Abstract
Central Australia is widely characterised as a frontier, a familiar trope in literary constructions of Australian identity that divides black from white, ancient from modern. However, recent anthropological and literary evidence from the Red Centre defies such a clear-cut representation, suggesting more nuanced ‘lifeworlds’ than a frontier binary can afford may better represent the region. Using walking narratives to mark a meeting point between Aboriginal and settler Australian practices of placemaking, this paper summarises and updates literary research by the author (2011–2015), which reads six recounted walks of the region for representations of frontier and home. Methods of textual analyses are described and results appraised for changes to the storied representation of Central Australia from the precolonial era onward. The research speaks to a ‘porosity’ of intercultural boundaries, explores literary instances of intercultural exchange; nuances settler Australian terms for place, including home, Nature and wilderness; and argues for new place metaphors to supersede ‘frontier’. Further, it suggests a recent surge in the recognition of Aboriginal songlines may be reshaping the nation’s key stories.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 118-140 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Journal of Intercultural Studies |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 23 Dec 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Jan 2019 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Walking, Frontier and Nation : Re/tracing the Songlines in Central Australian Literature. / Morrison, Glenn.
In: Journal of Intercultural Studies, Vol. 40, No. 1, 02.01.2019, p. 118-140.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Walking, Frontier and Nation
T2 - Re/tracing the Songlines in Central Australian Literature
AU - Morrison, Glenn
PY - 2019/1/2
Y1 - 2019/1/2
N2 - Central Australia is widely characterised as a frontier, a familiar trope in literary constructions of Australian identity that divides black from white, ancient from modern. However, recent anthropological and literary evidence from the Red Centre defies such a clear-cut representation, suggesting more nuanced ‘lifeworlds’ than a frontier binary can afford may better represent the region. Using walking narratives to mark a meeting point between Aboriginal and settler Australian practices of placemaking, this paper summarises and updates literary research by the author (2011–2015), which reads six recounted walks of the region for representations of frontier and home. Methods of textual analyses are described and results appraised for changes to the storied representation of Central Australia from the precolonial era onward. The research speaks to a ‘porosity’ of intercultural boundaries, explores literary instances of intercultural exchange; nuances settler Australian terms for place, including home, Nature and wilderness; and argues for new place metaphors to supersede ‘frontier’. Further, it suggests a recent surge in the recognition of Aboriginal songlines may be reshaping the nation’s key stories.
AB - Central Australia is widely characterised as a frontier, a familiar trope in literary constructions of Australian identity that divides black from white, ancient from modern. However, recent anthropological and literary evidence from the Red Centre defies such a clear-cut representation, suggesting more nuanced ‘lifeworlds’ than a frontier binary can afford may better represent the region. Using walking narratives to mark a meeting point between Aboriginal and settler Australian practices of placemaking, this paper summarises and updates literary research by the author (2011–2015), which reads six recounted walks of the region for representations of frontier and home. Methods of textual analyses are described and results appraised for changes to the storied representation of Central Australia from the precolonial era onward. The research speaks to a ‘porosity’ of intercultural boundaries, explores literary instances of intercultural exchange; nuances settler Australian terms for place, including home, Nature and wilderness; and argues for new place metaphors to supersede ‘frontier’. Further, it suggests a recent surge in the recognition of Aboriginal songlines may be reshaping the nation’s key stories.
KW - Aboriginal songlines
KW - central Australia
KW - frontier
KW - literature
KW - palimpsest
KW - place and space
KW - Walking
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059078848&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/07256868.2018.1552571
DO - 10.1080/07256868.2018.1552571
M3 - Article
VL - 40
SP - 118
EP - 140
JO - Journal of Intercultural Studies
JF - Journal of Intercultural Studies
SN - 0725-6868
IS - 1
ER -