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'Being face to face with a traumascape, being a survivor, could it be, in part, about surrendering to fate? Or is it, on the contrary, about having the strength to disregard what is being dealt to you? About the guts that it takes to keep running?
'Traumascapes is a story about the fate and power of places across the world marked by pain, violence and loss. In the world we inhabit such places are literally everywhere – they are sites of terror attacks, natural and industrial catastrophes, genocide, exile, ecological degradation and communal loss of heart. Far from being mere backdrops to cataclysms, traumascapes hold the key to our ability to endure and find meaning in modern-day tragedies and the legacies they leave behind. Berlin, Port Arthur, Bali, Moscow, Sarajevo, New York, Shanksville – this book draws on a decade of research into the fate of these and other sites of suffering and loss to reveal the deep psychological investments that traumascapes may hold for individuals and nations alike. Rather than being swallowed up by the devastation and despair, modern sites of trauma have emerged as powerful and important cultural landmarks. The nature of their power is both unmistakable and little-understood. How these places persist, the connections they foster, the memories they catalyse and the power they yield – is the subject of this book.'
Source : publisher's blurb
Notes
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Includes index. Bibliography: p. 243-273.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
What I’m Reading
2019
single work
column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2019; -
Letters from Sarajevo : Three Ways of Remembering
2012
single work
autobiography
— Appears in: Griffith Review , Spring no. 37 2012; (p. 169-182) -
'What's Haunting Dead Europe?' Trauma Fiction as a Reaction to Postmodern Governmentality
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 11 no. 2 2011; 'The ghosts of Christos Tsiolkas' Dead Europe have been a key focus of its critical reception. This article offers an alternative reading of these ghosts, arguing that Tsiolkas writes trauma fiction to challenge the totalising discourse of postmodern governmentality, to assert the impossibility of an end to history, and to write fiction which haunts its readers to enact an ethical relationship with the traumatic past.' (Author's abstract)
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Fragments Shored against Ruins
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Cultural Studies Review , vol. 16 no. 2 2010; 'Denis Byrne's Surface Collection is a finely written philosophical travelogue, taking the reader on an archaeological tour of South Asia that is also a personal quest and a critique of heritage conservation. Its closely organised structure, reminiscent of baroque music, begins with an investigation of the modes of erasure or preservation of the recent past in South East Asia, shifts to an ironic narrative of futile quests for historical traces, and concludes with reflections on the clash of popular Buddhist relic worship with the values of heritage conservation. Byrne stages the latter conflict as between magical and rationalistic worldviews. Mildly dissenting, this essay suggests that although heritage conservation deploys scientific means, it is based on the sacralisation of the past. This motivation brings it closer to magic than to core tenets of Enlightenment, either of the Rational or the Buddhist kind.' (Author's abstract) -
Being There: The Power of Places
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Jewish News , 28 July vol. 72 no. 43 2006;
— Review of Traumascapes : The Power and Fate of Places Transformed by Tragedy 2005 single work non-fiction
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Being There: The Power of Places
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Jewish News , 28 July vol. 72 no. 43 2006;
— Review of Traumascapes : The Power and Fate of Places Transformed by Tragedy 2005 single work non-fiction -
Fragments Shored against Ruins
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Cultural Studies Review , vol. 16 no. 2 2010; 'Denis Byrne's Surface Collection is a finely written philosophical travelogue, taking the reader on an archaeological tour of South Asia that is also a personal quest and a critique of heritage conservation. Its closely organised structure, reminiscent of baroque music, begins with an investigation of the modes of erasure or preservation of the recent past in South East Asia, shifts to an ironic narrative of futile quests for historical traces, and concludes with reflections on the clash of popular Buddhist relic worship with the values of heritage conservation. Byrne stages the latter conflict as between magical and rationalistic worldviews. Mildly dissenting, this essay suggests that although heritage conservation deploys scientific means, it is based on the sacralisation of the past. This motivation brings it closer to magic than to core tenets of Enlightenment, either of the Rational or the Buddhist kind.' (Author's abstract) -
'What's Haunting Dead Europe?' Trauma Fiction as a Reaction to Postmodern Governmentality
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 11 no. 2 2011; 'The ghosts of Christos Tsiolkas' Dead Europe have been a key focus of its critical reception. This article offers an alternative reading of these ghosts, arguing that Tsiolkas writes trauma fiction to challenge the totalising discourse of postmodern governmentality, to assert the impossibility of an end to history, and to write fiction which haunts its readers to enact an ethical relationship with the traumatic past.' (Author's abstract)
-
Letters from Sarajevo : Three Ways of Remembering
2012
single work
autobiography
— Appears in: Griffith Review , Spring no. 37 2012; (p. 169-182) -
What I’m Reading
2019
single work
column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2019;