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y separately published work icon North of the Ten Commandments : A Collection of Northern Territory Literature anthology   poetry   short story   prose   correspondence   extract  
Issue Details: First known date: 1991... 1991 North of the Ten Commandments : A Collection of Northern Territory Literature
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'The writers and story-tellers included in this collection relate an important, even epic tale. They tell a story which in 1988 (white Australia's bicentennial year) rarely received attention because, while it tells of courage and love, it also focuses on killing and conquest, eccentricity and madness, and a land as hostile and murderous as it could be gentle and caring...' (Source: Preface)

Notes

  • Dedication: 'for billie, and luke sam ella and holly kate'.
  • Epigraph: North of the Ten Commandments,/North of the Barkly Plains,/Into the forest and jungle,/Drenched by tropical rains./Tis there my thoughts oft wander,/Tis there I long to be -/But I'm doomed to end in this city -/Ora pro nobis Domine.

    William Linklater & Lynda Tapp, Gather No Moss ,1968

  • Arranged into chronological and/or thematic sections, each with an initial illustration and epigraphs, as follows:

    • 1. Origins
    • 2. 'Bare-headed to the sun' : Early white voyages and exploration
    • 3. 'Bone-piled spots' : The whites dig in
    • 4. 'Nobody knows what it means' : White depiction of Aborigines
    • 5. 'Too much blackfeller' : The black view
    • 6. Pilgrims
    • 7. 'My spirit, my country'
    • 8. A bastard of a place
    • 9. Sites and sightings
    • 10. Darwin, mad capital of the north
    • 11. Adventures, incongruities, incredibilities
    • 12. Nature's stage
    • 13. Sprees, drunks, and race meetings
    • 14. Opening up the country : Drovers, buffalo hunters, and miners
    • 15. Rock belong Jesus dreaming
    • 16. 'Hang on like I done'
  • Includes acknowledgements and an index of authors and storytellers.

Contents

* Contents derived from the Rydalmere, Parramatta area, Sydney, New South Wales,:Hodder and Stoughton , 1991 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
North of the Ten Commandments : Preface, David Headon , single work essay (p. xiii-xv)
North of the Ten Commandments : Introduction, David Headon , single work prose (p. xvii-xxvii)
Yiwarrakurlu, Paddy Japaljarri Sims , single work prose dreaming story (p. 3-4)
Note: Includes on p3 photograph of painting of same name by the author, and explanatory diagram of painting.
Ngapakurlu/Rain, Paddy Japaljarri Sims , single work prose Indigenous story (p. 4-5)
Note: Includes on p4 photograph of painting of same name by the author, and explanatory diagram of painting.
The Milky Way : Marlindi Story of Arnhem Land, Narritjin Maymuru , Ted Egan (translator), single work prose dreaming story
The Aboriginal legend of how the Milky Way was created.
(p. 5-7)
Note: Author's painting is reproduced in black and white on p6.
The Rainbow Serpent : Djauan Legend, single work short story Indigenous story (p. 7-9)
Dinosaur Dreaming (for Mt Stegosaurus) Dinosaur Dreamtime (a fantasy for Mt Stegosaurus and the Centre) Dinosaur Dreamtime : A Fantasy for Mt Stegosaurus and the Centrei"The Dreamtime was true. These rocks all lived.", Mark O'Connor , single work poetry (p. 10-11)
Note: With title: Dinosaur Dreamtime (a fantasy for Mt Stegosaurus and the Centre)
The Seasons of Firei"There is Law for Fire,", Billy Marshall-Stoneking , single work poetry (p. 11-12)
Song Cycle of the Moon-Bone Wonguri - Mandjigai Song : Song Cycle of the Moon-Bonei"The people are making a camp of branches in that country at Arnhem Bay:", Wonguri-Mandjigai People , Ronald M. Berndt (translator) poetry Indigenous story (p. 13-17)
Note: With title: 'The Moon Bone : Wonguri-Manjikai Song Cycle of North-Eastern Arnhem Land'
He's Singing at Dhadutjmana : Milingimbi Songi"He's singing at Dhadutjmana", Beulah Lowe , Alice Moyle (translator), single work poetry Indigenous story (p. 18)
Form of Taking Possession of Port Essington and Melville and Bathurst Islands, 20 & 26 September 1824, J. J. Gordon (Captain) Bremer , single work prose (p. 18-19)
Harbingers of an Approaching Revolution, John Lort Stokes , extract prose travel (p. 19)
The Dawn of Liberty, Civilisation, and Christianity, John McDouall Stuart , extract prose (p. 20)
Note: Includes illustration taken from Stuart's journals.
Captain Cooki"Right /", Hobbles Danayarri , single work poetry (p. 21-23)
Too Many Captain Cooks, Paddy Fordham Wainburranga , Tjoli Laiwongka , Penny McDonald (translator), Paddy Fordham Wainburranga (translator), Chips Mackinolty (translator), Miliwanga Cameron (translator), single work prose Indigenous story
To Aboriginal people, Captain Cook is the archetypal first white man in Australia.
(p. 24-25)
Bamboo Creeki"Hardly Australia, this creek lined with 50 foot sticks", Mark O'Connor , single work poetry (p. 29)
The Coming of the Dingoes, Xavier Herbert , extract novel (p. 29-33)
North Coast, Blue-Mud Bay, Matthew Flinders , extract prose (p. 33-35)
Our Theodolite Stand and Mr Cunningham's Insect-Net, Phillip Parker King , extract prose (p. 35-37)
Note: Black and white sketch by the author on p36.
Geographic Memoir of Melville Island, 1826-8, Major John Campbell , extract prose (p. 37-40)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

The Postcolonial Perspective on an Regional Literature in Australia Per Henningsgaard , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Postcolonial Issues in Australian Literature 2010; (p. 57-74)
Book Publishing in Western Australia : A World Elsewhere Per Henningsgaard , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Studies , vol. 1 no. 1 2009;

'This article examines the role of book publishing outside the cultural centres, where the lack of access to the gatekeepers of cultural production, such as literary agents, editors and publishers, has inhibited both the publishers' and region's reach into the public imagination.

It takes Western Australia as a case study, analysing the impact of geographical regionalism on the processes of book production and publication. Western Australia is infrequently represented in the cultura record, much less in those aspects of the cultural record that are transmitted overseas.

This imbalance in 'cultural currency' arises because regions are at least in part defined by their ability to participate in what Pierre Bourdieu has deemed the 'field of cultural production'. In the case of print culture, this field includes writers, literary agents, editors, publishers, government arts organisations, the media, schools, and book retailers, just to name a few.

This article pays particular attention to Western Australia's three major publishing houses (Fremantle Press, University of Western Australia Press, and the publisher of Indigenous literature, Magabala Books), as well as those Western Australian writers who have achieved the greatest international success, such as Tim Winton and Elizabeth Jolley. It demonstrates that the awareness of geographically and culturally diverse regions within the framework of the nation is derived from representations of these regions and their associated regional characteristics in the movies, television and books.' (Author's abstract)

The Northern Territory as It Is Rob Gill , 1991 single work review
— Appears in: Northern Perspective , Wet Season vol. 14 no. 2 1991; (p. 117-118)

— Review of North of the Ten Commandments : A Collection of Northern Territory Literature 1991 anthology poetry short story prose correspondence extract
Off the Shelf Pamela Ruskin , 1991 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Jewish News , 5 July vol. 57 no. 41 1991; (p. 30)

— Review of North of the Ten Commandments : A Collection of Northern Territory Literature 1991 anthology poetry short story prose correspondence extract ; Tandia Bryce Courtenay , 1991 single work novel
Fair Go David A. Myers , 1991 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 129 1991; (p. 32-33)

— Review of North of the Ten Commandments : A Collection of Northern Territory Literature 1991 anthology poetry short story prose correspondence extract
Forecasts Nicole Strang , 1990 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , December-January (1990-1991) vol. 70 no. 1011 1990; (p. 18)

— Review of North of the Ten Commandments : A Collection of Northern Territory Literature 1991 anthology poetry short story prose correspondence extract
No Time for Sanity in this Absurd World David Harris , 1991 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser Magazine , 6 April 1991; (p. 12)

— Review of North of the Ten Commandments : A Collection of Northern Territory Literature 1991 anthology poetry short story prose correspondence extract
At the Top End of Oz Literature Diana Giese , 1991 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 13-14 April 1991; (p. 5)

— Review of North of the Ten Commandments : A Collection of Northern Territory Literature 1991 anthology poetry short story prose correspondence extract
Fair Go David A. Myers , 1991 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 129 1991; (p. 32-33)

— Review of North of the Ten Commandments : A Collection of Northern Territory Literature 1991 anthology poetry short story prose correspondence extract
Off the Shelf Pamela Ruskin , 1991 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Jewish News , 5 July vol. 57 no. 41 1991; (p. 30)

— Review of North of the Ten Commandments : A Collection of Northern Territory Literature 1991 anthology poetry short story prose correspondence extract ; Tandia Bryce Courtenay , 1991 single work novel
The Postcolonial Perspective on an Regional Literature in Australia Per Henningsgaard , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Postcolonial Issues in Australian Literature 2010; (p. 57-74)
Book Publishing in Western Australia : A World Elsewhere Per Henningsgaard , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Studies , vol. 1 no. 1 2009;

'This article examines the role of book publishing outside the cultural centres, where the lack of access to the gatekeepers of cultural production, such as literary agents, editors and publishers, has inhibited both the publishers' and region's reach into the public imagination.

It takes Western Australia as a case study, analysing the impact of geographical regionalism on the processes of book production and publication. Western Australia is infrequently represented in the cultura record, much less in those aspects of the cultural record that are transmitted overseas.

This imbalance in 'cultural currency' arises because regions are at least in part defined by their ability to participate in what Pierre Bourdieu has deemed the 'field of cultural production'. In the case of print culture, this field includes writers, literary agents, editors, publishers, government arts organisations, the media, schools, and book retailers, just to name a few.

This article pays particular attention to Western Australia's three major publishing houses (Fremantle Press, University of Western Australia Press, and the publisher of Indigenous literature, Magabala Books), as well as those Western Australian writers who have achieved the greatest international success, such as Tim Winton and Elizabeth Jolley. It demonstrates that the awareness of geographically and culturally diverse regions within the framework of the nation is derived from representations of these regions and their associated regional characteristics in the movies, television and books.' (Author's abstract)

Testimony Against the White Invaders Robert Hefner , 1991 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 5 May 1991; (p. 23)
The Environment : A "Bran Nue Dae" or a Very Ancient One? Veronica Brady , 1991 single work criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , December vol. 36 no. 4 1991; (p. 100-106)
Last amended 8 Nov 2014 20:14:42
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