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Voices from the Volcano: Myths, Folktales and Poetry from Gaua, Vanuatu
FORTHCOMING December 2012
Voices from the Volcano is a collection of 20 texts, showcasing the rich oral literature of the island of Gaua, in northern Vanuatu (Melanesia). This book is a unique publication of its kind – the first bilingual text collection ever published on the cultures of northern Vanuatu. It features various narrative genres, from children's stories to personal histories, or sung poetry. Myths tell the origin of the giant Lake Letas, or of the famous volcano which dominates the island of Gaua – the abode of the gods, and of our ancestors. After a general presentation of oral tradition in this island, each story is situated in its cultural and literary context, and presented in bilingual format. The six languages spoken in the island are represented, some of which are highly endangered, and undocumented to this day.
This book is part of our Oral Literature Series in conjunction with the World Oral Literature Project.
Alexandre François is a linguist from LaCiTO (Langues et Civilisations à Tradition Orale) in the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and currently a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University. He has conducted extensive fieldwork on a number of hitherto undescribed – and often endangered – Oceanic languages from northern Vanuatu and eastern Solomon Islands. He has written reference grammars of Araki and Mwotlap, two languages of Vanuatu, and is currently writing one of Hiw. While he mainly works on the description and analysis of these languages, his projects also aim to document the oral literature, poetry and music of these communities, and to support the maintenance of endangered languages. Together with ethnomusicologist Monika Stern, he is publishing a selection of his musical recordings from northern Vanuatu in the forthcoming CD Vanuatu: Celebrations and Mysteries.