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Aborigine Oppression in "No Sugar"
Summary: The play "No Sugar" by Jack Davis highlights the discrimination against aborigines between 1929 and 1934, particularly the Australian government's justification of its "protectionism" policy. Audience reactions to this work undoubtedly depend upon the race and social status of the Australian audience members.
Drama can be recognized as an enduring literary medium which is applicable to different audiences. Factors, such as race, period, and historical events, essentially, context, must be assessed in order to predict the reaction of such audiences to the social issues raised by a particular dramatic work.
Jack Davis' No Sugar, first performed in 1985, is a post-colonial realist work written in protest of the 1988 Bicentenary celebrations. In this broadly applicable play, Davis highlights the discrimination against Aborigines between 1929 and 1934 and particularly its justification under the government policy of `protectionism'. Focusing on the experiences of the Millimurra family, No Sugar underscores the view of Aborigines as uncivilized, the attempt to assimilate them to white culture through Aboriginal reserves such as the Moore River Settlement, and the resilience and determination of Aborigines faced with almost complete disempowerment.
Written from an Aboriginal perspective, No Sugar can be seen to have considerable...
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This section contains 2,593 words (approx. 9 pages at 300 words per page) |
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