changing places
Re-imagining Australia

John Cameron (editor)

Changing Places: Re-imagining Australia examines fundamental issues of what it is to be Australian. If there are distinctive Australian senses of place, what are they and how are they constructed?

In this book two-dozen prominent scholars, poets, priests, artists and writers grapple with the tension between a European cultural and intellectual heritage and the oldest land-based culture in the world.

They examine how the environmental realities of the Australian continent are finally making themselves felt in our national consciousness and consider the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal senses of place.

Chapter outline

Introduction: articulating Australian senses of place - John Cameron

Section 1: Personal stories

The richness of our native soil - Bobbi Allan
Dwelling in place, dwelling on earth - John Cameron
Restor(y)ing a sense of place, self and community - Judy Pinn
The path through the rainforest - John Seed
I took to roaming in cemeteries as a young boy - Brendon Stewart

Section 2: Cultural Perspectives

Sentient country, deferential people - Catherine Laudine
Landscape as metaphor for the interaction between different ways of knowing - Veronica Arbon & Hinton Lowe
BlackWhite senses of country: towards an intermediate sense for Australian environmental wellbeing - Peter Cock
Tasting the salt: country, reconciliation and dream - Peter Bishop
Tuning in to spirit of place - Kate Rigby
The blue hour - Brendon Stewart
The symbols of my place are the foundations of my world: constructing a shared Australian sense of place - Valerie Brown

Section 3: Psychological Perspectives

A psychological perspective on place - David Russell
A rebirth of tragedy - Craig San Roque
Eco-psychological practice for nature carers - Peter Cock
Autonomy, mutualistic relationships, sense of place & conscious caring: a hopeful view of the present and future - Stuart Hill
Becoming native to the city - Freya Mathews

Section 4: Spiritual Perspectives

Seeking soul: exploring ground for an eco-feminist dialogue with spirituality - Jenny Crawford
The practice of stories and places - Susan Murphy
The mindful land - Eugene Stockton
Spirit place - David Tacey
Deep in the heart - Sylvie Shaw

Section 5: Perspectives from Literature & the Arts

Journey into the land - Veronica Brady
Writing place: unpacking an exhibition catalogue essay - Peter Hay
Embodied perceptions: Aboriginal expressions of place - Victoria King
Performance and place - David Wright
Afterword: giving voice to place - John Cameron
Index

November 2003
Paperback: ISBN 1-920681-06-X
336 pages
230 x 150mm