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Walkabout is an Australian term referring to an unverified belief that Australian Aborigines would undergo a rite of passage journey during adolescence by living in the wilderness for six months.1 In this practice they would trace the paths, or "songlines", that their people's ceremonial ancestors took, and imitate, in a fashion, their heroic deeds. Merriam-Webster, however, defines the noun as a 1908 coinage that refers primarily to "a short period of wandering bush life engaged in by an Australian aborigine as an occasional interruption of regular work", with the only mention of "spiritual journey" coming in a usage example from a latter-day travel writer.2
In the media
- Walkabout by James Vance Marshall, from which the 1971 film Walkabout was adapted.
- "Walkabout" is an episode of the science fiction television series Babylon 5, focusing on Dr. Stephen Franklin's walkabout through the Downbelow section of the titular space station.
- "Walkabout" is also an episode of the television series Lost, focusing on John Locke attempting to go on walkabout in Australia, despite his paraplegia.
Footnotes
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 11 November 2008, at 02:12.
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