Australian Folklore: A Dictionary Of Lore, Legends And Popular Allusions
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Long before the age of the internet, the stories, slang, and superstitions of a nation lived in its folklore — and Australian Folklore: A Dictionary of Lore, Legends and Popular Allusions stands as one of the most ambitious attempts to capture the rich, irreverent, and deeply human culture of the Australian people between two covers. W. Fearn-Wannan, a passionate chronicler of Australian tradition, presents an encyclopaedic compendium of the beliefs, bush sayings, popular myths, and cultural allusions that have shaped the Australian national identity from its colonial origins through to the twentieth century. Arranged in dictionary format, the work instructs the reader in the language of the larrikin, the wisdom of the swagman, and the enduring legends of a land as vast and strange as the imagination itself. Fearn-Wannan's style is at once scholarly and warmly accessible, drawing on a wealth of primary sources, oral traditions, and historical records to illustrate how a uniquely Australian character — sardonic, resilient, and fiercely egalitarian — was forged on the frontier. The breadth of the work is staggering, covering everything from the mythology of the bush to the colourful idioms of the city street, making it an indispensable reference for anyone seeking to understand the cultural DNA of Australia. More than a mere dictionary, it is a love letter to a nation's collective memory — and a reminder that the stories a people tell about themselves are often the truest things of all.
Author: W. Fearn-Wannan
Format: Hardback
Genre: Australian history
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Long before the age of the internet, the stories, slang, and superstitions of a nation lived in its folklore — and Australian Folklore: A Dictionary of Lore, Legends and Popular Allusions stands as one of the most ambitious attempts to capture the rich, irreverent, and deeply human culture of the Australian people between two covers. W. Fearn-Wannan, a passionate chronicler of Australian tradition, presents an encyclopaedic compendium of the beliefs, bush sayings, popular myths, and cultural allusions that have shaped the Australian national identity from its colonial origins through to the twentieth century. Arranged in dictionary format, the work instructs the reader in the language of the larrikin, the wisdom of the swagman, and the enduring legends of a land as vast and strange as the imagination itself. Fearn-Wannan's style is at once scholarly and warmly accessible, drawing on a wealth of primary sources, oral traditions, and historical records to illustrate how a uniquely Australian character — sardonic, resilient, and fiercely egalitarian — was forged on the frontier. The breadth of the work is staggering, covering everything from the mythology of the bush to the colourful idioms of the city street, making it an indispensable reference for anyone seeking to understand the cultural DNA of Australia. More than a mere dictionary, it is a love letter to a nation's collective memory — and a reminder that the stories a people tell about themselves are often the truest things of all.