Moving through space and (not?) time: North Australian Dreamtime Narratives

Moving through space and (not?) time Dorothea Hoffmann Humanities Day Chicago, October 19th 2013 North Australian Dreamtime Narratives I. Jaminjung, MalakMalak, Kriol (and all the other Australian languages...) II. Australian Dreamtime Narratives and Dreaming Tracks III. Let me tell you a story... IV. Journeys V. Summary and questions...? Australian Indigenous Languages • In 1788 over 250 distinct Australian languages spoken (600 dialects) • Today, only about 25 are spoken by more than 250 people, 70 have 50 or more speakers and 130 have less than 50 speakers (Walsh 1991) • Majority of languages belong to a genetically related language family: Pama-Nyungan languages • Remainder is historically grouped under the label non-Pama Nyungan languages - unrelated, forming language families or isolates and sharing typological features Jaminjung/Ngaliwurru • Jaminjungan family • Closely related dialects with about 35 speakers remaining (1) malara frog galu-galu, RDP-footwalk a ah yirr move.ou ga-ram gardag-ngunyi 3SG-come:PRS tin-ABL the frog comes walking right out of the tin MalakMalak • Northern Daly Language • with 11 remaining speakers (2) Waliwali pi enung Daly.River move 1SG.excl.go.FUT pak –ka sit -SFM I'll go sit down at the river (DB_A03_09.063) Kriol • English-lexified Creole language • Spoken by about 20.000 indigenous Australians in different varieties across northern Australia (3) en nomo weya imin and NEG where 3SG:AUX.PST kuk -im det taka cook -TR that food no no, where he cooked that food (DH13_A35_02.086) Dreamings Interconnectivity History Stories of Creation Oral tradition The Law Ancestors Natural Phenomena Myers (1986, :49-50): Frequently known as totemic ancestors in anthropological literature, the mythological personages of The Dreaming travelled from place to place, hunted, performed ceremony, fought and finally turned into stone or went into the ground , where they remain. Kumugut Gulbyurr Dyamalagany Ngawurrung Tedberrety Tyullukyinnga Kumugutyinnga Myers (1986, :49-50): The actions of these powerful beings animal, human and monster created the world as it now exists. They gave it outward form, identity (a name), and internal structure. Kumugut dek nga nende camp 1SG.excl thing/person Kumugutyinnga =we place.name =FOC this is my land Kumugutyinnga (DH13_V51_01.067) Myers (1986, :49-50): The desert is crisscrossed with their lines of travel, and, just as an animal s tracks leave a record of what happened, the geography and special features of the land hills, creeks, salt lakes, trees are marks of the ancestors activities. Myers (1986, :49-50): Places where exceptionally significant events took place, where power was left behind, or where the ancestors went into the ground and still remain are special sacred sites. Kumugut delik ki =we cane.grass PROX =FOC akana yupuda NEG die the cane grass is there, it never dies (DH13_V51_01.097) Additionally, the stories explain features and characteristics of the animals that evolved from the ancestoral beings Kumugut ngaty nana yida EMPH always 3SG.masc.go.PST ngaty dae tudei wok -araun EMPH meat/animal today walk -around he kept on walking (slowly), just like these animals walk around today (all the time) (DH12_A47_03.60) Kumugut Gulbyurr Dyamalagany Ngawurrung Tedberrety Tyullukyinnga Temporal paradox…? Kumugutyinnga Let me tell you a story… Once upon a time… there was a lizard whose name was Kumugut. He lived in a big land called Australia eating mushrooms and living a quiet life. One day, he decided to go on a journey to the big river. He walked and walked for many days and nights and his feet became sore. Finally, he came to a river. There he met the snake Tyimiliny who… Nguluk lamlam-ma eyinynunu Let me tell you a story… BL wag akana yida RP nguntyul yunuwa RP wagnennue toktok yidanuwa , naman BL ngutyulwang durrkdurrk yida akana, ake! RP ngunnanggi enunngga BL wag piny waka , naman yiminynu RP a wag piny wangarriny , naman BL naman RP ya BL he had no water RP the snake is sitting down RP they talk at the water , he says BL the snake did not have any water to drink RP Tyerriny says: I m going to the other side ”L he said, you go and get me water! RP you get water , he said BL he said RP yes BL yawug alditditypi yida elinyirr BL the other one (Kumugut) goes past frightened RP yanak, klosapklosap RP he is close up BL aldidity yide BL he goes past BL wag durrk yiminy, dim BL he drinks water and then he yuwayi yurr goes inside the hole and lies down BL en im kiwe BL and he is here now BL det dae tyimiliny tyud tyityal BL the snake was there wutu kiwe BL the two are inside the hole BL endi keenen wutu wundutta BL yanakna, imin tarradma yide BL one goes and looks for medicine bla medicin BL go atsaid, gobek insaid, ma BL he goes inside and outside, yide, tyurruk pak and sits down BL tyagad purrarrpurrarrma BL he runs around BL nana Tyerriny imselp, dokto BL titytyagadma yunuwa RP dek ngunmany ka yida nanana tyurrukpak yida BL ngaty kanggi yida pak RP x dek nga kiwe BL dek nga nende, Kumugutyinngawe BL nenyilk yinmety, nen, ki mowandi BL T is the doctor BL go back running in and out he does RP from there he came and he ran back inside sitting down BL he came and sat down RP this place is mine ”L this is my land Kumugutyinnga BL he has small hands now, the poor bugger BL and he finished it then BL Kumugut nende, imin go BL Tyerriny Kumugut ki elimirrimany wutaka kina wutu BL en nende, traiwan BL naman yiminynu BL dek dae nende warrad tatyma wurrunma nunuwa wagnen agun yide yunuwa naman yiminynu BL Kumugut leaves BL that Tyerriny and the Kumugut are still there first in the hole at Kumugutyyingga BL and the stray one BL he says ”L the snake walked and wanted to kill us, and he asked us for water , he said to him Features of Kumugut  Episodes are narrated not entire stories  These episodes may be ordered temporally or spatially  Spatially, but not contextually overlapping stories may be told in between  A story is not told as a whole , but fragmented according to narrative site and focus  The very nature of the dreaming tracks prevents a classic Labovian (1972) narrative structure       (Abstract) Orientation Complicating Action Evaluation Result or Resolution (Coda)  travelling ancestoral beings embodied within narrative structure based on literal and metaphorical movement through space though not necessarily time  temporal paradox to dreaming tracks which form ordered series established by the totemic beings' movement from one place to the next; however, the totemic being is nonetheless simultaneously present at all of them (Strehlow 1947, 25) Spatial Ordering  general broken up narration of subevents  unmarked interruptions by telling of subevents that occur at a different time in the story  spatial centre (real world location) which may equal the narrative centre as focus of the storytelling  repetitive narration of sub-events Temporal Ordering  typically unbroken narrative flow  marked flashbacks and narrations of following events  focus of narrative attention independent of location  singular narration of subevents Dreaming stories are located at the interface of religious belief, myth, and oral history They link the land where they take place and their owner s identity inadvertently to each other Journeys Motion events lead into the story world In Jaminjung: ga-jga-ny, 3SG-go-PST he went yina-ngunyi ga-ruma-ny Leguna-ngunyi, DIST-ABL 3SG-come-PST n_top-ABL He came from over there, from Legune Motion events lead into the story world In Kriol: dubala dubala boi bin kam-in 3DU 3DU boy AUX.PST come-PROG bram det-wei ABL:from that-way Two men came from over there. (Conversational_Kriol_Tape5_Lesson35_0003) Motion events lead into the story world In MalakMalak: warrad yuwaya walk 2SG.go.PRS he walked, he came ka yida =ke come 3SG.masc.go.PST =FOC tyerriny tity kangi yida=ke goanna come.out come 3SG.masc.go.PST =FOC dat yiminy -nu look 3SG.masc.do.PUNCT -3SG.masc.OBJ the monitor came and looked at him  Episode boundaries in all narratives may be marked with either static descriptions of location or resolutiontype events where actions appear to come to a standstill burru=biya jalag ga-gba, belly=NOW good 3SG-be.PST he was happy now, the ”at  overt Jiniminy-ni ghostbat-ERG marking of time and/or place shift has also been reported in connection with Arrernte sand drawings in narratives where erasure of drawings signal a change of space-time location (Wilkins 1997) Jaminjung personal narrative:  travel sections frame the narrative  Individual travel sections are presented as tripartite consisting of leaving a place, travelling itself, and arriving at another place  Klapproth (2004): maintaining the balance of the system is a cognitive strategy of problem avoidance  OR: evidential strategy to assure the listener of the accurateness and truth value of the story told.  Arrival at the destination triggers break in narrative structure movement to temporarily free order Linguistically parallel motion event descriptions in Kriol: dubala bin go kam–at 3DU AUX.PST go come-out So they went to the next sandridge. la dubala bin go kam–at 3DU AUX.PST go come-out So they went to the next one. la LOC sen-hil sand-hill det pleis ALL:to that place Hularra jat dubala bin gon n_top that+one 3DU AUX.PST goon til tubala bin gijimap dat pleis until 3DU AUX.PST reach that place They kept going until they came to the spring called Hularra. Conclusions Australian dreamtime narratives are structured very differently from Western narratives The content of the story may be influenced by the place of narration  spatial may take precedence over temporal ordering of events The journey is a contextually and structurally highly significant feature of dreamtime narratives Motion event encodings may act as discourse markers within a narrative indicating a move from one episode to the next The stories are at the interface of myth, religious belief, and oral history And most importantly, they are a part of human culture that is highly endangered and may disappear within a lifetime Thank You! References          http://www.creativespaces.net.au/find-a-space/view/project-dreaming-tracks (accessed 10/11/2013) http://www.abc.net.au/indigenous/map/ accessed 10/11/2013 Walsh, Michael. 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