Storytracking

This innovative work takes a narrative technique (known as "storytracking") practised by Australian aboriginal peoples and applies it to the academic study of their culture. Gill gets as close as possible to the perceptions and beliefs of these indigenous peoples by stripping away the layers of European interpretation and construction. He compares the versions of aboriginal texts presented in academic reports with the text versions as they appear in each report's cited sources, revealing how the text is transformed through its presentation. By applying this method to received texts of aboriginal religion, Gill brings us closer than ever before to the worldview of this vanishing culture. His work also constitutes an important statement on, and critique of, the academic study of religion as it has traditionally been practised.