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What is Disneyization?? The term refers to the homogenous pattern of a globalizing force in terms of consumption, merchandising as well the labour. It is a concept that resulted from individual trying to mimic and cpy another’s success, by following the different dimensions of theming, hybrid consumption, merchandising and performative labour. Despite various negative implications and impacts, it is still highly used and implemented concept around the world due to the continual successes. One of the more distinct evidence or crystallization of disneyization is the theme parks. Although not all theme parks are disneyfied, most of the theme parks do reflect the dimension of disneyiztion. Be it the universial studios or other, there are dimension so f disneyization in most of the theme parks in the world. One of the most disneyfied example in Australia would be the Movie World, Gold Coast. Warner Bros. Movie World is a popular movie related theme park on the Gold Coast in Australia. It is founded by Village Roadshow until the take over from Time Warner and is the only movie related park in Australia. It features various characters from different movies like superman and batman. Even to cartoons like road runner and tweety bird. The theme park contains various movie-themed attractions, interesting stimulators and rides. Other than that, costumed character performers also stroll around the theme park, allowing visitors to have their photographs taken with them. This fit the dimension of theming where the theme park follows the characters and movies. Other than that, hybrid consumption is also present as it is a well rounded, all inclusive place for the people to consume its products. Furthermore, the dimension of merchandising is also valid as it using the logo of Warner bros to do its promotions and sales. And by having staff parading around the theme park fit the perfomative labour where they have to endure and display a positive and happy mood as part of the labour. Thus, it shows that that disneyization of the theme park. Another example would be the Dream world, Gold Coast Dreamworld is a large theme park that is situated in the Gold Coast. It is currently the largest theme park in Australia with more than 27 rides in the park. The theme park is made up of several themed areas like the Ocean Parade, Nick Central, Wiggles World, Gold Rush Country, Rocky Hollow, Tiger Island and the Australian Wildlife Experience. Each of these lands showcases a different experience and types of rides, animal exhibits, shows, food outlets and merchandise shops. Other than that, Dreamworld is also famous for being the location of the show Australian Big Brother House. The theme park also fits the concept of disneyization as it have the concept of theming as well. It flows characters from Nickelodeon and other like Aliens VS Predators. And other than that, the merchandising factor is also in due to the fact that it using the logo of big brother promote and advertise its campaigns. The hybrid consumption dimension is also valid in the example as there is a variety of rides, restaurants and exhibitions. The changes that have been brought about by the growth of tourism in the country The changes, technically, is partial brought about by the growth in tourism in the country. But having more areas and sites like the theme parks. It will set up more potential markets for tourism. By doing so, it will have a form of disneyization of the area. This might bring about changes like homogenous products and other problems. And the growth of tourism would lead to further demand of such disneyfied attractions, which makes more corporations willing to invest to meet such a growing demand. Other than the homogenized products, it might also lead to the problems of lost in the traditional cultures and attractions into the artificial homogenized attractions. Once, the cultures and natural assets are gone, it could not be returned. If so, once the novelty of the artificial attractions are gone, there will be a lack of attractions. Thus, it will not be able to attract the more adventurous and nature-loving tourists who visits Australia for its own assets. Therefore, Australia will be facing trouble in the tourism sector. Furthermore, it might led to the lost in vibrancy of the country. Other than that, the revenue, which could be gained though cultures and art might be lost too. Thus the impacts might be great. Comment on whether tourism has been a culprit in commodifying cultures and traditions? There is a chance that it might have been the culprit in commodifying cultures and traditions. It might be due to tourists’ demands and choices to visit the homogenized areas to attain their sense of familiarity outside of their own country. It creates a homogenous culture across which is detrimental for the country. Other than that, tourism might cause the building and land to be used for tourists. As such, places like Ayer’s rock which is sacred had to be used as a tourists’ destination too. The commodified facilities and amenities sprouting around would also be due to the tourism sector. Such as the movie world, dream world, even others like sea world and adventure world appeared to engaged the market. Thus, it might be the culprit. However, there is a possibility that it might not. This is due to that not all tourists who entered Australia for the sake of the theme parks and modernized attractions. Others who went due to the nature and other beautiful scenic sites and even those cultural tourists, might improve the condition of commodification of the cultures and traditions. As there is still demand for such cultures and traditions, be it by tourists or as collectors of so traditional items, it would urged the preservation of the such cultures and traditions. Thus, in all, it might not be the total culprit. In conclusion, it might not be that bad as the culprit of the commodifying of cultures and traditions. It might have a hand in it but still, it might help salvage the condition as well. References : http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/australia.html http://www.australia.com/about/culture.aspx http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/people_culture.html http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/FOOD_IS_ART/places/Ausfoodarticle.html http://www.downunderonline.com/Australia_Holiday_Events.htm http://www.culturalsurvival.org/australia?gclid=CNPo2MXc36UCFUUa6wodLBzkzw http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/Indigenous_peoples.html http://www.edna.edu.au/edna/go http://www.dreamworld.com.au/Attractions/ http://movieworld.myfun.com.au/ http://www.tourismgoldcoast.com/theme-parks/ Posted at » 1:25 PM
Introduction ![]()
Australia has a land area of almost 7.7 million square kilometres which is almost as great as that of the United States of America (excluding Alaska). And much of Australia is flat, but there are numerous ranges across the continent(e.g. Macdonnells, Musgrave) and also some individual mountains of which Uluru (Ayers Rock) is probably most famous one of all. Australia’s actual name is the Commonwealth of Australia. And also the form of gover nment used in Australia is a Constitutional Monarchy whereby ‘Constitutional’ because the powers and procedures of the Commonwealth Government are clearly differentiated by a written constitution and ‘Monarchy’ because Australia’s Head of State is Queen Elizabeth II. There are various local governments established by state and territory governments to run and to take responsibility different areas. Each of the local government has a legislation and an executive but with no judiciary. Culture of Australia Meeting others Australians are not very formal when meeting others so greetings are casual and relaxed. Normally, a handshake and smile suffice. And also, Australians prefer to use first names, even at the first meeting. It displays casual attitude of the Australian. Gift Giving Small gifts are normally exchanged with family members, close friends, fellow colleagues and neighbours on special occasions. Even in companies, people may be given a small amount of cash, or a bottle of wine or a six-pack of beer. There will be invitation to homes for meal during festivals and occasions. When invited, a small gift is only polite to brought, like a box of chocolates or flowers to the hosts. And when the gift is received, they are normally opened. This shows that they appreciate and like the gift. Dining There are various kinds of gathering in Australia, and mainly for food. There are ![]() many invitations to homes for a gathering such as a BBQ. The guests normally bring along a bottle of wine or beer to such events. Australians being casual, they would have casual interaction during meals, like talking and even helping out with preparation of food and clearing up. While dining, the table manners observed are Continental, which refers to holding the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right while eating. And they do value the way their guests eats as it shows the way they behaved. People Australia experience a range of climatic conditions, from tropical monsoons to hot and dry weather and even snow due to seasonal changes. However, the climate is rather warm and temperate in the coastal cities. This results in people spending a lot of time outdoors such as beaches, in the countryside or at sporting events. Australians tend to be sociable and outgoing. They are mostly informal socially with acquaintances and other including strangers. Australians are not very formal when meeting others so greetings are casual and relaxed. But this informality does not includes physical contact like hugging or even kissing as by stereotype. Normally, a handshake and smile suffice. And also, Australians prefer to use first names, even at the first meeting. It displays casual attitude of the Australian. Australians normally wait for their turn to be attended to. Thus they are courteous enough and not rush for their turns; like queuing up to be served when there is a large number of people. And they value time very highly. Being on time for meetings and appointments is extremely important. Sports culture Australians has a very strong sports culture. Even during 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Australia ranked fourth overall in the medal. And also, Australia is also ranked the top cricketing nation in the world. Furthermore, a national survey showed that among the people, more than 11 million of them aged over 15 partake at least once a week in physical activity for recreation and sport which is a total of 70 per cent participation rate. The popular physical activities were swimming, cycling, tennis, golf, running, bushwalking, soccer and etc. They even have their own type of football, a uniquely Australian game that took forms from early rugby and Gaelic football, rugby league, rugby union and cricket. Other than that Australia has more than 120 national sporting organisations, be it of the state or locally. Religion Australia is a country that is mostly dominated by Christianity. It has about 64 per cent of all Australians identifying as Christians, from Roman Catholic to Anglican. However, there are various other religions present in the country as well, which includes Buddhism and Islam due to the influx of immigrants, reflecting Australia’s diverse multicultural society. But yet, mainly Australia’s earliest religious or spiritual beliefs are from the Aboriginal tribes who have lived in Australia for about more than 40 000 years. The Indigenous people have their own religious traditions and spiritual values based on, reverence for the land, “Dreamtime” which provides a means for each individual tribe’s beliefs and spirituality. This is linked to beliefs about the land, sea and sky. However, after the European settlement took place, most of the Indigenous beliefs have disappeared while others have become Christians. Traditions Festivals One of the most famous events in Australia would be Anzac Day, on 25 April. It is the day where the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) arrived at Gallipoli in Turkey, in 1915 for World War I. Thus, the very day is set as an event itself, in memory of those who fought for Australia and those who valiantly lost their lives in the war. The day is a national public holiday, where everyone stops in a standstill and the people commemorated the day with ceremonies, the laying of wreaths as well as military parades. Other than that, Christmas and Easter are two of the most important dates in Australia. Christmas is on 25 December, while Easter is on between late March and late April each year. These two days are so important because majority of the people in Australia are Christians, thus this two days are greatly recognized and celebrated with gifts and appreciation. And the common folklore would be the Santa Claus as the same with other European countries. There are various other events that occur during the year such as Woodford Folk Festival, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Melbourne International Film Festival and many more. This is due to the different states in Australia, thus each of the different states have different kinds of festival and traditional events that they partake in. Food Australia has a very diverse cuisine in the world. This is due to the geographical location as well as the influences for immigrants, which are both Asian and European. Mainly, Australia are able to sustain herself on their agricultural means and the high quality food products. Many areas adopted the growing and farming of exotic foods of Australian taste, like Asian greens, nashi pears, lychees, olives and herbs, even aqua culture has been affected like farmed Atlantic salmon and even southern bluefin tuna. Australians enjoy a variety of food in restaurants and homes due to the country’s cultural diversity. Basically, the tradition food of Australia would be the Traditional Australian bush tucker. Now, it is also becoming more common, particularly in northern Australian restaurants. It is where kangaroo, buffalo, crocodile and emu can often be found on menus. In History, there is generally no Australian cuisine. Yet Australian fare is one that evolved with each of the distinct flavours that each new culture brings in. And mainly, Australian most famed and tradition food that is commercialized now would be wine. Its’ wine sector is recognised internationally as high-quality wine styles and varietals to match any dish. Arts Australia has a vibrant arts scene that include various forms, that ranges from dance, to film to visual art, and even to that of literature. It reflects the Indigenous cultural traditions as well as its rich mixture of migrant cultures. According to one survey, almost 13 million or 88 per cent of adult Australians attend at least one cultural event every year. The most popular art form is film. It is mainly attended by about 70 per cent of the population every year. It is one that is most vibrant and internationally recognized, such as the Melbourne International Film Festival. Other forms of art that was partaken are music concert, art gallery or museum, opera or musical, attend live theatre, dance performance and a classical music concert. Other forms are like Visual art Visual artists have a major in Australia’s image in art. This is due to the fact that it includes the original art from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to the nationalist painters, symbolic surrealists and modern artists reflecting issues confronting contemporary Australia. This put a definite form in their tradition in appreciating art forms in the various degrees. Also, Australia has a strong literary tradition. This dates to way back to the time where the storytelling of Indigenous Australians begins and continued to the time where stories of convicts arriving in Australia in the late 18th century. Indigenous groups in Australia “Aborigines” is the word used to describe, in general, the indigenous people living in the Australian continent. There are 400 and more distinct Australian Aboriginal peoples that have been identified across the Australian continent. Each of the individual tribes are distinguished by unique names based on the tribe’s ancestral languages, dialects, or distinctive speech mannerisms. Examples would be Ngunnawal people who were the first occupants of the city of Canberra, Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, and The Eora people were the original inhabitants of the Sydney region in 1788, before any of the Anglo-European colonists arrived. In current facts, Archaeologists believe that the ancestors of the aborigines arrived first upon the continent from up to 60 000 years ago. The other and flowing immigration of people from Asia actually slowly take place over a very long period of time up to ten of thousands of years. The early Indigenous people learnt to adapt to the changing environment of such a extreme climatic continent. They constructed building and structures and wore various article of clothing to protect themselves from the seasonal elements. As early hunter and gatherers, the traditional Indigenous peoples used a wide range of tools, to secure their survival, all these includes boomerangs, spears, nets and etc. Population The Indigenous population at the time before all the European settlement, was about 315 000. In following years after that, the Indigenous population fell drastically as a result of increased mortality rate and declining fertility. Worst still, was that by the 1930s the total Australian Indigenous population was declined to only 20 per cent of its original size. And the laws towards them are not very fair or of equal treatment. Only following a referendum in 1967, laws were made in respect to the aboriginal people, to include them into the considerations in the country’s establishment. And yet in 2006, despite identification of aboriginal people and all, the total number of them only collate up to a mere 2.3 per cent of the total Australian population. Location of the aboriginal people The aresa where the indigenous people of Australia are nucleated are mostly in New South Wales or Queens land. By 2006, the states were actually home to more than 200,00 people. And of all the states in the continent, the northern territories have the highest proportion of them. And about half of the indigenous people live in or close to major cities, but in proportion to total Australian population, the indigenous people are more likely to live in the rural areas. And across the continent, just about 24 percent of the people in rural areas are indigenous and just about 1 percent of them live in major city. Spirituality of the indigenous Most of the indigenous people believes in the core of “Dreamtime”or “Dreaming”. It is used to explain life and the origin of how the world came about. And in the belief, there are ancestral beings that created the world and its features, like the sky, sea and the land. And based on the belief, there are stories of these ancestral beings where some of which became certain features of the land, like the Three Sisters rock formation. Such beliefs actually govern the life of the people and how each of them behaves. It also displays the indigenous people’s lives and relationships with the land and earth. They are also subjects to various traditional stories and music, and especially, the traditional artwork and drawings in the country. Art and culture The art of the indigenous people are actually considered as one of the oldest traditional art forms in the world. The art forms included paintings and engravings on boulders rocks, cave walls and some are on trees as well, where some of which actually goes back to 30,000 years. The current contemporary art forms of them are just expressions of the ancient tradition, which are now famed across the world. Other art forms of their culture would include body painting, tree carving, bark painting, weaving and even sculpture. But current modern indigenous art includes printmaking, fabric painting, ceramics and glass making. Other than that, Indigenous peoples have a rich musical tradition. They used such traditional music to celebrate the different actions and journeys of their ancestors from the stories in ceremonial folk song and dance. Although Traditional Indigenous music was mainly vocal but there is the uses of musical instruments like didgeridoos to enhance the richness of the music. But in modern culture, now Indigenous performing arts are mostly showcased in various cultural festivals across Australia. Not only that, the styles of Indigenous music have evolved and integrated with other mainstream music like pop and rock. Languages in Australia English is the primary language used in Australia. However, they have very colourful vocabulary, accent, phonetics system and also there is a slang ('Strine') that they use which could make understanding them harder and can take time to get used to. All people in Australia are highly encouraged to learn English, as it is the national language and a important tool of communication to unite the multicultural society. But other languages are also recognised and persevered. In a survey done, there is about 15 percent of the Australian still speaks languages other than English in their homes. As so, the other commonly spoken language includes Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Arabic, Vietnamese and Mandarin. In general, Australians speak more than 200 languages, including Indigenous Australian languages. From the time in 1788, there were about 250 separate Aboriginal languages in Australia, that that does not include the dialects. Yet in the modernised world, only two thirds of these languages survived and only about 20 of them which is a total of 8 per cent of the original number of aboriginal languages still have the possibility of surviving into the next century. In addition to these, there are also various languages of immigrants that is included like from Europe, the Middle East and even Asia. Mode of education Education in Australia, is founded and primarily the responsibility of the states and territories across the country. Each of the individual stat provides the funds to sustain the public and private schools in the areas under their concern. However, the government do not get themselves involves in setting what curriculum the students are studying. Generally, the education system in Australia is a three-tier formation which is similar to that of Singapore, which is the primary education, moving on to the secondary education which are secondary school or high schools, then to the tertiary level of education, which are universities and colleges. However, Education in Australia is compulsory for every citizen between the ages of five to ages of fifteen to seventeen, which depends of each individual state, from the date of birth. Other than that, post-compulsory education is formed and adhered to within the Australian Qualifications Framework, which consists of a national qualifications in schools, vocational education and training and the universities. The types of leisure programs In Australia, there are too many different kinds of leisure programs. Many of which had already been stated above. Firstly, there is the appreciation of arts and music, which creates a platform of Melbourne International Film Festival and other art museums and galleries. Another would bethe types of festivals which had been stated before,like the Mardi Gras, Christmas, Easter and the Anzac day. All these are forms of leisure programs. Other than those, there are the sporting events, which actually include the Australian Opens, where many strong tennis players around the continents enter to tournament to play against each other as well as the game of cricket. Many of these sporting event are leisure undertaken, either as a participant or a spectator. Basically, besides all this, there is also the outdoors activity which is in the blood of Australians. The activities have a very wide range, which includes, hiking, diving and camping and BBQ-ing. This is a very common form of leisure activity undertook by the Australians as they are blessed with the challenging terrains and beautiful scenics. Other than all those, there are also those that are not so obvious, which is the party and nightlife sector in Australia. This exist as a form of leisure activities as they like to gather together and “chill” at bars and pubs especially after work and all. What is this country known for? Natural environment They are primarily known for the natural environment. It includes the vast areas of dessert and forests. Other than that, there is the famous rock, the Ayer’s rock, which is scared to the indigenous people. And also, there is the Great Barrier Reef, which boasts of the beautiful coasts and bountiful marine life. Many people who know about Australia mainly know of the natural setting of the country. As such assets of theirs had been promoted again and again to other countries, people came to know about mainly the natural attraction of the country. Other than the natural setting, they are also famous for the aboriginal people and culture. It had been started to be exploited and promoted overseas to gain tourists’ interests. Other than that, the art of the aborigines are very sought after. It includes paintings, sculptures and others etc. Thus, the two main well know icon of Australia would be the natural assets and the aboriginal people. Posted at » 1:03 PM Tuesday, November 30, 2010 Bla Bla Bla Posted at » 6:35 AM |
BIO The Culture of Australia Explored LINKS Hui Xuan - Japan //``Jane - Korea //`` P04 - Class Blog //`` Aloysius - Thailand //`` Ting Ting - Egypt//`` Shi Huan - Taiwan//`` Ruth - Russia//`` Billie - Korea//`` Amanda - //`` Freya - Ireland//`` Bryan - Argentina//`` Desmond - Brazil//`` Ren Kai - Qatar//`` Michelle - Tibet//`` Ben - South Korea//`` Demelza - Holland//`` Dawn - Saudi Arabia//`` Melody - //`` Rebecca -//`` Wan Leng - Taiwan//`` Yanlin - Peru//`` TAGBOARD you can insert a tag board, a webcam, or a picture here the cell is wide enough so that it should fit great without having to adjust codes -BEHINDBLUEIS92 |