Restoring the Chain of Memory - T.G.H. Strehlow and the Repatriation of Australian Indigenous Knowledge - James L. Cox

Restoring the Chain of Memory - T.G.H. Strehlow and the Repatriation of Australian Indigenous Knowledge - James L. Cox

Songs of Central Australia

Restoring the Chain of Memory - T.G.H. Strehlow and the Repatriation of Australian Indigenous Knowledge - James L. Cox

James L. Cox [+-]
University of Edinburgh and Western Sydney University
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James L. Cox is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies, University of Edinburgh,and Adjunct Professor in the Religion and Society Research Cluster, Western Sydney University. He has particular interests in the study of Indigenous Religions, with emphases on Africa, the Arctic and Australia and in methodologies in the academic study of religions.

Description

Although he wrote numerous articles, delivered many public lectures and participated in discussions about the changing condition of Australian Aboriginal peoples, Strehlow’s most significant academic contribution to interpreting Arrernte culture and society is found in the publication Songs of Central Australia (1971), described by A.P. Elkin as Strehlow’s ‘magnum opus’. In addition to containing insight into the religion and society of the peoples of Central Australia, Songs of Central Australia recounts in Arrernte and in English sacred songs and chants performed during secret ceremonies. By presenting details of the songs chanted during major rituals, Strehlow enabled his readers to see Arrernte religion in practice. As such, for the outsider, unfamiliar with the Indigenous language, it offers a living picture of the content and meaning of the principal religious ceremonies of the Arrernte. This chapter primarily analyses selected ‘songs’ recorded and described by Strehlow, with a particular focus on initiation and increase rituals.

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Citation

Cox, James. Songs of Central Australia. Restoring the Chain of Memory - T.G.H. Strehlow and the Repatriation of Australian Indigenous Knowledge. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 81-107 Mar 2018. ISBN 9781800503113. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=27447. Date accessed: 29 Mar 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.27447. Mar 2018

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