My storybook will be based on Aboriginal myths from Australia! I hope to find 4 different stories from different part of Australia that can be tied together in a storytelling style. So far, it seems that stories from different regions have common themes and elements, so it will be interesting to bring them all together in one storybook! So far, I think that I would like to use the Southern Australian story of Wayungare and His Wives and the more Western story How Fire Was Stolen From the Red-Crested Cockatoo. There are many stories to choose from on the Internet Sacred Texts Archive and maybeI will find some more sources during my travels too!
Bibliography:
1. Animal and Miscellaneous Tales (Part V, Chapter II), from Oceanic Mythology, by Roland B. Dixon, 1916
2. How Fire Was Stolen From the Red-Crested Cockatoo, from Some Myths and Legends of the Australian Aborigines, by W. J. Thomas, 1923
Possible Styles:
Frame Tale Storyteller:
Because indigenous cultures value oral traditions so deeply, I think it would be really interesting to construct this story book as a wise elder telling the stories to a younger generation or a friend. With this style, I could carry the same narrator throughout the entire storybook in order to better connect the diverse subject matter. Maybe it could begin with the narrator and the listener arriving at an old house or important area that brings back memories of these stories!
Traveler:
Since I will be traveling to Australia myself in less than a month, I think that it could be interesting to collect these stories in a traveler's journal format. In this style, I could incorporate creative elements in story in the third person and in the traveler's reactions in the first-person! This style would also work well with including lots of images to enhance the feel of a notebook and scrapbook.
Animals as Storytellers:
So many of these stories involve animals that it would be really interesting to take a fresh look at the stories from their perspective! I think that this style would work well as an anthology with a different animal narrating the story from their region. If the original story was predominantly about humans, I could invent an animal character to act as a witness to the events!
How It's Made:
Many of the stories that I read through explained the origins of natural monuments and phenomena or why animals looked the way that they did. It's a perfect starting point for a story of a name style book! I think that this could work well as either a frame tale or an anthology. If it was a frame tale, it could maybe be about a child balancing what they're learning in school with what they've learned through stories.
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| Illustration of a great warrior featured in many of the myths I read through! Image Information |
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