Identity Identity to many Australians means generations of Australian Days and hot summers. On Australia Day we celebrate all the things we love about Australia: land, sense of fair go, lifestyle, democracy, the freedoms we enjoy but particularly our people But for Asian Australians, Australia Day, 26 January, is the day to reflect on what it means to be Australian, to celebrate contemporary Australia and to acknowledge our history. But for some Australians, its the day to remember their history origain and a reminder of their lack of belonging.
As seen in pomes by two Asian/Australian poets’ descendants of immigrants, Ouyang Yu and Maureen Ten (Ten Ch’in U). Both have faced the same discrimination of their cultural background and have been accused of their nationality. Leading to both asking, who am I? If not Australian, who am I? and the realisation of not knowing enough about their heritage to be Chinese, who am I? Through their pomes and use of language techniques they can convey the experiences of connecting and disconnecting to Australia. |
Maureen Ten (Ten Ch’in U)Ouyang Yu. |
"Just because you are born into a place, does not mean you belong"
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Out of place. |
A lasting journey |
Just because you are born into a place, does not mean you belong. This is what has happened to Ouyang Yu. Ouyang Yu is the poet of a pome called New Accents. Throughout his short pome he shows us the discrimination he has received and the loss of his job due to his accent and pronunciations. Regardless of being Australian. “spoke of the “antipodes” like “anti-pode-s” and lost my M.A. candidacy in Canton. Because I created “ee-sence” in essence””. Ouyang uses alliteration throughout his pome, this creates a disconnect to Australia and our way of pronunciation. His experience with Australia was not all that good, “they tried to fool me around because I couldn’t” people treated him differently because of his pronunciation. But he didn’t let it get to him. In a way he felt his connection to Australia, it was the people he felt no connection to. Ouyang’s broken English which has held him back from society, has given him the power to connect to Australia, regardless he held his ground and stated “and they, the professors, rightly lost a genius in me, with their English and my Anguish”. Through Ouyangs pome he doesnt give people names, just a country. That emphasises that their culture is more important then their individual identity. "P from Wuix", C from Canton". Ouyang was able to use his pome to explain to others that it is okay to be differet even though we are all the same, and with that we are able to accept our selves as we are. Geniuses in our own right.
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Maureen Ten (Ten Ch’in U) is the poet of Translucent Jade. Her journey with her pome starts with her grandfather and he is gift to her. Her use of metaphors and similes eludes to our thinking his gift is nothing more than a handmade toy. Maureen goes to tell us about her mothers’ gift to her, and as a child it was more appealing than the old gift of her grandfathers. “Not that it was jostled aside, but it short of slipped away” It is her mothers’ gift to her, that helps to connect to Australia. But it is also her mothers’ gift that disconnects Maureen from her heritage. Maureen’s gift from her grandfather was her last name Ten Ch’in U, her mothers was to shorten the name to Ten. As Maureen grew older her old last name seemed to fade into the background, making her feel less connected to her culture. To the point she decides to change it back. “Today I retrieved his gift from its silence. Barely, rarely used, it seemed mostly new. Pristine. I tried it on.” Although the name by right is hers, she conveys through her pome, how the name feels as though it is not her own and her lack of belonging but wanting to. “Sometimes I felt imposter. Sometimes I thought in reflected hidden aspects I could own.” Maureen’s disconnection to her family line shows as she struggles understanding if indeed the name belongs to her after she let it slip away and if it will accept her. “what vibrations are these? Does this begin to become me, do I belong to it? This translucent, slowly-yielding music, Chinese name.”
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