Identity in Life Writing of M.E. Jordan's Balanda: My Year in Arnhem Land as an Alternative Discussion in Pursuing English Literature Learning for EFL College Students

摘要

EFL college students in Indonesia mostly tend to analyse classic literary works or Young Adult Literature. Actually they have chance to do an alternative discussion on life writing in literature class, for instance on Marry Ellen Jordan's Balanda: My Year in Arnhem Land (BMYIAL), published in 2008. It is a life writing written based on the author's life experience during her time working for twelve months in the Australian Indigenous people (AIP) community in Maningrida, Arnhem Land, Northern Australia. Redd (2005) claims that the narrative of Jordan's BMYIAL is very evocative. Moreover, the title of BMYIAL shows a provocative term - Balanda. In Jordan's BMYIAL, the term of Balanda literally applies to the non-Indigenous population at Maningrida as described by its Indigenous inhabitants. At the same time, the term of Balanda also situates the author's experiences 'out of place' on a land that she identifies as Aboriginal land. In addition, Jordan's BMYIAL is an interesting life narrative because it alludes two issues: the self-identity of Balanda's and the cultural identity of Australian Indigenous people (AIP). The aim of this paper is to identify both types of identities and to discuss the influence of Balanda's identity upon AIP's cultural identity as a discussion model for EFL college students.