The Eighth Wonder : explorations of place and voice

The idea of place as an organizing principle and framework of research has a noteworthy pedigree among both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian scholars. In this chapter about the Eighth Wonder by Alan John, with its evocation of social memories about the period of the construction of the Sydney Opera House, place shares significance with voice. The place is Bennelong Point; from a sociologist's perspective, Mike Featherstone states that a nation provides a sense of belonging when the landscape and people hold collective memories with the emotional power to generate a sense of community. Yet world-wide migration patterns have meant that the notion that ties a culture to a fixed terrain has become increasingly problematic. Such a way of thinking has only seemed natural and permanent and needs to accommodate hybrid memories where people's identities draw on multiple sources.