Australian message sticks: Old questions, new directions
Message sticks are tools of graphic communication, once used across the Australian continent. While their styles vary, a typical message stick is a flattened or cylindrical length of wood with motifs engraved on all sides. Carried by special messengers over long distances, their motifs were intended...
| Veröffentlicht in: | Journal of material culture |
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| 1. VerfasserIn: | |
| Medienart: | Elektronisch Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Verfügbarkeit prüfen: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Lade...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Sage Publ.
[2019]
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| In: |
Journal of material culture
Jahr: 2020, Band: 25, Heft: 2, Seiten: 133-152 |
| RelBib Classification: | BB Indigene Religionen KBS Australien; Ozeanien |
| weitere Schlagwörter: | B
message sticks
B Australia B graphic codes |
| Online Zugang: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Zusammenfassung: | Message sticks are tools of graphic communication, once used across the Australian continent. While their styles vary, a typical message stick is a flattened or cylindrical length of wood with motifs engraved on all sides. Carried by special messengers over long distances, their motifs were intended to complement a verbally produced communication such as an invitation, a declaration of war, or news of a death. It was only in the late 1880s that message sticks first became a subject of formal anthropological enquiry at a time when the practice was already in steep transition; very little original research has been published in the 20th century and beyond. In this article, the author reviews colonial efforts to understand these objects, as recorded in documentary and museum archives, and describes transformations of message stick communication in contemporary settings. He summarizes the state-of-the-art in message stick research and identifies the still unanswered questions concerning their origins, adaptations and significance. |
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| ISSN: | 1460-3586 |
| Enthält: | Enthalten in: Journal of material culture
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/1359183519858375 |