Skip to main content

Writing Noosa’s Beach: Travellers’ Narratives and Modernity

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
  • 297 Accesses

Abstract

In this chapter, the writings of travellers to the Noosa beach are analysed using Smith’s (Qual Sociol 22:13–36, 1999) theory of place. Here, Frye’s (Anatomy of Criticism, 1957) literary critique which makes use of the methodological tool known as themes of ascent and descent is employed in the reading of place. Using historical writings that colourfully annotate adventures to Noosa especially in the 1890s, the chapter demonstrates that the beach was narrated as a place to which to escape from modernity. However, as time has progressed, these writings have perhaps sparked the devaluation of Noosa for some writers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adams, R. 2004. Noosa horizons: A history—Timber, tradition, tourism. Tewantin: Ultreya Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Booth, D. 2001. Australian beach cultures: The history of sun, sand, and surf. London: Frank Cass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, E. 1993. The legend of Eliza Fraser: A survey of the sources. Royal Historical Society of Queensland Journal 15: 345–360.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cato, N. 1979. The Noosa story: A study in unplanned development. Milton: Jacaranda Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corbin, A. 1994. The lure of the sea: The discovery of the seaside in the western world 1750–1840. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coughlan, P. 1989. Noosa Beach: Coastal engineering works to mitigate the erosion problem. Paper presented at the Australasian Conference on Coastal and Ocean Engineering, Adelaide, SA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dowling, C. 2004. Seachange: Australians in pursuit of the good life. Auckland: Exisle Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drewe, R. 1983. The bodysurfers. Sydney: James Fraser Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drewe, R. 2018. The true colour of the sea. Camberwell: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dutton, G. 1985. Sun, sea, surf and sand: The myths of the beach. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, D. 1998. Conflict and controversy: The changing development pattern of the Noosa Shire 1910–1980. Masters thesis, University of Queensland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, E. 2014. On the beach: Exploring the complex egalitarianism of the Australian beach. In Navigating cultural spaces: Maritime places, ed. A.-M. Horatschek, Y. Rosenberg, and D. Schaebler, 221–236. Amsterdam: Rodopi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estensen, M. 2003. The life of Matthew Flinders. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franklin, A., F. Picken, and N. Osbaldiston. 2013. Conceptualizing the changing nature of Australian beach tourism in a low carbon society. International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses 5: 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frye, N. 1957. Anatomy of criticism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Frye, N. 1976. The secular scripture: A study of the structure of romance. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Game, A., and A. Metcalfe. 2011. ‘My corner of the world’: Bachelard and Bondi Beach. Emotion, Space and Society 4: 42–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Game, A., A. Metcalfe, and D. Marlin. 2014. On Bondi Beach. North Melbourne: Arcadia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, A., L. 1870 [1985]. The swimmer. In Sun, sea, surf and sand—The myths of the beach, ed. Geoffrey Dutton, 29. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette. 1896a. Noosa notes: By a Gympie visitor. Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette, 27 February. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article171450299. Accessed 15 April 2016.

  • Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette. 1896b. Noosa notes: By a Gympie visitor. Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette, 10 March. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article171448968. Accessed 15 April 2016.

  • Gympie Times and Mary River Gazette. 1898. Around Noosa. Gympie Times and Mary River Gazette, 31 December. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article171528886. Accessed 12 January 2017.

  • Lawrence, D.H. 1923 [1970]. Kangaroo. London: Redwood Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenček, L., and G. Bosker. 1998. The beach: The history of paradise on Earth. New York: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipovac, N. 1997. Space and place. Prostor 5: 1–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metcalfe, A., and A. Game. 2014. Ecological being. Space and Culture 17: 297–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Hare, D. 1999. Making heritage in an Australian coastal tourist resort. International Journal of Heritage Studies 5: 82–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olive, R. 2015. Reframing surfing: Physical culture in online spaces. Media International Australia 155: 99–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osbaldiston, N. 2012. Seeking authenticity in place, culture and self: The great urban escape. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Osbaldiston, N. 2018. Towards a sociology of the coast: Our past, present and future relationships to the shore. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Osbaldiston, N., and T. Petray. 2011. The role of horror and dread in the sacred experience. Tourist Studies 11: 175–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaffer, K. 1991. Trial by media: The case of Eliza Fraser. Antipodes: A North American Journal of Australian Literature 5: 114–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seamon, D., and J. Sowers. 2008. Place and placelessness, Edward Relph. In Key texts in human geography, ed. P. Hubbard, R. Kitchin, and G. Valentine, 43–51. London: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Shields, R. 1991. Places on the margin: Alternative geographies of modernity. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, P. 1999. The elementary forms of place and their transformations: A Durkheimian model. Qualitative Sociology 22: 13–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Telegraph. 1876. A trip to Noosa. The Telegraph, 12 February. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article169493513. Accessed 12 December 2016.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nick Osbaldiston .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Osbaldiston, N. (2020). Writing Noosa’s Beach: Travellers’ Narratives and Modernity. In: Ellison, E., Brien, D. (eds) Writing the Australian Beach. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35264-6_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics