Symbols of Australia Imagining a Nation

Australia is a land of symbols. The Southern Cross. The Sydney Opera House. The kangaroo. Vegemite. But what do they actually mean? Where do they come from? Why are some symbols so hotly contested? Does Australia have more than its fair share? Symbols of Australia offers illuminating and unexpected insights into the symbols that surround us: from Uluru to the Australian flag, the rainbow serpent to Holden cars, the democracy sausage to the Great Barrier Reef. Entertaining, provocative, informative, and often surprising, Symbols of Australia reveals a great deal about the ways nations are imagined—and how they imagine themselves.

Melissa Harper is a senior lecturer in Australian Studies and Cultural History at the University of Queensland. Her research interests include everyday cultural practices, in particular on bushwalking and dining out, Australian popular culture, and national identity. Richard White was born in Sydney and taught Australian history and the history of travel and tourism at the University of Sydney for 23 years. He is well-known as an authority on national identity, tourism, and popular culture. His publications include Inventing Australia, The Oxford Book of Australian Travel Writing, Cultural History in Australia, and On Holidays: A History of Getting Away in Australia.