Atopian Landscapes

Abstract

This chapter examines the connection between disturbing aspects of the settler–colonial experience and the perpetuation of the Gothic mode in Australia. It argues that colonial and postcolonial Gothic texts are defined not only by characteristic settings and themes, but also by the figure of the outsider traversing a land unlike their home. As John Scott and Dean Biron claim in their insightful article on the Australian Gothic, 'Being removed from a familiar environment and transported into another setting is a constant theme'. Here geographer Edward Casey's concept of atopos, a Greek word meaning 'no place,' or 'strange' relates to the sense of estrangement that accompanies the experience of place in Australia's Gothic landscapes. Accordingly, this examination of the recurring figure of the outsider, immigrant, convict, or traveller who is alienated, exiled, or stranded in an alien landscape investigates how atopia relates to a uniquely Australian sense of place in Gothic narratives.