In this week’s lecture we learned Songlines. The Songlines
are part of the indigenous Australians culture and are essentially huge
invisible paths across the continent that form a large connected network of
stories and songs. In the book “The Songlines” Bruce Chatwain talks with an indigenous
Australian who tells him that before colonization by Europeans the Songlines were
used as a way of navigation for many indigenous Australians as they moved
around or went on “walkabout”. A person was allowed to travel through territory
that was not their own so long as they stayed on the Songline and they knew
that everyone they met upon the Songline would be their spiritual brother and could expect
hospitality of them and vice versa (Chatwain, B. 1987).
These narrative of these Songlines can be compared to the
networked narrative of virtual social networks like, for example, Facebook.
Both are used for communication and navigation within communities, though the Songlines
offer more practical navigation as well as communication while Facebook allows
more communication over navigation. Another similarity between the Songlines and
Virtual social networks is that the can be severed. India
has recently cut mobile internet usage to 63 million people in order to prevent
use of social media to organise planned protests and the picture below is an
example of how the Songlines were physically cut off by development of the “canning
stock route”, one of the examples of how settlement was not the heroic conquest
told by the European points of view(Kuttainen,
V. 2015). In both instances the capacity for
communication and navigation is removed to benefit the dominant power in the
area. There are however some large differences between Songlines and networks like
Facebook. The biggest one perhaps being that one holds thousands of years of
cultural significance and the other has been around for less than a quarter of
a century. Will social networking exist in thousands of years? This remains to
be seen.
Map of Dreaming tracks crossing the northern end of the
Canning Stock Route, imposed over Alfred Canning's own map.
References
Chatwain, B. (1987). The Songlines. London: Jonathon Cape
Ltd.
Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Our Space: Networks,
Narratives, and the Making of Place, Week 5: Stories and Places. [PowerPoint
slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/
Vijay. (2015). India Blocks Mobile Internet for 63 Million
Citizens Amid Protests in Ahmedabad. Retrieved from http://www.techworm.net/2015/08/india-blocks-mobile-internet-for-63-million-citizens-amid-protests-in-ahmedabad.html
Image credit
Lawford, P. T. et al. (2009). Map of Dreaming tracks
crossing the northern end of the Canning Stock Route. Retrieved from
http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/yiwarra_kuju/essays/listening_to_country/protecting_aboriginal_knowledge
Your concluding question sparks my interest. Thinking back 50 years ago, the main forms of communication were letters, the telephone, and telex machines. To us these may seem rudimentary, but just like social networks today, they were extremely popular forms of communication. Even within the category of social networking there are platforms widely seen as outdated, such as MSN and Myspace. It is highly likely, therefore, that social networks will be surpassed by a newer and more convenient medium. While it sounds almost alien, there are notions even now towards implants and wearable technology, bringing us closer to the futuristic visions of 20th Century novelists. This is one of the biggest ways in which social networking differs from concepts such as the Songlines; Songlines, as you said, have been sacred to an entire culture for thousands of years. In comparison, the presence of social networking and the Internet as a whole has been fleeting, ever-evolving, and surely soon to be replaced.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Wellons, M. C. (2014). 11 Predictions on the Future of Social Media. Retrieved from http://www.cnbc.com/2014/10/02/11-predictions-on-the-future-of-social-media.html
In my opinion you can draw a lot of parallels between social media and songlines. For example, if you were following a virtual path on Facebook, in the form of browsing your new feed to see what your friends are doing. It is safe to assume that you are friends with the people you encounter. Much like how Chatwin (1987) described if somebody was to meet someone on their songline, they would be considered "brothers" and share mutual respect and kindness. I believe that this is because both in their simplest form are networks used for communication. So I can't really say if social networking will still be relevant a thousand years from now, as you have proved that networks can indeed be severed by outside forces. I do believe that if people's connection to social networking is severed then they will create new networks. When and what theses new networks will be is still anybody's guess.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Chatwin, B. (1987). The songlines. London, England: Jonathan Cape Ltd.
The inference that the capacity for communication is removed to benefit the powerful elite was excellent. It showed a strong argument that time does not dictate advancement so much as power and wealth does. You showed a solid understanding of the reading and this was clear through your ability to interpret the text, link it to contemporary forms of networks, and make an inference through a cohesive argument you had formed. The main similarity of the limiting of communication capacity was great, however there were also many simpler forms of connections between the two. An example would be the simple fact that each form of network would only be effectively interacted with through a sense of belonging or familiarity (Chatwain, 1987). I do agree with you on the fact that cultural significance was perhaps the strongest difference between the two, but it does not discredit the link between the two forms and it does prove that narrative is fundamentally orienting (Kuttainen, 2015).
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Chatwain, B. (1987). The Songlines. London: Jonathon Cape Ltd.
Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Week 5: Stories and Places. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/