use to claim and understand people’s actions in our society. So in this paper I will be analysing how social practices surrounding identity relates to g ender in social, personal levels, through the work of three authors; by Ian Hacking on â€Å"kind making†, Margaret Somers on â€Å"Narrative constructionRead MoreEssay on Personal Identity1742 Words   |  7 Pagespersonal identity it is necessary to understand what he means by identity and what he means specifically by personal identity. Locke states there are three substances that we have ideas of and that have identities. He defines idea in Essay concerning Human Understanding as â€Å"whatsoever is the object of the understanding when a man thinks† (Essay, chapter 1, section 8). That is to say that an idea, to Locke, is the basic unit of human thought. Identity is based off of comparison of these ideas in differentRead More Compare and Contrast the Way in which Emerson and Thoreau Represents American Identity1290 Words   |  6 PagesEmerson and Henry David Thoreau presented an idea about American Identity. Emerson in The American Scholar and Thoreau in Walden represents the idea of American identity by connecting this concept with nature and individuality but Emerson presents his idea about American identity in an intelligent manner whereas Thoreau uses mockery to present his idea. Emerson and Thoreau both have connected the idea of nature and individuality to represent an American identity. Well, the reason for both the writersRead MoreFilling the Void: Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill and Others on Identity1145 Words   |  5 Pagesevery person’s identity and something for a country and its people to unit over. But as society slowly aged, and governments were reorganized and re-structured, one can see a reduction in religion being a part of someone’s identity. It is hard to imagine being without an identity so it came as no surprise when, as the void left by religion was opened, people began to create an identity that had to do with different ideas and ideologies. More specifically, new political movements, ideas of nationalismRead MoreWilliam Carlos Williams Philomena Andronica And Gertrude Stein s Identity1431 Words   |  6 PagesWilliam Carlos Williams â€Å"Philomena Andronica† and Gertrude Stein’s â€Å"Identity, a poemâ⠂¬  are both visually and tonally very different texts. However, Stein and Williams have both used similar approaches to literary form in their poems as can be seen in their non-traditional approach to meaning generation and rejection of grammatical convention. The poems also both show an interest in the notion of identity and it’s fluidity, although Stein employs repeated images in her investigation whilst Williams