The grammar of knowledge: a cross-linguistic view of evidentials and epistemological expressions. How does a speaker know that what they say is correct? Some languages have obligatory marking for stating 'information source' ('seen', 'inferred', or 'reported'). In others a source is optional - 'the (reported) theft'. This cross-linguistic investigation will advance our understanding of human interaction and the expression of knowledge.
God, Blood, Country: An Ethnographic Study of Christian Institutions and Political Processes in Fiji. This Discovery project addresses the Australian government's commitments to law and justice in the Pacific by seeking to understand Christian institutions' roles in national political processes, focusing specifically on Fiji. Understanding the ways that citizens of the region see links between religious and political authority is a vital first step toward understanding present conflicts and pot ....God, Blood, Country: An Ethnographic Study of Christian Institutions and Political Processes in Fiji. This Discovery project addresses the Australian government's commitments to law and justice in the Pacific by seeking to understand Christian institutions' roles in national political processes, focusing specifically on Fiji. Understanding the ways that citizens of the region see links between religious and political authority is a vital first step toward understanding present conflicts and potential means of securing peace.Read moreRead less
Chanted tales from Highland New Guinea: a comparative study of oral performance traditions and their role in contemporary land politics. In parts of Highland PNG there are flourishing traditions of epic-like chanted tales. Often dealing with relationships between people and land, these are a highly valued cultural resource. From the perspective of comparative poetics they are one of the clearest known examples of measured verse that has developed independently of alphabetic or syllabic writing. ....Chanted tales from Highland New Guinea: a comparative study of oral performance traditions and their role in contemporary land politics. In parts of Highland PNG there are flourishing traditions of epic-like chanted tales. Often dealing with relationships between people and land, these are a highly valued cultural resource. From the perspective of comparative poetics they are one of the clearest known examples of measured verse that has developed independently of alphabetic or syllabic writing. This project brings together an interdisciplinary team of investigators to analyse the wide range of styles in which these narratives are performed, and further the understanding of their implications for cross-cultural study of verbal art and the politics of land ownership in present-day Papua New Guinea.Read moreRead less
Stories around a sand space: multimodal interaction in Central Australian Aboriginal sand drawing narratives. Central Australian Aboriginal sand stories are a unique form of storytelling that incorporates speech, song, gesture, signs and drawn graphic symbols. This project will enhance our understandings of these narrative traditions and provide insights into the complexities of multimodal communicative systems as they are used in day-to-day interactions.
The Illustrated Literature of Papunya and Strelley, 1979-1998. Literature Production Centres at Papunya and Strelley (WA) published hundreds of illustrated books during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. They tell stories of the first contact, the Dreaming, bush plants, animals and life on pastoral stations, missions, government settlements and communities. This project will trace the histories of two key centres and the communities in which they were and are embedded, their authors and illustrators, t ....The Illustrated Literature of Papunya and Strelley, 1979-1998. Literature Production Centres at Papunya and Strelley (WA) published hundreds of illustrated books during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. They tell stories of the first contact, the Dreaming, bush plants, animals and life on pastoral stations, missions, government settlements and communities. This project will trace the histories of two key centres and the communities in which they were and are embedded, their authors and illustrators, to build a dynamic picture of Indigenous Australia that contributes another dimension to the history of art and literature in Australia. It will produce scholarly papers, a monograph and an exhibition that brings this story to the Australian public.Read moreRead less
Placenames and Personal Names in Yolngu Society and Country Through Time. The Yolngu peoples’ land and sea Country in north-east Arnhem Land is densely named, as a consequence of the actions of ancestral beings who gave shape to Country and to Yolngu society in place. Placenames are sung in ceremony, and passed down through the generations as personal names. This project aims to document the placenames of two Yolngu regions and explore what they tell us about Yolngu society as a system that has ....Placenames and Personal Names in Yolngu Society and Country Through Time. The Yolngu peoples’ land and sea Country in north-east Arnhem Land is densely named, as a consequence of the actions of ancestral beings who gave shape to Country and to Yolngu society in place. Placenames are sung in ceremony, and passed down through the generations as personal names. This project aims to document the placenames of two Yolngu regions and explore what they tell us about Yolngu society as a system that has been in place for thousands of years. In consultation with Yolngu, it aims to create an interactive map and database archive to which Yolngu historians can add in the future, providing significant benefits for a community for who consider these names to be central to their identity and wellbeing – past, present and future.Read moreRead less
Skin and kin in Aboriginal Australia: linguistic and historical perspectives on the dynamics of social categories. Indigenous Australians have unique ways of talking about social relations, linking them over wide regions as family. This project will trace the history of these terminologies and the evolution of these relations. The results will reveal the dynamics of Indigenous societies and resolve long-standing questions about human society generally.
Values and ethics in a global world: a semantic perspective. The question: "How are we to live?" is of fundamental importance, on an individual, social and international level. Yet in an increasingly global and pluralist world it remains difficult to articulate any values that are intelligible, let alone acceptable, to everyone. Although the literature on the subject is constantly growing, the very language of the current debate suffers from ethnocentrism, with culture-specific English words lik ....Values and ethics in a global world: a semantic perspective. The question: "How are we to live?" is of fundamental importance, on an individual, social and international level. Yet in an increasingly global and pluralist world it remains difficult to articulate any values that are intelligible, let alone acceptable, to everyone. Although the literature on the subject is constantly growing, the very language of the current debate suffers from ethnocentrism, with culture-specific English words like "fairness", "autonomy" and "tolerance" being widely used as would-be neutral conceptual tools. A framework for discussing ethics and values in a universal, non-ethnocentric perspective is urgently needed. This project aims at providing such a framework and putting it to work.Read moreRead less
The Semantics of Canonical Parallelism: Oral composition among Rotinese poets, eastern Indonesia. The pairing of words, known in linguistics as parallelism, is a critical feature of the oral traditions of the world. This strict use of couplets for oral compositions is a characteristic of the vibrant traditions of verbal communication on all the islands of eastern Indonesia. This project focuses on the oral traditions of the island of Roti, Australia's closest Indonesian neighbour. Using new anal ....The Semantics of Canonical Parallelism: Oral composition among Rotinese poets, eastern Indonesia. The pairing of words, known in linguistics as parallelism, is a critical feature of the oral traditions of the world. This strict use of couplets for oral compositions is a characteristic of the vibrant traditions of verbal communication on all the islands of eastern Indonesia. This project focuses on the oral traditions of the island of Roti, Australia's closest Indonesian neighbour. Using new analytic techniques applied to an extensive recorded corpus, it seeks to identify underlying mechanisms of verbal composition that may be applied comparatively to other oral traditions throughout the world, thus locating Australia at the forefront of the international study of oral traditions.Read moreRead less
Cape Keerweer 1606-2006: an ethnographic history of the Wik region, Queensland. In this research with Wik Aboriginal people I investigate how key facets of the peoples' lives have changed since the first Dutch visit 400 years ago. I seek a credible empirical explanation for their descent into crisis, especially post-1978, something with wider implications for the national interest. I examine historical causes through shifts in demography, land tenure, occupations, power relations, violence, lang ....Cape Keerweer 1606-2006: an ethnographic history of the Wik region, Queensland. In this research with Wik Aboriginal people I investigate how key facets of the peoples' lives have changed since the first Dutch visit 400 years ago. I seek a credible empirical explanation for their descent into crisis, especially post-1978, something with wider implications for the national interest. I examine historical causes through shifts in demography, land tenure, occupations, power relations, violence, language use, and art production. From the intensely local, the past individuals and cultural landscapes of Cape Keerweer, I move outward in space and onward in time tracing gradual Wik engagement in regional, state, national and global relationships 1606-2006.Read moreRead less