Sustaining multimodal diversity: Narrative practices from the Central Australian deserts

Abstract

The deserts of Central Australia are home to some unique Indigenous narrative practices. Such verbal art forms are highly valued, and part of the rich ‘intangible cultural heritage’ of Indigenous Australians. In sand stories, a traditional form perfected by women and girls, the soft sand provides a palette for dynamic inscriptions that are accompanied by speech, and sometimes sign and song. In this article, I consider ecological factors underpinning these verbal art forms, the expression of spatial and temporal aspects of the narratives, and the impact of cultural and technological change. I draw on examples from an extensive corpus of filmed narratives from the Central Australian deserts to..