AustLit logo

AustLit

Warlukurlangu : What Happened at the Place of Fire single work   prose   dreaming story  
Issue Details: First known date: 1994... 1994 Warlukurlangu : What Happened at the Place of Fire
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'This account of the Warlukurlangu (fire dreaming) story by Uni Nampijinpa is distinguished by its psychological realism, the detailed attention given to the characters and their feelings. The traditional story, very ancient, has great dramatic potential, describing as it does the persecution by the father, a figure of great magical power, of his two sons after they have broken a taboo of which they were not aware, ironically in order to satisfy him, and the subsequent painful deaths of the two young men.

(Source: Warlpiri Dreamings and Histories, 1994, p. 35)

Notes

  • 'Translator's Note:

    In this version, the father, always deceitful, seems to take a delight in deceiving, and also in inflicting pain ... The activities of the father and the two sons in the area around Warlukurlangu and Kirrkirrmanu, and the flight of the two sons away from important places in what one might describe as on of the Warlpiri heartlands. Thus, the story is a major Warlpiri jukurrpa, frequently performed as a dance, and also recorded in a number of large and important paintings.'

    (Source: Warlpiri Dreamings and Histories, 1994, p. 35)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Last amended 1 Apr 2010 18:50:30
Settings:
  • Yuendumu, Southern Northern Territory, Northern Territory,
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X