Cleaned the Crocodile's Teeth: Nuer Song [Paperback]

Terese Svoboda (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0912678631 | ISBN-13: 978-0912678634 | Publication Date: January 1, 1985 | Edition: 1st

Poetry. The Nuer are a cattle herding people who live along the Nile. Although only a half million in population, they were made world famous by anthropologist E. Evans Pritchard's classic "The Nuer." Song is the art form most suited to their harsh climate and semi-nomadic existence. CLEANDE THE CROCODILE'S TEETH was translated by Terese Svoboda, who collected and transcribed them in the Sudan with the aid of a PEN/Columbia Fellowship. The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for the completion of the project. However, CLEANED THE CROCODILE'S TEETH is more than just the translation of these songs. Its linking narrative, which chronicles Svoboda's experiences and places the songs in their proper contexts, takes us along on the translator's sometimes difficult journey and gives us an even deeper glimpse into the often hard, but never hopeless lives of the Nuer. Svoboda is also the author of ALL ABERRATION, a book of poetry published by the University of Georgia Press.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Red Clouds At Sunset by Micen Atem
Who Can Touch Me? by Micen Atem
Always Praises You by Nyaruoth Atem
Cleaned The Crocodile's Teeth by Nyabuk Col
Its Shells Pile Before Me by Nyabuk Col
You, A Red Man, And I, A Black Man by Moses Cot
As Helpless As A Dhow On A Still Day by Dhor Ding Cuol
I Would Give Him A Man by Dhor Ding Cuol
I Was As Full Of Air As An Old Bullfrog by Pilual Juoc
The Old Fashioned Girls by Pilual Juoc
Women Beat The Life Out Of Me by Pilual Juoc
Who Will Bury Me? by Tor Kej
Eat Nothing by Nyapal Kong
Foreigners With Teeth by Peter Pal Kong
Its Eye Ran With Blood by Peter Pal Kong
I Won't Bow My Head For Anyone by Stephen Ciec Lam
The Girl's Hearts Soften by Daniel Cuol Long
Moviestars by Daniel Cuol Long
The One-eyed by Nyalang Pinien Lual
The Radio, With Its Breath Like A Trapped Bee by John Gatwec Lul
Let Her Be Red by Nyakuoth Macar
Ambush by Phillip Macar
Don't Be Discouraged by Phillip Macar
He'd Die For Tobacco by Phillip Macar
Who Plays The Lyre? by Phillip Macar
I Was Mistaken For A Red Dog by Nyakong Makui
Magic That Comes At Dawn by Peter Pal Hoth Nyang
Paddlewheel Under A Boat by Peter Pal Hoth Nyang
Leapt Into The Dance by Nyanpandong
The Crocodile Scales by Moses Kuac Nyoat
Drink The Curse by Moses Kuac Nyoat
The Big Knot by Nyalual Pal
Snails In The Grass by Nyalual Pal
The Tail Of The Buffalo by Nyalual Pal
A Glutton by Nyagak Pinien
John Kennedy by Nyagak Pinien
Just Anyone by Nyagak Pinien
Road To The Congo by Nyagak Pinien
These Things Amaze Me by Nyagak Pinien
The Sun's Tongue by Rec Puk
White Girls by Phillip Macar Ruac
Fishing For Girls With A Rod And Line by Kuek Taitai
He Will Float In The River Like A Waterlily by Kong Tot
Between The Anthill And The Heglig Tree by Anonymous
He'd Eat Lizards by Anonymous
Kin To The Wolf by Anonymous
Kual Is Left by Anonymous
Out Of Step by Anonymous
Wandering Off by Anonymous
We Broke The Noose With A Snap by Majiok Wunyik
Strutting With My Rifle by Daniel Cuol Lul Wur
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: Greenfield Review Press; 1st edition (January 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0912678631
• ISBN-13: 978-0912678634
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,258,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Writing in the voice of God as I did in Tin God didn't seem like much of a stretch after being the eldest of nine children. We lived in a small town in southwest Nebraska with the smell of sage tumbleweeds and cattle feedlots. Although I've lived most of my adult life in NYC, I'm still haunted by home, a place that's now mostly in my head. But in NYC, I can travel without going anywhere. Eight languages are spoken on my block, including Chinese. For me, that's perfect--I can be surrounded by people I know but I can't understand a word they're saying. Although I've never been a pirate in 18th America, this year's Pirate Talk or Mermalade should reveal my interest in research. Even Henry Hudson believed in mermaids! Next year's Bohemian Girl will return to Nebraska, albeit 19th century Nebraska, with a spunky girl who escapes from the Indians.