Explore How Perceptions of Belonging Can Be Influenced by Connections to Places

Explore how perceptions of belonging can be influenced by connections to places.

Ones connection to belonging is largely determined by the places in which an individual finds themselves. Throughout Peter Skrzynecki's poems in "Immigrant Chronicles", such as 10 Mary Street and St Patricks College, through the use of imagery and symbolism Skrzynecki displays his own personal struggles of adapting to a new country. Similarly in the 2010 Internet blog "Muslim girl at school" the composer of the image demonstrates the barriers between cultures and thus the inability to completely connect to a place, in this case the American school life.

10 Mary Street is both an autobiographical poem and a general representation of the details of a domestic life as a child observes them. Within this poem Peter Skrzynecki talks of the stability of routine and the connection he has to his new home in Australia. With an unknowing start to the family's time in Australia, as seen in Migrant Hostel, The new daily ritual of their lives is much appreciated by the poet as he uses similes to describe the families departure each morning where for "nineteen years" they "shut the house/ like a well oiled lock". From the perspective of the immigrant experience and the tension between old customs and the need to change to new ways, the home in which the poet finds himself connecting to becomes like a museum for his parents. Within it they pretend they have never left their homelands: "kept pre- war Europe alive/ with photographs and letters...", As the poets parents struggle to let go of their old country in which they belonged, the inability to adapt to the new world grows and the insecurities of a new society widens. 10 Mary street has become an outpost of the family's European past and once it is "pulled down" they will have no home, both literally and culturally, the sense of belonging and the connection created by the family to the home, and what it represents will be lost.

Connecting to places is a constant thrive for all individuals, however the ability to connect to school is a reoccurring motive for any child. In the 2010 Internet Blog "Muslim Girl at School" the composer displays cultural barriers of a Muslim girl in an American school. The use of the salient image, being the Muslim girl shows the audience the isolation of her from the other students, her body is slumped and the characterisation of the girl is distort and devastated which further demonstrates the alienation and inability to connect to the school and students. The vectors of the twin towers between the Muslim girl and the American school students suggests to the viewers that the events of 9/11 created this barrier for the girl and all Muslims, to belong to the American society. Despite the fact the girl is carrying an American lunch box, and could