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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
scholarly & readable,
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This review is from: Broken song: T.G.H. Strehlow and aboriginal possession (Hardcover)
We, who live in the cenral desert region of Australia, and like it or not, have continuous contact with indigenous Australians who really define the town's existence (as they number about one third of its 30,000 people), are wary of the outsiders who presume, in their commentary, to know more about 'us' than we do ourselves. For instance, Bruce Chatwin's 'Songlines' was enormously popular as an armchair ride into the deep affinities indigenous peoples, here, have with their respective 'countries' within Australia. Chatwin's writing was not based so much on any primary experience as it was on the work of Ted Strehlow, the subject of Barry Hill's terrific and readable opus. Strehlow was a son of the red centre (to borrow an expression from another son & author/pioneer, Kurt Johansson) & nurtured by the local Arrernte people, indeed raised with Arrernte & German(the language of his missionary, Lutheran parents)as his first language. As an acaedemic claiming privileged access to knowledge from his indigenous contacts, he eventually proved a problematic figure in most of his public walks in life. It's a fascinating tale, unravelled by a profound wordsmith who one senses, was both enthralled and revolted by Strehlow. Strehlow's book 'Songs of Central Australia', is a curious amalgam of Arrernte lyrics recast, perhaps, in some northern European, epic mode. Whatever interception or invention he brought to the lyrics to elevate them to the respected company he felt they belonged to,the lines leap from the page. Hill's do too. Both Chatwin & Hill evoke the authority of Strehlow in their respective titles. I know which one I'd rather travel with. Want more on this region? check>rodmoss.com
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