Natrauswen nig Efat
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Authors
Thieberger, Nicholas
Publication Date
2011-05Alternative Title
Stories from South Efate
ISBN
978-1-39-2177550-5
Publisher
University of Melbourne, Australia
Language
English
Type
Book or Book Chapter
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Thieberger, N. (2011). Natrauswen nig Efat. http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/237475
Description
PDF of book
Abstract
This book presents a selection of stories recorded mainly in Erakor
village, Efate, Vanuatu since the mid-1990s.
This collection of stories is a result of my collaboration with a
number of Erakor villagers. The stories presented here are not and
could not claim to be a comprehensive view of Erakor tradition.
Each is the result of the speaker’s choice of what they would tell me
and reflects their understanding of what is significant, based on my
request for them to talk about any topic, but largely framed by
kastom (traditional) story, history or personal story. These are the
categories into which I have placed the stories. This distinction is
not unproblematic as personal stories can become indistinguishable
from kastom stories when magical events intervene in the
narrator’s life, and can also reflect historical events in which the
narrator inevitably finds themself.
The collection presented here aims primarily to provide a record of
aspects of Erakor life for South Efate speakers and for interested
outsiders. Given that little else is published about this village the
present set of stories is a first step, one that I hope will be followed
up with more collaboration from Erakor villagers.
Almost all of the stories related here are transcripts of recordings.
Copies of these recordings are held at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre,
and a set are available on a computer at Erakor school.
Keywords
Efate, Vanuatu, stories, Australia
Sponsorship
Produced with assistance from the Australian Research Council and
the Arts Faculty and School of Languages and Linguistics, University
of Melbourne.
Identifiers
This record's URL: http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/237475