ERIC Number: ED253325
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1981-Sep
Pages: 110
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: ISBN-0-85901-203-4
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Aboriginal Motif in Children's Literature. Proceedings of a National Seminar Held at the University of Tasmania Tasmania, Australia, September 25-27, 1981).
Herr, Twila A. J., Ed.
This seminar on the Aboriginal motif in children's literature was opened by critic Walter McVitty with a paper entitled "The Presentation of Australian Aborigines and Their Culture in Children's Literature: A Brief Overview." In "Some Thoughts on the Aborigine as Presented in Children's Literature," Queensland author Bill Scott stressed the need for authors to understand the true nature of Aboriginal culture. Victoria children's literature consultant Margaret Dunkle assessed the changing, and generally improving, treatment of the Aborigine in children's literature. John Honey, Director of the Tasmanian Film Corporation, discussed the film "Manganinnie." His contribution pointed up problems of translating a children's book into an accurate, sympathetic, and effective screen protrayal of Tasmanian Aboriginal culture. Honey's address was highlighted by Beth Roberts, who authored the book on which the film was based. In "On Writing for Children: The Aboriginal Motif," Rosalind Langford of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Center voiced her concern that negative social conditioning has already occurred due to biased and incorrect materials presently used in schools and on the shelves in libraries. Finally, Jim Everett, in "Why Aborigines Should Be Writing for Children," reacts to European dominance in the writing, publishing, and selecting of children's literature in Australia and urges Aborigines to write for children so that the Aboriginal story can be told from an indigenous perspective. (RH)
Descriptors: Authors, Childrens Literature, Cultural Awareness, Cultural Images, Film Production, Foreign Countries, Literary Criticism, Motifs, Racial Bias, Seminars, Tribes
School of Librarianship, University of Tasmania, G.P.O. Box 252C, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia ($6.50 in Australian funds).
Publication Type: Collected Works - Proceedings
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A