Skip to main content

Placing 'Australia' in fairy tales

At Brighton Historical Society (Bayside Art of Words Literary Festival)  today I began my talk about Olga Waller (Ernst) who was a resident of Brighton, with a brief exploration of early Australian fairytales. A small group of Australian writers realised the importance of setting narrative firmly in distinctly recognisable localities for Australian children. Ethel Turner and Mary Grant Bruce, contemporaries of Ernst, chose a different genre. Of the total children’s books published between 1870 and Ernst's Fairytales of the Land of the Wattle only about a dozen were fairy tales. 
The fairies in Rosalie's Reward live in the rundown flower garden of a cottage near the Ballaraat goldfields and when the 'fairy godmother' appears it is in the form of an old (and rich) miner. J.R.Lockeyeare’s  Mr. Bunyip is a kind hearted chap giving some social and historical pointers to an eager Mary Somerville who has strayed from the path in a ‘Red Riding Hood like’ ramble. Charles Marson invents a rather cruel fairyworld of goblins and hill trolls living in underground caves in Australia. However, his use of distinctly Australian descriptions must have endeared the tales to his readers: a character is found sitting on an old kerosene tin, another is described as ‘no taller than a good-sized gum tree’. Henry Byron Moore wrote How the cruel imp became a good fairy, and other stories. The cruel imp is mean to Australian creatures. He cuts the crests off cockatoos, worries magpies, ties a melons to kangaroo’s tail, roasts a dog alive and in consequence, is himself, condemned to be basted on a spit with extra longs thrown on for ‘telling stories’ and eaten. (Bedtime reading????) Relenting the Queen gives him a chance to redeem himself which is a slow process taking innumerable pages as he has a few relapses!
There may be more fairy tales as yet undiscovered. As the publishing industry in the colonies was in its infancy some children’s books with small print runs such as Ernst's and/or localised distribution may have disappeared entirely. Deborah Stevenson (2011) has a theory that I'd call the 'Loved to bits' factor. If children like a book it is read over and over again perhaps adding to its eventual demise. Perhaps only the less appreciated books survive. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My Thesis - what's it about?

I am always thrilled to be contacted by those who by chance find my blog. I have been blogging for three years and am hoping to complete my first draft by the end of the year. I thought it timely to re-publish what has already been published. The following is from my presentation at the University of Kassel, Germany. In 1904 Olga Ernst, a pupil teacher, wrote Fairy Tales from the Land of the Wattle. Although she was just sixteen years old, Ernst was one of a small group of writers in Australia who attempted to nationalise the fairytale towards the end of the nineteenth century, signalling quite clearly that they intended to affix the elves and fairies of Europe onto the Australian landscape aiming to fill a void that was keenly felt by the children of emigrants and the Australian-born children of emigrants. (Walker, 1988) The beginnings of the Australian bush fantasy genre can be linked with the desire to bring the comfortable and familiar into the new and distinctly non

Australian Christmas Carols

A phone interview with a Junior Red Cross member who was in Ernst's Red Cross Circle led me on another research track. She told me that Ernst's pride in Australia was obvious at Christmas time with the regular singing of Australian Christmas Carols. I was given two clues:   a) written by a Melbourne man   b) one carol was about 'Brolgas dancing'.  I believe the lyrics they sang were those written by A BC staff writer John Wheeler to music by William James.           THE CAROL OF THE BIRDS 1. Out on the plains the brolgas are dancing Lifting their feet like warhorses prancing Up to the sun the woodlarks go winging Faint in the dawn light echoes their singing Orana! Orana! Orana to Christmas Day. 2. Down where the tree ferns grow by the river There where the waters sparkle and quiver Deep in the gullies bell-birds are chiming Softly and sweetly their lyric notes rhyming Orana! Orana! Orana to Christmas Day.   3. Friar birds sip the nectar of flowers Cu

Nicht die Kinder bloß speist man mit Märchen ab

It is not children only that one feeds with fairy tales. [Ger., Nicht die Kinder bloss speist man mit Marchen ab.] - Ephraim Gotthold Lessing , Nathan der Weise  (III, 6)  It has taken me 30 minutes to trawl through various literal translations to understand the meaning of this quote. It seems to be most commonly used to reinforce a subtext of childlike naviety in certain circumstances but I am appropriating it in this instance to mean that adults may enjoy fairytales.  Found at the beginning of Bottighemiers book 'Fairytales and Society' I had the jist of what it meant... but to be accurate is important. Various google translations include:  Not only one feeds the children off with fairy tales or   Not   just   the kids   fed   off   with   fairy tales which translates back to German as  Nicht gerade zogen die Kinder weg mit Märchen ein. Entrapment: new Uni library work space Reading translations is fraught with danger but I need to read the original text of fairytal