Dugout to the Other Side – Appendix (English shop)

An Asmat song-text transcribed and translated

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A song was presented in the Kaweinag-Asmat language by people living in the south of the Asmat region in Papua in 1984. It conveyed parts of the story of Saunat, one of their mythical heroes. Several years later, a recording of this song served as the source for a research project.

A presupposition for this project was the translation of the song-text. In 2007, the place where the recording was made was the locality for the attempt to translate the text. Elaborating a transcription and translating this transcript proved to be far more of a challenge than expected. The difficulties of this work and the uncertainties its results contain will not be concealed. On the contrary, they will become evident in the documentation of this scientific project.

The elaborated transcription and translation versions of the song are reproduced in this book.

The stories of Saunat belong to the wonderful testimonies of Asmat mythology. They illustrate a socially animating and innovating concept of surmounting dividing lines.