Essay- Studie Notes Requiem for a Beast

Study Notes

for

Requiem for a Beast

Matt Ottley

Published by Matt Ottley Copyright © Matt Ottley 2008 This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be stored or reproduced by any process without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher www.mattottley.com designed by Matt Ottley

Study Notes

for

Requiem for a Beast

Requiem for a Beast 1

Study Notes for

Requiem for a Beast

Overview

Hachette Livre, first published 2007.

Requiem for a Beast is a genre crossover work, consisting of a conventional prose text (10 000 words), a visual text encompassing both picture book and graphic novel formats, and an accompanying CD of music for string quintet, piano, harpsichord, and three voices – soprano, tenor (in the form of traditional Aboriginal songs), and a narrator. The work is intended for both adult and young adult audiences. The creation of the whole project was partially funded by the both the Literature and Music Boards of the Australia Council for the Arts.

There are two narratives involved in Requiem for a Beast. One is the story of a young stockman as he pursues and captures a wild bull. The other is the recounting of the childhood experiences of an Aboriginal Elder who was taken from her family during a past Australian state government’s assimilation policy. This second story, although fictional, is based on the experiences an Elder of the Bundjalung Nation from northern NSW.

Narrative Voices

There are four voices in this work; that of the Aboriginal Elder (italicised); that of the boy (hand written); the narration (in third-person present-tense), which weaves the stories of the boy and the elder together via word text and graphic sequences; and the music, which explores the moods and themes of the book, raising further ideas for reflection and contemplation.

Story Outline...