Journal articles on the topic 'Sudanese-style'

This study is a chronological detection for the development of the Sudanese novel from 1948 to 2010 and its different stages. In this study the author depends on Dirdeeri’s (2007) classification of the Sudanese novels into three stages in addition to Khidir’s (2010) point of view about the nineties period; that is by discussing the different characteristics of each period and the famous writers during that period; then the paper ends with a brief description of the style of Sudanese novel

The Sudanese-style mosques, which are places of worship that bear witness to the secular presence of Islam in the current territory of Côte d’Ivoire, are gradually disappearing. This state of affairs partly explains why the Ivorian government launched the process of including them on the world heritage list. Despite their historical importance in the field of Muslim worship, reference to these types of mosques is less present in the historiography of Islam in Côte d’Ivoire. This article provides a general but not exhaustive portrait of Sudanese-style mosques in Côte d’Ivoire. It sheds light on the founding stories, the actors, the socio-cultural practices, the worship service and the architecture of these religious buildings. 

Background: Vitamin D plays a role in critical cellular processes such as apoptosis, cell development, and division. The Fok1 polymorphism in the VRD gene is T/C resulting in larger vitamin D receptor protein with lesser expression activity. Fok1 polymorphism is thought to be linked to many diseases including diabetes mellitus, cancers, and rheumatoid arthritis. The snipe also provides effective and sensitive diagnostic and predictive tools and affected by differences in ethnicity and individuals' life style. This study reports on the frequency and distribution of Fok1 SNP among healthy Sudanese transplantation donors.
 Method: This cross sectional study was conduct in National Cancer Institute University of Gezira, Sudan. One hundred and forty six healthy Sudanese transplantation donors were enrolled in this study. Two ml of venous blood was collected from each participant and stored at -20 till DNA extraction. Qaigen kit was used for DNA extraction. VDR Fok1 was genotyped by CTPP-PCR with proper primers designing and PCR condition. Data was collected by structured questionnaire and analyzed by SNP Stats online tool and medical calculator.
 Results: According to study results theFok1 polymorphism distributed among Sudanese with percentage of 49.9% (TT + CT), frequency of SNP variants was 69.8% regarding C allele and 30.2% for T allele, while the three genotypes was 10.2% for TT, 39.7% for TC and 50.1% for CC genotype.
 Conclusion: The frequency of Fok1 VDR SNP was high among healthy Sudanese transplantation donors, this necessitate the conduction of wide area survey among other healthy Sudanese population. This intern will help in investigating the nature of the relation of this SNP with other different diseases.
 Keywords: Vitamin D, Fok1rs. 2225870, VDR SNP, Sudanese

Food items reflect the culture and tradition of any nation and respond to national and global demographic, social and economic changes.
 Sudanese as old African nation has rich and distinct nutritional heritage represent the traditional Sudanese diets which able to serve the nutritional requirement of linear growth of body and the brain for centuries.
 The present century has witnessed unprecedented globalization in term of mobilization of individuals and commodities with dramatic cultural changes. As direct result of such events, as elsewhere, western style of energy dense refined food items replaced the centuries’ long traditional nutrients and fibers dense diets.
 The aim of this article is to evaluate effects of shifting from traditional diets to the modern adopted food items on Sudanese health, as there are increasing discrepancy of neonatal physical parameters and rising incidence of obesity and non-communicable diseases.
 The study concluded that increasing urbanization and shifting from the traditional diets has grave consequences on human health in Sudan, with increasing incidence of low birth weight, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension as detail in the main text of this article.

AbstractRefugee life stories have developed as a popular medium for attempting to portray southern Sudanese wartime experience. These narratives of war and exile have been told, edited and published in what has become an explanatory industry in refugee work worldwide. The development of this economy of life stories from the early 1980s, however, has encouraged the propagation of standardized displaced “life stories” as a discrete narrative genre. This article traces the formulation of this distinctive style of historical explanation and argues that this genre, while claiming emancipatory agency and “voice” for marginalized people, has instead become a narrative trap.

AbstractThis article examines two northern Nigerian Muslim intellectuals – Aminu Sagagi and Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (enthroned as Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II of Kano, 2014–20) – whose approaches, in different ways, exemplify a self-consciously eclectic Islamic intellectual style. Their eclecticism breaks with categories familiar from the study of Islam in Africa and Nigeria, categories such as Sufis, Salafis and Islamists. The eclecticist style – or rather, styles – draw on northern Nigerian Islamic modernist traditions, the curriculum and atmosphere of Sudan’s International University of Africa (where both of these Nigerian intellectuals received degrees), and a wider set of global influences. Given their diverse intellectual formation, the eclecticists’ writings and careers allow for an examination of the translocal exchanges that have shaped what is sometimes perceived as a self-contained unit called ‘northern Nigeria’. The article further explores how the eclecticist style manifests in legal and political thought, analysing the critiques that Sagagi and Sanusi made of sharīʿa implementation in northern Nigerian states in the early 2000s. The article draws on Nigerian and Sudanese sources, as well as unpublished and published writings by Sagagi and Sanusi, to describe their intellectual trajectories and outlooks and offer a portrait of the eclecticist style.

This article is part of a study on the Sudanese social and political context during the formation of the Modern Movement and the manifestations in built form and spatial expression during the period 1900-1970. The study has been on–going for several years and includes a literature search, local surveys (of unpublished and undocumented information) as well as photographs taken by the authors, sourced from architects or published material. It is argued that the Sudanese response to the International Style was in fact early experimentation in critical regionalism. The most notable architectural heritage in Sudan are the archaeological remains at Kerma and Napata as well as the remains of ancient Meroe about 180 km north of Khartoum. These cultures demonstrated sophistication in building materials and construction techniques. Due to climate changes, political changes and religious changes over a large stretch of time (642AD with the signing of the Bagt Treaty–1898 at the demise of the Mahdist era) the qualities of the built environment became more transient and rudimentary in character with a greater focus on manifesting tradition through body images, clothing and rituals that were not necessarily tied to a particular physical location rather than through monuments. With foreign interest in the strategic location of the Sudan, and as a part of the scramble for Africa, came specific stylistic and technical manifestations.

The press in Sudan differs from other African countries. If the latter’s press originated at the hands of Europeans, and at the hands of patriots in Arab countries, it originated in Sudan at the hands of foreigners loyal to Britain since 1899, the beginning of the (British-Egyptian) condominium. Therefore, the press was not free, did not express the opinion of the people and was only concerned with what the British administration wanted, and it continued to do so until 1932. However, in spite of that, “Al-Fajr” magazine was published in June 1934 for its founder and editor-in-chief Arafat Muhammad Abdullah, and “Al-Fajr” played a role in achieving the goals for which it was issued, namely politics and public demands. It played a dangerous role in intellectual and political life. and literature in Sudan. Al-Fajr was concerned with specific axes to re-write the history of Sudan, and called for the renunciation of fanaticism and tribalism, the abolition of the indigenous administration system, the “indirect” government system, and the fight against sectarianism and partisanship. "Al-Fajr" paid attention to the Arabic language and literature. Al-Fajr" magazine had aleading role in the "Alumni Conference" and crowned their struggle by holding the General Conference, and publishing its ideas, principles and demands, as "Al-Fajr" was considered an important event in the world of Sudanese journalism in terms of editing, classification and style, especially in the field of literary journalism and journalism of studies, research and articles. the magazine continued In its line and kept giving until it stopped in 1939 after the conference established, leaving behind a trail of a developed school in the field of Sudanese and Arab journalism.

Several studies have been devoted by researchers to the architecture of Djenné and Tombouctou. Some have focused their studies on the architecture of cities; others have focused their analyses on its origin. However, the contribution of migrants to the development of the architecture of these two cities is not perceived with relevance. This article therefore aims to highlight the contribution of migrants in the development of architecture in Djenné and Tombouctou. To carry out this work, we relied on the documentary review of Arabic, European and Sudanese sources. Through the examination of the sources, the study revealed that the contribution or contribution of migrants has been decisive in the architectural evolution of these cities. The revival of the ancient civilization of the Nile Valley deported by the Songhay and then the presence of Muslim scholars have given a boost to the architecture of the cities. The ingenuity of the migrants was reflected on the one hand in the introduction of a new style and plan of construction; on the other hand, it was materialized by the construction of monumental buildings such as the madougou or the royal palace and the mosques between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

The article examines the main features and specificity of the formation of the Hellenistic culture in ancient Sudan. To assess the nature of the Hellenistic influence on the culture of Meroe, the author analyzes the characteristic features of the region's architecture, reliefs of temple complexes, painting and decoration of walls, items of minor art, jewelry, which had been obtained during archaeological excavations. The author explores the ways of penetration of Greek culture directly and through Egypt, as a result of which the Hellenistic culture of Meroe becomes the result of the syncretisation of Hellenistic Egypt and local forms. The borrowing had a specific nature, most of the Hellenistic elements were re-interpreted, transplanted into the Meroe and adapted to the local culture. The processes of transformation of images created through the syncretization of Egyptian Hellenistic images with local culture gave rise to a special form of Sudanese Hellenism, in which the Meroitic reading is traced in the concept, form and style. Such processes of combining local features with images that came from Egypt were typical for the entire history of contacts between these two Nile civilizations, the nature of the interaction as a whole was subjected to uniform laws, giving rise to a unique form of Hellenism in Meroe.

The Sudan, a name derives from the Arabic expression bilad as-sudan meaning the lands of the blacks. Thousands articles cover prominent Pan-African, Afrocentric and Africology theorists and writers who have transparent, bold, and brave advocatory writings uncovering African architecture significance and values including articles of the Sudan’s architecture. The two Pan-African, Afrocentric and Africology theorists and writers who later become Americans; the Kenyan American Ali Mazrui and the Nigerian American Nnamdi Elleh are the most renowned. For the purpose of this research only Public and Governmental Buildings will be taken into consideration as they constitute most of the buildings built for the use of the communities. Evidences for the constructions of the Sudan in form of Public and Governmental Buildings appear in the ancient Kushites mainly as monumental buildings in form of shrines as temples, sanctuaries and burial places as cemeteries and pyramids until the Christian kingdoms who had Cathedrals and Churches as Public and Governmental Buildings. The Mahdist State and the Anglo-Turkish rule of the Sudan had some of their Public and Governmental Buildings in form of Mosques and burial places as the mausoleums (Qubbas). Vernacular architecture in the Sudan, an architecture that characterizes a place by giving it a specific social identity or a sense of belonging and a sense of place reflecting the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it exists. This kind of architecture reflects Ethnicity, Tribalism and Territory, therefore, there is a necessity in the search for an architecture that boosts resolving these socio-cultural problems. Soci-culturally communities all over the world faced with the challenges of the prevailing notions of globalization and Critical Theory that rejects ideology. In the midst of all these challenges of contemporary architecture dominantly adopted in these recent years, the Sudan, thefore, should not be an exception. The objective of this research is to necessarily call for the production of Public and Governmental diversified buildings to boost resolving social problems by adopting Contemporary architecture most precisely Critical Regionalism architecture movement, with other Contemporary architecture movements. The architecture of power and sovereignty such as Public and Governmental buildings could so much assist in reflecting social coherence and unification the Sudanese people should derelict the inferiority feeling in Ethnicity, Tribalism and Territorialism many Sudanese people suffer as a result of producing Public and Governmental in styles other than Critical Regionalism and the like that. Buildings in styles other than Critical Regionalism styles and the like makes people have inferiority feeling for their socio-cultural values in contrary to acquiring unity and coherence feeling. The majority of Sudanese people being of African origin with a good number of Afro-Arabs of different Ethnicity groups, various Tribes and many Territories will not easily come to a consensus in regards to an agreed upon building style that satisfies their socio-cultural differences. The method adopted in coming out with this research is analytical in which the architecture of the Sudan will be traced from the past until the present modern and contemporary architecture to see whether it is in any form has an Afro-Arab hybrid uniqueness in architecture.

<p><strong>Introduction:</strong> Obesity and dental caries have a serious impact on a child’s health; they can be potentially prevented by increasing the knowledge and awareness of proper oral hygiene practice in addition to healthy food consumption. <strong>Objective: </strong>To determine the correlation between body mass index and dental caries of a sample of 6-11 year old Sudanese children. <strong>Materials and Methods: </strong>A<strong> </strong>Cross sectional school based study was conducted. A total of 360 children (50% boys, 50% girls) were examined for body mass index and dental caries prevalence. Physical examination was done by recording the child’s height and weight to calculate the body mass index. Dental caries index was carried out following the WHO criteria. <strong>Results:</strong> The most prevalent body weight category was normal weight (60.6%) in both genders followed by the underweight group (28.3%), the overweight group (6.4%), and the obese group (4.7%). Boys exhibited a higher prevalence in the underweight category than girls, while overweight was more prevalent in girls (8.3%) than boys (4.4%). The mean dft for primary teeth was 4.68 in both genders and the mean DMFT for permanent teeth was 2.52 and 1.88 for girls and boys respectively. There was a negative correlation between dft and body weight category. No correlation between body weight category and DMFT was found. <strong>Conclusion: </strong>No correlation between dental caries and age-specific body weight category was found in permanent teeth while in primary teeth the underweight category was more related to the presence of dental caries than the other body weight categories.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Key words: </strong>body mass index, normal weight, overweight, obesity, dental caries</p><p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span></strong></p>

The urban and temple centers of the ancient Sudanese kingdom of Meroe – Hamadab, Awlib and Abu Erteila are located to the south of capital, at the mouth of the seasonal watercourse Wadi el-Hawad, and flourished under the King Natakamani in the 1st century A.D. The study of the pottery shape features makes it possible to identify the morphological evolution of Meroitic ceramics, its functions, and local characteristics. Archaeometric analysis of pottery helps to differentiate the methods of its manufacture and belonging to production centers. As a result, we can say that each of the settlements could have own pottery workshops, which provided, first of all, their needs. Trade in ceramics was weak, and ordinary types of utensils were used in the exchange of their contents. The location of the pottery workshops identified in Hamadab and Muweis demonstrates the development of a planning system for their settlements according to a single model, clearly divided into residential and craft areas, being a characteristic feature of the production infrastructure of the capital region of the Meroitic Kingdom. Although the image of material culture of Meroe shows a high degree of centralization, clearly expressed in the unity of the temple and administrative architecture, and the style of household and cult items (primarily ceramics), we can conclude that the handicraft production and exchange of goods between Meroitic settlements were less centralized, which led to the creation and active functioning of their own pottery workshops both in large urban centers and small administrative and temple complexes.

The study aims to investigate the relationship between the styles of dealing with social media content and personality Five-Factor the Sudanese psychologist. The researchers used a style of dealing with social media, and the Five-Factor Inventory Costa & McCrae. The researchers applied the tools to a sample of 300 (males and females) Sudanese psychologist. The collected data analyzed statistically by SPSS. The results showed positive styles of Sudanese psychologist dealing with social media content and showed high levels of positive of the Sudanese psychologist, and showed a significant relationship between styles of dealing with social media and (Extraversion, Conscientiousness) of the Sudanese psychologist, and no significant relationship between styles of dealing with social media and (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, sex, age, social media). Finally, the researchers gave some recommendations depending on the research results.

In any community, beliefs are formed according to ideological, historical, political, intellectual, social and environmental changes. Hence, the research aims at unmasking the role of these changes in forming beliefs in the Sudan and, thereof, showing the way they are reflected in Sudanese poetry. Accordingly, the problem of the research consists inherently in the following question: to what extent could the Sudanese poets highlight Suda- nese beliefs in their own poetry? In this context, a group of Sudanese poets have highlighted the images of those Sudanese beliefs which are distinguished from the beliefs of other countries. In this regard, the Sudanese poets are obviously strongly affected by the call of the late Sudanese critic, Hamza al-Malik Ṭambal (in early twentieth century), in which he called on the Sudanese poets to emancipate themselves from imitating the classic mode of old and contemporary Arab poetry. To Ṭambal, this style of the classic Arab verse has negatively impacted the Sudanese poem, the result of which is the lack of the distinctive character of the Sudanese poetry. Of the most important outcomes concluded by the researcher is that the Sudanese poets, in their portrayal of the Sudanese beliefs in their poetries, have been flagrantly been affected by the call of the Sudanese critic, Ṭambal. Therefore, the Sufi idiosyncrasy has predominantly prevailed over these images as a result of the overriding Sufi current over the Sudanese community. Likewise, before penetration of Islam into the Sudan, the indigenous Sudanese beliefs had had a clear role in forming those images, notwithstanding the incompatibility of the images to the Islamic faith. Moreover, the Sudanese social variation had its own obvious role in forming the images of those beliefs, particularly predilection for rapture and music rhythm. Also, of the ensuing outcomes, those icons came to be as closely resembling folkloric pictures

<p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;">Mangrove ecosystem contamination, especially in the Red Sea region, has caused major concerns on a worldwide scale. The heavy metal accumulation typical of a mangrove species, </span><em><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;">Avicenna marina </span></em><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;">L. (</span><em><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;">A. marina</span></em><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;">) leaves and soluble salts in sediments have not been studied on the Red Sea coast of Sudan.  The present study investigates the two nutrients calcium (Ca) and iron (Fe) and heavy metals such as barium (Ba), titanium (Ti), and strontium (Sr) in the mangrove species </span><em><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;">A. marina</span></em><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;"> in the leaves of six different locations in the Red Sea coastal area, as follows: (Hamasyat (HM) Keligo (KG), and Enkfel (EK) of the Gulf of Dunnabeb, and three sites were selected in the south of the Sudanese coast as follows: (Amarat Island (AM), Ibn Abbas Island (BN), and Ras Kassar (RK). The results demonstrate that the maximum calcium (Ca) and iron (Fe) concentrations in mangrove leaves were 35.9 mg/kg and 4.10 mg/kg recorded at RK and AM, respectively, in the south region of the Red Sea. The heavy metal concentrations (mg/kg) vary between different locations. The higher concentration of heavy metals in mangrove leaves increased as Ba was 1.1 mg/kg in the EG north region. While Ti (0.5 mg/kg) and Sr (2.80 mg/kg) higher concentrations were recorded in AM and EK, respectively, in the south area than in the other experimental sites.   Heavy metals and soluble salts in sediments are continuously monitored in mangrove habitats to ensure they keep within allowed limits. These results could be useful as a database for prospective ecological research, preservation efforts, and long-term sustainable management of the Sudanese mangrove ecosystems throughout the Red Sea coastal.</span></p>

هدفت الدراسة إلى بيان الدور البيبلوغرافي الذي لعبته موسوعة الشعر السوداني الفصيح ( ١٩١٩-٢٠١٩م) ، لفاطمة بوهراكة، ومقارنته بكتب التراجم السودانية منهجاً وكماً وكيفاً،ومن هنا تتأتى أهميّة الدراسة متمثلة في فحصها لمنهج التوثيق الذي وُثِّقَ بهللشعر السوداني الفصيح إبان مائة عام فائتة. انتهجت الدراسة المنهج الوصفي ، وتوصلت إلى عدد من النتائج، أهمها: ضعف الاهتمام بالتوثيق في السودان عامة ، وخروج منهج التوثيق - في بعض كتب التوثيق السودانيِّة- عن ثلاثيّة التوثيق العلميّة، المتمثلة في السيرة الأدبيّة، والنموذج الشعري والصورة الفوتوغرافيِّة إلى الحديث عن قبيلة الشاعر وأخلاقه وأسرته. التزام موسوعة بوهراكة بالمنهج العلميّ في التوثيق وحيادها التام عن التدخل في تفاصيل الحياة الذاتيّة للشعراء الموثّق لهم، الأمر الذي ساعد على تقديم ثلاثمائة واثنين شاعراً وشاعرة بطريقة سلسة ومفهومة إلى حد كبير. اهتمام الموسوعة بشعر النساء وتقديمها لأربعين شاعرة للمكتبة العربيِّة عامة والسودانيِّة خاصة، في سبق لم تستطعه جل الكتب السودانيِّة التي توفرت على عدد خمس عشرة شاعرة فقط.
 This study aimed at reporting the bibliographical role that is played by the Encyclopedia of the Sudanese Eloquent Poetry (1919 – 2019) for Fatima Bohraka and comparing its methodology, quantitative and qualitative aspects with the other Sudanese bibliographies. Thus the importance of this study comes from inspecting the methodology of bibliography that is adopted during the last 100 years. The study followed the descriptive approach. The most important findings of the study are: little attention has been given to poetic bibliography all over Sudan. The deviation of bibliography – in some Sudanese bibliographies - from the trilogy of bibliography which represented in artistic bibliography, poetic sample, and the poet’s photo to discuss the poet’s tribe, personal characteristics and his family. Another finding was that Fatima Bohraka’s encyclopedia has adhered to the scientific method in bibliography and its neutral handling towards interfering in the poets private issues thus a three hundred and two he/she poets were presented in refine and understandable style to a large extent. A special attention was given to women’s poetry, so forty female poets were addressed in the Arabic library and particularly to the Sudanese library preceding most available Sudanese books that presented only fifteen female poets.

Tayeb Salih (1929–2009), a Sudanese writer born in Karmakol, achieved global literary acclaim for works deeply rooted in his cultural heritage and personal experiences. Beginning his education in a khalwa (a traditional Qur’ânic school) and later earning a degree in biology from the University of Khartoum, Salih initially pursued a career in agriculture before transitioning to literature and international relations in London. His career spanned various fields, including teaching, journalism, and significant roles at the BBC, Qatar’s Ministry of Information, and UNESCO. Salih’s writings, particularly Season of Migration to the North, delve into themes of cultural conflict, colonial legacies, and postcolonial identity. The novel serves as a counter-narrative to Western portrayals of Africa, examining the power dynamics between colonizer and colonized through the life of its enigmatic protagonist, Mustafa Sa’eed. In contrast, his lighter novella, The Wedding of Zein, offers a vivid portrayal of Sudanese village life, blending humour with profound reflections on tradition and modernity. Widely regarded as a pioneer of modern Arabic fiction, Salih's innovative style and deep engagement with postcolonial discourse have profoundly influenced generations of writers. His works, translated into over 30 languages, continue to resonate with global audiences, cementing his legacy as a cultural bridge between the Arab world and the West.

Aims: To measure the waist circumference of Sudanese adults in Khartoum Locality and its relationship to blood pressure and lifestyle during celebration of international day of hypertension in May 2016 .
 Study Design: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study.
 Place of the Celebration: Khartoum Locality at Alsahaa Alkhadraa (The Green Park).
 Methodology: A total of 364 adult participants, 196 men and 168 women were interviewed using structured questionnaire. Blood pressure (BP) was measured considering hypertension as ≥ 140 mmHg and ≥ 90 mmHg for systole and diastole BP respectively. Waist circumference was measured using an anthropometric measuring tape at cut-off point of 94 cm and 80 cm for men and women respectively. Data was managed by SPSS version 20 and Chi-square test at 95% CL was used to test the association between waist circumference, blood pressure and life style characteristics.
 Results: Age distribution of the study population showed 48.2% females and 45.4% males in the middle age group (38-57 years). Two thirds of the study population were hypertensive, 62.8% of males and 64.3% of females. The mean waist circumference of men was 97.82 cm + 16.7, mean Systolic BP was 127 + 22 and mean Diastolic BP was 85 + 15. The mean waist circumference of women was 99.31 + 16.2, mean Systolic was 128 + 24 and mean Diastolic BP was 84 +17.
 Abnormal waist circumference was found in 61.2% of males and 86.9% of females. Fifty nine (30.1%) of the males and 86 (51.2%) of the females with abnormal waist circumference were hypertensive. The association between abnormal waist circumference and high blood pressure was significant among both sexes, P value = 0.001.
 Physical exercise and fat and salt foods were not significantly associated waist circumference in both men and women.
 Conclusion: Two thirds of women and men in the celebrating areas were hypertensive. Half of women and one third of men were significantly hypertensive and having abnormal waist circumference. Doing physical exercise, avoiding fat and salt foods was insignificantly associated with normal waist circumference. Large survey with representative sample is needed to estimate the real Sudanese waist circumference.

Djenné was founded between 800 and 1250 CE, and since the 13th century, it has been regarded as a major hub for study, trade, and Islam. In 1988, UNESCO recognized the mosque, which is situated in the town of Djenné, Mali, as a World Heritage Site. Since it became a political symbol for both the locals and the French colonial master who took over Mali in 1892, the Great Mosque is regarded as one of the town's most significant structures. In sub-Saharan Africa, the Great Mosque of Djenné is perhaps the most famous architectural structure, thought to be the largest mud structure still standing in the world. Even though the mosque was in ruins for a large portion of the 19th century, the locals are proud of and protective of their mosque, and it has long been a central part of their shared identity as Djenné. Following its restoration, the French praised it as a prime example of the "Sudanese style, which has gained immense popularity throughout the sub-Saharan region and has evolved into a timeless African vernacular mosque design." Investigating the Great Mosque of Djenné's significance in terms of its materials, design, shape, function, and sociocultural sources of wellbeing is the goal of this study.

Introduction‘Dream’ has been researched across numerous fields in its multiplicity within both a physical and emotional capacity. For Pagel et al., there is no fixed definition of what ‘dream’ is or are. However, in an advertising context, ’dream’ is the idealised version of our desires, re-visualised in real life (Coombes and Batchelor 103). It could be said that for countless consumers, advertising imagery has elicited dreams of living the perfect life and procuring material pleasures (Manca et al.; Hood). Goodis asserts, “advertising doesn’t always mirror how people are acting but how they are dreaming, in a sense what we are doing is wrapping up your emotions and selling them back to you” (qtd. in Back and Quaade 65). One component of this notion of ‘dream’ in advertising is captured by wishful images of the face and body in their ‘perfect form’ presented in a field of other beauty ideals. For our purposes, ‘dream’ is a “philosophical concept” (Pagel et al. 14) by which dreams are a series of aspirations and desires that consumers internalise, while at the same time, find difficult to achieve. ‘Dream’, then, will be used to critically explore how the beauty and advertising industries collectively employ ethnic ambiguity in addition to other tactics and strategies to sell us dream-like visions of idealised beauty. Forever Dreaming: The Introduction of Ethnic AmbiguityWe can link dreams to beauty as both areas of analysis contain many cultural interpretations and can be deconstructed to reveal different meanings (Sontag). In many ways, beauty is another dream and Sontag notes that the concept of beauty is often linked to certain physical traits that an individual possesses. These physical traits are capitalised upon by product marketing by which Hood claims, aims to enhance one, or even more, of them. For example, lipstick is not marketed as simply as a mixture of wax and pigment but rather a way to “obtain beauty, find romance or gain confidence” (7). As a result, global beauty brands can find long term marketing success through meaningful product marketing. This long-term marketing success relies on influencing human behaviour and perceptions. As a result of meaningful marketing, consumers may find themselves driven to purchase implicit qualities in products advertised to reflect their dreams (Hood).Following the 1980s, this version of meaningful marketing has become a driving purpose for advertising agencies around the globe (Steel). Advertising agencies rely on deeper human insights, identifying latent desires to create a brief that must ultimately sell a dream (Steel). The ideal strategy needs to define something that will build brand loyalty and encourage consumers to have a symbiotic relationship connecting their dreams with the product being sold. As Hood argues, “advertising consists of selling not just things but also dreams”. While this concept is one that “some see as inherently damning”, it is also inherently necessary (7). We understand that people are emotional beings, investing in the artefacts they build, obtain or use with significance “beyond merely utilitarian” (7). For these reasons, beauty advertisers act as the purveyors of dreams in the form of physical perfection as an articulation of consumer’s own aspirations of beauty.These aspirations of dream beauty are a direct representation of our thoughts and feelings. As such, it should be noted that we as consumers are often encouraged to draw inspiration from imagery that is often times seen as ethnically ambiguous. “Ethnic ambiguity” is the absence of any one prominent ethnic or racial feature that is easily discernible to one specific group (Garcia 234; Harrison et al.). An example of this ethnic ambiguity can be seen in marketing campaigns by high end makeup artist and her eponymous range of cosmetics, Charlotte Tilbury. Most notably, in a 2015 launch for her “Makeup Wardrobe”, Tilbury’s makeup palettes boasted 10 aspirational ‘looks’ and personas that could be achieved simply through purchase. The images of women featured on a figurative ‘wheel of fortune’ digital display used to market products online. This digital ‘wheel of fortune’ comprised of ethnically ambiguous models against descriptive persona’s such as “The Dolce Vita” and “The Glamour Muse”. These kinds of digital marketing tools required consumers to make a decision based on what their dream ‘look’ is through an ethnically ambiguous lens and from here are guided to purchase their desired aesthetic. Like Charlotte Tilbury, the beauty industry has seen a growing body of cosmetic brands that employ ethnic ambiguity to sell dreams of homogenised beauty. We will see the ways in which modern day beauty brands, such as Kylie Jenner Cosmetics and Fenty Beauty have come to adopt ethnic ambiguity or embrace entire ethnic and racial groups in order to expand their consumer influence.Aspirational Ambiguity: Dreams of DisempowermentSince the early 2000s, beauty advertising has seen a prominent rise in the use of ethnically ambiguous models. Some see this as an effort to answer the global desire for diversity and inclusion. However, the notion that beauty standards transcend racial boundaries and is inclusive, is simply another form of appropriating and fetishising ethnicity (R. Sengupta). In many ways, these manufactured dream-like versions of beauty have evolved to reach wider markets, in the hope that consumers will be emboldened to both embrace their racial heritage, and at the same time conform to homogenised standards of beauty (Frith et al.; Harrison et al.).In this bid to diversify and extend consumer reach, there are three prominent reasons why ethnically ambiguous models are more likely to be featured over models whose African, Indigenous, and/or Asian heritage is more prominent. Firstly, ethnically ambiguous models do not seem to conform to a particular notion of what is considered beautiful. For many decades, popular culture has been saturated with images of thin, of young, of narrow noses and hips, of blonde, blue eyes, and Caucasian hair textures (Harrison et al.; Hunter; Saraswati). These Westernised beauty ideals have been historically shaped through years of colonial influence, grounded in an imbalance of power and imposed to create a culture of dominance and oppression (Saraswati). Secondly, ethnic models are featured to convey “the sense of the ‘exotic’, and their ‘otherness’ acts to normalise and entrench the dominant ideal of white beauty” (qtd. in Redmond 175). ‘Otherness’ can be defined as the opposite of the majority, in Westernised society this ‘other’ can mean “people who are other than white, male, able bodied, heterosexual” (qtd. in Graycar 74). This ‘otherness’ showcased by ethnically ambiguous models draws viewers in. Physical features that were possessed by one specific ethnic group such as African, Asian, Latinx or Indigenous peoples have now become blended and are no longer confined to one race. Additionally, ethnically ambiguous models enable white consumers to dream about an exotic local or lifestyle, while at the same time providing ethnic audiences a way to see themselves.Finally, it is undeniable that ethnically ambiguous and mixed-race models have become desirable due to a historical preference for light skin (Saraswati). The visual references of light-skinned beauty epitomise a colonial dream and this standardisation has been transferred to indigenous peoples, or ethnic minorities in Western countries. According to Harrison et al, “marketers use mixed-race representations as cultural currency by mythologising mixed-race bodies as the new beauty standard” to represent a racial bridge, “tailored to ameliorate perceived racial divides” (503). Therefore, ethnically ambiguous models have an assumed advantage over their racially dominant counterparts, because they appear to straddle various racial boundaries. They are constructed to embody whomever, from wherever and whenever, fetishising their roleplay for the industry, when it pleases. This further exoticises multi-racial beauty models and renders them a commodified fantasy for many consumers alike. The continued commodification of ethnic ambiguity is problematic as it exploits models with distinctly mixed-race heritage to continue to sell images of white-washed beauty (Solomon et al.). An argument could be made that scarcity contributes to mixed-race models’ value, and therefore the total number of advertising opportunities that are offered to mixed-race models remains limited. To date, numerous studies highlight a limited use of racially diverse models within the beauty industry and does not reflect the growing global body of diverse consumers with purchasing power (Wasylkiw et al.; Redmond; Johnson; Jung and Lee; Frith et al.). In fact, prior to globalisation, Yan and Bissell claim that “each culture had a unique standard of attractiveness, derived from traditional views about beauty as well as the physical features of the people” (197) and over time the construction of dream beauty is characterised using Western features combined with exoticised traits of indigenous ethnic groups. Akinro and Mbunyuza-Memani claim that this “trend of normalising white or 'western' feminine looks as the standard of beauty” has pervaded a number of these indigenous cultures, eventually disseminated through the media as the ultimate goal (308). It can also be argued that the “growing inclusion of mixed-race models in ads is driven less by the motivation to portray diversity and driven more by pragmatism,” and in a more practical sense has implications for the “financial future of the advertised brands and the advertising industry as a whole” (Harrison et al. 513). As a result, uses of mixed-race models “are rather understood as palatable responses within dominant white culture to racial and ethnic minority populations growing in … cultural prominence” (513) in a tokenistic bid to sell a dream of unified beauty.The Dream Girl: Normalisation of Mixed-RaceIn 2017, an article in CNN’s Style section highlighted the growing number of mixed-race models in Japan’s fashion and beauty industry as a modern-day phenomenon from Japan’s interlocking history with the United States (Chung and Ogura). These beauty and fashion influencers refer to themselves as hafu, an exclusionary term that historically represented an “othered” minority of mixed-race heritage in Japanese society signalling complex and troubled interactions with majority Japanese (Oshima). The complications once associated with the term ‘hafu’ are now being reclaimed by bi-racial beauty and fashion models and as such, these models are beginning to defy categorisation and, in some ways, national identity because of their chameleon-like qualities. However, while there is an increasing use of mixed-race Japanese models, everyday mixed-race women are regularly excluded within general society; which highlights the incongruent nature of ‘half’ identity. And yet there is an increasing preference and demand from fashion and beauty outlets to feature them in Japanese and Western popular culture (Harrison et al.; Chung and Ogura). Numéro Tokyo’s editorial director Sayumi Gunji, estimated that almost 30-40 per cent of runway models in present day Japan, identify as either bi-racial mixed-race or multi-racial (Chung and Ogura).Gunji claims:"Almost all top models in the their 20s are hafu, especially the top models of popular fashion magazines ... . [In] the Japanese media and market, a foreigner's flawless looks aren't as readily accepted -- they feel a little distant. But biracial models, who are taller, have bigger eyes, higher noses [and] Barbie-doll-like looks, are admired because they are dreamy looking but not totally different from the Japanese. That's the key to their popularity," she adds. (Qtd. in Chung and Ogura)The "dreamy look" that Gunji describes is attributed to a historical preference toward light skin and a kind of willingness and sensuality, that once, only white models could be seen to tout (Frith et al. 58). Frith et al. and O’Barr discuss that beauty in Japanese advertising mirrors “the way women are portrayed in advertising in the West” (qtd. in Frith et al. 58). The emergence of hafu in Japanese beauty advertising sees these two worlds, a mixture of doll-like and sensual beauty, converging to create a dream-like standard for Japanese consumers. The growing presence of Japanese-American models such as Kiko Mizuhara and Jun Hasegawa are both a direct example of the unattainable ‘dreamy look’ that pervades the Japanese beauty industry. Given this ongoing trend of mixed-race models in beauty advertising, a recent article on Refinery29 talks about the significance of how mixed-race models are disassembling their once marginalised status.A. Sengupta writes:In contrast to passing, in which mixedness was marginalized and hidden, visibly multiracial models now feature prominently in affirmative sites of social norms. Multiracial looks are normalized, and, by extension, mixed identity is validated. There’s no cohesive social movement behind it, but it’s a quiet sea change that’s come with broadened beauty standards and the slow dismantling of social hierarchies.Another example of the normalisation in multi-racial identity is Adwoa Aboah, a mixed-race British model and feminist activist who has been featured on the covers of numerous fashion publications and on runways worldwide. In British Vogue’s December 2017 issue, titled “Great BRITAIN”, Adwoa Aboah achieved front cover status, alongside her image featured other politically powerful names, perhaps suggesting that Aboah represents not only the changing face of a historically white publication but as an embodiment of an increasingly diverse consumer landscape. Not only is she seen as both as a voice for those disenfranchised by the industry, by which she is employed, but as a symbol of new dreams. To conclude this section, it seems the evolution of advertising’s inclusion of multi-racial models reveals a progressive step change for the beauty industry. However, relying simply on the faces of ethnically ambiguous talent has become a covert way to fulfil consumer’s desire for diversity without wholly dismantling the destructive hierarchies of white dominance. Over this time however, new beauty creations have entered the market and with it two modern day icons.Architecting Black Beauty through the American DreamAccording to Kiick, the conception of the ‘American Dream’ is born out of a desire to “seek out a more advantageous existence than the current situation” (qtd. in Manca et al. 84). As a result of diligent hard work, Americans were rewarded with an opportunity for a better life (Manca et al.). Kylie Jenner’s entry into the beauty space seemed like a natural move for the then eighteen-year-old; it was a new-age representation of the ‘American Dream’ (Robehmed 2018). In less than five years, Jenner has created Kylie Cosmetics, a beauty empire that has since amassed a global consumer base, helping her earn billionaire status. A more critical investigation into Jenner’s performance however illustrates that her eponymous range of beauty products sells dreams which have been appropriated from black culture (Phelps). The term cultural appropriation refers to the way dominant cultures “adopt and adapt certain aspects of another’s culture and make it their own” (qtd. in Han 9). In Jenner’s case, her connection to ethnic Armenian roots through her sisters Kourtney, Kim, and Khloe Kardashian have significantly influenced her expression of ‘othered’ culture and moreover ethnic beauty ideals such as curvier body shapes and textured hair. Jenner’s beauty advertisements have epitomised what it means to be black in America, cherry picking racialised features of black women (namely their lips, hips/buttocks and afro-braided hairstyles) and rearticulated them through a white lens. The omission of the ‘black experience’ in her promotion of product is problematic for three reasons. Firstly, representing groups or people without invitation enables room for systemic stereotyping (Han). Secondly, this stereotyping can lead to continued marginalisation of minority cultures (Kulchyski). And finally, the over exaggeration of physical attributes, such as Jenner’s lips, hips and buttocks, reinforces her complicity in exoticising and fetishising the “other”. As a result, consumers of social media beauty advertising may pay less attention to cultural appropriation if they are already unaware that the beauty imagery they consume is based on the exploitation of black culture.Another perspective on Jenner’s use of black culture is in large part due to her cultural appreciation of black beauty. This meaning behind Jenner’s cultural appreciation can be attributed to the inherent value placed on another person’s culture, in the recognition of the positive qualities and the celebration of all aspects of that culture (Han). This is evidenced by her recent addition of cosmetic products for darker complexions (Brown). However, Jenner’s supposed fascination with black culture may be in large part due to the environment in which she was nurtured (Phelps). As Phelps reveals, “consider the cultural significance of the Kardashian family, and the various ways in which the Kardashian women, who are tremendously wealthy and present as white, have integrated elements of black culture as seemingly “natural” in their public bodily performances” (9). Although the Kardashian-Jenner family have faced public backlash for their collective appropriation they have acquired a tremendous “capital gain in terms of celebrity staying power and hyper-visibility” (Phelps 9). Despite the negative attention, Kylie Jenner’s expression of black culture has resurfaced the very issues that had once been historically deemed insignificant. In spite of Jenner’s cultural appropriation of black beauty, her promotion through Kylie Cosmetics continues to sell dreams of idealised beauty through the white lens.In comparison, Rihanna Fenty’s cosmetic empire has been touted as a celebration of diversity and inclusion for modern-age beauty. Unlike Kylie Cosmetics, Fenty’s eponymous brand has become popular for its broader message of inclusivity across both skin tone, body shape and gender. Upon her product release, Fenty Beauty acknowledged a growing body of diverse consumers and as a direct response to feature models of diverse skin tones, cultural background and racial heritage. Perhaps more importantly, Fenty Beauty’s challenge to the ongoing debate around diversity and inclusion has been in stark contrast to Kylie Jenner’s ongoing appropriation of black culture. Images featured at the first brand and product launch of Fenty Beauty and in present day advertising, show South Sudanese model Duckie Thot and hijab-wearing model Halima Aden as central characters within the Fenty narrative, illustrating that inclusion need not remain ambiguous and diversity need not be appropriated. Fenty’s initial product line up included ninety products, but most notably, the Pro Filt’r foundation caused the most publicity. Since its introduction in 2017, the foundation collection contained range of 40 (now 50) inclusive foundation shades, 13 of these shades were designed to cater for much darker complexions, an industry first (Walters). As a result of the brand’s inclusion of diverse product shades and models, Fenty Beauty has been shown to push boundaries within the beauty industry and the social media landscape (Walters). Capitalising on all races and expanding beauty ideals, Fenty’s showcase of beauty subscribes to the notion that for women everywhere in the world, their dreams can and do come true. In conclusion, Fenty Beauty has played a critical role in re-educating global consumers about diversity in beauty (Walters) but perhaps more importantly Rihanna, by definition, has become a true embodiment of the ‘American Dream’.Conclusion: Future Dreams in BeautyIt is undeniable that beauty advertising has remained complicit in selling unattainable dreams to consumers. In the context of ‘dream’ as a philosophical concept, it is more important than ever to ensure our dreams are mirrored, not as an ambiguous body of consumers, but as diverse and unique individuals. Changemakers in the industry such as Fenty Beauty are challenging this status quo and beauty advertising in general will have to evolve their strategy in a bid to answer to an increasingly globalised market. It must be reinforced however, that while “beauty companies and advertisers work effectively to reach a growingly multicultural market, scholars have a responsibility to assess the ramifications that accompany such change,” (Harrison et al. 518). If advertising’s role is to mirror consumers’ dreams then, our roles as dreamers have never been so important. ReferencesAkinro, Ngozi, and Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani. "Black Is Not Beautiful: Persistent Messages and the Globalization of 'White' Beauty in African Women’s Magazines." 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“Human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them [...] life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.” (Garcia Marquez 165) Introduction The refugee experience is, at heart, one of rebirth. Just as becoming a new, distinctive being—biological birth—necessarily involves the physical separation of mother and infant, so becoming a refugee entails separation from a "mother country." This mother country may or may not be a recognised nation state; the point is that the refugee transitions from physical connectedness to separation, from insider to outsider, from endemic to alien. Like babies, refugees may have little control over the timing and conditions of their expulsion. Successful resettlement requires not one rebirth but multiple rebirths—resettlement is a lifelong process (Layton)—which in turn require hope, imagination, and energy. In rebirthing themselves over and over again, people who have fled or been forced from their homelands become both mother and child. They do not go through this rebirthing alone. A range of agencies and individuals may be there to assist, including immigration officials, settlement services, schools and teachers, employment agencies and employers, English as a Second Language (ESL) resources and instructors, health-care providers, counsellors, diasporic networks, neighbours, church groups, and other community organisations. The nature, intensity, and duration of these “midwives’” interventions—and when they occur and in what combinations—vary hugely from place to place and from person to person, but there is clear evidence that post-migration experiences have a significant impact on settlement outcomes (Fozdar and Hartley). This paper draws on qualitative research I did in 2012 in a regional town in New South Wales to illuminate some of the ways in which settlement aides ease, or impede, refugees’ rebirth as fully recognised and participating Australians. I begin by considering what it means to be resilient before tracing some of the dimensions of the resettlement process. In doing so, I draw on data from interviews and focus groups with former refugees, service providers, and other residents of the town I shall call Easthaven. First, though, a word about Easthaven. As is the case in many rural and regional parts of Australia, Easthaven’s population is strongly dominated by Anglo Celtic and Saxon ancestries: 2011 Census data show that more than 80 per cent of residents were born in Australia (compared with a national figure of 69.8 per cent) and about 90 per cent speak only English at home (76.8 per cent). Almost twice as many people identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander as the national figure of 2.5 per cent (Australian Bureau of Statistics). For several years Easthaven has been an official “Refugee Welcome Zone”, welcoming hundreds of refugees from diverse countries in Africa and the Middle East as well as from Myanmar. This reflects the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s drive to settle a fifth of Australia’s 13,750 humanitarian entrants a year directly in regional areas. In Easthaven’s schools—which is where I focused my research—almost all of the ESL students are from refugee backgrounds. Defining Resilience Much of the research on human resilience is grounded in psychology, with a capacity to “bounce back” from adverse experiences cited in many definitions of resilience (e.g. American Psychological Association). Bouncing back implies a relatively quick process, and a return to a state or form similar to that which existed before the encounter with adversity. Yet resilience often requires sustained effort and significant changes in identity. As Jerome Rugaruza, a former UNHCR refugee, says of his journey from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Australia: All the steps begin in the burning village: you run with nothing to eat, no clothes. You just go. Then you get to the refugee camp […] You have a little bread and you thank god you are safe. Then after a few years in the camp, you think about a future for your children. You arrive in Australia and then you learn a new language, you learn to drive. There are so many steps and not everyone can do it. (Milsom) Not everyone can do it, but a large majority do. Research by Graeme Hugo, for example, shows that although humanitarian settlers in Australia face substantial barriers to employment and initially have much higher unemployment rates than other immigrants, for most nationality groups this difference has disappeared by the second generation: “This is consistent with the sacrifice (or investment) of the first generation and the efforts extended to attain higher levels of education and English proficiency, thereby reducing the barriers over time.” (Hugo 35). Ingrid Poulson writes that “resilience is not just about bouncing. Bouncing […] is only a reaction. Resilience is about rising—you rise above it, you rise to the occasion, you rise to the challenge. Rising is an active choice” (47; my emphasis) I see resilience as involving mental and physical grit, coupled with creativity, aspiration and, crucially, agency. Dimensions of Resettlement To return to the story of 41-year-old Jerome Rugaruza, as related in a recent newspaper article: He [Mr Rugaruza] describes the experience of being a newly arrived refugee as being like that of a newborn baby. “You need special care; you have to learn to speak [English], eat the different food, create relationships, connections”. (Milsom) This is a key dimension of resettlement: the adult becomes like an infant again, shifting from someone who knows how things work and how to get by to someone who is likely to be, for a while, dependent on others for even the most basic things—communication, food, shelter, clothing, and social contact. The “special care” that most refugee arrivals need initially (and sometimes for a long time) often results in their being seen as deficient—in knowledge, skills, dispositions, and capacities as well as material goods (Keddie; Uptin, Wright and Harwood). As Fozdar and Hartley note: “The tendency to use a deficit model in refugee resettlement devalues people and reinforces the view of the mainstream population that refugees are a liability” (27). Yet unlike newborns, humanitarian settlers come to their new countries with rich social networks and extensive histories of experience and learning—resources that are in fact vital to their rebirth. Sisay (all names are pseudonyms), a year 11 student of Ethiopian heritage who was born in Kenya, told me with feeling: I had a life back in Africa [her emphasis]. It was good. Well, I would go back there if there’s no problems, which—is a fact. And I came here for a better life—yeah, I have a better life, there’s good health care, free school, and good environment and all that. But what’s that without friends? A fellow student, Celine, who came to Australia five years ago from Burundi via Uganda, told me in a focus group: Some teachers are really good but I think some other teachers could be a little bit more encouraging and understanding of what we’ve gone through, because [they] just look at you like “You’re year 11 now, you should know this” […] It’s really discouraging when [the teachers say] in front of the class, “Oh, you shouldn’t do this subject because you haven’t done this this this this” […] It’s like they’re on purpose to tell you “you don’t have what it takes; just give up and do something else.” As Uptin, Wright and Harwood note, “schools not only have the power to position who is included in schooling (in culture and pedagogy) but also have the power to determine whether there is room and appreciation for diversity” (126). Both Sisay and Celine were disheartened by the fact they felt some of their teachers, and many of their peers, had little interest in or understanding of their lives before they came to Australia. The teachers’ low expectations of refugee-background students (Keddie, Uptin, Wright and Harwood) contrasted with the students’ and their families’ high expectations of themselves (Brown, Miller and Mitchell; Harris and Marlowe). When I asked Sisay about her post-school ambitions, she said: “I have a good idea of my future […] write a documentary. And I’m working on it.” Celine’s response was: “I know I’m gonna do medicine, be a doctor.” A third girl, Lily, who came to Australia from Myanmar three years ago, told me she wanted to be an accountant and had studied accounting at the local TAFE last year. Joseph, a father of three who resettled from South Sudan seven years ago, stressed how important getting a job was to successful settlement: [But] you have to get a certificate first to get a job. Even the job of cleaning—when I came here I was told that somebody has to go to have training in cleaning, to use the different chemicals to clean the ground and all that. But that is just sweeping and cleaning with water—you don’t need the [higher-level] skills. Simple jobs like this, we are not able to get them. In regional Australia, employment opportunities tend to be limited (Fozdar and Hartley); the unemployment rate in Easthaven is twice the national average. Opportunities to study are also more limited than in urban centres, and would-be students are not always eligible for financial assistance to gain or upgrade qualifications. Even when people do have appropriate qualifications, work experience, and language proficiency, the colour of their skin may still mean they miss out on a job. Tilbury and Colic-Peisker have documented the various ways in which employers deflect responsibility for racial discrimination, including the “common” strategy (658) of arguing that while the employer or organisation is not prejudiced, they have to discriminate because of their clients’ needs or expectations. I heard this strategy deployed in an interview with a local businesswoman, Catriona: We were advertising for a new technician. And one of the African refugees came to us and he’d had a lot of IT experience. And this is awful, but we felt we couldn't give him the job, because we send our technicians into people's houses, and we knew that if a black African guy rocked up at someone’s house to try and fix their computer, they would not always be welcomed in all—look, it would not be something that [Easthaven] was ready for yet. Colic-Peisker and Tilbury (Refugees and Employment) note that while Australia has strict anti-discrimination legislation, this legislation may be of little use to the people who, because of the way they look and sound (skin colour, dress, accent), are most likely to face prejudice and discrimination. The researchers found that perceived discrimination in the labour market affected humanitarian settlers’ sense of satisfaction with their new lives far more than, for example, racist remarks, which were generally shrugged off; the students I interviewed spoke of racism as “expected,” but “quite rare.” Most of the people Colic-Peisker and Tilbury surveyed reported finding Australians “friendly and accepting” (33). Even if there is no active discrimination on the basis of skin colour in employment, education, or housing, or overt racism in social situations, visible difference can still affect a person’s sense of belonging, as Joseph recounts: I think of myself as Australian, but my colour doesn’t [laughs] […] Unfortunately many, many Australians are expecting that Australia is a country of Europeans … There is no need for somebody to ask “Where do you come from?” and “Do you find Australia here safe?” and “Do you enjoy it?” Those kind of questions doesn’t encourage that we are together. This highlights another dimension of resettlement: the journey from feeling “at home” to feeling “foreign” to, eventually, feeling at home again in the host country (Colic-Peisker and Tilbury, Refugees and Employment). In the case of visibly different settlers, however, this last stage may never be completed. Whether the questions asked of Joseph are well intentioned or not, their effect may be the same: they position him as a “forever foreigner” (Park). A further dimension of resettlement—one already touched on—is the degree to which humanitarian settlers actively manage their “rebirth,” and are allowed and encouraged to do so. A key factor will be their mastery of English, and Easthaven’s ESL teachers are thus pivotal in the resettlement process. There is little doubt that many of these teachers have gone to great lengths to help this cohort of students, not only in terms of language acquisition but also social inclusion. However, in some cases what is initially supportive can, with time, begin to undermine refugees’ maturity into independent citizens. Sharon, an ESL teacher at one of the schools, told me how she and her colleagues would give their refugee-background students lifts to social events: But then maybe three years down the track they have a car and their dad can drive, but they still won’t take them […] We arrive to pick them up and they’re not ready, or there’s five fantastic cars in the driveway, and you pick up the student and they say “My dad’s car’s much bigger and better than yours” [laughs]. So there’s an expectation that we’ll do stuff for them, but we’ve created that [my emphasis]. Other support services may have more complex interests in keeping refugee settlers dependent. The more clients an agency has, the more services it provides, and the longer clients stay on its books, the more lucrative the contract for the agency. Thus financial and employment imperatives promote competition rather than collaboration between service providers (Fozdar and Hartley; Sidhu and Taylor) and may encourage assumptions about what sorts of services different individuals and groups want and need. Colic-Peisker and Tilbury (“‘Active’ and ‘Passive’ Resettlement”) have developed a typology of resettlement styles—“achievers,” “consumers,” “endurers,” and “victims”—but stress that a person’s style, while influenced by personality and pre-migration factors, is also shaped by the institutions and individuals they come into contact with: “The structure of settlement and welfare services may produce a victim mentality, leaving members of refugee communities inert and unable to see themselves as agents of change” (76). The prevailing narrative of “the traumatised refugee” is a key aspect of this dynamic (Colic-Peisker and Tilbury, “‘Active’ and ‘Passive’ Resettlement”; Fozdar and Hartley; Keddie). Service providers may make assumptions about what humanitarian settlers have gone through before arriving in Australia, how they have been affected by their experiences, and what must be done to “fix” them. Norah, a long-time caseworker, told me: I think you get some [providers] who go, “How could you have gone through something like that and not suffered? There must be—you must have to talk about this stuff” […] Where some [refugees] just come with the [attitude] “We’re all born into a situation; that was my situation, but I’m here now and now my focus is this.” She cited failure to consider cultural sensitivities around mental illness and to recognise that stress and anxiety during early resettlement are normal (Tilbury) as other problems in the sector: [Newly arrived refugees] go through the “happy to be here” [phase] and now “hang on, I’ve thumped to the bottom and I’m missing my own foods and smells and cultures and experiences”. I think sometimes we’re just too quick to try and slot people into a box. One factor that appears to be vital in fostering and sustaining resilience is social connection. Norah said her clients were “very good on the mobile phone” and had links “everywhere,” including to family and friends in their countries of birth, transition countries, and other parts of Australia. A 2011 report for DIAC, Settlement Outcomes of New Arrivals, found that humanitarian entrants to Australia were significantly more likely to be members of cultural and/or religious groups than other categories of immigrants (Australian Survey Research). I found many examples of efforts to build both bonding and bridging capital (Putnam) in Easthaven, and I offer two examples below. Several people told me about a dinner-dance that had been held a few weeks before one of my visits. The event was organised by an African women’s group, which had been formed—with funding assistance—several years before. The dinner-dance was advertised in the local newspaper and attracted strong interest from a broad cross-section of Easthaveners. To Debbie, a counsellor, the response signified a “real turnaround” in community relations and was a big boon to the women’s sense of belonging. Erica, a teacher, told me about a cultural exchange day she had organised between her bush school—where almost all of the children are Anglo Australian—and ESL students from one of the town schools: At the start of the day, my kids were looking at [the refugee-background students] and they were scared, they were saying to me, "I feel scared." And we shoved them all into this tiny little room […] and they had no choice but to sit practically on top of each other. And by the end of the day, they were hugging each other and braiding their hair and jumping and playing together. Like Uptin, Wright and Harwood, I found that the refugee-background students placed great importance on the social aspects of school. Sisay, the girl I introduced earlier in this paper, said: “It’s just all about friendship and someone to be there for you […] We try to be friends with them [the non-refugee students] sometimes but sometimes it just seems they don’t want it.” Conclusion A 2012 report on refugee settlement services in NSW concludes that the state “is not meeting its responsibility to humanitarian entrants as well as it could” (Audit Office of New South Wales 2); moreover, humanitarian settlers in NSW are doing less well on indicators such as housing and health than humanitarian settlers in other states (3). Evaluating the effectiveness of formal refugee-centred programs was not part of my research and is beyond the scope of this paper. Rather, I have sought to reveal some of the ways in which the attitudes, assumptions, and everyday practices of service providers and members of the broader community impact on refugees' settlement experience. What I heard repeatedly in the interviews I conducted was that it was emotional and practical support (Matthews; Tilbury), and being asked as well as told (about their hopes, needs, desires), that helped Easthaven’s refugee settlers bear themselves into fulfilling new lives. References Audit Office of New South Wales. Settling Humanitarian Entrants in New South Wales—Executive Summary. May 2012. 15 Aug. 2013 ‹http://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/ArticleDocuments/245/02_Humanitarian_Entrants_2012_Executive_Summary.pdf.aspx?Embed=Y>. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2011 Census QuickStats. Mar. 2013. 11 Aug. 2013 ‹http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/0>. Australian Survey Research. Settlement Outcomes of New Arrivals—Report of Findings. Apr. 2011. 15 Aug. 2013 ‹http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/research/_pdf/settlement-outcomes-new-arrivals.pdf>. Brown, Jill, Jenny Miller, and Jane Mitchell. “Interrupted Schooling and the Acquisition of Literacy: Experiences of Sudanese Refugees in Victorian Secondary Schools.” Australian Journal of Language and Literacy 29.2 (2006): 150-62. Colic-Peisker, Val, and Farida Tilbury. “‘Active’ and ‘Passive’ Resettlement: The Influence of Supporting Services and Refugees’ Own Resources on Resettlement Style.” International Migration 41.5 (2004): 61-91. ———. Refugees and Employment: The Effect of Visible Difference on Discrimination—Final Report. Perth: Centre for Social and Community Research, Murdoch University, 2007. Fozdar, Farida, and Lisa Hartley. “Refugee Resettlement in Australia: What We Know and Need To Know.” Refugee Survey Quarterly 4 Jun. 2013. 12 Aug. 2013 ‹http://rsq.oxfordjournals.org/search?fulltext=fozdar&submit=yes&x=0&y=0>. Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. Love in the Time of Cholera. London: Penguin Books, 1989. Harris, Vandra, and Jay Marlowe. “Hard Yards and High Hopes: The Educational Challenges of African Refugee University Students in Australia.” International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 23.2 (2011): 186-96. Hugo, Graeme. A Significant Contribution: The Economic, Social and Civic Contributions of First and Second Generation Humanitarian Entrants—Summary of Findings. Canberra: Department of Immigration and Citizenship, 2011. Keddie, Amanda. “Pursuing Justice for Refugee Students: Addressing Issues of Cultural (Mis)recognition.” International Journal of Inclusive Education 16.12 (2012): 1295-1310. Layton, Robyn. "Building Capacity to Ensure the Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups." Creating Our Future conference, Adelaide, 28 Jul. 2012. Milsom, Rosemarie. “From Hard Luck Life to the Lucky Country.” Sydney Morning Herald 20 Jun. 2013. 12 Aug. 2013 ‹http://www.smh.com.au/national/from-hard-luck-life-to-the-lucky-country-20130619-2oixl.html>. Park, Gilbert C. “’Are We Real Americans?’: Cultural Production of Forever Foreigners at a Diversity Event.” Education and Urban Society 43.4 (2011): 451-67. Poulson, Ingrid. Rise. Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, 2008. Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. Sidhu, Ravinder K., and Sandra Taylor. “The Trials and Tribulations of Partnerships in Refugee Settlement Services in Australia.” Journal of Education Policy 24.6 (2009): 655-72. Tilbury, Farida. “‘I Feel I Am a Bird without Wings’: Discourses of Sadness and Loss among East Africans in Western Australia.” Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power 14.4 (2007): 433-58. ———, and Val Colic-Peisker. “Deflecting Responsibility in Employer Talk about Race Discrimination.” Discourse & Society 17.5 (2006): 651-76. Uptin, Jonnell, Jan Wright, and Valerie Harwood. “It Felt Like I Was a Black Dot on White Paper: Examining Young Former Refugees’ Experience of Entering Australian High Schools.” The Australian Educational Researcher 40.1 (2013): 125-37.

IntroductionWe five friends clinked glasses in our favourite wine and cocktail bar, and considered our next collaborative writing project. We had seen M/C Journal’s call for articles for a special issue on ‘regional’ and when one of us mentioned the television program, Escape from the City, we began our critique:“They haven’t featured Armidale yet, but wouldn’t it be great if they did?”“Really? I mean, some say any publicity is good publicity but the few early episodes I’ve viewed seem to give little or no screen time to the sorts of lifestyle features I most value in our town.”“Well, seeing as we all moved here from the city ages ago, let’s talk about what made us stay?”We had found our next project.A currently popular lifestyle television show (Escape from the City) on Australia’s national public service broadcaster, the ABC, highlights the limitations of popular cultural representations of life in a regional centre. The program is targeted at viewers interested in relocating to regional Australia. As Raymond Boyle and Lisa Kelly note, popular television is an important entry point into the construction of public knowledge as well as a launching point for viewers as they seek additional information (65). In their capacity to construct popular perceptions of ‘reality’, televisual texts offer a significant insight into our understandings and expectations of what is going on around us. Similar to the concerns raised by Esther Peeren and Irina Souch in their analysis of the popular TV show Farmer Wants a Wife (a version set in the Netherlands from 2004–present), we worry that these shows “prevent important aspects of contemporary rural life from being seen and understood” (37) by the viewers, and do a disservice to regional communities.For the purposes of this article, we interrogate the episodes of Escape from the City screened to date in terms of the impact they may have on promoting regional Australia and speculate on how satisfied (or otherwise) we would be should the producers direct their lens onto our regional community—Armidale, in northern NSW. We start with a brief précis of Escape from the City and then, applying an autoethnographic approach (Butz and Besio) focusing on our subjective experiences, we share our reflections on living in Armidale. We blend our academic knowledge and knowledge of everyday life (Klevan et al.) to argue there is greater cultural diversity, complexity, and value in being in the natural landscape in regional areas than is portrayed in these representations of country life that largely focus on cheaper real estate and a five-minute commute.We employ an autoethnographic approach because it emphasises the socially and politically constituted nature of knowledge claims and allows us to focus on our own lives as a way of understanding larger social phenomena. We recognise there is a vast literature on lifestyle programs and there are many different approaches scholars can take to these. Some focus on the intention of the program, for example “the promotion of neoliberal citizenship through home investment” (White 578), while others focus on the supposed effect on audiences (Tsay-Vogel and Krakowiak). Here we only assert the effects on ourselves. We have chosen to blend our voices (Gilmore et al.) in developing our arguments, highlighting our single voices where our individual experiences are drawn on, as we argue for an alternative representation of regional life than currently portrayed in the regional ‘escapes’ of this mainstream lifestyle television program.Lifestyle TelevisionEscape from the City is one of the ‘lifestyle’ series listed on the ABC iview website under the category of ‘Regional Australia’. Promotional details describe Escape from the City as a lifestyle series of 56-minute episodes in which home seekers are guided through “the trials and tribulations of their life-changing decision to escape the city” (iview).Escape from the City is an example of format television, a term used to describe programs that retain the structure and style of those produced in another country but change the circumstances to suit the new cultural context. The original BBC format is entitled Escape to the Country and has been running since 2002. The reach of lifestyle television is extensive, with the number of programs growing rapidly since 2000, not just in the United Kingdom, but internationally (Hill; Collins). In Australia, they have completed, but not yet screened, 60 episodes of Escape from the City. However, with such popularity comes great potential to influence audiences and we argue this program warrants critical attention.Like House Hunters, the United States lifestyle television show (running since 1997), Escape from the City follows “a strict formula” (Loof 168). Each episode uses the same narrative format, beginning with an introduction to the team of experts, then introducing the prospective house buyers, briefly characterising their reasons for leaving the city and what they are looking for in their new life. After this, we are shown a map of the region and the program follows the ‘escapees’ as they view four pre-selected houses. As we leave each property, the cost and features are reiterated in the written template on the screen. We, the audience, wait in anticipation for their final decision.The focus of Escape from the City is the buying of the house: the program’s team of experts is there to help the potential ‘escapees’ find the real estate gem. Real estate value for money emerges as the primary concern, while the promise of finding a ‘life less ordinary’ as highlighted in the opening credits of the program each week, seems to fall by the wayside. Indeed, the representation of regional centres is not nuanced but limited by the emphasis placed on economics over the social and cultural.The intended move of the ‘escapees’ is invariably portrayed as motivated by disenchantment with city life. Clearly a bigger house and a smaller mortgage also has its hedonistic side. In her study of Western society represented in lifestyle shows, Lyn Thomas lists some of the negative aspects of city life as “high speed, work-dominated, consumerist” (680), along with pollution and other associated health risks. While these are mentioned in Escape from the City, Thomas’s list of the pleasures afforded by a simpler country life including space for human connection and spirituality, is not explored to any satisfying extent. Further, as a launching point for viewers in the city (Boyle and Kelly), we fear the singular focus on the price of real estate reinforces a sense of the rural as devoid of creative arts and cultural diversity with a focus on the productive, rather than the natural, landscape. Such a focus does not encourage a desire to find out more and undersells the richness of our (regional) lives.As Australian regional centres strive to circumvent or halt the negative impacts of the drift in population to the cities (Chan), lifestyle programs are important ‘make or break’ narratives, shaping the appeal and bolstering—or not—a decision to relocate. With their focus on cheaper real estate prices and the freeing up of the assets of the ‘escapees’ that a move to the country may entail, the representation is so focused on the economics that it is almost placeless. While the format includes a map of the regional location, there is little sense of being in the place. Such a limited representation does not do justice to the richness of regional lives as we have experienced them.Our TownLike so many regional centres, Armidale has much to offer and is seeking to grow (Armidale Regional Council). The challenges regional communities face in sustaining their communities is well captured in Gabriele Chan’s account of the city-country divide (Chan) and Armidale, with its population of about 25,000, is no exception. Escape from the City fails to emphasise cultural diversity and richness, yet this is what characterises our experience of our regional city. As long-term and satisfied residents of Armidale, who are keenly aware of the persuasive power of popular cultural representations (O’Sullivan and Sheridan; Sheridan and O’Sullivan), we are concerned about the trivialising or reductive manner in which regional Australia is portrayed.While we acknowledge there has not been an episode of Escape from the City featuring Armidale, if the characterisation of another, although larger, regional centre, Toowoomba, is anything to go by, our worst fears may be realised if our town is to feature in the future. Toowoomba is depicted as rural landscapes, ‘elegant’ buildings, a garden festival (the “Carnival of the Flowers”) and the town’s history as home of the Southern Cross windmill and the iconic lamington sponge. The episode features an old shearing shed and a stock whip demonstration, but makes no mention of the arts, or of the University that has been there since 1967. Summing up Toowoomba, the voiceover describes it as “an understated and peaceful place to live,” and provides “an attractive alternative” to city life, substantiated by a favourable comparison of median real estate prices.Below we share our individual responses to the question raised in our opening conversation about the limitations of Escape from the City: What have we come to value about our own town since escaping from city life?Jane: The aspects of life in Armidale I most enjoy are, at least in part, associated with or influenced by the fact that this is a centre for education and a ‘university town’. As such, there is access to an academic library and an excellent town library. The presence of the University of New England, along with independent and public schools, and TAFE, makes education a major employer, attracting a significant student population, and is a major factor in Armidale being one of the first towns in the roll-out of the NBN/high-speed broadband. University staff and students may also account for the thriving cafe culture, along with designer breweries/bars, art house cinema screenings, and a lively classical and popular music scene. Surely the presence of a university and associated spin-offs would deserve coverage in a prospective episode about Armidale.Alison: Having grown up in the city, and now having lived more than half my life in an inner-regional country town, I don’t feel I am missing out ‘culturally’ from this decision. Within our town, there is a vibrant arts community, with the regional gallery and two local galleries holding regular art exhibitions, theatre at a range of venues, and book launches at our lively local book store. And when my children were younger, there was no shortage of sporting events they could be involved with. Encountering friends and familiar faces regularly at these events adds to my sense of belonging to my community. The richness of this life does not make it to the television screen in episodes of Escape from the City.Kerry: I greatly value the Armidale community’s strong social conscience. There are many examples of successful programs to support diverse groups. Armidale Sanctuary and Humanitarian Settlement sponsored South Sudanese refugees for many years and is currently assisting Ezidi refugees. In addition to the core Sanctuary committee, many in the local community help families with developing English skills, negotiating daily life, such as reading and responding to school notes and medical questionnaires. The Backtrack program assists troubled Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth. The program helps kids “to navigate their relationships, deal with personal trauma, take responsibility […] gain skills […] so they can eventually create a sustainable future for themselves.” The documentary film Backtrack Boys shows what can be achieved by individuals with the support of the community. Missing from Escape from the City is recognition of the indigenous experience and history in regional communities, unlike the BBC’s ‘original’ program in which medieval history and Vikings often get a ‘guernsey’. The 1838 Myall Creek massacre of 28 Wirrayaraay people, led to the first prosecution and conviction of a European for killing Aboriginals. Members of the Indigenous and non-Indigenous community in Armidale are now active in acknowledging the past wrongs and beginning the process of reconciliation.Josie: About 10am on a recent Saturday morning I was walking from the car park to the shopping complex. Coming down the escalator and in the vestibule, there were about thirty people and it occurred to me that there were at least six nationalities represented, with some of the people wearing traditional dress. It also struck me that this is not unusual—we are a diverse community as a result of our history and being a ‘university city’. The Armidale Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place was established in 1988 and is being extended in 2019. Diversity is apparent in cultural activities such as an international film festival held annually and many of the regular musical events and stalls at the farmers’ market increasingly reflect the cultural mix of our town. As a long-term resident, I appreciate the lifestyle here.Wendy: It is early morning and I am walking in a forest of tall trees, with just the sounds of cattle and black cockatoos. I travel along winding pathways with mossy boulders and creeks dry with drought. My dog barks at rabbits and ‘roos, and noses through the nooks and crannies of the hillside. In this public park on the outskirts of town, I can walk for two hours without seeing another person, or I can be part of a dog-walking pack. The light is grey and misty now, the ranges blue and dark green, but I feel peaceful and content. I came here from the city 30 years ago and hated it at first! But now I relish the way I can be at home in 10 minutes after starting the day in the midst of nature and feeling part of the landscape, not just a tourist—never a possibility in the city. I can watch the seasons and the animals as they come and go and be part of a community which is part of the landscape too. For me, the first verse of South of My Days, written by a ‘local’ describing our New England environment, captures this well:South of my days’ circle, part of my blood’s country,rises that tableland, high delicate outlineof bony slopes wincing under the winter,low trees, blue-leaved and olive, outcropping granite-clean, lean, hungry country. The creek’s leaf-silenced,willow choked, the slope a tangle of medlar and crabapplebranching over and under, blotched with a green lichen;and the old cottage lurches in for shelter. (Wright 20)Whilst our autoethnographic reflections may not reach the heady heights of Judith Wright, they nevertheless reflect the experience of living in, not just escaping to the country. We are disappointed that the breadth of cultural activities and the sense of diversity and community that our stories evoke are absent from the representations of regional communities in Escape from the City.Kate Oakley and Jonathon Ward argue that ‘visions of the good life’, in particular cultural life in the regions, need to be supported by policy which encourages a sustainable prosperity characterised by both economic and cultural development. Escape from the City, however, dwells on the material aspects of consumption—good house prices and the possibility of a private enterprise—almost to the exclusion of any coverage of the creative cultural features.We recognise that the lifestyle genre requires simplification for viewers to digest. What we are challenging is the sense that emerges from the repetitive format week after week whereby differences between places are lost (White 580). Instead what is conveyed in Escape from the City is that regions are homogenous and monocultural. We would like to see more screen time devoted to the social and cultural aspects of the individual locations.ConclusionWe believe coverage of a far richer and more complex nature of rural life would provide a more ‘realistic’ preview of what could be ahead for the ‘escapees’ and perhaps swing the decision to relocate. Certainly, there is some evidence that viewers gain information from lifestyle programs (Hill 106). We are concerned that a lifestyle television program that purports to provide expert advice on the benefits and possible pitfalls of a possible move to the country should be as accurate and all-encompassing as possible within the constraints of the length of the program and the genre.So, returning to what may appear to have been a light-hearted exchange between us at our local bar, and given the above discussion, we argue that television is a powerful medium. We conclude that a popular lifestyle television program such as Escape from the City has an impact on a large viewing audience. For those city-based viewers watching, the message is that moving to the country is an economic ‘no brainer’, whereas the social and cultural dimensions of regional communities, which we posit have sustained our lives, are overlooked. Such texts influence viewers’ perceptions and expectations of what escaping to the country may entail. Escape from the City exploits regional towns as subject matter for a lifestyle program but does not significantly challenge stereotypical representations of country life or does not fully flesh out what escaping to the country may achieve.ReferencesArmidale Regional Council. Community Strategic Plan 2017–2027. Armidale: Armidale Regional Council, 2017.“Backtrack Boys.” Dir. Catherine Scott. Sydney: Umbrella Entertainment, 2018.Boyle, Raymond, and Lisa W. 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