The Cartographic Eye: How Explorers Saw Australia

by Simon Ryan

Overview

This book is about the mythologies of land exploration, and about space and the colonial enterprise in particular. It is an innovative investigation of the presumptions, aesthetics and politics of Australian explorers' texts that shows that they are not the simple, unadorned observations their authors would have us believe. The book argues that contact with Aborigines are occasions of discursive contest. It scrutinizes and undermines the scientific and literary methodology of exploration. It will be a crucial text for readers in cultural, postcolonial and Australian studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521571128
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/13/1996
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.63(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. Exploring culture: the formation and fragmentation of the explorer; 2. Picturesque visions: controlling the seen; 3. Maps and their cultural constructedness; 4. Seeing the Aborigines put in their place; 5. The bosom of unknown lands; Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

'If you thought that Australia did not need another book on cartography and the gaze of empire, Simon Ryan's The Cartographic Eye should change your mind. The purpose is both straightforward and timely.' Australian Historical Studies

' … Simon Ryan's The Cartographic Eye is a very important book … Ryan's scholarship is both detailed and focussed … this is compelling reading.' Australian Geographical Studies

From the Publisher