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Circular Breathing

by Jaya SavigePrescribed for HSC English 2024–2027 (NESA) · Last reviewed Circular Breathing is a poem by Australian poet Jaya Savige, one of the Contemporary Asian Australian Poets prescribed for HSC English Standard Module A: Language, Identity and Culture.

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Summary

Circular Breathing is a poem by Australian poet Jaya Savige, one of the Contemporary Asian Australian Poets prescribed for HSC English Standard Module A: Language, Identity and Culture. Set in Rome, it watches a busker play the didgeridoo and asks what happens to culture and identity when traditions travel far from home.

Overview

Savige opens his poem with a dedication to the Indigenous Australian poet Samuel Wagan Watson, which foreshadows the work’s focus on the didgeridoo.

From there, Savige describes a man ‘with dreadlocks playing the didgeridoo in the Piazza di Santa Maria,’ reflecting the universality of culture and the sense of connection it may provide, even in the most unexpected of places and situations. The poet describes how children and tourists gather around to watch the man play. They are fascinated by the instrument, which looks out of place and is ‘not [from] this hemisphere.’

Savige then reminds us of the incredible history of Indigenous culture, by claiming that the sounds produced by the instrument are older than the Forum (an historical site in Rome that dates back to c. 7th century BC). The tourists are so intrigued that they forget about their shopping and other tourist activities.

Rather than show off with his playing, the didgeridoo player opts instead to play a single deep, sustained hum, suggesting that he is motivated to play more by spiritual reasons than anything material.

In the final stanza, Savige speaks of his desire to claim the didgeridoo’s sound as the sound of his own home. However, he is stopped by the jolting realisation that he never experiences this sense of pride when he sees a didgeridoo player busking in King George Square in Brisbane. Savige is overcome with feelings of guilt and frustration as his ‘stomach fills with fire.’

Indeed, this complex examination of the intersection between personal identity and culture reflects the myriad ways in which individuals may forge a sense of identity by interacting with culture, but also highlights the universalising power of culture to remind individuals of their heritage.

Cultural Assumptions

The Cosmopolitanism of Multiculturalism

The poet’s references to symbols of Australian and other cultures affirms assumptions about the distinctive worldliness of Asian-Australians. Most crucially, that the persona is himself an Asian man watching a traditional Indigenous instrument being played by a non-Indigenous man in Europe, surrounded by other tourists, affirms the cosmopolitanism of multiculturalism. However in doing so explores how it can often be problematic, insofar as the merging and mixing of cultures may deprive each tradition and identity of the space and respect necessary to ensure it remains authentic and uncorrupted. The problematic, or at least confusing, nature of the cosmopolitanism of multiculturalism is further affirmed through the man’s indecision about whether he should feel a sense of connection to the didgeridoo or not. His sense of cultural identity has become confused by his multiple connections to different cultures.

Context

Jaya Savige is a contemporary Australian poet whose work often moves between Australian settings and scenes from his travels abroad. Circular Breathing takes its title from the technique didgeridoo players use to hold an unbroken note, breathing in through the nose while pushing air out through the instrument. The poem is dedicated to Indigenous Australian poet Samuel Wagan Watson and unfolds in Rome, where a busker plays a didgeridoo in the Piazza di Santa Maria, an image that lets Savige test how cultural objects carry meaning far from home. The poem sits in the NESA selection of contemporary Asian Australian poetry prescribed for HSC English Standard Module A: Language, Identity and Culture. Within that grouping it raises questions the module returns to again and again: whether globalisation spreads culture or dilutes it, and how identity is complicated when a person feels connected to more than one tradition.

Quote Table

  • “There’s a man with dreadlocks playing the didgeridoo / in the Piazza di Santa Maria, and everyone is listening.”

    Technique
    Juxtaposition, Visual imagery
    Idea
    Culture clash

  • “He doesn’t do the kangaroo, the mosquito or / the speeding Holden.”

    Technique
    Accumulation, Symbolism
    Idea
    Connection to cultural identity

  • “circular breathing”

    Technique
    Symbolism
    Idea
    Hybridity of identity

  • “from where could this strange music have come? Surely not this hemisphere.”

    Technique
    Hypophora, Audial imagery
    Idea
    Disconnection from home

  • “My stomach fills with fire.”

    Technique
    Metaphor
    Idea
    Connection with and negotiation of cultural identity

  • “I want to bolt up the stairs of the fountain and claim that sound as the sound of my home—”

    Technique
    High modality language
    Idea
    Negotiation of cultural identity

More Contemporary Asian Australian poetry

Contemporary Asian Australian Poets - Visual Aid

Visual aidContemporary Asian Australian Poets
Poems
Themes
  • The Turbulent Process and Equally Disorienting Consequences of Assimilation
  • The Power of Nostalgia, Memory and Storytelling to Form a More Complete Sense of Self
  • The Cosmopolitanism of Multiculturalism
Context
  • White Australia Policy
  • Racism
  • Influx of Asian immigrants to Australia in the mid-1970s
  • The repeal of the White Australia Policy gave way to increased interest in making Australia a more multicultural nation, and emigration to Australia by foreigners was heavily advocated for by the government and businesses.
Quotes: Nostalgia, Memory and Storytelling and their Ability to Shape Identity
  • "Eyes, lips, hands conjoined: the umbilical cord restored." Final stanza of "This is where it begins". Metaphor, cumulation
  • "And as I do jigsaw-puzzle pieces of memory lock together, my past made whole." The fourth stanza of "Mother" whereby the persona is attempting to understand his mother's past, metaphor
  • "It was a little strange, / as if from a world I hadn't inhabited but had heard stories about" The second stanza of "Translucent Jade" where the persona considers and questions their connection to their culture. simile

Frequently Asked Questions

Which module is Circular Breathing studied in for the HSC?
Circular Breathing is studied in HSC English Standard Module A: Language, Identity and Culture, as part of the Contemporary Asian Australian Poets selection.
Who wrote Circular Breathing?
Circular Breathing was written by contemporary Australian poet Jaya Savige.
What is Circular Breathing about?
The poem describes a busker playing the didgeridoo in Rome's Piazza di Santa Maria and explores cultural exchange, globalisation and the confusion of belonging to multiple cultures.
Why is the poem called Circular Breathing?
The title refers to the breathing technique didgeridoo players use to sustain a continuous note, and it mirrors the poem's interest in how culture is kept alive and passed on.
What should students focus on when studying Circular Breathing?
Focus on the dedication to Samuel Wagan Watson, the displaced image of the didgeridoo in Italy, and how Savige weighs the benefits and costs of cultures merging.

Same module

More Module A texts

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