Fieldwork on Anzac Day

Abstract

In this research, a cohort of Australian scholars document one particular example of the Australian sacred ritual of Anzac Day, and apply Gay McAuley’s model of performance analysis to this and other associated rituals. To analyse any performance, McAuley suggests that the observer investigate four distinct stages of the performative action: (1) the “material signifiers” in the performance space; (2) the “narrative content and/or performance segmentation”; (3) the “paradigmatic axis” of the performance; and (4) the “global statement” of the performance. In this article, Hartney examines the “material signifiers” that mark this pilgrimage the authors make to Canberra and the construction of the Anzac Day Dawn Service. Alderton examines the narrative content and performance segmentation by focusing on how the ostensibly “White” performance of the Dawn Service relies on a narrative that excludes Indigenous voices. She does this through her analysis of the subsequent Indigenous remembrance service held on the same day, and other unofficial protests for recognition of Australian frontier wars. Tower then examines the paradigmatic axis of the ritual through a strategy of examining light and vision in the ritual, how light is connected to remembrance, and the manner in which an analysis of light focuses attention on what Max Frisch calls the magnetic field between perception and imagination. All three authors address McAuley’s concept of the “global statement” that the performance seems to manufacture. They examine how this fits into the Australian national religious system. Finally, they assess the relevance of McAuley’s schema for understanding national sacred rituals.