Essay Responding to Kim Scott's Novel "That Deadman Dance".
Question 1:
Rite Wail (1).The novel is about writing, about rites, about whaling- especially right whaling-and about wailing.
Explore the ways in which these two words at the start of the novel encapsulate the world of the novel as a whole. Try to focus your answer on the language of three or four key passages in the novel.
“That Deadman dance” by Kim Scott is a powerful yet delicate interpretation of words. The reader is presented with two distinct and memorable words in the prologue ‘rite’ and ‘wail’ (Scott 1) that resonate throughout the text to encapsulate the novel as a whole. Bobby Wabalanginy is introduced as the protagonist; he demonstrates an ability to understand the complicated ‘new’ language and culture of the English, juxtaposed to that of his native Noongar heritage. Kim Scott masterfully plays with the language of the text, cavorting between English, the Noongar language and Noongar-English. This essay will discuss Scott’s use of the dynamic yet versatile words ‘rite’ and ‘wail’ by exploring them in their entirety; writing, rites, whaling, right whales and wailing.
The act of ‘writing’ plays a pivotal role within the novel, in particular for the character Bobby. Writing is seen as a skill and trait carried from the British. As a result, characters such as Dr Cross and Mrs Chaine taught Bobby his letters (Sheahan-Bright 3) in attempt to provide civility, as it is their ‘moral duty’ to do so. (Scott 165) The novel highlights Bobby’s dexterity to tackle the newly found English language intertwined with his Native Noongar language. This at times proves difficult for the reader to follow due to Scott’s intentional lack of grammatical syntax and spelling.
Kim Scott cleverly groups words to further their contextual and spiritual meaning. For instance, the words ‘Rite Wail’ can be read as ‘rite’ which is identified as; ceremonies, dance rituals and kinship. Dissimilarly, ‘wail’ refers to the use of ‘crier’ language (Griffith) as the
Rite Wail (1).The novel is about writing, about rites, about whaling- especially right whaling-and about wailing.
Explore the ways in which these two words at the start of the novel encapsulate the world of the novel as a whole. Try to focus your answer on the language of three or four key passages in the novel.
“That Deadman dance” by Kim Scott is a powerful yet delicate interpretation of words. The reader is presented with two distinct and memorable words in the prologue ‘rite’ and ‘wail’ (Scott 1) that resonate throughout the text to encapsulate the novel as a whole. Bobby Wabalanginy is introduced as the protagonist; he demonstrates an ability to understand the complicated ‘new’ language and culture of the English, juxtaposed to that of his native Noongar heritage. Kim Scott masterfully plays with the language of the text, cavorting between English, the Noongar language and Noongar-English. This essay will discuss Scott’s use of the dynamic yet versatile words ‘rite’ and ‘wail’ by exploring them in their entirety; writing, rites, whaling, right whales and wailing.
The act of ‘writing’ plays a pivotal role within the novel, in particular for the character Bobby. Writing is seen as a skill and trait carried from the British. As a result, characters such as Dr Cross and Mrs Chaine taught Bobby his letters (Sheahan-Bright 3) in attempt to provide civility, as it is their ‘moral duty’ to do so. (Scott 165) The novel highlights Bobby’s dexterity to tackle the newly found English language intertwined with his Native Noongar language. This at times proves difficult for the reader to follow due to Scott’s intentional lack of grammatical syntax and spelling.
Kim Scott cleverly groups words to further their contextual and spiritual meaning. For instance, the words ‘Rite Wail’ can be read as ‘rite’ which is identified as; ceremonies, dance rituals and kinship. Dissimilarly, ‘wail’ refers to the use of ‘crier’ language (Griffith) as the
Cited: Brewster, Anne. "Whiteness and Indigenous Sovereignty in Kim Scott 's That Deadman Dance." The Journal of the European Association of Studies on Australia 2.2 (2011): 60-61. Web. 11 Aug. 2012. Michael, Griffith. Week 3 Lecture. Strathfield, Australia: N.p., 2012. Australian Catholic University. Web. 16 Aug. 2012. "Right Whale". Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopaedia Inc., 2012.Web. 10 Aug. 2012. Scott, Kim. That Deadman Dance By Kim Scott. Australia: Picador Pan Macmillan, 2010. YouTube. Web. 10 Aug. 2012. . Scott, Kim. That Deadman Dance. Sydney, Australia: Picador, 2010. Print. Scott, Kim. "I come from here." CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture (2011): 1. Academic OneFile. Web. 2 Aug. 2012.