Songlines of Dreaming by Charmaine Chong

Eileen Perrwerl narrates a sand story, from Ti Tree, Central Australia. (Green, n.d.)

Self-identity is who we are as individuals our beliefs cultural connections and empowers us to participate and have a sense of belonging. I am an Aboriginal woman and descendant of three clan groups Waanyi, Garawa and Gangalidda the traditional lands of these groups exist from an Australian Aboriginal cultural view that differs from the modern maps and Western perspective. These cultural and geographic dimensions are dissected by the Northern Territory and Queensland border. My identity and connection was told and instilled by stories which I then acted upon during hunting and camping. The latter was important because it provided the opportunity to tell stories and learn of significant sites.


The cultural narrative I experienced throughout my childhood was influenced by oral language and my observation based on seeing, hearing and sense of smell to understand my surroundings. I refer to Tuan (1991) in which he describes how words had the power to change my perception of my physical and spiritual place. Songlines are narratives of Australian Aboriginal people which depict language describing clans, connections, boundaries, significant events, sacred sites and gives rise to identity. Chatwin (1987) discusses a conversation between two people in which the concept that the Dreamtime was when the Ancestors sung the world into existence and was not seen as real until then.

The virtual social network I am comparing Songlines with is Facebook. Both mediums are similar in that they make space connection and communication appear closer. Both can be disempowering to manipulate reality. Songlines could be misused by an individual to gain empowerment by misrepresentation of supposed facts. Facebook can also be used as a platform for active user for misrecognition. As a participant observer of the social\virtual network, Facebook, I have found disempowering due to the amount of negativity observed such as unacceptable language and artificial identities portrayed. The power relations in Facebook by comparisons to Songlines is substantially different and has the capacity to override boundaries. Facebook is accessible to all and virtual reality has blurred boundaries of personal space and narratives, thereby creating an illusionary world.

Songlines can be seen to be adaptable to the challenges of the virtual\social network and as Chatwin (1987) suggests, events and different elements can be sung into existence. This implies a flexibility by Aboriginal people to be more agile in adding narratives to their storylines. Facebook has imploded onto the cultural landscape and changed the fixations and priorities of its active users along with the breakdown of the idea of what is public space. Kuttainen lecture 5 (2017)


 References
Tuan, Y-F. (1991). Language and the making of place. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 81(4), 684-696. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

Chatwin, B. (1987). The songlines, London, Great Britain: Cape.

 Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, lecture 5 [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au


 Green. J, (n.d). Eileen Perrwerl narrates a sand story, from Ti Tree, Central Australia. [Image] Retrieved from www.soas.ac.uk/elar/about-elar/reports/file110700.pdf