Outback and Out West examines the ecological consequences of a settler-colonial imaginary by comparing expressions of settler colonialism in the literature of the American West and Australian Outback. Tom Lynch traces exogenous domination in both regions, which resulted in many similar means of settlement, including pastoralism, homestead acts, afforestation efforts, and bioregional efforts at “belonging.” Lynch pairs the two nations’ texts to show how an analysis at the intersection of ecocriticism and settler colonialism requires a new canon that is responsive to the social, cultural, and ecological difficulties created by settlement in the West and Outback. Outback and Out West draws out the regional Anthropocene dimensions of settler colonialism, considering such pressing environmental problems as habitat loss, groundwater depletion, and mass extinctions. Lynch studies the implications of our settlement heritage on history, art, and the environment through the cross-national comparison of spaces. He asserts that bringing an ecocritical awareness to settler-colonial theory is essential for reconciliation with dispossessed Indigenous populations as well as reparations for ecological damages as we work to decolonize engagement with and literature about these places.

Outback and Out West examines the ecological consequences of a settler-colonial imaginary by comparing expressions of settler colonialism in the literature of the American West and Australian Outback. Tom Lynch traces exogenous domination in both regions, which resulted in many similar means of settlement, including pastoralism, homestead acts, afforestation efforts, and bioregional efforts at "belonging." Lynch pairs the two nations' texts to show how an analysis at the intersection of ecocriticism and settler colonialism requires a new canon that is responsive to the social, cultural, and ecological difficulties created by settlement in the West and Outback. Outback and Out West draws out the regional Anthropocene dimensions of settler colonialism, considering such pressing environmental problems as habitat loss, groundwater depletion, and mass extinctions. Lynch studies the implications of our settlement heritage on history, art, and the environment through the cross-national comparison of spaces. He asserts that bringing an ecocritical awareness to settler-colonial theory is essential for reconciliation with dispossessed Indigenous populations as well as reparations for ecological damages as we work to decolonize engagement with and literature about these places.

Hopi traditional elder Thomas Banyacya once described the American Southwest as "the spiritual center of our continent." Author, photographer, and adventurer John Annerino retraces ancient trails to show us why this is so. Through recent and historical photos, essays, and literary quotes, he takes us across what the Spaniards often feared as despoblados, or unknown lands, from Old Mexico to the Four Corners of ancient cities, painted deserts, and trilingual cultural landscapes--some of the most inaccessible land on the continent. Juxtaposed with tales of his own perilous excursions, the book contains oral histories and remarkable images of terrain that few of today's tourists have ever seen. Told from a current point of view, this throwback to the days of Geronimo and Navajo headman Manuelito will appeal to adventurers, historians, and those interested in the mesmerizing mystique of our own American outback.

Storied Deserts makes a crucial and critical intervention in the field of environmental humanities by showcasing an emerging body of research on desert places from around the world. Deserts, despite dominant stereotypes of wasteland and barrenness, are culturally and ecologically abundant places. This edited volume sets out to reimagine the world’s desert places and the very concept of "the desert" itself, taking a boldly interdisciplinary and multicultural approach. Authors engage in literary ecocriticism and ecopoetics, film and visual studies, critical theory, personal and transdisciplinary reflection, creative practices, and historical scholarship. Through their diverse range of perspectives, contributors show how arid lands have been and can be understood as sites of narrative production, places where signs and imaginaries are born from the materialities of space and entanglement. In this way, this volume highlights how the storied matter of the Earth’s deserts informs lived realities, environmental histories, cinematic and literary imaginaries, political conflicts, and even intellectual categories such as "the human" and "the elemental". Ultimately, this book shows that reimagining desert places can help us to grapple with the epochal challenges of the Anthropocene. It is an important and engaging collection for scholars and students across disciplines that helps establish the value of desert humanities.

Nitmiluk, a national park in the northern territory, is on an Australian road leading through Southern Queensland, the Outback, the Northern Territory, the Red Centre, the Top End, North Queensland Tablelands, and back to the beginning in South East Queensland, fourteen thousand kilometers by car closed this tour circle.

After immersing himself in the culture of a remote Australian Indigenous community for close to a year, the young Japanese scholar Minoru Hokari emerged with a new world view. Gurindji Journey tells of Hokari's experience living with the Gurindji people of Daguragu and Kalkaringi in the Northern Territory of Australia, absorbing their way of life, and beginning to understand Aboriginal modes of seeing and being. This is a personal, philosophical, lyrical record of his journey into Indigenous Australian culture. Part memoir, part history, part theory, Gurindji Journey is the story of Hokari's discovery of Gurindji modes of history and historical practice. It is a work that opens up new pathways for approaching cross-cultural history, anthropology and historical epistemology.