What ideas about Australia does your novel Explore? Looking for alibrandi is a novel by Melina marchetta that displays ones inner struggle with there own identity. It is set in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and explores various ideas about Australian culture, landscapes and stereotypes. Australia is culturally diverse and is accepting of others cultures. Many people that live in Australia have cultural backgrounds other than Australian. In looking for alibrandi, Josephine alibrandi is of Australian-Italian descent. In the novel Josephine’s nonna states “a different Australia emerged in the 1950’s. A multicultural one.
She also states “one day we couldn’t find him, everybody started looking. Italian, Australian, Spanish…everybody. ” This is just naming a few of the different cultures living in Australia and the everybody at the end symbolises her loss for words on how many different cultures there are in the country. Australia has many different landscapes ranging from the bush to the city and then the beach. In looking for alibrandi all three of the above are mention and a setting for different events that happen “We arrived in Sydney I saw the Sydney harbour bridge” the city is a beautiful place with many different Australian tourist attractions. We use to spend most days at Cronulla beach in the sixties” the beach is an enjoyable place. “The scenery is so boring and bare” Josie states this when she is on her way to Adelaide. All of the above are very different landscapes therefore people consider Australia as a landscape rich country. Although Australia is culturally diverse there is one race that is mistreated and has been mistreated for years, the aborigines and it is proven in this novel when Josephine alibrandi says “Redfern?
Do you know I have lived in this country my whole life and I’ve never spoken to an aborigine before. ” Josie has spoken to Italians, Australians, Germans, Greeks and more but never in her life has she spoken to an aboriginal before. Australia is a country that is culturally diverse and is rich in different landscapes and tourist attractions. Melina marchetta explores these ideas about Australia through her novel looking for alibrandi. In the novel she has shown ones inner struggle and managed to give a vivid image of what Australia really is.
