| Description |
xvi, 347 pages : illustrations, maps ; 26 cm |
| Contents |
Some facts about Australian deserts -- 1. The land is a map: the Aboriginal relationship with the desert -- 2. Forms, images, imaginings: European myths of the desert -- 3. The 'hideous blank': imperatives for discovery -- 4. Geography is never innocent: or, what the explorers wrote into the landscape -- 5. Perspectives on the desert: the art of exploration -- 6. 'On the tracts of thirst and furnace': dead explorers and national identity -- 7. Ripping yarns at the outpost of empire: the desert as adventure -- 8. From dead heart to red centre: tales of travel and reefs of gold -- 9. Seeing red: from topography to imagery -- 10. A Gothic desert: psychodrama in fiction and film -- 11. Revisioning the explorers: figures of the subconscious -- 12. Transforming myths: retelling the exploration stories -- 13. Seeing through biology: evolution and ecology of the desert -- 14. Self-image, environmentalism and renewal: the desert in the Age of Aquarius -- 15. The art of cultural encounter |
| Summary |
"The desert - simultaneously alluring and repellent - has a hypnotic presence in Australian culture. The 'Centre' is distant and unknown to most Australians, yet has become a symbol of the country, most recently being promoted as a site for eco-tourism, new age enlightenment, environmental renewal and racial reconciliation. This book reveals the singular impact that the desert, both geographical and metaphorical, has had on Australian identity. While it concentrates on the period from white settlement to the present, it also examines prehistory, touching on the geological significance of the Australian desert. At the heart of the book is the contrast between the European-driven notion of an empty, monotonous wilderness, and the profound spiritual relationship that Aboriginal Australians have with the desert."--BOOK JACKET |
| Analysis |
Deserts - Australia |
|
Deserts - Religious aspects |
|
Deserts in art |
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Deserts in literature |
| Notes |
Includes index |
| Bibliography |
Bibliography: pages [323]-342 |
| Subject |
Aboriginal Australians -- Australia -- Central Australia.
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Aboriginal Australians.
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Australia, Central, in literature
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Deserts in art.
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Deserts in literature.
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Australia, Central, in art
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Deserts -- In art.
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Deserts -- In literature.
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Deserts -- Social aspects -- Australia.
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Deserts -- Australia -- Central Australia.
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Deserts -- Australia.
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Motion pictures -- Australia.
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| SUBJECT |
Central Australia http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81035352 -- In literature.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2002011414
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Australia http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79021326 -- In art.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2002011412
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Central Australia http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81035352 -- In art.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2002011411
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Australia, Central, in art
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Australia, Central, in literature
|
| Genre/Form |
Art.
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| LC no. |
00001383 |
| ISBN |
0521571111 (hbk.) |
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