Belonging

The extensive study of Peter Skryznecki’s poetry and additional texts from Dennie Gordon and Carla Van Raay assisted me in the understanding that individuals may be excluded from family and friends with differing backgrounds, yet still remain capable of cultivating a sense of belonging to certain individuals, groups or places who share similar traits or attitudes with them. Peter Skryznecki’s poem ‘Postcard’ signifies the lack of connection that Skryznecki feels towards his parent’s homeland, which is seen through the image on the postcard, sent by a friend who, “...requests I show it/To my parents”. Throughout the poem it is highlighted that the postcard has differing personal connections towards the poets parents than himself and therefore is more intimate towards them. Due to the poets family background the image has a powerful resonance. The poet continues to address the image of the city as ‘alive’ and a “Great City”, to those who have experienced her, yet this excludes Skryznecki. He states,“I never knew you/Except in the third person.” This helps elucidate the distance Skryznecki feels towards this city. This creates a sense of disconnectedness between the poet and his families background and suggests that although he may not belong to their background he is still capable of cultivating a sense of belonging to other individuals, groups and places. This sense of distance between the poet and his family’s homeland as symbolised in the postcard, is further demonstrated when the poet outlines how the older migrants in Australia, such as his parents, have become custodians of Warsaw’s past, “They shelter you/…cherish your religion.” The use of the third person here highlights that Warsaw does not belong in any tangible sense to the poet, he feels connected yet cut off at the same time. A sentiment which is repeated through the continual statement by the poet, “I repeat, I never knew you/Let me be.” This further emphasises the undeniable pull of his cultural heritage that is clearly present between himself and his parent’s homeland. He begins to contemplate, what exactly makes Warsaw so special, mentioning, “I’ve seen red buses/…An obstinate glare.” Skryznecki himself doesn’t understand the full importance as he’s seen these ‘special’ things ‘elsewhere’, “What’s my choice,/To be'” Through the use of the rhetorical question, the audience is able to distinguish the pull that Skryznecki feels towards this land, yet he does not fully comprehend why he feels this way. The scene on the card clearly fascinates him, declaring the hold the heritage has over him and the connection he finds hard to accept, “On the river’s bank/…Before you die’” The personification helps the audience recognise the conflict of connection between Skryznecki and his parent’s homeland. Hence, Skryznecki may be excluded from family and friends with differing backgrounds, yet still remains capable of cultivating a sense of belonging to certain individuals, groups or places who share similar traits or attitudes with them. When considering the character Daphne Reynolds and her family relations in Dennie Gordons film What a Girl wants the sense of not belonging is . Daphne lives with her mother in America, yet as she matures she desires to develop a relationship with her father, who lives in Britain, as her sense of belonging to her family unit is threatened by not having this connection, “I feel like half of me is missing and without the other half how am I supposed to know who I really am'” Daphne not only suffers difficulties in cultivating this sense of belonging due to her father having another wife and step child but also because she has been separated from him her whole life. “Henry asked us to give you some pointers, didn’t he' Pointer number one, go home. Me and mother belong here and it’s quite clear that you don’t...” Therefore, indicating that her sense of belonging to the family unit is even more complicated than Skrzynecki’s, as she has to develop a sense of belonging not only to a place, but also to a whole new family too. “Stop trying to be my Daddy’s little girl, because I’m not going anywhere.” This highlights that Daphne’s relationship between herself and her father is significantly important to her and despite the complications between her father’s family and the media she isn’t giving up her father daughter connection easily. Whereas, Skryznecki doesn’t have this over powering desire for a connection with his family, rather he denies his strong cultural pull between his parent’s homeland and himself. Daphne’s lack of knowledge about her father’s origin and family background adds to her loose sense of belonging to his family, “I’ve had my tonsils removed, does that mean I count'” This highlights that Daphne still loosely belongs to her father and his family unit, yet her sense of belonging as a whole is hindered due to her lack of knowledge and connection to the origins of her father’s family, similar to Skryznecki. Thus, Daphne loosely belonged to her family unit as a whole yet her sense of belonging was hindered due to her under-developed connection and knowledge to the origins of other family members. In the beginning of the poem, ‘Feliks Skryznecki’ it is clearly established that the poem is a paean as Peter recounts the events of his father’s life. Peter exaggerates the love that Feliks has for his garden, “Loved his garden like an only child/…Spent years walking it perimeter ...” The exaggeration captured from the use of the simile suggests that the lengthy periods of time spent within the garden, demonstrates that Feliks cultivated a sense of belonging towards the garden and found satisfaction within it. “He swept its paths/…Ten times around the world.” The ironic metaphor is used to overstate the distance covered by Feliks, as he has only travelled as far as his new homeland, yet he is effectively isolated from developing a sense of belonging to the wider Australian community, further conveying the connection between the garden and himself. Feliks also cultivated a sense of belonging to his friends, ‘Talking, they reminisced/…With corn and wheat’ This evidently illustrates the sense of belonging Feliks and his friends share due to their similar traits, attitudes and experiences. The use of third person, ‘they’, helps elucidate that Peter is not a part of the reminiscing; therefore highlighting that he doesn’t belong. Although Feliks cultivates a strong sense of belonging towards his friends and the garden, he is excluded from the accepted norms of the time due to his differing cultural background. “A crew-cut, grey haired/…‘Did your father ever attempt to learn English'’” This is clearly a representative of the dominant society of the time, outside the garden. This further suggests the derogatory attitudes of the Australian’s towards the migrants. It exemplifies that Feliks is excluded from the accepted norms of the time in Australia due to his differing cultural background, yet he is still able to cultivate a sense of belonging to individuals, groups or places who share similar traits, experiences or attitudes with him. “On the back steps of his house/…Watching stars and street lights come on.” This highlights that although Feliks is excluded from the excepted norms of the time in Australia due to his differing culture, he is still able to cultivate a sense of belonging to individuals, groups or places that share similar traits experiences and attitudes while still feeling happy and content with the garden and world he has created for himself. After also considering Carla Van Raay’s novel, God’s Callgirl, it too challenged the responder to consider that individuals may be excluded from the accepted cultural norms of the time, yet they are still able to cultivate a sense of belonging to certain individuals, groups or places who share similar traits, attitudes and experiences with them. In the beginning of the novel, the accepted cultural norms of the time in Australia are clearly evident and the exclusion Carla felt when she first arrived in Australia is clearly demonstrated in the phrase, “The bows made us look conspicuous but it wouldn’t of mattered what we wore: the Australian school children, catholic or not, despised the new comers simply because we were different.” Due to the novel being based on a true story (memoir) helps emphasize the power the text has towards the audience, causing them to empathise more strongly with Carla due to the use of third person narrator. The attitudes of the Australian children towards migrant people, further conveys the sense of not belonging Carla felt when she was ridiculed and judged due to her differing cultural background. “They couldn’t understand us, so they ridiculed us… they had derogatory names for migrant people.” Although Carla and her family moved to a strange place, which had significant differences from their homeland, they were still able to cultivate a sense of belonging to adaptations that were present in both countries. This is exemplified in the text, “We were in a strange land, in a different culture, but, incredibly the picture of our Lady of Counsel was the same…” Migrants from other countries, with differing cultures still shared similar traits and experiences with Carla, therefore signifying that a sense of belonging between them was present,“…we would join the reviling new migrants from other countries and so we became part of the fabric of school society.” Carla’s sense of belonging towards the church and Jesus was present due to her formerly being involved with the church in Polland. Thus, further conveying the satisfaction she gained when she was a apart of the rites of Mass, similar to the satisfaction Feliks gained when he was within the garden. “Every single morning I attended Mass, and even acted as their altar boy… I felt privileged to be so closely involved with the rites of Mass. My devotion to Jesus grew.” Therefore, although Carla’s sense of belonging towards the Australian’s was minimal due to her differing cultural background and the accepted norms of the time within the country, she was still able to cultivate a sense of belonging towards individuals, groups or places that shared similar traits, attitudes and experiences with her. Unlike Feliks, Carla desired for the feeling of love and attention, which she attained with her involvement within the church. Whereas, Feliks was content with his life as it was and didn’t yearn for acceptance. Therefore, as shown, the texts studied reflect that there are many contributing factors to gain a sense of belonging or not belonging, which may or may not affect the individual. As my understanding of this concept has developed it has become clear that belonging isn’t only the feelings of acceptance and the connections which are felt towards friends and family. Through my studies I have grasped a more intricate and multifaceted concept and came to realise that an individual’s sense of belonging can be hindered due to a lack of knowledge or connection to family members, it can also be affected due to their differing race or cultural background to the dominant culture of the time and lastly an individual may not belong to the world of the text as created by the composer due to lack of similar experiences. Although these notions are only minimal reasons for an individual to feel a sense of belonging or not belonging, they strongly developed my appreciation and knowledge towards the concept.