Conflicting Perspectives - Stolen by Jane Harrison
Stolen! What if you were ‘stolen’ from your family… but the kidnappers thought they had ‘rescued’ you? The kidnapper/s then tried to brainwash you to make you like them and eventually you started to be confused about what the truth was … These are the conflicting perspectives that I have experienced in my chosen text which is a stage play called ‘Stolen’ written by Jane Harrison.
What makes this text more frightening is the fact that the scenario is real and that it happened in our own backyard (Australia) - and legally! A conflicting perspective is an alternate point of view to the dominant mainstream perspective. The White Australia Policy was in conflict with Aboriginal families, needs, culture and identity.
‘Stolen’ traces the lives of five Aboriginal children removed from their families in the 1900’s under the official Australian policy of ‘Assimilation’. It is very persuasive in that it enables the reader to experience with great empathy this ‘alternate’ perspective; through the use of a variety of dramatic techniques and Didactical theatre. Stolen presents varying perspectives and the positive and negative experiences from 5 different people; all from the Stolen Generation. This looks at the context of their times and regions and is representative of the diverse experiences of the thousands of stolen children, fighting their homogenous representation and stereotypes.
The play is not set in actual real time and the characters do not actually interact, but this shows their 5 similar but parallel universes in their journeys and conflicting perspectives.
Out of the five main characters the best character for this focus was Anne. Anne is a pale skinned child who is adopted and grows up not knowing she is Aboriginal. She discovers her two conflicting perspectives, her identity within opposite cultures, and is internally conflicted; torn between the two.
In ‘ANNES’S SCENE’ Anne addresses the audience directly with her conflicting perspective when talking of
What makes this text more frightening is the fact that the scenario is real and that it happened in our own backyard (Australia) - and legally! A conflicting perspective is an alternate point of view to the dominant mainstream perspective. The White Australia Policy was in conflict with Aboriginal families, needs, culture and identity.
‘Stolen’ traces the lives of five Aboriginal children removed from their families in the 1900’s under the official Australian policy of ‘Assimilation’. It is very persuasive in that it enables the reader to experience with great empathy this ‘alternate’ perspective; through the use of a variety of dramatic techniques and Didactical theatre. Stolen presents varying perspectives and the positive and negative experiences from 5 different people; all from the Stolen Generation. This looks at the context of their times and regions and is representative of the diverse experiences of the thousands of stolen children, fighting their homogenous representation and stereotypes.
The play is not set in actual real time and the characters do not actually interact, but this shows their 5 similar but parallel universes in their journeys and conflicting perspectives.
Out of the five main characters the best character for this focus was Anne. Anne is a pale skinned child who is adopted and grows up not knowing she is Aboriginal. She discovers her two conflicting perspectives, her identity within opposite cultures, and is internally conflicted; torn between the two.
In ‘ANNES’S SCENE’ Anne addresses the audience directly with her conflicting perspective when talking of