Thursday 25 August, 5pm
In Conversation with Richard White
Co-editor of Symbols of Australia: Imagining a Nation
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.
Join the team at Paperchain Bookstore for an evening with Richard White co-editor (with Melissa Harper) of Symbols of Australia: Imagining a Nation. In conversation with Richard will be historian Frank Bongiorno.
Food and drinks will be provided. This is a free event but please arrive early if you would like to sit during the event as we have limited seating.
RSVP info@paperchainbookstore.com.au or phone 6295 6723
“If the nation is imagined, the business of creating its meaningful symbols gives us the very essence of its history. The star-studded cast of Symbols of Australia takes us on a fascinating tour among kangaroos and pavlovas, baggy green caps and rainbow serpents, Holden cars and vegemite jars — and much more besides. On this splendid journey across desert and beach, reef and harbour, city and bush, we see and hear the nation in its full dignity, diversity and dagginess.”
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.
Frank Bongiorno is a Professor of History at the Australian National University and is the author of The Sex Lives of Australians: A History and The Eighties: The Decade that Transformed Australia.
“Humorous, insightful and profound, this book is a thought-provoking survey of twenty-eight of Australia’s best-known and most significant symbols. Entries range from Indigenous symbols that resonate with meaning, such as the Rainbow Serpent or Uluru, to animals and the natural world, official symbols, cultural practices, and commercial items of consumption. Most importantly, it showcases the agency of ordinary Australians and the role of popular culture in forging national identity. ”
“Just when we most need it, a lively reassessment of the symbols that define us and their commercial and political exploitation. A mixture of scholarly ease and irreverent playfulness that also defines us. David Malouf award-winning Australian writer”
Venue
Paperchain Bookstore
34 Franklin Street
Manuka ACT 2603
T: (02) 62956723