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18th Century, Cultural Studies, Historical Studies, Postcolonial Studies
Teaching and Learning Guide: Antipodean Myths Transformed
08.08.08 | Permalink | Comments Off on Teaching and Learning Guide: Antipodean Myths Transformed
Sample Syllabus:

Week 1: Introduction and Overview—Exploration and Colonisation of the Great South Land
- – The myth of the antipodes—the allure of the great south land
- – Gaps in maps—spaces for the imagination
Weeks 2–4: Fantasies of the Antipodes
- – The role of imaginary voyage texts—blending reality with fantasy, pre-programming colonisation
- – Myths of extreme difference
- – Myths of Indigenous populations’ welcoming attitude to colonial intrusion
- – Theories of otherness
Weeks 3–5: Entering the Antipodes
- – Early explorers’ contradictory responses to Terra Australis Incognita
- – Utopias and dystopias
- – First contact with Indigenous people—the concept of ‘terra nullius’ framed by myths
Weeks 6–8: Images of Contemporary Australia: Enduring Myths
- – The myth of terra nullius and the impact on Indigenous Australia
- – The ‘dead heart’ of Australia as the last unfathomed antipodean space
Cultural Studies, Literary Studies, Postcolonial Studies
Antipodean Myths Transformed
25.08.07 | Permalink | Comments Off on Antipodean Myths Transformed

Australia and the South Pacific held a special status in the eighteenth century: this was the farthest region from Europe and the last part of the earth remaining for Europeans to explore and chart. In the context of European nations’ own histories of discovering and exploring the world beyond Europe’s borders, this region is unique in the sense that no other part of the earth had such a substantial and well-documented body of European thought devoted to it over such a long period of time prior to its physical discovery. The ‘antipodes’ existed in the European imagination for approximately two thousand years before Europeans set foot on antipodean lands. Myths inspired explorers to go searching for the genuine antipodes, and voyages were often undertaken with the specific aim of finding the uncharted places that punctuated otherwise formless maps.