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Nostalgia, as explored by Svetlana Boym, surrounds the idea of longing for a home that no longer exists or has never existed. As a result, the term nostalgia encompases a wide range of negative connotations, paving the way for a quest of belonging that has no apparent start or finish. Contrastingly, the idea of home is associated with positive aspects, standing as the pillar of acceptance and free will, where one’s true self is explored.
The concepts of marginalisation and loss are inextricably linked, explored through physical, cultural and emotional landscapes where disconnectivity ultimately results in the exile of one within themselves and society. When one is exiled culturally, a chain of detachment follows, resulting in self-inflicted marginalisation and a loss of acceptance.
This artwork details the detachment from the physical landscape, resulting in the marginalisation of the home. Through the use of dark hues, predominately blacks, blues and greys, the hostility and isolation of the house is highlighted, being the only form of life within the dark forest which it inhabits. Burton represents the concepts of marglinalisation and loss through the unusual placing of the house, exploring the connection between the physical landscape and life highlighting the need for a harmonious between the two.
The painting, communicated through the technique of contrast, highlights the longing for home which nostalgia entails. The painting depicts a 19th Century England, young, well-dressed woman situated in the Australian harsh, baren environment facing away from the trees. Through her positioning and contrast of England and Australia, her vunrable position as the outsider is made apparent. The woman fails to adapt to the Australian environment and as a result her yearning for England is obvious. This artwork highlights the concept of nostalgia arising during times of abandonment in unfamiliar circumstances, where individuals yearn for a place where acceptance was once apparent.
In the novel, The Other Side of the World, upon Charlotte’s return to England, she feels an overwhelming sense of marginalisation largely contributed to her loss of cultural and emotional landscape. Although through returning to England, she is welcomed with the physical landscape which she considers ‘home’, losing Henry and her children results in her feeling excluded within herself. In order to feel utmost peace, inclusion and acceptance within society, family structures and oneself, a harmonious relationship with each landscape must be achieved. Charlotte acknowledges her outcast position in the quote, “But that is all she has; there is the brightness of the outside world and then the starved, dark space of her own consciousness”, highlighting that through her loss of cultural and emotional landscape, she has lost herself. Charlotte has lost the one thing attributed to a human that can not be lost, the human consciousness. Through this analogy, Bishop is stressing that after Charlotte returns to England, she has lost everything through foregoing her cultural and emotional landscapes.
The quest of nostalgia and the concept of home are represented in the novel, The Other Side of the World, through Henry’s desire to be reconnected with his homeland, India. Throughout the novel, Henry often refers to India, showcasing his desire to be reconnected with his home emphasised through the reliving of childhood memories. Through the lines, “...it reminds him of his old life in Delhi - the flat land, the pulsing, throbbing heat, the sky. If only he had never left it”, highlights Henry’s regret in moving to England, yearning to return to his home which, through his memories, provides a more accepting environment. However, upon Henry’s return to India, this desire is hindered. Being greeted with a vastly different India than recalled in his memories, Henry’s yearning for his childhood India is broken, painting him as an outcast accentuated through the lines, “damp air”, “faint smell” and “old pea soup”. Through the use of words that carry negative connotations, “damp”, “faint” and “old”, Henry’s quest for home is unsuccessful, linking back to the idea of nostalgia being a negative quest of belonging, in search of a ‘home’, which has no apparent start or finish.
The concepts of nostalgia, home, identity, belonging, exile, marginalisation and loss are represented through various written and visual texts including; The Other Side of the World, Lost, Australia, Insight: Mothers Who Leave and Motherland #11. Through unique language choices, contrasting and negative/positive connotations, accurate representations of these concepts prevail, allowing for in-depth exploration and analysis of the ideas that these concepts entail.
Exile is the forced exclusion from a sector of society or within an individual, largely contributed to stereotypical forces which can induce self-marginalisation. Society paints a mold with an expectation of all to adhere to. These molds and expectations haunt the minds of individuals, creating the aura of unrealism and the need please other’s in order to be accepted.
Identity and belonging are connected concepts which detail the relationship between place and self, where one’s place is reflected upon one’s being, morals and intellect.
When a mother chooses to leave her children, detailed within the documentary ‘Insight: Mothers Who Leave’, society paints widely morbid pictures of them, portraying them as barbaric for abandoning their own flesh, turning against the material instinct. Melissa Collins stated when she left her children she was confronted with questions like, “what kind of mother does that” and “what kind of woman does that”, exiling herself from society due to the shame induced as a result of the judgement. Ms Collins chose to isolate herself, inflicting self-marginalisation as she did not adhere to the mold society set before her. Thus the issue of exile is largely contributed to stereotypical forces resulting in the forced exclusion from a sector of society or within an individual, triggering self-marginalisation.
Through Charlotte’s unique position in Australia, being an outsider in a country which is founded on multiculturalism, her inability to conform contradicts the mold put forward by Australian society. It is apparent that Charlotte does does not belong in Australia when she tries to communicate with others. She is exiled within Australia as a result of her English nationality, class and status. When confronted with the line “...you’re not from around here” and asked whether she is “educated Australian or just English”, Charlotte acknowledges her ‘exclusion’ and her position as an ‘everlasting outsider’. Thus as a result of her contradictory position, not fitting the mold put forward by Australian society, Charlotte is exiled being an ‘everlasting outsider’.
Throughout AD Hope’s poem, ‘Australia’, identity and belonging are represented through the constant contrasting of self and place. Through the line, “floods her monotonous tribes from Cairns to Perth”, Hope is depicting Australia as being intellectually dull with dreary landscape affecting its citizens, strengthened through the next line, “the river of her immense stupidity”, highlighting that through the land being “monotonous” the humans that inhabit this land are now stricken by “immense stupidity”. Hope later states in the poem, “yet there are some like me, turn gladly home”, inferring that due to the monotonous land which inflicts stupidity upon its citizens, many of whom travel to Australia gladly leave as they are unable to fit in due to the lacking of intellect. Many are unable to belong or ‘fit in’ to Australia due to this relationship between place and self, explored through identity. Therefore it is evident, through Hope’s representation, the relationship between place and self is inextricable, where one’s place is reflected upon one’s being, morals and intellect.
The concepts of identity and belonging are ever present throughout the novel, particularly evident through Henry’s desire to move to Australia founded on the basis of finding a place where he could identify and belong to. During Henry’s years spent in England, he was never granted acceptance, constantly reminded of his hybrid identity as anglo-Indian. Upon stumbling across the Australian brochure, Henry is optimistic regarding a future in Australia where all, as the brochure states, ‘are accepted’. Through the quote, “He knows he is right. It is the only option. It is the only way”, Bishop expresses Henry’s yearning for a community identity where he is accepted and belongs. The physical place of Australia provides this hope, linking back to the inextricable connection between place and self, where self worth is manifested within place.