New Caledonia (France) / All works
Tale
Tales of Poindi
Contes de Poindi
Jean Mariotti · 1939
Synopsis
Poindi, a Kanak warrior whom the sorcerer has named the best hunter of his tribe, passes on to his son Aïni the secrets and legends of the New Caledonian forest. Each tale, drawn from Kanak legends, features the animals and plants of the island: in “La Tourterelle et le corbeau”, the dove Joli-Bec helps, during a great drought, an old dove who confides to her the secret of a queen of the eels; another tale brings together the eel and the sunfish.
Context
The book first appeared in English, in New York, at The Domino Press, under the title Tales of Poindi, in a translation by Esther Averill illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky; a revised French edition followed at Stock in 1941, then an edition illustrated with woodcuts by Van Rompaey in 1948. The tales were also translated into German and Slovak, and taken up in school editions in New Caledonia. An association founded in 1995 by the author's sister saw to its reprinting in 2018, with a sequel published in 1952.
Who it is for
Tales for young readers, readable from the end of primary school and offered today to classes in New Caledonia.
Prizes and reception
The Nouvelles calédoniennes see in Mariotti a major, often forgotten, figure of Caledonian cultural heritage.
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