The Challenges Of Growing Up In A Multicultural World In 'Looking For Alibrandi'

Under the signboard of multiculturalism, children from immigrant families encounter challenges when growing up in a multicultural world. By virtue of diverse cultures ensuing from the bulk immigration in Australia, multiculturalism has become a reality in the country since the 20th century. This is a turning point in Australian history, not only as there are institutional alterations, but the citizenry also tolerates the issues arising from the impact of cultural diversity. In the bildungsroman, 'Looking for Alibrandi', Melina Marchetta (1992) discloses how a multicultural context engenders challenges young adults endure during pre-adulthood.

Whilst a multicultural context has benefits on constituting an environment for young adults to thrive, through the experiences of various characters, the novel analyses the challenges of racial discrimination, struggles of maturation and the resulting hardships of forming a cultural identity during adolescence when growing up in a multicultural world. Young-adults experience racial discrimination in a multiculturalism context. This idea is reinforced in Moran (2011): "Blainey claimed that multiculturalism was a recipe for ethnic conflict and 'warring tribes' within the nation-state" (p. 2164). In her novel, Marchetta (1992) focuses on the Italian community, which finds it hard to completely integrate itself into the mainstream Australian culture. To demonstrate, Marchetta (1992) reveals the issue of racial discrimination through the unpleasant experience of Josephine Alibrandi, the female protagonist, during the "Josie-Carly incident" in Chapter 8.

On this occasion, Josie overheard her classmate, Carly Bishop, labelling some Italians at a nightclub as 'wogs'. However, Carly didn't take the matter seriously and apologised perfunctorily as Josie thought she was "forced to" (Marchetta, 1992, p. 82). Indeed, this offended Josie as 'wog' becomes a racist remark when it "comes out of the mouth of an Australian", unless "they're a good friend" (Marchetta, 1992, p. 88). This scene reveals typical racism at that time in Australia between Italian and Anglo-Australian. Josie, with an Italian background, was being insulted by Carly, a girl with an Anglo-Australian upbringing. Furthermore, according to a survey conducted by Professor Blair (2017) from Western Sydney University, the intensity of people perceiving discrimination due to their cultural background is high. While there is a variety of races in a multicultural country, there is no guarantee the host community will accept every dissimilar culture, discrimination will arise as an aftereffect.

Therefore, by characterising Carly in a racist way, Marchetta (1992) displayed the racial discrimination that youngsters in a multicultural society might encounter, due to the impact of disparate cultural beliefs of diverse ethnicities. Juveniles confront contradictory expectations and self-beliefs that contribute to struggles on maturation. Contrary prospects of different generations were induced between immigrant families. This is justified by researchers from the University of Minnesota, who introduced the Intergenerational Cultural Dissonance (ICD), a clash that occurs commonly between parents and children over cultural values among immigrant families (as cited in Choi, He & Harachi, 2008). Moreover, Ying & Chao (1996) attested a symbolic occurrence in which immigrant parents comply to their traditional cultural faiths while their children advocate predominant understandings in the host country; indicating growing-ups in a multicultural world often strand between anticipations of their families and the Australian community.

Additionally, Marchetta (1992) signifies the contrasting intergenerational cultural values through the interaction between Josie and her grandmother, Nonna Katia. To illustrate, Josie realized the necessity to revolt against the trite Italian female model in Chapter 3, when Nonna elucidates how the norms restrict Italian women to devote themselves to their husband's will, Josie said, "[s]uch self-sacrifice is very hard for me to understand" (Marchetta, 1992, p. 76), she'd swear "to God that if there is something I am going to escape in this life of rules and regulations it will be my dreaded rituals" (Marchetta, 1992, p. 33). This is further evident in Chapter 16 when Josie said she'd "like to be a rebel Italian" (Marchetta, 1992, p. 152). These examples uncovered Josie's anticipation of not to be constrained by the rituals Nonna advocates. Markedly, Josie's ambitions attain much farther than her family aspirations, boosting her to escape not only from her obsolete-minded family, but also the entire Italian culture. Hence, by illustrating the conflicting intergenerational expectations and self-aspirations of Josie, Marchetta (1992) exposes the challenges adolescences encounter when maturing in a multicultural nation. Hardships of forming a cultural identity fall on pubescent when maturing in a multicultural world.

On the basis of intergenerational cultural conflicts, teenagers in an intercultural environment struggle to contain multi-identities. Significantly, findings of Renzaho, Dhingra & Georgeou (2017) corroborated teenagers in immigrant families experience difficulties in balancing the assimilation into the dominant culture with preservations of fundamental cultural perceptions. In her novel, Marchetta (1992) illustrates the challenges of creating an individual identity through Josie's identity crisis. This is evident in chapter 2, when Josie said, "I want to belong to her world" (Marchetta, 1992, p. 32), referring to Poison Ivy's Australian world, exhibits Josie's intention to be involved in the prevalent Australian community. However, although Josie disregards her heritage, she realizes it is difficult to detach from her origins. This is represented in chapter 19, Josie refers to "Tomato Day" as "[a] tradition that we'll never let go" (Marchetta, 1992, p. 175). She recognizes the significance of her origin and the need to keep it, because it "is nailed into you so deep you can't escape it" (Marchetta, 1992, p. 175). These illustrations show how adolescences from multicultural backgrounds negotiate multiple identities - Josie is stuck in-between the two worlds and is forced to sculpt herself to suit for both.

Ultimately, Josie creates a cultural identity successfully. This is assured in the last chapter when Josie concluded, "I know where my place in life is. ' (Marchetta, 1992, p. 258), she is proud to affirm herself as "an Australian with Italian blood" (Marchetta, 1992, p. 259), accepting her Italian descent while integrating into the Australian culture. Thus, by illustrating the growth of Josie, Marchetta (1992) discloses the challenges of growing up in a multicultural society to create a cultural identity. To conclude, by illustrating the trials of miscellaneous characters in 'Looking for Alibrandi', Marchetta (1992) explores the challenges of growing up in a multicultural world through racial discrimination perceived by children in migrant families, strenuous maturation and the identity crisis. Youngsters experience racism due to various ethnicities, they also endure contradicting home expectations and self-aspirations, while these build adversities for them to create their own cultural identity in a multicultural society. Hence, albeit a multicultural context seemingly provides an ideal environment for teenagers to grow, it essentially launches challenges for them to live under the influences of two different cultures, which is especially portrayed along Josie' journey of discovery throughout the novel.