A Study Of White-aborigine Relationship In The Man From Mukinupin By Dorothy Hewett

This thesis is to discuss the relationship between white Australians and theAborigines presented in The Man from Mukinupin, a pastoral play written by the mostrenowned Australian woman playwright Dorothy Hewett in1979as a celebratingperformance for Western Australia’s sesquicentennial. Based on Homi Bhabha’stheory of hybridization of cultural identity in post-colonial context and BetroltBrecht’s ideas of epic theatre, this thesis explores the play’s representation of a newwhite-Aborigine relationship with subverting characterization and unconventionaltheatrical devices. By negating the prescriptive identification logic practiced on theAborigines and exposing the white’s colonial psyche, the play denies the hierarchybetween the white and the black and suggests a relationship of reliance that helps theAustralians construct a unique national identity.To develop the argument, this thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One offersan introduction of Dorothy Hewett and the play emphasizing the playwright’s closeconnection with the Aborigines as an inspiring research background for this thesis,followed by raising research questions based on a review of previous literatures andestablishing the corresponding theoretical basis. Chapter Two starts the discussion byexploring the play’s characterization of the "dark side", the marginalized party of thetown represented by the aboriginal girl Touch of Tar and bad boy Harry, whichlaunches an interrogation of identity by negating people’s custom logic of identification. Chapter Three turns the focus to the "bright side", the white Australiancommunity, and examines the white Australians’ ambivalent attitude towards theAborigines by analyzing in details the split character of Edie and the theatrical deviceof role doubling. Based on the analysis of the Aborigines and white Australians inprevious chapters, Chapter Four provides an analysis of the reconciliation between thebright side and dark side in ways of hybridization of both races and languages.Chapter Five is the conclusion where findings and implications of this thesis arehighlighted.