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  • Essay / The Question of Identity in the Search for Alibrandi and Under the Clouds

    Introduction As Josie said in Melina Marchette's novel, “Searching for Alibrandi,” “You can't hate what you do. What you are. Most of the time I blame myself for it, I still curse it, but it will be a part of me until the day I die. In today's ever-growing societies, the concept of identity is extremely imperative. Identity is beyond external attributes, it is more about internal elements. Most individuals define others by the color of their skin, their ethnicity, and the environment around them. Self-identity is vital for adolescents, shaping their sense of belonging throughout adolescence and adulthood. The concept of identity also determines a person's actions, the way they behave, and the decisions they make. People who grow up with strong religious beliefs and a strong cultural tradition often find themselves struggling with their identity. In the texts "Searching for Alibrandi" and "Under the Clouds", the theme of adolescents struggling with their identity is represented through the stories of Josephine Alibrandi, Lena and Vaughn, as well as the ideology of the authors , the use of the theme, the emotion, the film. techniques, body language and aesthetic devices. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay Melina Marchette's 1992 novel “In Search of Alibrandi” and Ivan Sen's 2002 film “Under “clouds” are popular texts that detail this perennial problem. of Identity, particularly among adolescents. In Melina's novel, the story is set in the 1980s and centers around the concept of the struggles of teenage girls and some of the many problems one may face during their teenage years. In Ivan Sen's "Under the Clouds", the concept of identity is also present and appears as a very distinct issue between the film's protagonists, namely Lena and Vaughn. Identity is important for adolescents because it is the time when they try different schemes to discover themselves and who they really are. The author uses his own ideology that creates a theme and mood that makes the viewer and readers feel empathy for Josie, Lena, and Vaughn. “Searching for Alibrandi” is a novel written by Melinda Marchetta, a well-known Australian writer, author and teacher. In her novel "In Search of Alibrandi", it is about a young Italian girl called Josephine Alibrandi, she has an Italian grandmother, an Italian mother and an Italian father, who each present different points of view on their cultural origin, good and bad. Josie's actions, behaviors and feelings show that growing up in Australia while being a second generation Italian is not the best experience, as she is a full-blooded Italian with a father of non-Australian culture. Josie's ambitions and aspirations extend beyond her Italian heritage, which is why she has different perceptions than her Nona and her mother. Throughout the novel, it is clear that Josie is very frustrated with her culture because it has caused huge problems in her social life. Josie's perception of her identity caused a lot of isolation from her family and school friends as well as a complete rejection of her culture. Like any teenager, Josie's identity is very important to her. She eventually learns to embrace her Italian culture, but before doing so, she mainly struggles with her job, her father figure, her Nonna, her mother andhis school friends. Melinda Marchetta wrote this novel with Josie as the protagonist without a legitimate father figure, leaving her having to piece everything together and better understand who she is and where she essentially belongs. Josie has been illegitimate her entire life, and her actions, thoughts, and emotions throughout the novel expressly show that she does not love him and her father. Josie and Christiana have always been criticized by their family for a very long time as Christiana had Josie when she was very young which was frowned upon in their Italian culture and the fact that Josie's father was not in any of their lives did not help. just makes things worse. Melinda portrayed Christina as having very powerful judgment and presented herself as a very strong-willed woman. She has a bad relationship with her mother, Katia Alibrandi. Marchetta made Katia the strong Italian influence of the Alibrandi family. As a first generation immigrant to Australia, Katia had to face exclusion, racism, segregation and survive in a new country. Katia brings with her a strict set of cultural rules and regulations which are expressed in the book, with the dominant ideologies being the importance of marriage, the anticipation of marrying within your culture, and the fact that illegitimacy does not is not acceptable, Katia Alibrandi portrayed with such strong morals and values ​​as she was forced to marry at a very young age and moved to a country that was foreign to her, she confides in Josie about her life and her affair with a man whose she was in love. Prior to this, Melina had built a very passive aggressive relationship with Josie and her Nonna, which is one of the main influences Josie faces in feeling resentful in her relationship. Similar to Melina’s “Searching for Alibrandi,” Ivan Sen produced a film that details the issue of identity among adolescents. There are similar aspects between the film's protagonists, Josie and Lena. Josie comes to accept her multicultural origin. She says: “I’m an Australian with Italian blood running fast through my veins. I say this with pride because pride is what I feel. Ivan Sen uses cinematic techniques such as camera angles, cinematic codes and body language to show the rejection Lena faces. In the film, Lena is constructed to have a very difficult relationship not only with her indigenous mother and stepfather, but because of the connection to her indigenous origins, Lena is from a very regional and poor back town. -country with few opportunities for anyone living there. including Lena and her friend Ty. Ivan Sen brings together themes of isolation and melancholy in the film where Lena and Ty are depicted walking along a dirt road with road trains passing by. Lena's body language instantly creates in the viewer a feeling of empathy for her situation in the city. Ty reveals to Lena that she may be pregnant, to which Lena responds, "'You'll never get out of this shithole.' Lena has a difficult home life which Ivan describes with her younger brother being taken away by the police as she arrives home. Lena's body language from this particular scene shows automatic anger toward herself, her brother, her mother, and her stepfather, Lena expresses to her mother. "You don't give a damn about us, do you?" Ivan uses this as a tool of foreshadowing because this is the first example of Lena rejecting her indigenous origin, she breaks up with her mother. She impulsively decides to leave with little money, a backpack and a photo album which is the only memory she has of her father. Lena is a light-skinned, green-eyed teenager, she has no traits of a person of indigenous culture other than the way she.