The Cultural Atlas of Australia is an interactive digital map that explores Australian places and spaces as they are represented in and through films, novels, and plays.
Presenting the first national survey of Australian narrative space across film, literature, and theatre, the Cultural Atlas of Australia will allow users to actively map the country's cultural landscape and identify patterns of representation that might otherwise not be apparent.
The map will be useful for students, scholars, and travellers with an interest in Australian geography and culture. Potential uses of the map include, for example, plotting a literary tour, visiting film sites, or researching landscape and location in Australian stories.
The prototype map presents a handful of sample texts. Future versions will include the ability to search by narrative setting, shooting location (for film), production venues (for theatre), place of composition (for literature), as well as medium, title, author, and date.
Initial texts that will be mapped in the Atlas include
Film
- Australia (Luhrmann 2008)
- Bran Nue Dae (Chi 1991; Perkins, 2009)
- Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (Schepisi 1978)
- He Died with a Felafel in his Hand (Lowenstein 2001)
- Head On (Kokkinos 1998)
- The Man from Snowy River (Miller 1982)
- Muriel’s Wedding (Hogan 1994)
- Picnic at Hanging Rock (Weir, 1975)
- Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Elliott 1994)
- Rabbit-Proof Fence (Noyce 2002)
- Samson and Delilah (Thornton 2009)
- The Sound of One Hand Clapping (Flanagan 1998)
- Three Dog Night (Dearth 2011)
- Two Hands (Jordan 1999)
- Walkabout (Roeg 1971)
Literature
- Capricornia (Herbert 1938; theatre adaptation Nowra 1988)
- Carpentaria (Wright 2006)
- The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (Keneally 1972; film adaptation Schepisi 1978)
- Cloudstreet (Winton 1991; Enright and Monjo 1999)
- The Drowner (Drewe 1996; film in development)
- Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence (Pilkington Garimara 1996; film adaptation Noyce 2002)
- He Died with a Felafel in his Hand (Birmingham 1994; film adaptation Lowenstein 2001; theatrical adaptation Bedak et al. c.2006)
- Johnno (Malouf 1975)
- The Ghost Trilogy (Balodis 1997)
- It’s Raining in Mango (Astley 1987)
- Last Drinks (McGahan 2000; theatrical adaptation Charles 2006)
- Loaded (Tsiolkas 1996; film adaptation as Head On, Kokkinos 1998)
- Maestro (Goldsworthy 1989 and its theatrical adaptation)
- The Man from Snowy River (Paterson 1890; film adaptation Miller 1982)
- Oyster (Hospital 1996)
- Picnic at Hanging Rock (Lindsay 1967; film adaptation Weir, 1975)
- Remembering Babylon (Malouf 1993)
- Riders in the Chariot (White 1961)
- The Sound of One Hand Clapping (Flanagan 1997; film adaptation 1998)
- Three Dog Night (Goldsworthy 2003; theatrical adaptation 2009; film adaptation Dearth 2011)
- Tourmaline (Stow 1963)
- Voss (White 1957)
- Wake in Fright (Cook 1961; film adaptation Kotchef 1971)
- Walkabout (Marshall 1959; film adaptation Roeg 1971)
- The White Earth (McGahan 2004; theatrical adaptation Charles 2009)
Theatre
- Capricornia (Nowra 1988)
- Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset (Carleton 2006)
- He Died with a Felafel in his Hand (Bedak et al. c.2006)
- Kullark (Davis 1978)
- Last Cab to Darwin (Cribb 2002)
- Last Drinks (Charles 2006)
- Maestro (Goldsworthy and Goldsworthy)
- Still Angela (Kemp 2002)
- The Season at Sarsaparilla (White 1965)
- The Golden Age (Nowra 1985)
- Three Dog Night (Goldsworthy 2009)
- When the Rain Stops Falling (Bovell 2008)
- The White Earth (Charles 2009)
The Cultural Atlas of Australia is funded by an
ARC Discovery Grant (2011-2013) and housed at The University of Queensland.