How does does Tom Wrig ht us e mul multtiple text text types types to g ive B lack lack Dig g ers a s ense of his torical accuracy?
As Tom Wright Wright states in the introduction introduction to the play, the aim of Black Diggers is about ‘putting black faces back into all our history.’ Hence Black Diggers is written with reference to real Australian history. history. Its historical historical accuracy is improved improved by Wright’s Wright’s usage of multiple text types, which serve to integrate a sense of realism into the play, reflecting the social, military and religious contexts of the times. The varied text types in the play place the audience in a position to view the historical events through different lenses, reflecting the complex and multi-layered nature of history itself. Furthermore, as a realist drama, Wright explores tensions within and between people through the use of appropriate costumes and props that accompany speeches, eulogies and dialogues. The real-life interviews and research conducted by W right, Williams and Enoch are reflected also in the use of historical artefacts to tell the story, providing evidence of Black Diggers’ historical accuracy.
The adoption of multi-text format serves to integrate a sense of realism into the play. D ifferent text types including songs, poems, and prayers are extracts from real-life sources. Hence they reflect the social, military and religious contexts of Black Diggers . For example, the song “Sons of The Southern Cross” is performed in an Australian folk style that the audience is familiar with, thereby absorbing them into the war-time historical historical atmosphere. The line “Australian boys don’t shirk or fear” epitomises the patriotic Australian ideals: only those who participate in the war and sacrifice for the country can be considered as great Australian men. This men. This will remind the audience, especially those who have lived through war, of the prevalent nationalism nationalism in Australian society during the Great War and the World War II. Hence the songs enhance the military context of the play. This helps the audience to understand why the Indigenous soldiers long to participate in the war, assisting them in empathising with the characters. Wright also reveals the social and religious contexts of the play through the usage of prayers. In Black Diggers , both Aboriginal and White soldiers share the same Christian religion. This is seen when Archie says prayers regularly; Laurie and the British Captain read out the same Biblical verse; and Bertie only knows the Christian way to commemorate his dead Aboriginal mate. This illustrates White Religion’s invasive role in eroding and destroying Aboriginal Aboriginal traditions and beliefs. This dominant role of Christian religion epitomises epitomises the social context of ‘White Australia Policy’, that white settlers ‘impose(d) their foreign way’ on Aborigines, forcing them to abandon their original original identities and grow up without the knowledge of their own history. By doing so, Wright is able to remind the audience about the darkest period of Australian history, evoking a sense of guilt and anger in them. In these many ways, the multiple text types contribute to the substantial contexts of the play.
The varied text types in the play position the audience to view the historical event from different lenses, reflecting the complex and multi-layered nature of history itself. Each text type in the play symbolises a different view. Some text types, such as radio broadcasting and the Prime Minister’s speech give the audience an official account of the war. Other text types, such as personal correspondences and individual dialogues, reveal the personal interpretations of the history. This is known as historiography. historiography. Even though the past itself never changes, history, which tries to form an understanding of the past, is always shifting and evolving. People approach the same event with their own methods, priorities and values. They develop new theories and conclusions that may change the way we see and understand the past. This is exemplified in Black Diggers : For Indigenous soldiers, their participation in the war is significant and this should earn them the privilege of being recognised as “naturalised British subjects”. However, the Australian government chooses to ignore Aboriginal narratives in the process of founding the nation, as it only praises “fair” men who are “clear of eye” as the “finest” of Australians. Hence Hence the various various text types expose expose the audience audience to different aspects of of the same event, so that by the end of the play it no longer seems simple or isolated but is complex. In doing so, Wright is able to convey the idea that absoluteness does not exist in historical accounts, and this is why the play delivers a combination of multiple perspectives. perspectives. The audience is not forced to agree with Wright’s interpretation of the historical events, instead they are encouraged to evaluate different perspectives, perspectives, and thus forming a full understanding of history. history. Wright also reveals the contradictory views of the war through different text t ypes.Wright ypes. Wright illustrates the sanitised and romanticised view Australian government had through the voice recording, where it describes white Australian soldiers as “extraordinary specimens” and “gallant figures” who has “toughness” and “the ingenuity of the land of their birth.” This epitomises the prevalent jingoism in Australian society, society, that Australian Australian soldiers are are always heroic heroic and they achieve achieve victories in all the battles. However, these myths are challenged and dispelled by the Ghost’s soliloquy later in the play. “…and the dirt can go back to being just dirt”, a cynical take on the futility of war. For war. For the soldiers, their participation is the cause of their personal tragedies, tragedies, which render them traumatised and depressed. Hence the Ghost’s monologue monologue reflects reflects a personal experience experience of the war, indicating that reality on the battlefield is not as glorious as the official account makes it out to be. The audience is thus positioned to view the historical events through various perspectives, and by contrasting them they are required to piece the evidence together and question who really ‘owns’ history.
