Review of Melissa Harper and Richard White (eds), Symbols of Australia: Imagining a Nation,Sydney: NewSouth Publishing, 2021, pbk, ISBN: 9781742237121, 496 + pp, $39.99

Abstract

<p><i>Symbols of Australia</i> is an illuminating exploration of national identity through an array of symbols. This collection of 29 essays by Australian scholars and writers begins with 'Land of symbols', a piece by the book's editors, Melissa Harper and Richard White. Harper and White explain that the book is interested in 'symbols of <i>nation</i>' as distinct from icons. Kylie Minogue is offered as an example of an Australian icon but not a symbol, in that she can apparently 'physically embody an essential Australianness' while reproductions of her image hold 'little symbolic weight' (p. 4). Some may disagree, which is perhaps indicative of a conundrum that the book tackles: how Australia's complicated past and its present diversity might be represented through symbols.</p>