Anguished indigenous selves in julie jansons plays

Abstract

Julie Janson (1951 - ) has been acknowledged as one of the foremost Australian newlineAboriginal playwrights. She has a rare combination of intelligence, perfectionism and newlinegood humour quite visible in her artistic creations. The present study attempts to newlineanalyse five plays of Janson to uncover the anguish experienced by Indigenous people newlineof Australia. It is structured into seven chapters. The introductory chapter presents a newlinebrief survey of Australian literature, and fixes Janson in the literary context. The newlinesecond chapter A Marginalised Bushranger deals with the process of oppression newlineand marginalization undergone by an underprivileged bushranger, Mary Ann, who is newlinetriply marginalized for she is a woman, an Aborigine and a bushranger. The central newlinecharacter becomes a silent witness as well as a victim of injustice, discrimination and newlineindignity thrusted on Aborigines. She becomes a symbol of Aboriginal resistance and newlinewoman power. The third chapter, Violation of Rights focuses on issues of human newlinerights violations as revealed in the play Gunjies. The analysis probes into questions newlineof land right, Aboriginal radicalism, the massacres, the high rate of imprisonment, newlinecustodial death and racial discrimination. The fourth chapter The Image of Women newlinedeals with two women characters who represent different aspects of womanhood and newlinethe sexual humiliation and psychological trauma undergone by them. Even though newlinethe women suffer both in the physical and psychic levels, they do not lose their hope. newlineThey have to live and they do not want to mourn for their past. The female central newlinecharacters become stronger and affirm that they are stronger from within. They newlineempower themselves and take an oath to defend their country by taking a pledge of newlineblood. The fifth chapter Anguished Experiences highlights the sufferings undergone newlineby the Indigenous people. Atrocities of police, cultural clash, poverty, sexual newlineharassment, imposition of culture and exploitation bring anguish in their lives. The newlinesixth chapter, A Commentary on Craftsmanship eval