Blog Two: Can We Ever Fully Tell Our Own Story?

Can We Ever Fully Tell Our Own Story?

By Hollie Gill.

A narrative can tell a life story, or a significant series of events. In modern day society, the constructions of our narratives can be influenced by social networking sites. In the Week 4 Lecture, Dr Van Luyn explained that “in a virtual network, you are not the only person constructing your identity” (Van Luyn, 2013). In my first blog I spoke about the Facebook page, Stories That Shocked The World. In this network, it is possible to a certain point to construct your own narrative. If one states their opinion about a certain issue and supports its credibility by saying “I went to university” or “I work for the government”, then people may support what you have to say, but then again, they may not. On a Facebook page where it can come down to an intellectual 'battle of knowledge' it depends on what people choose to believe.

In other areas of Facebook however, we do not get to choose what people see. When Timeline was introduced to Facebook, it was essentially, your whole story now accessible to your 'friends'. Mark Zuckerberg describes Timeline as, being able to show people not just some, but all of your stories and highlight certain events so that you can portray and communicate who you are (McNeill, 2012). Needless to say, people were even more now more restricted on telling their own virtual narratives than they were before. 

The Indigenous Australian narrative told in The Dreaming (1953), is told through the words of a Westerner. In the text, the author attempts to allow people to understand Aboriginal spirituality as they do (Stanner, 1979), and allow them to understand that the earth is the center of their philosophy (Chatwin, 1979). But even so, this narrative is altered through the perception of another and what people choose to believe, just like on my virtual network and on Facebook.

Over time, it is evident that narratives have changed in how they are constructed and how they are told. The Indigenous Australian narratives began by word of mouth and today we can tell our story on a virtual space. Both are similar in the sense that we do not/may not ever get to tell our own stories. In a way, they are always altered by power, editing, perception and communication.

Reference List

Chatwin, B. (1987). The Songlines. Retrieved from http://masterfile.jcu.edu.au.elibrary.jcu.edu.au

McNeill, L. (2012).  There is no “I” in network: social networking sites and posthuman auto/biography. Biography 35(1), 65-82. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Stanner, W.E.H. (1979). The Dreaming (1953). In White man got no dreaming: essays 1938-1973 (pp. 23-40). Retrieved from http://masterfile.jcu.edu.au.elibrary.jcu.edu.au

Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our space: network, narrative and the making of place, week 4 notes. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Image Credits

Oneill, M. (2013). What’s your story? I’ll tell you mine if you tell me your’s. Retrieved from http://www.empowernetwork.com/maureenoneil/blog/whats-your-story-ill-tell-you-mine-if-you-tell-me-yours/