AustLit
Where Campfires Used to Gleam : A Collage of Bipolar Dreaming in Davis’ Aboriginal Theatre
single work
Issue Details:
First known date:
2010...
2010
Where Campfires Used to Gleam : A Collage of Bipolar Dreaming in Davis’ Aboriginal Theatre
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Jack Davis' preoccupation with an aboriginal sense of experience as symbolized through
uncle Worru's characterization in The Dreamers, is thought to have been sparked off by
a mysterious man named Jack Henry, whose nostalgia was embittered and angered by
what he considered to be the end of the golden age. Davis' own experience at the Moore
River Settlement and his angst at having been forced to overlook the Noongar culture
and tradition are snowballed into a representation of wisdom bordered on the edge of
eccentricity. Uncle Worru's strong evocation of a poetic, almost archaic, wish-fulfilling
past is thus addressed in terms of his dream-time stories. This paper tries to locate the
significance of the dream-time stories in consolidating the theme of protest. The question
is: how far successful is uncle Worru in acting out the role of Davis' spokesman? Uncle
Worru's scheme of looking back at his past endeavors and success needs to be
weighed against the younger generation's instinctive habit of dreaming forward into the
future. The sense of false securities embodied through uncle Worru's dreaming
backward in time necessarily comes in clash with the later generation's habit of
dreaming forward. The dilution of the theme of protest thus gets enmeshed in the
whirlpool of cultural abnegation. Davis' "syncretic theatre" distils the elixir of dreams
polarized on the chronological separation between past and present.' (Author's abstract).
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Last amended 4 Oct 2011 15:08:47
136-144
http://rupkatha.com/V2/n2/JackDavisAboriginalTheatre.pdf
Where Campfires Used to Gleam : A Collage of Bipolar Dreaming in Davis’ Aboriginal Theatre
Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities
Subjects:
- The Dreamers 1982 single work drama
- Writing from the Fringe : A Study of Modern Aboriginal Literature 1990 single work criticism
- Kullark 1979 single work drama
- Creating Frames : Contemporary Indigenous Theatre : 1967-1990 2004 single work criticism
- In Our Town 1990 single work drama
Export this record