The Dead Heart of Australia single work   prose   children's  
... The Dead Heart of Australia
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Works about this Work

Central Australian Songs : A History and Reinterpretation of Their Distribution through the Earliest Recordings Jason Gibson , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Oceania , July vol. 85 no. 2 2015; (p. 165-182)

'This paper contains a discussion of an unpublished essay by TGH Strehlow concerning the historic wax cylinder recordings of songs from Central Australia made by Walter Baldwin Spencer and Frank Gillen in 1901. The manuscript, written by Strehlow in 1968, begins with an explanation of the historical context of the song recordings, and the distribution of song and dance traditions across the Australian inland. Strehlow elucidates the content via information imparted to him by a number of Arrernte and Luritja men, who first heard these recordings over 50 years after they were made, in 1960. Their explanation of these songs reveals further information on the diffusion of song verses across vast regions in Central Australia (including Warumungu, Anmatyerr, Arrernte, and Warlpiri country), and the incorporation of European words and themes within altharte (public) songs in which men sing and dance. I have expanded Strehlow's information on Spencer's recordings further with additional information from other ethno-historical sources and my own contemporary fieldwork. Combined, this research deepens the anthropological understanding of some of the earliest ethnographic sound recordings ever made in Australia.'  (Introduction)

The Dead Heart of Australia André Dao , 2012 single work essay
— Appears in: Voiceworks , Spring no. 90 2012; (p. 63-65)
'At the turn of the twentieth century, J. W. Gregory, a professor of geology at the University of Glasgow, travelled to the Lake Eyre region in South Australia. As the lowest point on the continent, it is the focal point of the Lake Eyre Basin - which covers one-sixth of Australia - and on the rare occasion that it fills, it is our largest lake. It's not hard to see why all roads led to Lake Eyre for the early European explorers. Indeed, Gregory titled the memoirs of his journey The Dead Heart of Australia, concluding that "there is nothing on earth more desolate than its stony plains and bare clay-pots". And despite our tropical rainforests and green mountain ranges, the Australian imagination has always been dominated by the desert, the outback.' 

 (Publication abstract)

Central Australian Songs : A History and Reinterpretation of Their Distribution through the Earliest Recordings Jason Gibson , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Oceania , July vol. 85 no. 2 2015; (p. 165-182)

'This paper contains a discussion of an unpublished essay by TGH Strehlow concerning the historic wax cylinder recordings of songs from Central Australia made by Walter Baldwin Spencer and Frank Gillen in 1901. The manuscript, written by Strehlow in 1968, begins with an explanation of the historical context of the song recordings, and the distribution of song and dance traditions across the Australian inland. Strehlow elucidates the content via information imparted to him by a number of Arrernte and Luritja men, who first heard these recordings over 50 years after they were made, in 1960. Their explanation of these songs reveals further information on the diffusion of song verses across vast regions in Central Australia (including Warumungu, Anmatyerr, Arrernte, and Warlpiri country), and the incorporation of European words and themes within altharte (public) songs in which men sing and dance. I have expanded Strehlow's information on Spencer's recordings further with additional information from other ethno-historical sources and my own contemporary fieldwork. Combined, this research deepens the anthropological understanding of some of the earliest ethnographic sound recordings ever made in Australia.'  (Introduction)

The Dead Heart of Australia André Dao , 2012 single work essay
— Appears in: Voiceworks , Spring no. 90 2012; (p. 63-65)
'At the turn of the twentieth century, J. W. Gregory, a professor of geology at the University of Glasgow, travelled to the Lake Eyre region in South Australia. As the lowest point on the continent, it is the focal point of the Lake Eyre Basin - which covers one-sixth of Australia - and on the rare occasion that it fills, it is our largest lake. It's not hard to see why all roads led to Lake Eyre for the early European explorers. Indeed, Gregory titled the memoirs of his journey The Dead Heart of Australia, concluding that "there is nothing on earth more desolate than its stony plains and bare clay-pots". And despite our tropical rainforests and green mountain ranges, the Australian imagination has always been dominated by the desert, the outback.' 

 (Publication abstract)

Last amended 20 Oct 2009 11:42:11
Subjects:
  • Lake Eyre, Far North South Australia, South Australia,
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