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Part of
Narrative and Identity Construction in the Pacific Islands
Edited by Farzana Gounder
[Studies in Narrative 21] 2015
► pp. 15–35

Moving through space and (not?) time

North Australian dreamtime narratives

This chapter is concerned with an analysis of narrative structure in the endangered non-Pama-Nyungan language Jaminjung and Australian Kriol. Previous analyses of Aboriginal narratives and story-telling techniques focused on the significance of place in plot and content (McGregor, 2005; Klapproth, 2004; Bavin, 2004). This study aims to extend these observations to include expressions of motion as a major structuring device in narratives. Furthermore, spatial may take precedence over temporal ordering of events in narrative. I argue that spatial narrative structuring is deeply rooted in cultural and environmental features creating a connection of unique identity for every ‘owner’ and audience of a story.

Published online: 20 May 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sin.21.01hof
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Cited by

Cited by 6 other publications

Claire Bowern
2023. The Oxford Guide to Australian Languages, DOI logo
Brown, Connor & Maïa Ponsonnet
2021. Constraints on subject elision in northern Australian Kriol: Between discourse and syntax. Australian Journal of Linguistics 41:3 ► pp. 287 ff. DOI logo
Carew, Margaret
2016. Represented experience in Gun-nartpa storyworlds. Narrative Inquiry 26:2 ► pp. 286 ff. DOI logo
Green, Jennifer
2016. Multimodal complexity in sand story narratives. Narrative Inquiry 26:2 ► pp. 312 ff. DOI logo
Hoffmann, Dorothea
2019. Restrictions on the Usage of Spatial Frames of Reference in Location and Orientation Descriptions: Evidence from Three Australian Languages. Australian Journal of Linguistics 39:1 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Walsh, Michael
2016. Ten postulates concerning narrative in Aboriginal Australia. Narrative Inquiry 26:2 ► pp. 193 ff. DOI logo

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