|
|
|
| This is only the first few lines of this paper. If you would like to view the entire paper you need to register for free here. If you are already a member then login here. |
| Word Count: |
2017 |
|
|
|
Review of Marlo Morgan's“Mutant Message Down Under” in the context of “Understanding or Appropriation?” (used for oral presentation)
|
|
|
Mutant Message Downunder by Marlo Morgan. Is basically a book about a spiritual odyssey a woman undertakes with a desert group of Aborigines who remain unknown and ambiguous to the reader. It is a book that has become highly controversial in its appropriation of Aboriginal culture in order to sell New Age philosophies to readers who are spiritually hungry to “get down to basics.” One critic of the book stated it was “Cultural imperialism masquerading as harmless new age spiritualism.” My own perceptions of the book? Firstly let me just say I hated the book. I thought it was badly written and was obviously deceptive in its representation of Aboriginal culture, both traditional and modern, and I thought from the beginning the whole idea was absurd. Let me put it into context; the book itself is an autobiographical account by the author, Marlo Morgan, who is a white American health practitioner. In this book she chronicles a three month walkabout she undertakes across the Australian continent through the centre with a group of 62 desert Aboriginal people, a tribe she calls the “Real People.” In accompanying the tribe she becomes the first white to be allowed in their midst. During this journey with this group of “traditional nomadic” Aborigines she gains spiritual enlightenment and learns to understand the harmonious connection that everyone potentially has within ourselves, others and the environment. Morgan is “chosen” by this unknown group of Aborigines due to not only her good-deeds working with an urban indigenous community, but the fact that they heard her call for help and also she allegedly had a spiritual connection she the tribal elder chief when they were both born. Morgan is privy to many aspects of the culture, including philosophies, sacred sites, spirituality, secrets of the Dreamtime learning how to communicate by hand signals and mental telepathy and even the arts of transformation and illusion. Knowledge is passed down to her of bush medicine and foods, sacred ceremony and the secret business of both men and women! Integral to this tribe is respect to the land and worship to “Divine Oneness,” sort of like the circle of life. She is given the highest honours when she is given admittance to the only sacred site left in Australia, a cave where she learns that the “Real people” will soon voluntarily become extinct via celibacy. The book then climaxes when it is revealed to her that she was chosen as a messenger to tell the western world about the concept of “divine oneness” and to save the dying planet. Her acceptance is described as fate by the tribal elder and she basically symbolically becomes reborn into an Aboriginal person. In essence, she claims these events in the book to be truth despite the obvious fact they show blatant disregard for Aboriginal law and respect to its culture. Instead I would suggest Morgan uses Aboriginal cultural as a mouthpiece through which to channel her pre-determined New Age ideals and practices. Thus Aboriginal culture is misappropriated to the extreme.
|
|
|
|
Still Can't Find What Your Looking For? Then Try a Essay Search!
|
