Blog post 3 Different perspectives in stories

Retrieved From:

 https://www.google.com.au/search?q=ancient+greek+story+telling+painting&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMIpon28LjSxwIVxOemCh3mOA80&biw=1366&bih=643#imgrc=IKVGOEV0Br0kVM%3A

In the lecture of week 5 for BA1002 it was stated that the “Greeks understood that the way we tell a story shapes the way we see the world, and the way therefore we possess the world, lay claims to things, order its people, lands, and possessions, and persuade people of what is right and true.” (Bartlett, 2015) This statement may have been true in the time before there was the internet, phone cameras and social media sites, like Facebook. All these things have given people the ability to show what’s happened or to share their side of the story which anyone on the internet has access to.

Nowadays it is extremely easy for a person to research a particular topic or event and learn about all the perspectives and arguments surrounding that topic. “Greeks understood importance of narrative as a way of explaining or convincing.” (Bartlett, 2015) while that statement may have been true for people living in the time before the internet. The way information and stories have progressed and evolved, have changed the way people perceive the world around them.

Before the invention of social media sites and news article sites, stories told from certain perspectives were the only source of information available regarding that particular topic. Unless they spent long hours searching through books in order to find another perspective on the topic. Now that information is readily available to everyone people now require solid evidence of something and look at all the different possibilities and think more critically of information shown to them. This means more and more people are beginning to question the world around them and the different perspectives that are within it.

References

The Cultural Evolution of Storytelling and Fairy Tales: Human Communication and Memetics. (2015). Evolution of Storytelling and Fairy Tales. Retrieved 31 August 2015, from http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s9676.pdf

Park, J. (2010). Snapshot: Classical Greek Dress and Contemporary Fashion. Berg Encyclopaedia Of World Dress And Fashion. doi:10.2752/bewdf/edch9087 

Finding your place in a virtual world

Finding your place in a virtual World.

                                                   

                                                         Retrieved from: www.pinterest.com

             The internet and social media is a vast sea in which your can easily drown in if you do not know the way. Sure search engines can help the uninitiated to find their way but what do you do if there is no direct way to the page being searched for and no way to retrace your steps, you are blind.
Also, with websites such as Wikipedia popping up at the top of most search lists, the information may not always be overly accurate, which people unfamiliar with the reputation of these sites, are unaware of. Like in 'Songlines'(Chatwin, B. 1987), Arkady speaks about how the building of the railways disturbs the song lines of those who are trying to find their way when they go walkabout and that they have to make a new line so that they can continue their journey across country. However, Arkady said that the elders found ways around the interruptions to the song lines in order to continue on their journeys, and even to create a new path incorporating the disruptions to their lines like a stop sign at a main intersection for different paths.
         
              This is comparable to those who manage to find their way through the Facebook sea and on to a page that they are interested in, and they can begin networking in that group of "fandom" in which a common interest or purpose has brought them together from all around the world, allowing them to build stronger friendships if they so choose. It is always helpful to have someone to guide the uninitiated through the early stages of web exploration and only provide assistance to them should they become stuck in something like an adult site after they have clicked an inoccuous link for baby photos. Language means different things to different people, in fact, the same word can have multiple meanings in several languages, i.e. "bae" has a different meaning in Dutch than it does in the current vernacular in English. Even different dialects in the same basic language there are lots of examples, i.e. "Thong" in Australian English and American English stir up two different images in peoples minds.
 
           

                       Reference

Chatwin, B. (1987). The Songlines. London. Cape.

Dalziell, T., & Genoni, P. (2013). Kuttainen, V., Style, modernity and popular magazines. Telling Stories: Australian Life and Literature 1935-2012. Clayton, Victoria: Monash University Publishing.

Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and making of place, Lecture 5: Stories and Places. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

Power to Transform

Power to Transform 

By Sylvie Wharton 

Image retrieved from http://www.comicartcollective.com/detail.cfm?page=53398BD1-40B3-11D5-90B600C0F04818F0

I have stated previously Instagram is essentially an online diary, another way of looking at it would be as a narrative, created and shared by the individual through the uploading of pictures to document our lives.

Much in the way that stories surrounding the concept of boosting tourism in the Pacific in the 1920s and 30s Kuttainen (203, pp. 51-56) have become an indication of an increase in interest in the Pacific as a travel destination post world war one, I believe so to will our narratives created through social media become simply an indication of the digital era we currently live in.    This is only my prediction however, what I cannot predict but what will ultimately determine whether our narratives through social media will hold importance is who will be holding the power in the future.

All systematic modes of interpretation (stories, art, or science) MIGHT be equally valid, but they are rarely perceived as such V Kuttainen.  Essentially what gives a story or in this case a narrative its validity is whether the dominant culture viewing it perceives it to be important or valid or neither.  Given this equation of perception of power equalling validity I believe it would be hard for us to predict what will be regarded important or not in the future.  I could say now my opinion is that given the sheer volume of users creating narratives online that each individual narrative will not hold much importance but the Instagram application itself be seen as an important reflection of values our society currently holds (narcissism, exhibitionism, materialism etc.).

Ultimately how our social media narratives will be perceived will depend on the perceptions of the future dominant society, their emphasis on virtual reality, whether there will be any distinction between the two and what weight they will have.  No definite statement can be made merely assumptions.

References

Kuttainen, Victoria.  (2015). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Lecture 5: Stories and Places.  [PowerPoint slides].  Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

Kuttainen, V. (2013). Style, modernity and popular magazines: Writing Pacific travel. In T. Dalziell & P. Genoni (Eds.), Telling Stories: Australian Life and Literature (pp. 51-56). Victoria, Australia: Monash University Publishing.

Aesthetics and Narrative

If the right to speech is empowerment, as Tuan says (1991), then Tumblr surely gives the space for users to be empowered by the creation of their own narrative. When we speak of narratives we do not merely mean the written word, we are also referring to pictures, and on Tumblr the pictures users post create a personal narrative. The narrative on Tumblr has been dubbed something else however.



Aesthetic on Tumblr is a blog’s particular look and mood which they project through the posts they make, the comments they leave, the posts they reblog and the themes they use, amongst other things. Each blog has a different aesthetic, some being very strong, as seen in teen cat’s blog http://teen-cat.tumblr.com/ , and others are quite vague, however all blogs create their narrative and in doing so, betray a part of themselves, whether it be true or only a version of the truth.


For some blogs, the aesthetic is actually more of a way of making sense of the world and themselves; an ontological quest (Kuttainen, 2015). The weaker aesthetic in this case actually presents itself in a strong way. It portrays their human curiosity and intrigue, as well as their uncertainty. The interesting thing to note with this type of narrative is how ‘in progress’ it feels, like a book constructing itself.

Personal narratives are so easily identifiable on Tumblr through the defined space which each user is given to create their aesthetic. It can be said that each factor influences each other factor. For example, Tumblr users are given the space to create their aesthetic, which in turn brands their space as their specific place. Narrative online however, as most aspects of the online life, is merely a projection of an identity and whilst it says a lot about the person creating the narrative, it does not tell a wholly real picture.

Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and making of place, Lecture 5: Stories and Places. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au 

Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the making of place: a narrative-descriptive approach. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 81(4), 684-696. Retrieved fromwww.learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Source removed. Picture retrieved from: https://41.media.tumblr.com/571e5d2abce65685e070e29a734968b2/tumblr_n9mjb3PXya1t1p4l8o1_500.png

Community and the Developement of Language

Learning language and communicating is important to be an active part of a community and sub communities will use the collective language as well as their own idiosyncratic slang. This is how groups create a sense of place, a narrative to describe the world and their experiences in it.(Tuan,Y 1991) There are several languages or pidgins created by groups that have been denied communication ether through intention or inability. Isolated communities create ways of communicating such as the gumboot dance in South Africa(Kuttainen,V 2015), however the one I'll find most interesting is the development of ISN showing how language is necessary for communities and how being able to create a narrative of the world is equally important, such that a group of isolated children created a whole new language.

In Nicaragua deaf children were usually isolated and had little way to communicate, however in 1977 a school for deaf children was created which quickly increased to some 400 students in two campuses. Their teachers tried to teach them basic Spanish letter sign language, but the children had trouble adapting to this form of sign. The teachers however noticed that the children took elements of sign and quickly created a way to communicate easily with each other but not to their instructors, who then asked for outside help. In 1986 an American linguist, Judy Kegl, observed the children and realised they had begun to create a new language, the first time it had been observed in history.(Osborne, L 1991)(Nicaraguan_Sign_Language, n.d)

Child tells the story of Barbar in ISL(link)

Though internet users are not denied language in the same way others have been like other communities they quickly create slang and due to the unique uses of language they create a sense of community and place, defining their internet fiefdoms. Facebook hosts many communities and can be conceptualised as an empire with many smaller countries within it and if the people became isolated in their groups they would also develop their own language like the children in Nicaragua.

References

Kuttainen, V(2015). BA1002 Week 5 lecture notes [pdf] retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=view&content_id=_1996330_1&course_id=_69740_1

Osborne, L (1999) A Linguistic Big Bang retrived from http://www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/19991024mag-sign-language.html

Taylor-Adams, A (2012) Languages 101: Creoles, pidgins, and patois Retrieved from https://polyglossic.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/languages-101-creoles-pidgins-and-patois/

Yi-Fu Tuan Language and the Making of Place: A Narrative-Descriptive Approach

Annals of the Association of American Geographers
Vol. 81, No. 4 (Dec., 1991) , pp. 684-696

Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Association of American Geographers

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2563430

Nicaraguan Sign Language In Wikipedia retrieved 08/28/15 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaraguan_Sign_Language

Image

http://ark143.org/not/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Nicaraguan-Sign-Language.jpeg

“Home is where the heart is. We found it one day in the sink. It hums things late at night, but they are not songs. Welcome to Night Vale.” (Fink, 2014 July 15)

(Wilson, 2014)

The interplay between narrative and meaning is how humans turn space into place. A space, whether physical or metaphysical, must have first narrative, then meaning applied to it, before it can become place. Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience (1977), features an anecdote in which two physicists visit Kronberg Castle, and how their perspective of the castle changes immediately when they imagine that it was where Hamlet lived. Through a (in this case, quite literal) narrative, meaning is projected onto a space, and it becomes place. When talking about a fandom, the narrative is the source material (in this case, the Welcome to Night Vale podcast), and it is through this source material that fans are able to create a community, to create a fandom--to create place out of mere space.

“I was also thinking about space. About how it is nothing, and then, a point which is just a single spot within the nothing, and a line which separates the nothing into two nothings, and how a plane is a patch of nothing and an angle just where two nothings meet, but all those things combined, with an object of points, lines, planes, and angles, an object with length and width and depth that can take up actual space. Until that object becomes something made of nothing – within nothing. An object can be a wall, a floor, a roof, a bed, a table, a dog, a door, a rug, a…a home” (Fink, 2014 February 14).
(Why yes, I do have a WtNV quote for every situation.)

So, narrative and meaning are essential elements to the transformation of space into place. It is a part of being human; it is seen all over the world, no matter how disparate the ontology (Kuttainen, 2015). In The Songlines (1987), Bruce Chatwin speaks of the Songlines, an Aboriginal Australian belief that holds that “…the Ancestors sang the world into existence” (p.11); that the songline “was both map and direction-finder” (p.13). Aboriginal Australians used the Songlines to structure a narrative through which meaning was made, and space transformed into place—and so does fans use their chosen text to create a community. Without the source material, the fans would have nothing to post about, and with it, fans posts, reblogs, and comments fandom into existence.

REFERENCES

Chatwin, B. (1987). The Songlines. London, England: Franklin Press.

Fink, J. (Producer). (2014, February 14). Condos [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://nightvale.bandcamp.com

Fink, J. (Producer). (2014, July 15). 50-Capital Campaign [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://commonplacebooks.com

Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place: Week 5: Stories and Places [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Tuan, Y. (1977). Space and Place: The perspective of experience. London, England: Edward Arnold Publishers Ltd.

IMAGE REFERENCE

Wilson, R [Artist]. (2014). Condos Logo [Image]. Retrieved from http://nightvale.bandcamp.com

A picture is worth a thousand words

Thus warm conversation between friends can make the place itself seem warm; by contrast, malicious speech has the power to destroy a place's reputation and thereby its visibility (Tuan, 1991, p. 684-696). The way we talk, the words we choose, the tone we use all contribute to how we are viewed. When conversing with friends, family or strangers face to face we lose control of what people view and what they judge. Online you have a sense of security and safety, the ability to express your feelings via text, emoji, stickers, images, videos and reaction gifs.

Not only are you able to express yourself in more platforms online than offline but you are also given the opportunity to think before you post. The opportunity to think about what you’re expressing before expressing it and to consider how it will affect the people viewing it. On Tumblr this is kind of consideration when posting is called a triggerwarning .

When using written communication there is always the chance that things will be miss read or portrayed wrongly a good example of this is sarcasm. It’s easy to mistake sarcasm for rudeness when poorly expressed thankfully the use of images, emoji’s and gifs etc. help minimize the miss understandings. Another example of miss communication is auto correct with at times the auto correct not being so correct.

In lecture five Dr Victoria Kuttainen (2015) talks about the power to name place and the ownership associated with doing so. The ability to claim via name is often seen more so in offline relationships than online. For example pet names and nick names can be a way of showing how close you are to someone and your relationship to them. In an online setting a relationship is depicted by being placed into a category or list (friends, family, and partner).

In conclusion when it comes to language (verbal, written and body language) I think the online community creates a safe place and space to voice opinions but the offline world can often make people shy and uncomfortable when expressing their feelings.  

References:

Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002 Our Space: Networks, Narratives and the Making of Place. Lecture 5: Stories and Places. Retrieved from:https://learnjcu.edu.au

Tuan, Y. F. (1991). Language and the Making of Place: A Narrative-Descriptive Approach. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 81 (4) pp. 684-696. Retrieved from: https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/Conc-camcontent-bb_bb60/items/getitem.jsp?as_course_code=14-BA1002-TSV-INT-SP2&content_id=_1631890_1&course_id=_60553_1&doc_id=30163

Image:

Picture worth a thousand words [Image] (2012) Retrieved from http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2012/09/28/sql-server-a-picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words-a-collection-of-inspiring-and-funny-posts-by-vinod-kumar/

The Online-Songline

This week we discussed stories and how they have a relationship with place (Kuttainen 2015), where a story can take the position as a map, and vice-versa. Such as how the original people of the land would trek the country in the days before English intervention. They used a system of Songlines, which were about turning the space around them into internal sheet music, a map highlighted by the key visual markers of the environment around them, accessing the next footing as you sing the corresponding notes/lyrics.

They meant more than a map though as they would tell the story of tribes, or Dreamings, a tribe with ties to self and identity, in that the user links themselves to that they share a connection with. An act of culture and interaction with one’s tribes, a songline would be the land marked ownership by the separate dreamings and if strayed from the path, you may end up where you don’t belong.  (Chatwin, 1987)

The idea of dreamings and songlines can be interpreted today in social networks, my example being Tumblr, where in texts are posted under tags which identify a post, allowing users to seek these genres out and carry on a journey through them. In this instance, a tag is similar in nature to a Dreaming, if you stick to your tag, you’re likely to find ‘brothers’ under the same dreaming, perhaps on the same string of posts (or Songline), it’s a network and a narrative spun out of space and place encompassing these ‘brothers’.

However, despite sharing a few key similarities, the difference is in the form, and the literal aspects of songlines (such as singing) aren’t necessarily the guiding factors of an online-songline, that said, the aspect of guiding yourself by what you see as key indications of where you’re going and where you’ve been remain.

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Images:

Mills, J. (2010). Mapping Australia: Cinematic Cartographies of (Dis)Location. Retrieved from http://sensesofcinema.com/2010/feature-articles/mapping-australia-cinematic-cartographies-of-dislocation/

References:

Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002 Our Space: Networks, Narratives and the Making of Place - Week 5: Stories and Place. James Cook University, Townsville. Retrieved from
https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=view&content_id=_1996330_1&course_id=_69740_1

Chatwin, B. (1987).  The Songlines. London. Retrieved from
https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/Conc-camcontent-bb_bb60/items/getitem.jsp?as_course_code=14-BA1002-TSV-INT-SP2&content_id=_1631285_1&course_id=_60553_1&doc_id=30251

One Click and a Thousand Words are Spoken

Image retrieved from: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/worth-1000-words-william-beasley.html 

Ansel Adams once said, “When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” The social media site Instagram is entirely focused on the sharing of photos, whether they be selfies, food, nature, or art. Instagram will have it covered.

Focusing on the words of Adams it is clear that words are not always needed in certain places, perhaps it’s better filled with silence and the adorning of photographs of the past. The key memories they hold for that time and place, how you will forever remember that place due to the thousands of words whispered through a photograph. These words create a narrative and a story for that memory. So little is actually spoken when viewing a picture or an iconography, but every viewer has a universal understanding. Pictures and iconography have no language or cultural barrier, that way they are ideal for the developing world.

Though in saying that words aren’t obsolete, words both spoken and written hold the power. As described by Tuan in 1991 (p. 684), words have the power to change an area into a settlement, into a home, or into a town by giving it a name and a purpose. Before it was a space, but after a name it became a place. A place associated with culture and people, laws and regulations, and a governing body to protect the newly formed place. Words also shape the place we live in through literature. Victoria Kuttainen mentioned in the lecture this week about how English literature has shaped our way of seeing the world. How all the classics we are forced to read in school are predominantly English, examples include Shakespeare, Dickens, and Austin. Sometimes a picture isn’t actually a picture at all, but screen shot of a conversation, a reverberating lyric, or a quote. Literature is dominating in every way, as everything needs a title.

References:

•        Adams, A. (unknown). International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved from: http://www.iphf.org/hall-of-fame/ansel-adams/
•        Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Space: Networks, Narratives, and the making of place, week 5 notes [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au
•        Tuan, Y. (1991). Annals of the Association of American Geographers: Language and the Making of Place: A narrative-Descriptive Approach (pp. 684-696). Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2563430

Networks of the Songlines, Networks of the Online Space

Sourced from: http://www.snipview.com/q/Songlines

The aboriginal people believe that the world was created by the dreaming of their ancestors, who are believed to have left a trail of words and music along the line of their footprints (Chatwin, 1987). These trails of words are known as the songlines. These songlines weave a network through the continent and can be visualised in much the same way as networks form online.

“The whole of Australia could be read as a musical score. There was hardly a rock or creek in the country that could not or had not been sung. One should perhaps visualize the song lines as a spaghetti of Iliad’s and odysseys, writhing this way and that, in which every ‘episode’ was readable in terms of geology” (Chatwin, 1987).

The quote above is a best attempt to describe the nature of the songlines on the Australian landscape; where the aboriginal peoples trace the paths of their ancestors, linking them to their past and sacred sites. A song to the aboriginal people is perceived as a map and direction-finder. If you knew the song you could find your way (Chatwin, 1987).

As the ancient Greeks understood it, “The way we tell a story shapes the way that we see the world”(Luyn, 2015).

To aboriginals, in the dreamtime nothing existed before everything was sung into existence. Now, as then, things do not truly exist until they are sung into existence again. The land must exist as a concept of the mind, to be sung before it can exist. To a degree this concept is similar to that of an online network, which must be perceived in the minds of those who make use of it before it can be said to have any form. They both allow people to connect to what is important to them.

However, the networks formed in the online space are different from the networks that are formed through the songlines across the Australian continent. Where the songlines take up physical space and connect peoples and sacred sites across measurable distances the networks formed online do not take up physical space. Online people are connected more to ideas, which tend to collect together with other like-minded ideas. Communication between people is also far faster in online networks than along the songlines but far less permanent to those who participate.

References:

Chadwin, B. (1987). The Songlines. London [EBL Version]. Retrieved from https://miptnjupfirstyearstudents.wikispaces.com/file/view/Bruce+Chatwin+-+The+Songlines+(pdf).pdf

Luyn, A.V. (2015). BA1002: Our Space: Networks and Narrative and the Meaning of Place, week 3 notes [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from: https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Dreamtime traveller. (2015) The Dreamtime or the Dreaming. Retrieved from http://www.dreamtimetraveller.com.au/the-dreamtime/

Snipview. (2008). Songlines[image]. Retrieved from http://www.snipview.com/q/Songlines

Blog Three: Ontology in the Virtual World

Image retrieved from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Henry_Meynell_Rheam_-_Sleeping_Beauty.jpg

I'm sure there are many Disney kids out there who will remember the glamorous tales of Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, but how many of you have realised the underlying truths about these so-called fairy tales? Since the initial year these narratives were published, 1812 to be exact, these narratives have transmogrified from brutal and explicit reflections of German history and cultural identity, into tales of singing animals who help you in finding your true love. Now, with alterations this dramatic, I wouldn't blame you if were completely oblivious to the reality behind these narratives; heck, I'd be surprised if you were aware.

Narrative is an essential aspect of a person's understanding of the world and fundamentally, all history-telling is narrative (Kuttainen, 2015). Is it clear that when we read about historical events, we are enabled to understand and perceive what was happening in the world at a particular time; even if the material we are studying is fiction. Even though by popular belief, non-fiction is a more truthful representation of the world, fictional stories can reflect ways in which we visualise and experience the real world as non-fiction does. In regards to the Brothers Grimm, their folk tales reflected the gruesome events which took place in the 1800s; and while the term tale suggests otherwise, we are conscious that these narratives are not wholly fiction. Evidently, this notion of narrative demonstrates how different texts and discourses construct and appeal to those who value literature (Kuttainen, 2013). 

This can also be seen in Instagram, however, as a social network, material that is highly valued differs from what's valued in the real world. “Talk is an integral part of the process of construction” (Tuan, 1991, p. 684). Instagram users are open to give and receive comments that show appreciation for another user's posts. These comments, which can be viewed by a large audience, or talk, therefore shapes and influences the ideal feed. Regardless, the ability to post a stabilised record of our history empowers us in the way we can create our desired self-image and influence the perceptions of other users.

References

Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002 Our Space: Networks, Narratives and the Making of Place. Lecture 5: Stories and Places. Retrieved from: https://learnjcu.edu.au

Kuttainen, V. (2013). Style, modernity and popular magazines. In T. Dalziell and P. Genoni (Eds.). Telling Stories: Australian life and literature 1935-2012). Victoria, Australia: Monash University Publishing

Tuan, Y. F. (1991). Language and the Making of Place: A Narrative-Descriptive Approach. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 81 (4) pp. 684-696. Retrieved from: https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/Conc-camcontent-bb_bb60/items/getitem.jsp?as_course_code=14-BA1002-TSV-INT-SP2&content_id=_1631890_1&course_id=_60553_1&doc_id=30163

Blog III: Our Time in Our Space

http://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/jan_gehl.jpg

Our time and experience of the world is subject to many different variables; perceptions, ideologies, upbringing, culture, et al., the list is almost endless. An example of this would be going to a cultural event and seeing many different types of cultures exhibited, all varying, and different in their own ways, but in many ways they are similar, why? There are plenty of examples in religion where their base code of ethics and morals come down to what Abrahamic religions cast in the 10 Commandments, those being things like not murdering, not stealing, etc. These rules can be seen in many other cultures, which is indicative of the intertwined relationship humans and cultures have had in the past, especially in the ancient melting pots of Asia Minor and North Africa.

Much of people's perceptions of other things are down to the mode in which they are taught to look at these particular things. Maps for example. Western cultures tends towards cartography to explain their view of the world, as do other cultures, some however do not, they are verbal cultures. Tuan wrote 'the main reason we neglect speech is because we tend to see place as a material transformation of nature'. Indigenous Australian culture is an example of a strictly verbal culture "even fairy tales reflect ways of seeing and knowing the world" (Kuttainen, 2015). Many traditional communities still follow the practises of old which include verbal storytelling. In western society we are taught to trust what is written down more than what is spoken from the mouth, perhaps because what is written down is more difficult to change, but that's entirely dependent on the person who wrote it to begin with.


References
Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the Making of Place: A Narrative-Descriptive Approach. Annals of the Association of American Geographers.
Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Lecture 5: Stories and Places [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

Song Lines :)

http://www.songlinesaustraliafoundation.net.au/tjangala_kapi.jpg

In the weeks lecturewe looked at song lines and there significance in past Aboriginal communities(Kuttainen, 2015) . Song lines were used as traditional navigation thererfor creating maps of the landscape using language. Australian Aboriginal people used song lines to navigate, communicate and to appreciate the land around them.  By using this method of navigation, they translate visual space and place into song therefore creating a virtual map of their surrounding past and present.

The importance of song lines to the Aboriginals’ place and space was a large contributing factor to their cultural tradition and connection with the land.  It enabled them to navigate through the land efficiently also to support themselves for what the land had provided. The deep connection with the land and the importance of the song lines, help create a bond unfamiliar to the average European settler.  Whether the song lines were geographically correct or not, its relevance to aboriginal people showed a reflection of the land and what was held value at the time.  It captured a moment in time for us to see the importance of their perspective.

The European settlers could have not taken songs lines seriously as navigation tool. The logical foundation blocks that the songs where build on were not recognised, as the settlers did not have that same bond with the land. It may have been seen as a primitive way of navigation as it had little to no written evidence.  Quoted by Tuan, 1991, “A principle reason for the neglect of speech is that geographers and landscape historians (and, I believe, people in general) tend to see place almost exclusively as the result of the material transformation of nature”. By looking at this quote we can begin to see that the way of communication as of speech may not fully represent or explain the connection and importance of a tradition or ritual.

Have a look at this YouTube video to help get an understanding of the importance of song lines to Australian Aboriginal people of the past.

https://youtu.be/kVOG-RKTFIo

Reference:

Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and making of place, Lecture 5: Stories and Places. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au  

Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the making of place: a narrative-descriptive approach. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 81(4), 684-696. Retrieved fromwww.learnjcu.jcu.edu.au