Neverland is a place to consider what might have happened if Australia had been colonised by someone else.The story goes……after losing its North American colony, the British invaded a continent on the other side of the world. The nation that emerged, Australia, proved a loyal colony. But this loyalty hampered its sense of independence. A relatively weak cultural identity was overwhelmed by the spread of US popular culture in the post-war period.Fortunately, this lack of national distinctness opened it to both the influence of non-Anglo migrant cultures and eventual acknowledgement of first peoples.Unable to achieve independent status as a republic, Australia is host to a speculative nationhood drawn from recessive elements of its received cultures. National characteristics otherwise overshadowed at home realise their hidden potential on the other side of the world. What McKenzie Wark describes as ‘antipodality’ is not just a karoake nationhood, but a carnivalesque inversion of world cultures.
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Neverland was originally commissioned by a publisher who went into administration, just before it was due to be launched. After ten years, the manuscript is finally released.Neverland can now be ordered through print-on-demand paperpack here, or as an ebook through Amazon here. You can read the introduction on this site here.Main text by Kevin MurrayIncludes speculations by:Dennis Altman • Greg Barnes • Itiel Beresen • David Carter • Julie Copeland • Nikki Gemmell • Fiona Giles • Barry Hindess • Christopher Kelen • Duncan Kerr • Niall Lucy • Mardi McConnachie • Tom Morton • Nikos Papastergiadis • Guy Rundle • John Slavin • Lesley Stern • Christos Tsiolkas • Chris Wallace-Crabbe
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