Australian Legendary Tales: folklore of the Noongahburrahs as told to the Piccaninnies - Softcover

Parker, Katie Langloh

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1482510014 ISBN 13: 9781482510010

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013

Synopsis

One of the best available collections of Australian Aboriginal folklore. Australian Legendary Tales was written for a popular audience, yet these stories were written with artistic integrity, and not filtered, as was the case with many books from this period. That said, the style of this book reflects a Victorian sentimentality and an occasional tinge of racism that may not sit well with some modern readers.

Katie Langloh Parker lived in the Australian outback most of her life, close to the Eulayhi people. The texts, with their sentient animals and mythic transformations, have a sonambulistic and chaotic narrative that mark them as authentic dreamtime lore. The mere fact that she cared to write down these stories places her far ahead of her contemporaries, who barely regarded native Australians as human.

This was the first book Parker wrote. She write four books, three of native folklore and one an ethnography of the Eulayhi tribe.

Parker has some odd connections with modern popular culture. She was rescued from drowning by an aborigine at an early age. This incident was portrayed in the film 'Picnic at Hanging Rock', directed by Peter Weir. The song "They Call the Wind Mariah" was based on a story from this book.

About this title

About the Author:

Catherine "Katie" Langloh Parker was a writer who lived in northern New South Wales in the late nineteenth century. She is best known for recording the stories of the Aboriginal people around her. (Wikipedia)

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1482510014
• ISBN 13: 9781482510010
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 134