Narratives and Songs from Atauro Island, Timor-Leste

This archive of endangered narratives and songs from the island of Atauro (Timor-Leste) was gathered between 2014 and 2023 against a backdrop of a changing world. The oral traditions of Atauro’s three groups (Manroni, Humangili, Adadi) come together for the first time in this multilingual edition combining the local languages of Dadu’a, Rasua, Hresuk, Raklungu and Tetun with English translations.
The large original corpus recounts the origin of Atauro Island, revealed when arrows pierce the sea, and many other tales as well as traditional song lyrics. These are complemented by 20 texts on aspects of local culture written by researchers from different disciplines (archaeology, ethno-botany, geography, anthropology, ethnomusicology, and eco-anthropology).
The book’s originality lies in the cross-cultural and cross-sectoral collaboration between French and Timorese researchers and the populations who determined and validated the choice of texts all supported by native interpreters from each linguistic group.