Sing It Loud: What is Your Name?

Figure 1.  Name (Ad-design, 2016). When finding your way in a new network name is everything.

Joining a military network means, being part of an unknown world. Everything is new, people, places, spaces, even language. It can be dis-empowering and displacing, talking to and relying on strangers  . It can be seen as difficult to make a new place in this network when you do not understand the language.

The Diggernet network has a completely different way of speaking, everybody refers to each other by last names. Imagine knowing someone by one name and suddenly he/she has a new name, it can be disorientating. Kuttainen highlighted that Narrative or language has a way of orienting a person (2016, p 13). Through the assimilation and learning of this particular networks narrative/naming or song, a spouse could feel more orientated and make their own place/space. Jones (2013) explains how the song lines of the aboriginal tribes have a way of orientating people.

Chatwin (1987, p 12) states that “A song, was both map and direction-finder providing you knew the song, you could always find your way across country.” In this network finding the song means that one would have to learn this networks narrative such as; language, abbreviations, visual aspects such as symbols (military patches) as well as the identifying and the renaming of people/things. 

This renaming of people and things help to categorise and in turn give power to the name. “Naming is power”, that is to give something a new name is to give it a new characteristic, which in turn can be very empowering (Tuan, 1991, p 684). Hussain (2010), presents in a short film the importance of naming. It highlights that once something/someone is named that name is given power within that networks or group. 

Reference Page

Ad-design. (Artist). (2016). Name. [Image]. Canada. Retrieved from http://ad-design.966v.com/pic/505-42881.html

Chatwin, B. (1987). The Songlines. In Cape, J (Eds.), Australian aborigines-·-Social life and customs. London, England: Robert Hartnoll Ltd.

Hussain, S. [Nakama Planet Studios]. (2010, Dec 14). What's in a name? Short Film. [ Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhfWCXu3J4I

 Jones, C. [tedtalks]. (2013, Oct 17). What are song lines. [ Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVOG-RKTFIo

Kuttainen, V. (2016). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narrative and the making of place, week 5 notes [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_76323_1&content_id=_2422311_1

Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the making of place: A narrative-descriptive approach. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 81(4), 684-696. Retrieved from http:/www.jstor.org/stable/2563430