"This brilliant book studies the Australian desert in that country's culture, past and present, from an extraordinarily comprehensive viewpoint that covers geology, ecology and history, as well as literature, film and painting (Aboriginal as well as European)....This work marks a change in Australian perspective, an illustrious achievement in the century that is closing. Most highly recommended for all collections at all levels." Choice
"Haynes, an Associate Professor in English at the University of New South Wales, demonstrates a dexterity and intellectual athleticism in Seeking the Centre that is sometimes lacking in other commentaries of the Australian postcolonial situation...Hayne's wide, yet incredibly specific, range of research and analyses provide more than ample evidence that the Australian desert as cultural symbol is stronger than it ever was." Yearbook of COmparative and General Literature
Product Description
This is a book about the Australian desert and its central impact on Australian culture, from traditional Aboriginal art to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Starting with the Aboriginal understanding of the spiritual significance of the desert, it traces the attempts of the early colonists to conquer this alien space; the changing estimate of the inland explorers in fiction and art as heroes, failures, or psychological studies of obsession; the rediscovery of the desert in the twentieth century by travelers, artists, novelists, photographers and film makers; its interest for ecotourism and as a spiritual experience.
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