Abstract
The above story has crossed continents and centuries. It has been lifted from its time and place, to be used, and at times abused, by scholars, for purposes of theoretical and ideological commentary. This snippet of a story has been interpreted according to various perspectives, but always with the intention of addressing the meaning and practices of silence.
It is customary, upon the death of the husband, that the Warramunga of Australia impose silence upon the widow for a period of approximately two years. “Occasionally the women prefer to remain under the ban for a long time, and among the Warramunga there was one old woman who, from choice, had not spoken a word for twenty-five years.”
(Spencer and Gillen, 1912, p. 396)
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© 2013 Robin Clair
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Clair, R. (2013). Imposed Silence and the Story of the Warramunga Woman: Alternative Interpretations and Possibilities. In: Malhotra, S., Rowe, A.C. (eds) Silence, Feminism, Power. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137002372_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137002372_6
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