Ethnopragmatics: A fresh approach to studying discourse practices in cultural context. Thhis project applies an innovative and rigorous linguistic framework to the study of culturally-shaped ways of speaking, using case studies of Malay, Australian English, and several other languages. Cultural differences in ways of speaking - e.g. a tolerance of sarcasm, a preference for subtlety or for directness or for hyperbole - run deep and cause much intercultural misunderstanding. They are usually deepl ....Ethnopragmatics: A fresh approach to studying discourse practices in cultural context. Thhis project applies an innovative and rigorous linguistic framework to the study of culturally-shaped ways of speaking, using case studies of Malay, Australian English, and several other languages. Cultural differences in ways of speaking - e.g. a tolerance of sarcasm, a preference for subtlety or for directness or for hyperbole - run deep and cause much intercultural misunderstanding. They are usually deeply rooted in societal atitudes and cultural assumptions. The findings will have important implications for intercultural communication (both within a multicultural Australia, and in trade and international relations) and for the teaching of languages in cultural context.Read moreRead less
Divine power in Indigenous Christianity: translation, theology, and Pacific politics. This project analyses missionary activities and theological education in Oceania to understand how Indigenous political activity is shaped by Christian theological principles. Oceania has politically influential Christian churches and increasingly fragile governments. An understanding of their interconnections is needed for Australia's benefit.
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
Tracing change in family and social organisation in Indigenous Australia, using evidence from language. This project provides new approaches to knowing the ancient heritage of Australia and its first people through the distinctive ways in which they managed and talked about their family and social relationships. These relationships are the key to how they have survived, winning a livelihood from a difficult environment. The project has practical application in Native Title and land management, a ....Tracing change in family and social organisation in Indigenous Australia, using evidence from language. This project provides new approaches to knowing the ancient heritage of Australia and its first people through the distinctive ways in which they managed and talked about their family and social relationships. These relationships are the key to how they have survived, winning a livelihood from a difficult environment. The project has practical application in Native Title and land management, and in understanding the changes in Indigenous family structures which impact on their health and well-being. For the mainstream population too, confronted by influences destabilising the family, this study will also help us understand how and why family organization changes.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
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
Melpa Kang Rom: A chanted narrative genre from Highland New Guinea and its role in contemporary electoral politics. Across a large region of Highland PNG there are flourishing traditions of chanted tales. These are the subject of a current ARC Discovery project based at ANU, which focuses on both the poetic features of these genres and on their political uses. We seek to augment this project through the participation of Dr. Joseph Ketan, an anthropologist with unique qualifications in that he co ....Melpa Kang Rom: A chanted narrative genre from Highland New Guinea and its role in contemporary electoral politics. Across a large region of Highland PNG there are flourishing traditions of chanted tales. These are the subject of a current ARC Discovery project based at ANU, which focuses on both the poetic features of these genres and on their political uses. We seek to augment this project through the participation of Dr. Joseph Ketan, an anthropologist with unique qualifications in that he comes from the project area, with an insider's knowledge of a local genre of chanted tales and its contexts of use in electoral campaigns, and with extensive previous research in relevant areas of political anthropology. The project will contribute to the cross-cultural study of verbal art, and to and the understanding of contemporary electoral politics in PNG.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
Warlpiri songlines: anthropological, linguistic and Indigenous perspectives. This partnership combines anthropologists, linguists, Indigenous knowledge holders and Indigenous bicultural linguists to record, document and analyse Warlpiri song series. Warlpiri songs link ancestral power, landscape, emotions and aesthetics and are central to religious life. Because the diversity of performance contexts in which these songs are learnt is rapidly reducing, this aspect of Warlpiri high culture is unde ....Warlpiri songlines: anthropological, linguistic and Indigenous perspectives. This partnership combines anthropologists, linguists, Indigenous knowledge holders and Indigenous bicultural linguists to record, document and analyse Warlpiri song series. Warlpiri songs link ancestral power, landscape, emotions and aesthetics and are central to religious life. Because the diversity of performance contexts in which these songs are learnt is rapidly reducing, this aspect of Warlpiri high culture is under threat. This project will create a cultural archive informed by Indigenous exegesis, that integrates it into the world of anthropological and lingusitic scholarship and provides materials for the school curriculum.Read moreRead less
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