Dyirbal Song Poetry: The Oral Literature of an Australian Rainforest People (English, Papuan Languages and Papuan Languages Edition)

The Dyirbal people of the Cairns rainforest region in North Queensland have a rich heritage of song poetry reflecting their way of life, their view of the world, and their coping strategies. This study examines the words and music of 174 songs, across five styles of performance, each with its own metrical pattern and linguistic and musical characteristics. The author also describes the social context in which the songs were sung and explains their messages. Distributed by ISBS. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.