'Renowned storyteller and Aboriginal elder Tommy Kngwarraye Thompson invites us into the world of the Kaytetye people of Central Australia. Presented in the Kaytetye language with English translations, his stories portray the Kaytetye way of life as it was laid out in the Altyerre, or Dreamtime, and as it is today. He describes how the Kaytetye language was born, life before the arrival of the Europeans, and the way children were brought up and continue to be brought up today.' (Source: Publisher's website)
'While Frederick Turner's envisioning of the frontier remains pervasive in representations of Australian postcolonial geographies and constructions of national identity, recent anthropological evidence suggests more nuanced 'lifeworlds' may better approximate the lived experience of 'frontier' towns such as Alice Springs, in Central Australia.
'This paper reimagines Baudelaire's flâneur to examine two walking narratives from the region. The analysis reveals at least two levels of produced space prevailing in Alice Springs, with many other imagined spaces imbricated in a more complex political geography than Turner's frontier might explain. The paper aims to alert writers and journalists to recent shifts in anthropology, leading hopefully to more nuanced representations of Australian postcolonial geographies.
'The first text is a Central Australian Aboriginal Dreaming narrative called 'A Man from the Dreamtime,' a traditional Kaytetye story. Kaytetye elder Tommy Kngwarraye Thompson told the story to anthropologist Myfany Turpin as part of a collection published as Growing Up Kaytetye (2003). The second is one (walking) chapter from a recent narrative of political geography and memoir by Eleanor Hogan entitled Alice Springs (2012).' (Publication summary)
'An arresting cover, with the title superimposed over an engaging photo of two Kaytetye children, sets the tone for Growing up Kaytetye. It is a book of stories, holding the theme of beginnings, culture and history of the Kaytetye people originally told by Tommy Kngwarraye Thompson in his mother tongue and transcribed by Myfany Turpin. But don’t be alarmed, there is a translation. Turpin has, in collaboration with Thompson and others, produced a paragraph-byparagraph Australian English translation which has been written in a clear English style. The two languages are contrasted by the use of two-colour print so that it is easy to follow either of the languages.' (Introduction)
'An arresting cover, with the title superimposed over an engaging photo of two Kaytetye children, sets the tone for Growing up Kaytetye. It is a book of stories, holding the theme of beginnings, culture and history of the Kaytetye people originally told by Tommy Kngwarraye Thompson in his mother tongue and transcribed by Myfany Turpin. But don’t be alarmed, there is a translation. Turpin has, in collaboration with Thompson and others, produced a paragraph-byparagraph Australian English translation which has been written in a clear English style. The two languages are contrasted by the use of two-colour print so that it is easy to follow either of the languages.' (Introduction)
'While Frederick Turner's envisioning of the frontier remains pervasive in representations of Australian postcolonial geographies and constructions of national identity, recent anthropological evidence suggests more nuanced 'lifeworlds' may better approximate the lived experience of 'frontier' towns such as Alice Springs, in Central Australia.
'This paper reimagines Baudelaire's flâneur to examine two walking narratives from the region. The analysis reveals at least two levels of produced space prevailing in Alice Springs, with many other imagined spaces imbricated in a more complex political geography than Turner's frontier might explain. The paper aims to alert writers and journalists to recent shifts in anthropology, leading hopefully to more nuanced representations of Australian postcolonial geographies.
'The first text is a Central Australian Aboriginal Dreaming narrative called 'A Man from the Dreamtime,' a traditional Kaytetye story. Kaytetye elder Tommy Kngwarraye Thompson told the story to anthropologist Myfany Turpin as part of a collection published as Growing Up Kaytetye (2003). The second is one (walking) chapter from a recent narrative of political geography and memoir by Eleanor Hogan entitled Alice Springs (2012).' (Publication summary)
