Cirrus@Austlit

'The familiar Cenfralian art style, which reaches its peak in the so called "Papunya style", typically displays concentric circles, joined by lines. Most of us have heard an artist describe the meaning of his painting in terms of the movement of mythical beings between places (usually waterholes), which are represented by the concentric circles, along paths represented by the interconnecting lines. At various points along the journey things happen: secret/sacred corroborees or ceremonies are held, other groups of beings are met, and/or conflicts of various sorts take place. Those familiar with Aboriginal story telling practices will recognize this as quite characteristic of the organisation of their mythological narratives. Narratives in traditional languages of the Kimberley, the Centre (Michaels 1986:48, Munn 1973:132, Myers 1986:54, 59, 68, 69) and Arnhem Land (Williams 1986:37) - and quite likely elsewhere - normally follow the movement of people from (named) place to named place, recounting their experiences along the way. Indeed, this mode of organisation seems to be so characteristically Aboriginal that it is also found in non-mythological narratives from a variety of genres, and even in narratives spoken in Kriol and Aboriginal English.'  (Publication abstract)