Identity, race and music video : a case study of ritual representations of indigenous Australian identities in popular music videos

Abstract

As technology evolves, new forums are created that allow for the communication of social messages to large audiences. These present a challenge to the discipline of Anthropology to find means to address ritual in a world where media is increasingly a primary point of cultural communication. This thesis suggests that, just as more 'traditional' forms of ritual reflect social relationships and ideologies and act as a space where notions of identity are broken and reaffirmed, so too do contemporary media-orientated secular rituals. This is demonstrated through the application of anthropological theory to a case study of Australian music videos, in which notions of Indigenous Australian identity are represented, asserted, and broken. The results of the case study suggest that music video is a ritual space in which representations of identity reflect an Australian society struggling to create a dialogue between racial identities in the wake of a colonial legacy.