Ceremonial song-poetry of the Arandic region in Central Australia
The Endangered Language Documentation Programme (ELDP) provides grants worldwide for the documentation of endangered languages and knowledge. Grantees create audiovisual collections with transcription and translations of endangered languages and practices. These collections are preserved and made freely available through the Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR).
Awelye is a genre of women's songs of Central Australia. The genre is highly endangered and the ceremonies struggle to find a place in contemporary society. In the past people learnt through frequent exposure, however massive social upheaval has meant that performances are too infrequent for younger people to absorb. The songs abound with foreign words, references to moribund cultural practices and detailed knowledge of the natural world known only by older people. By working with cross-generational teams, this project will produce linguistic-ethnographic descriptions of an awelye 'songline' from five Arandic languages: (ISO-639-3 gbb, aer, aly, amx), each known by less than a dozen singers.
Primary investigator: Myfany Turpin
Project Details
Location: Australia, Australia and New Zealand, Oceania
Organiser(s):
Endangered Languages Documentation Programme
Project partner(s): Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University
Funder(s):
Arcadia
Funding received: £9,945.00
Commencement Date: 01/2006
Project Status: Completed
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